Sermon for Easter VI Year A 2017 Living Legacy Earlier this week, I heard about a tradition in which 6 th grade students would leave a gift leave a gift for the incoming 6th-grade class. Sometimes, they would leave behind a favorite pen with a bright colored feather at the top. Other times, they would leave behind words of wisdom for how to survive the 6th-grade. But year, the graduating class left something that the remaining students could hold on to as they continued on their path towards graduation. They left a legacy. This reminded me of the legacy of my daughter s alma mater Wellesley College. Since 1989, each class has planted a tree on the campus. These days a tree is planted by sophomores in anticipation of their graduation year. They leave a legacy a living legacy. In today s gospel, Jesus says to the disciples, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." His commandments were part of what he was leaving behind for the disciples. They were part of what is called his farewell discourse. Soon, Jesus would no longer be physically with them as they knew him. He was preparing them for life without his physical presence something we can relate to. So Jesus emphasized how his followers were to continue the legacy he was leaving: through living a life that he modeled for them and obeying his commandments. 1
But what were the commandments Jesus was referring to? Earlier in his farewell speech, Jesus tells his disciples that he is giving them a new commandment: to love one another as he has loved them. (He says this immediately after he has washed their feet.) He goes on to say that this is how everyone will know that they are his followers, if they have love for one another. Yet what does love really mean? Our society is obsessed with the notion of love. It is in our romantic comedies, showing us that in the end true love always prevails. It is in our books, which help us to reflect on the different ways we show and receive love. It is in our music from opera to country, rock to rap. We even have a holiday dedicated to celebrating love, as if it is the only day all year where showing our love counts most. And what does the Christian faith say about love? Throughout the New Testament, we encounter many definitions and descriptions of love, some mysterious and others more evident. We know that God is love and that God loves us and the world so much that God gave his only Son to us. We have the Apostle Paul s description of love in his first letter to the church in Corinth: "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Even Leviticus, that Old Testament book of laws and statues, tells us that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. 2
And the gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus says it is the second greatest commandment, with our love of God as the first. Yet, Jesus' statement, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, does not specify any of these; it only implies that if we love Jesus we are to love each other, seeming to leave the means of love to our discretion. And yet, in this text, we can learn more about what love means to Jesus through other parts of the legacy he left his disciples. He said to them, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever" Out of Jesus' love for his followers and for God's love of both Jesus and humanity, an Advocate, or helper as it is translated from Greek, would be sent to Jesus' followers. Please note that Jesus said another advocate. Jesus is also an Advocate sent by God to the world, to reconcile it, to love it, and to draw humanity closer to God through his life, death, and resurrection. So after Jesus was no longer physically with his followers, the Spirit would walk with them and guide them the way Jesus walked with them and guided them. The Spirit would be with the followers as Jesus was with them. Jesus knew his followers would need assistance living a life of love as he, the ultimate embodiment of love, did. 3
Thanks be to God, for them and for us, the Spirit they were given would be with them forever: it was with them and within them. The Spirit would be part of his legacy, reminding his followers that they were his living legacy, and guiding them as they strove to live into and out of this gift. So here, to love is to be an advocate, to give oneself for others as Christ gave himself for us and as God gave of Jesus and the Spirit. This definition of love is illuminated throughout the gospels. We see Jesus loving, advocating, and in ministry with the poor and the marginalized, women, persons with disabilities, lepers, strangers and the imprisoned. He fed the hungry and healed the sick. And the list goes on. These things he did are all part of his legacy. Earlier I said that disciples today know what it is like not to see Jesus in the flesh and yet... we have been given the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit looks like an Advocate the one who stands up for you when you need it; the one who speaks on your behalf; the one who lends you a helping hand, takes your side, and won't leave you while you're down. Have you noticed that the Holy Spirit looks like Jesus? The Spirit is "another advocate" because, as we noted before Jesus is the first. 4
The Spirit, Jesus goes on to say, will abide with us just as Jesus the Word made flesh has abided with us. The Spirit is sent in Jesus' name and reminds us of what he taught. In a very real way, the Spirit mediates Jesus presence and helps to keep his promise that he will not leave us orphaned and will come to us. The Holy Spirit is an advocate that looks a whole lot like Jesus. Which means that we've actually seen the Spirit lots of times. Anytime, in fact, someone stands up for another... Anytime someone acts like Jesus... Anytime someone bears the love of Christ to another... we've seen the Holy Spirit. No wonder, then, that Jesus says, "you know him." Because, as it turns out, the Holy Spirit at one time or another has probably looked a lot like you, even a lot like me, and definitely a lot like each and all of us when we do these things. Because we are his living legacy. As individuals we show love to each other when we honor our relationships as mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and as friends. We can be advocates in all these personal relationships. Making sacrifices out of love for others, forgiving, being forgiven, and working towards reconciliation in our relationships. But most importantly, we are called to be advocates, to show love as a community of faith. 5
We are to advocate as a church. We are to preach and teach messages of love. We are to advocate through the hospitality we show towards those who are active and those who visit once in a while. We are to advocate by advocating for those who need a warm place to sleep or food to eat. We advocate and extend Christ s love as a church beyond these walls being a public witness of God s love. You could say that Paul preaching in Athens is one example of how we can meet people where they are recognize their spiritual longing and point them in the direction where they can begin to receive the nourishment, and sustenance they need. As an advocate, we need to listen to people in our communities as we meet them or when they enter our church. We are called to journey with people as they seek to grow deeper in their relationships with God and with their neighbor. So that they, too, will see Jesus in, with and through us and by God s grace, we teach them to be disciples of love. I realize that while this is ideal, it is not always reality. It is a difficult task, much like embodying love as an individual. The church is made up of diverse people with different passions, schedules and resources. Yet we strive to come together, bound by our love for God and commitment to Jesus' legacy. 6
Theologian Orlando Costas puts it best in his essay Evangelism and the Gospel of Salvation when he says, "That [humanity] will never achieve a perfect, just, and peaceful world through [itself] is clearly taught in Scripture. But [humanity's] search for justice, peace, hope, and solidarity is, nevertheless, a sign of the coming age, which the church must relate to and interpret in the light of the gospel. [Our] life struggles constitute, therefore, opportunities for the church to show forth and demonstrate prophetically Christ's saving power." So we are agents of Christ s saving power. The responsibility can be overwhelming. I am sure the disciples were overwhelmed by the life they were summoned to live. However, like the disciples, we have the Holy Spirit as our advocate. The times we feel powerless or unequipped for a particular task, or for delivering God's message, we too can ask God for the Spirit of Truth as Jesus did. Recently, I came across a verse by Michael Baughen that reminds of the ancient poet s words that the Apostle Paul included in his sermon in Athens: Spirit of the living God, move among us all; make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love: humble, caring, selfless, sharing. Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love. This verse is a great reminder for how we are to carry ourselves in love. It also reminds us of what Jesus said to the disciples after he told them of the coming of the Holy Spirit. 7
He said to them, "On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." We are reconciled to God through Christ. Christ is one with God, and we are connected to them, loved by them, equipped by them. The Spirit and Jesus both reside in us, empower us, and equip us. We are one in love, with God and with each other. For in him we live and move and breathe and have our being. Truly we are all his offspring. We are Christ s living legacy. And so we pray: Come, Holy Spirit, come! 8