Sixth Sunday of Easter – John 14:23-29
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN

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Have you ever received a sign from God? What was it? How did you know it was from God? Now think about the times you wanted a sign but didn’t get it? How do you know you didn’t? [MY CALL]

Signs can be tricky. Take the Book of Revelation. One great big sign. A lot of folks don’t like it, because it talks about monsters and demons and natural disasters like some horror movie. But it’s also got some glorious bits, like in today’s reading where the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven. Christians have been debating for centuries about what it all means. And what about poor John who tried to write it all down? All that stuff crammed in his head at once? Imagine trying to tell your friends about all that.

And then our reading from Acts – St. Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come and help them. So off he goes. But who does he actually meet? A woman named Lydia. And she’s rich. Not your usual convert. The bible doesn’t like rich people very much. But she’s so converted that she wants Paul to come stay with her. And Paul’s stunned. She begs. She prevails. She practically has to drag him to her house. Maybe Paul’s like, “but, but, but I didn’t come here for you. I’m looking for a guy.” And who knows if he ever even met the guy in his vision.

I like how the lectionary pairs these readings with our gospel, to shake us up a little bit and appreciate why Jesus’ disciples feel a little confused. It’s the last supper. They don’t realize that Judas has just gone out to get the authorities. So Jesus is trying to pitch that even though he’s about to be taken away – killed, actually – it’s not the end. Their mission doesn’t change. No one gets laid off. God’s going to send another Advocate to help them. The Spirit of Truth. The world won’t see it or hear it. But you will. Because those who keep my commandments love me. And I will love them and reveal myself to them. Which ought to be good news.

But the disciples are confused. What does he mean, “spirit of truth”? Is that a vision? A sign? An idea that magically pops into everyone’s heads? Because it’s truth. Doesn’t God want everyone to know the truth? So Judas (not Iscariot – there are 2 Judases) asks “how will you reveal yourself to us, and not the world?”

Now, that’s a huge question. I mean, being a disciple isn’t easy. He’s put the disciples in some scary situations. Always stirring up trouble. It’s a miracle they haven’t been stoned yet. Except at the end of the day, Jesus was there to speak up. He made sure everyone heard the truth, like it or not. But if God only sends this Spirit of Truth to the disciples, then it’s all on them. How are they supposed to explain a vision this big? Heck, what IS the truth? And if the world can’t receive it, then do you think there’s going to be resistance? People are people. They say they want to know the truth, but do they mean it?

Truth is, this sounds like Jesus setting them up for an impossible mission. Like suddenly dropping a huge weight on their shoulders and taking off. And they’re not happy about it. No wonder Jesus tells them “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t let them be afraid.” Except we hear Jesus say that all the time. How’s that working for us? If we’re honest, not well. So Jesus gets frustrated. He says, “if you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.” As in, “if you really loved me, you’d stop griping.” After all, Jesus is human too. Crucified and died.

So, how well did the disciples do? They did ok for a little while. But then came disagreements, jealousies, power struggles. Even St. Paul fights with the apostles in Jerusalem. Faith in Jesus spreads, but so does all that baggage. So, I don’t know if you know this, but in the Book of Revelation there are letters to 7 churches that name a laundry list of dysfunctions. Funny how we never read that part on Sunday morning. Because we still carry around that same baggage. We turn a blind eye to disagreements because it’s too much work to address, or we keep them to ourselves and let them fester. We don’t speak out about injustice because we’re afraid we’ll turn folks off. So the loudest mouths get away with pushing their own political agendas and insisting they speak for Christ.

You have to wonder – if the Spirit of Truth really came, would we know the difference?

Well, the good news is that we do know the difference. The Spirit of Truth only does one thing. It points us to Jesus, the one who keeps all his promises to us. The one who died and rose after three days, like he said he would. And we don’t have to wait for him to reveal himself. He already revealed himself to us when he made his home in our hearts, by the power of his Spirit in the waters of our baptism. And there’s not a thing we have to do to make him love us, because he loved us first. From the beginning of time he knew us and called us by name, to abide with him forever. He assures us that God’s commandment is eternal life (John 12:50), and we know that God will have God’s way with us. That’s why Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t let them be afraid.”

Now, I know it’s hard to believe all that, because Jesus also says, “if you love me, you’ll keep my commandments.” Like we better or else. After all, that’s what the world has taught us our whole lives. But it doesn’t mean the same thing. The world just wants us to follow orders, so we know who’s in charge. Laws, governments, police, military forces all tell us as long as we obey, then everything will be peaceful and no one gets hurt. Except rules change. Power gets abused. If we’re not rich or privileged enough to skate by, then we get sucked down a deep dark hole of bureaucracy that seems impossible to climb out of. Almost like it’s by design. So the Spirit of Truth tells us that the world doesn’t practice what it preaches.

But Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” Love doesn’t force or compel or command. It just loves. Love seeks the welfare of the least of us. Love listens to those who the world tries to silence. Love believes folks when they tell us their struggles and doesn’t wage blame. Love pulls folks out of the river, then goes upstream to find out why they’re falling in. Because love reminds us that could be us.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Love calls us into risky places where we don’t know the way. Mistakes get made. So Jesus reveals himself to us again in the whole body of Christ – all of our siblings in Jesus who show up and show out when we least expect. To share our burdens. To bear the peace that passes all understanding. And to keep whispering Jesus’ words into our ears – “I’ve told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”