In the Meantime

John 14:23-29

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins

Georgetown Presbyterian Church

May 13, 2007

I feel really fortunate, because Thom and I have a good relationship in this church. Not all pastors and church musicians are able to co-exist peaceably, though. Take, for example, the feud that took place between one minister and his choir director. They really didn’t get along, and the choir director would often use his music selection to take jabs at the pastor.

One week the pastor preached a sermon on commitment, and how everybody should dedicate themselves to service. The choir director then led the choir in singing, "I Shall Not Be Moved."

The next Sunday, the pastor preached on giving and how we should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The choir director then led the singing of "Jesus Paid it All".

The following week the sermon was on the topic of gossiping and how we should watch our tongues. The hymn selected by the choir director: "I Love to Tell the Story."

By this time the tension between the pastor and the choir director was palpable, to the point that the pastor told the congregation that he was considering resigning from the pulpit. The choir director led the singing of "Oh, Why Not Tonight."

The following Sunday the pastor announced from the pulpit that he was resigning. He told the church that Jesus had led him there, and that now Jesus was taking him away. After the sermon, the organ belted out the music to "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

Obviously, not all departures bring that kind of reaction. There is no such longing for separation in the upper room where Jesus and his disciples have gathered. The thirteenth through the seventeenth chapters of John’s gospel are rightly labeled as the Farewell Discourse, for the verses found in these chapters are filled with good-byes and final words that Jesus gives to his disciples. Jesus has told the disciples that he will be leaving them. And they respond as we would expect: Where are you going, Lord? Can we go with you? Who will take care of us while you’re gone?

It is a tension to which we can relate, as well. For Thursday is the day in the church year when we recognize the Ascension of the Lord, that day when Jesus was taken up into heaven, leaving his disciples behind. We live in a post-Ascension, pre-second-coming age. That is the great mystery of the faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Here we are, somewhere in between the "Christ is risen" and "Christ will come again."

We find ourselves in the meantime.

How are we going to get by in Jesus’ absence? Who will take care of us while he’s gone? It’s the same tension that the disciples felt. But Jesus did not leave his disciples without instructions and assurances then, and neither does he leave us without instructions and assurances today. The words of Jesus that he gave to his disciples before his crucifixion are words that give us instruction and assurance for living in the meantime.

Last week in church we focused on the imperative to love one another, just as Jesus has loved us. Love is one of the great instructions that Jesus leaves behind for us. To seek the welfare of others, to give of ourselves for the sake of others—that is one of the tasks given to us in the meantime.

And in today’s text, Jesus continues that emphasis, with an added condition: "If anyone loves me," he says, "he will obey my teaching." There is a strong connection between love of Jesus and obedience to his teaching. Throughout the gospel—especially in John’s gospel—belief and love and obedience are tied together, inseparable.

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." In the meantime, while we await Jesus’ return, we are to be about the business of obeying Jesus’ teaching. Don’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs, says Jesus: Do something. Do what I have been teaching you to do.

"Meantime faith" is no idle matter. Meantime faith doesn’t mean we pack our bags and wait to be taken up in the rapture. Meantime faith insists that we continue the work that Jesus began: to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the captives, to declare the recovery of sight for the blind and release for the oppressed. Meantime faith insists that we make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything that Jesus has commanded. Meantime faith insists that we welcome the children into our midst, because of such is the kingdom of heaven. Meantime faith insists that we feed the hungry and give drink to those who thirst, that we show hospitality to the stranger, that we clothe the naked, that we give shelter to the homeless.

Meantime faith is about obedience to Christ. Not just in keeping his commands, but also obedience to the way of life to which he calls us.

But there is more to the meantime than our faithful obedience. For not only does Jesus command our obedience, but he also promises that we will not be left alone to our own devices. In the meantime, we will experience the blessings of the presence of God, we will be guided by the Holy Spirit, and we will receive the gift of Christ’s peace.

Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." Jesus makes it clear that there are benefits that come with the triad of belief, love and obedience. The love that we show to Jesus is not unrequited love; it is returned to us by the Father. And more than anything else, our hearts long for the love of the Father.

Several years ago, there was a story of a man in Spain who was estranged from his son. He and his son had a falling-out, and the son ran away. The separation lasted years. Finally, the father could not bear the pain any longer. Not knowing how to contact his son, he paid for a series of billboard ads and taxicab ads around Madrid, with this message: "Juan, all is forgiven. Come home. I love you. Meet me on Saturday at the Plaza Mayor. --Dad."

That Saturday, hundreds of young men named Juan showed up at the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. Hundreds of young Juans desperately longed for the love of their fathers. You cannot tell me that there is not a similar yearning in the human heart for the love of our heavenly Father, as well. In the meantime, Jesus promises that those who are faithful to him will experience the love of the Father.

And Jesus also promises that in the meantime the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will come to teach us and remind us of the ways and the words of Christ. The word that we have translated as "Counselor" in the Greek is "paraclete." Literally, the paraclete is "one who comes alongside." It is the image of an advocate, of one who comes to the aid of another. In one article I read, the author described the paraclete as "the one whose name you call when you are hauled into court on false charges, [or] when the school bully is beating you up on the playground, [or] when you wake up from a bad dream… A paraclete is the one who comes to your defense, your rescue, your comfort, and Jesus has done that for his disciples." The paraclete is your helper in times of trouble, your guide in times of confusion.

In the meantime, says Jesus, you will not be left alone. The Father and the Son will come and dwell in your heart, and the Counselor, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, will come alongside you to help you live the life that Jesus calls us to live in the meantime.

And in the meantime, Jesus gives us this wonderful gift of peace. Not peace as the world defines peace, but HIS peace. Jesus gives us shalom, that special peace that is an inner calm and sense of well-being that one experiences even in the midst of the storms of life. It is a peace that transcends our circumstances. It is the peace that says to the soul, "All will be well," not out of some ability to read the future, but because we know the Christ in whose hands our future rests.

Before she died, Ann Landers was asked, "Of the 10,000 letters you receive each month, what is the most common request you get?" Her answer was that most people seem to be afraid of something. They are afraid of losing their health, their job, or their family. They are afraid of upsetting a neighbor, of alienating a friend, of offending a co-worker, or of committing a social faux pas. Fear has such a strong hold on so many people. Fear can paralyze you and prevent you from doing the things that you have been called to do. It is in such a world consumed by fear that Jesus says to us, "My peace I give to you… Let not your hearts be troubled; neither let them be afraid."

Some have thought that faith in Christ will act as some sort of insurance against calamity in our lives. Yet the witness of scripture is that no one is immune from bad things. Even God’s most faithful ones have bad things happen to them. Jesus does not promise that in the meantime everything will be smooth and easy. What he does promise is that in the meantime he will be with us, and he will carry us through those troubling times.

In 1996 Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicago, was dying from pancreatic cancer. He decided to write a book that described his journey of faith over the previous three years. They were perhaps the most tumultuous years of his life: He was falsely accused of sexual misconduct (and after he was exonerated he was later reconciled and shared holy communion with his false accuser); he was diagnosed with cancer, went into remission, and then the cancer returned after 15 months of remission. The title of his book is, The Gift of Peace. He wrote the last chapter of his book just two weeks before he passed away. Let me share with you some of his last words:

"As I conclude this book, I am both exhausted and exhilarated. Exhausted because the fatigue caused by the cancer is overwhelming. Exhilarated because I have finished a book that is very important to me.

"As I write these final words, my heart is filled with joy. I am at peace.

"It is the first day of November, and fall is giving way to winter… It is quite clear that I will not be alive in the spring…

"What I would like to leave behind is a simple prayer that each of you may find what I have found—God’s special gift to us all: the gift of peace. When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst times. We let go of what is nonessential and embrace what is essential. We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us. And we become instruments in the hands of the Lord."

As Christians we find ourselves somewhere between the "Christ is Risen" proclamation of Easter, and "Christ will come again" hope that we profess. In the meantime, we wonder what to do, we wonder who will take care of us.

In the words that Jesus gives to his disciples in the upper room, we find the answers to those questions. In the meantime, Jesus calls us to be faithful in obedience and love. In the meantime Jesus promises us that we will not be left alone, that we will be given the divine presence of the Holy Spirit as our helper. And in the meantime Jesus will give us the gift of peace—not just any peace, but HIS peace.

In the meantime, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Amen.