May 14, 2023 Sixth Sunday of Easter The text is John 14:15-21.

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 [Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹⁵“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
 ¹⁸“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.

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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This morning we once again encounter Jesus as he gives his “Farewell Discourse” to his closest followers, his original disciples.  And even though, in the church calendar we are still in the season of Easter, we find ourselves back in the upper room with Jesus and the twelve, at the Last Supper.  Last Sunday we heard Jesus tell the disciples, and us, “do not let your hearts be troubled”.  This morning he continues to offer words of comfort and reassurance as he proclaims the coming of another Advocate for God’s people, the Holy Spirit.  Next Sunday we will again be with the Jesus as he prays for himself, the disciples, and for all who believe in him as the Son of God.  And finally, in two weeks it will be Pentecost, the risen Jesus will come among his disciples gathered behind locked doors, and he will breathe into them the Spirit which today he promises he will ask God to send to them. 

The sending of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate Jesus promises will serve as a helper as the disciples struggle once Jesus departs from them.  He has told them about the many rooms in God’s house, that Jesus is the “Way, and the Truth, and the Life”, and that he and the Father are One.  And to help them process all this in the face of what he has just told them about his betrayal and impending death, he proclaims that the Advocate whom God will send will abide in them, in the same way as Jesus and the Father do.  This announcement is intended to fully reassure the disciples that they will not be left on their own when Jesus departs from them; they will not be “orphaned”.

When Jesus promises the sending of the Advocate, the Greek word is “paraclete”; this term may refer to an advocate, or helper, counselor, comforter, companion, and even, friend.  Later on Pentecost, when Jesus bestows this Spirit of Truth on the disciples, the word is “pneuma”; this is more accurately translated as breath, wind, or spirit.  It’s clear that Jesus intends for the disciples to know that the third person of the Trinity is to be understood as the Spirit, the very breath of God, and serves as the truth of Jesus in his absence.  The Holy Spirit will be the Advocate for God’s people, and will continue Jesus’ teaching; reminding all believers of the truth, love, and mercy of God that Jesus represented while he walked among us. 

And this sense of advocacy, of companionship, of counsel and comfort; these are the terms that arise through relationships.  This morning Jesus comforted his disciples with these words, and they collectively speak to relationship: “You know [the Spirit], because he abides with you, and he will be in you.  “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.  Relationships.  Webster defines relationship as “connection”, “binding”, “kinship”, and “attachment”; these are the ways that we find ourselves joined to one another.  And it is the Holy Spirit which is bestowed upon us that leads us to a living, active relationship with Jesus and with the Father.

The Advocate ensures our ongoing relationship; a joining with the Divine that maintains for us the connection that provides that the love, mercy, and grace of God that Jesus exemplified, remains after Jesus’ departure.  The Holy Spirit ensures that the abundant life that is God’s will for all people, which was demonstrated by the resurrection, extends beyond Easter.  Jesus has returned to the Father, but the Spirit remains with us.  But it’s important that we understand that this Advocate acts not on our behalf in a way that represents us before God, the way a court-appointed attorney would.  The Advocate doesn’t need to defend us or to persuade God to forgive, love, or accept us.  This has already happened; this is the God News of the Gospel.  We are already unconditionally blessed with God’s grace and mercy.  The role of the Advocate is actually the opposite of this.  The Holy Spirit serves rather to represent God in our relationship with the Father.  The Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, the One who stays with us, teaches us, and reminds us that we have not been orphaned; we have not been left alone.     

We all need God as our Advocate, to support us, to be with us, to guide us through the struggles that all human beings encounter.  Where can we see God’s advocacy at work?  Wherever people struggle with grief, pain, disconnection, hopelessness.  It is when people experience these and any other forms of separation that the Holy Spirit advocates for God’s children.  The Advocate is there to remind God’s children that their relationship with the Father is not diminished.  All that Jesus taught about him being one with the Father and with God’s people is reinforced through the Advocate’s reminder that the relationship continues unbroken.  The Advocate doesn’t represent us as unredeemed sinners before God, but the Spirit reminds us that God maintains an open invitation to us to remain in relationship in spite of our brokenness.  No effort is required from us; the action of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit comes from God to God’s people.  It is a gift, one that calls us to faith and secures our right relationship with God.

No, that’s not entirely true.  What is required from us is that we maintain an open spirit of our own, a heart that yearns for relationship with God, a willingness to acknowledge this unimaginable blessing.  A desire to have this Advocate abide in us, thereby connecting us to God, to Jesus, and to one another in faith.  A continuing acknowledgement that apart from God, separated from Jesus, we are not able to secure for ourselves the abundant life we are promised by the Gospel message.  A recognition that we long for what is freely offered by the Father, secured by Jesus on the cross, and maintained by the Holy Spirit…relationship!  Only in this way are we able to fully experience God’s promised abundance; in this life and the one to come.          

 Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and holy God, we who have not seen Jesus know that he is present with us, through the Holy Spirit.  We who have not beheld your face, know that you abide in us, through the Advocate you have sent to us.  Help us to always be open to the inbreaking of the Spirit, yearning to connect us with the Trinity.  And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who has not left us as orphans, the One with whom, and with you, and with the Holy Spirit, we remain in everlasting relationship.   

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.