We Are Not Alone

Ann Beaty
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

May 9, 2010

This farewell text in John’s gospel introduces onto the scene the idea of the Trinity – God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The bad news for the disciples is that Jesus is going away.  The good news is that the Holy Spirit will come to restore the presence of the absent Jesus.

John wants us to know that the coming of the Holy Spirit was (and is) a testament to God’s love for us – that God’s relationship with humanity is never finished.  In the presence of the Holy Spirit, God promises that the communion of God and humanity that has been fulfilled in Jesus coming to earth will not end with Jesus death.

So, how does John want us to understand the Trinity?  Who is God the Father?  Who is God the Son?  Who is God the Holy Spirit?

God the Father:  The word used is “Abba” – meaning parent.  God our Creator longs to be in loving relationship with us.  In Genesis we are told that God looked at all that had been created – including humanity – and said “It is good.” 

God the Father is not about gender, as we understand that term in our language.  It is about relationship.   God as our Creator brings us into the world in love.  We are created in love, for love, to love.

Jesus, the Son, is on same page (so to speak) with God.  Jesus lived and taught what was at the heart of the one who sent him.  If we meet and experience the fullness of God, we meet and experience Jesus. 

Jesus bridged the gap between us and God –the gap of knowing love fulfilled.   Jesus was fully human and fully divine – a concept of our faith that we know and say, but can barely grasp the meaning of.  We know God’s love and provision more intimately because we know Jesus.

John describes the Holy Spirit as teacher and reminder.  The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, Helper, Companion, and Comforter.  This is the teacher who expects and sees the best in us and calls that “best in us forth in love.

What do we remember about our favorite teachers?  Most frequently, we remember those who established a caring relationship with us and those who expected (and saw) the best in us. 

One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Wolfe, my second grade teacher.  I still remember vividly an art project that involved making very fragile sugar eggs.  It was a laborious process to prepare and mold the eggs.  They were sugar on the outside, but hollow on the inside.  After carefully decorating them, we put our eggs in the window sills to dry and were given strict instructions to leave them alone.

I don’t remember now what possessed me to do this as I was a major rule follower, but I touched one of the other students eggs and it fell.  I was horrified.  I quickly looked around to see who was watching, but no one saw me do it.  I went back to my seat and said nothing.  I remember the moment when Mrs. Wolfe discovered it.  She asked the class about it and gave opportunity for a confession now or later, but I just sat there.

I went home that night and felt terrible about what I had done.  I felt bad about what I had done, but mostly I felt such horror that I had let Mrs. Wolfe down.  It didn’t take long for me to confess in tears to my parents what I had done.

I remember going to her the next day to tell her I was the one who had broken the egg.  I actually think she may have known anyway.  I still remember her kind face and gentle words – and her appreciation of my honesty.  And yet, in love, she held me to her expectations that I take care of what I had done.  I had to tell the other student what I had done and then make him another egg.  I vowed never to disobey a command again in my life.

As a teacher, Mrs. Wolfe gave us love and trust and freedom, and yet she was clear about our limits and the consequences – whatever was appropriate for the second grade.

I still knew, even in my confession, there was never a moment when I had broken the bond of love and caring that Mrs. Wolfe had for me.

Each year, near the end of our 6th grade confirmation classes, we work with the youth to write their own creed – their own statement of faith about what they have learned and come to believe about the faith.  It is read each year in church on Confirmation Sunday.

Without a doubt, every year, defining what they believe about the Holy Spirit is always the hardest part of the creed for them to write.  And yet, I’m always impressed with the way they are able to articulate this aspect of God’s presence with us. 

Here is some of what they have written about the Holy Spirit:

2010:  We believe that the Holy Spirit watches over us and also lives in our hearts.  How the Holy Spirit works in our lives is a little bit mysterious, but the Holy Spirit is the part of God that gives our life a great energy and lifts our spirit, soul and heart.  The Holy Spirit is always with us and gives us a sense of God’s peaceful presence.  The Holy Spirit also works as our conscience and helps us to do the right thing. 

2009:  We believe that the Holy Spirit helps us live our lives in a good way.  The Holy Spirit watches over us and is comforting when we are hurting.  The Holy Spirit helps us stay on the right path and guides us.  The Holy Spirit lives inside us all and is Jesus’ spirit with us forever.  We sometimes experience the Holy Spirit as our conscience guiding us to do good and help others.  The Holy Spirit makes us feel special and loved.

2008: The Holy Spirit is God’s presence with us.  We believe the Holy Spirit is around us and in us giving us direction and contact with God every day.

2007: We believe the Holy Spirit is God at work in our lives as guardian angel, leader, and helper in our daily living.  The Holy Spirit is God’s whisper in our lives and helps bring us up when we are feeling sad.  The Holy Spirit helps guide us in making good decisions.

John assures us:  We are not alone… As Jesus departs, the Holy Spirit comes.  As Jesus is reunited with the Father, the community is united to the Spirit.  Fred Craddock, my preaching professor in seminary puts it this way: 'The Holy Spirit will do for the Church what Jesus did for the disciples.'"

John tells us it is “peace” that Jesus is leaving.  Peace to encourage troubled hearts.  We can trust that this is true because the Advocate will BE all these things for us. 

We are not alone in the struggle of life. The Spirit of Christ  - the Holy Spirit - is with us all the way, informing, directing and guiding. We are therefore able to face life free from bondage to fear.  This doesn’t mean we never feel anxiety or fear, but it does mean that fear and anxiety don’t rule our lives.  

Life may be complicated at times, but the path to salvation – our wholeness -  is clearly before us because the Holy Spirit leads us onward in love. Therefore, it is possible for peace to surround us, even through our moments of deepest trouble.

Listen to the words we hear most Sunday’s in the benediction:  They say the message of this scripture so completely:

Go now in peace.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever.  Amen.