Sermon for Sixth Sunday of Easter – John 14:23-29

I love bumper stickers. Here’s one of my favorites (VISUALIZE WHIRLED PEAS). Or this one (MY KARMA RAN OVER YOUR DOGMA). Clever, right? I don’t care so much for this one (JESUS IS MY COPILOT). I mean, I think I know what they’re TRYING to say, but what’s a copilot for? When the pilot passes out. YIPES! You stay in your lane way over there, and I’ll stay way over here, and everything will be just fine. Have you ever seen one like this? (I’M NOT PERFECT JUST FORGIVEN) I confess, this one makes me skeptical, like they’d be the most likely one to cut me off in traffic. Now, that’s kind of ironic. For as much as I think and talk about Jesus’ forgiveness, isn’t it weird to feel skeptical when I see this sticker? Why do I feel that way?

Maybe it’s because of the difference between faith and action. Our actions don’t always reflect our faith. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples, “those who love me will keep my word. Whoever does not love me does not keep my word.” Seems pretty straightforward. Don’t be a hypocrite. Practice what you preach. That’s what mom always taught me growing up, but then I’m thinking “but wait, didn’t I see you do…..?” Smart enough to not say THAT out loud. You’ve got God’s commandments, but then you’ve got mom’s paddle. Do the math. Anyway, Jesus knows that the disciples aren’t perfect. They’re not very good at keeping Jesus’ word. With the cross drawing closer, the disciples are going to need a lot of help. So Jesus makes this incredible promise – “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

Now, this doesn’t sound like good news to the disciples. After living with Jesus for these years, following him, loving him in the only way they know how, now he tells them he’s going away. How must they feel? Betrayed? Abandoned? Then Jesus has the nerve to tell them “if you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.” I mean, have you ever been in a relationship where someone tells you “if you loved me?” Does that sound like love, or more like accusation? But it kind of goes hand in hand with what Jesus said earlier – “those who love me will keep my word.” It’s like Jesus is asking the disciples if they really love him, as if nothing they’ve shared really mattered at all.

This came up for me a few days ago. In my Monday to Friday job, I manage a team of engineers. Smart folks. Dedicated. One of them came to me this week in distress. Lots of organizational changes. New priorities. He had been working on a project for a couple years that was abandoned. Now, I’ve worked with this guy for 15 years. I know he wears his heart on his sleeve, and his deep faith. I also know that something better is coming, but he’s not ready to hear that. Now, I’m quick to testify that I use everything I learned in seminary every day, but he’s almost in tears and I got nothing. He tells me “I’ve been shafted over and over again here, but I’ve still stayed loyal because I believe in what we’re doing.” But that’s not a faith statement. That’s a breaking point confession. So what do you do when he hurts? What do you do when he comes to you because maybe you might be able to do something about it?

That’s when it hit me that maybe none of this felt like good news to Jesus either. He’s lived with these folks day in and day out. He knows their hearts, and who could say it doesn’t kill him to tell them he’s going away? He can tell them about the Spirit until he’s blue in the face and it won’t change the fact that their hearts are broken. Sometimes knowing your Father’s plan can feel more like a curse than anything else. And then there’s us on this side of the resurrection. The Holy Spirit has been given, but are we any more sure? Scripture testifies that the Spirit gives us words to speak. That the Spirit activates gifts within us. That the Spirit is God’s breath of life within us. But if the Spirit is so powerful, then why do we still fail to keep Jesus’ word? We still talk without thinking. We still show our biases. We still act selfishly. We still die. And as Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross, could he have wondered the same?

And still Jesus is so bold to say, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Because Jesus gave everything he had, even his life, just so that we might know peace. Death is no longer the end, not for Jesus and not for us. By the power of his resurrection, he raises us to new life here and now, because he is the living word of God that surpasses everything in heaven and earth. This isn’t just some kind of spiritual presence, but he literally binds our bodies to his own by feeding us at his holy table with his own body and blood broken and shed for you and me. Here’s the thing – when Jesus talks about keeping his word, he’s not talking about commandments or obedience or trying to be better people. He knows those don’t work. So he feeds us himself as the living word of God so that we can’t help but keep him forever. This is why Jesus says “my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” That means you and me, folks.

But if Jesus does all that, then why does the Holy Spirit matter? Well, it’s his Holy Spirit that gives us words to speak, and activates gifts within us, and keeps us in this new life, by the power of forgiveness. Just as we have been forgiven, we can boldly proclaim forgiveness to others, because we actually know what we’re talking about for once. We can testify that their past no longer have power over them, and we will witness the new creation that unfolds in them. After all, it takes one to know one. Now, this doesn’t mean babbling a bunch of fluffy, feel-good words to folks. That’s useless for folks who are drowning, suffering, and dying. What it means is that we tell the truth about drowning, suffering, and dying. We call out evil and prejudice for what it is. We confess that we don’t know all the answers. But by God, somehow we will all be healed by the blood of the Lamb. After all, when Jesus leaves his peace with us, it’s pretty much guaranteed that it won’t be the peace we imagined, but it will be the peace we really need. And right there I know I have something to say to my friend at work. Thanks be to God.