I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpBI8aXJ6Gk

Gospel

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

ACCORDING TO JOHN

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This 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. 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."

JOHN 14:15-21

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

Think back to those moments in your life when you had to say goodbye to someone you loved. Those moments in airports, standing in driveways waving as someone drives away. Leaving someone at a new home, a new school, a new city.

And in those moments we tend to say similar things: “We will keep in touch,” “we will visit all the time,” “it will be like I never left.” And at first, yes, it happens. In those first weeks, the connection feels strong. The phone calls and messages continue as if nothing has changed.

But over time, they slow down. They do not come as often, and gradually life gets in the way and the connection fades, sometimes disappears.

Holding these experiences in our minds helps us understand the interaction between Jesus and the disciples in today’s Gospel.

Although the disciples are not mentioned directly today, we know Jesus is speaking to them. At this point in the story, they have been with Jesus for quite a while. They have followed him, listened to him teach, watched him heal, eaten meals with him, depended on him. They love him deeply as a friend and really as family. Their whole lives have come to revolve around him.

And then Jesus says something they do not expect:

“I am leaving. I am going to the Father.”

We know what this means...the cross is on the horizon.

And although the disciples do not yet fully understand the gravity of what Jesus is saying, they surely feel the sadness, grief, and fear of knowing that he is leaving them.

How are they supposed to continue without him? What are they going to do?

And so Jesus responds directly to their fear.

But notice what he does.

He does not simply comfort them. He does not say, “Everything will be fine, we will keep in touch.”

Instead, he says something much deeper.

First he says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

On the surface, this can sound harsh. The disciples are about to lose their closest friend, and Jesus talks about commandments.

But what Jesus is really saying is this: if you truly love me, then your lives must reflect that love. When he leaves, the disciples must continue to live the way he taught them to live: loving as he loved, forgiving as he forgave, welcoming as he welcomed.

Now, the disciples, having been with Jesus for so long, would know how difficult this love would be. They would know that they need to open their hearts even to those they disagreed with, those they could not stand at all, those who were harsh to them. They would need to love everyone, with no condition, as fellow human beings created in the image of God.

And because the disciples are now going to have to live this difficult way without Jesus physically beside them, helping them along, Jesus makes them a promise.

He says that God will send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to abide with them.

The word used here is abide, and it means remain, dwell, even tabernacle—to make a home among them.

This is not the Spirit standing far away at a distance.

This is the Spirit of God dwelling deeply within them.

And this is why Jesus can say to them, “I will not leave you orphaned.”

The disciples are standing on the edge of goodbye. Jesus has told them that when he leaves, they must continue to love as he did, which is an incredibly difficult calling.

And so Jesus gives them something to strengthen and support them...he gives them presence.

He promises that no matter the physical distance between them, the connection will never fade or disappear.

They will never be abandoned. They will never be orphaned.

If we are honest with ourselves, so much of today’s Gospel resonates with our own lives.

We know the experience of having people leave, and it is easy these days to feel alone, or to wonder where Jesus is in it all.

We look at the world around us and there is so much uncertainty. War. Division. Environmental threats. The pressures and burdens of daily life. The loneliness so many carry quietly.

Sometimes it can feel like we are facing all of it alone.

While also trying to do the right thing, trying to be faithful, to love well, to be Christian in a world where the faith isn’t viewed positively.

In many ways, our lives mirror what the disciples’ lives must have experienced after Jesus’ death.

And to their reality and ours, Jesus says:

“I will not leave you orphaned.”

The Spirit is with you.

The Spirit abides in you.

And while most of the time we may never feel like this is true, our call is to hold onto this truth, especially when our lives are difficult.

There is someone with you, abiding in you.

When your days feel long and lonely.

When you feel like a failure.

When life seems so hard you want to give up.

You are not alone.

The Spirit abides in you.

That is one of the greatest gifts of our faith.

A gift we will celebrate at Pentecost, and one that will be made especially visible when members of our church family are confirmed.

Confirmation is about saying yes to the difficult path of love Jesus calls us to, while also trusting that the Spirit is with us.

Because the reality is that to love like Jesus is one of the hardest things we are ever called to do, made harder because our lives are already so difficult.

And Christ does not leave us to do it alone.

He gives us the Spirit.

An Advocate.

A presence that remains with us and continues shaping us throughout our lives.

Next week we mark the Ascension. We will stand with the disciples as they say goodbye to Jesus. But even then, they are not abandoned. And neither are we.

As we go out to live as he did and love as he did, we will struggle. We will be confronted daily with the challenges of being Christian while also carrying the weight of this uncertain world.

But we live holding onto this promise: Jesus has not left us orphaned. His Spirit remains. His love remains. And because of that, we are never alone. Amen.