Kristen DelMonte
The Community Church of Sebastopol
April 27, 2008
John 14: 15-21
Here we are in John, sitting with the disciples listening to Jesus’ final instructions before he departs. Being one of the disciples at this moment in time must have been for them like taking a Chemistry final without ever attending chemistry class. I mean, come on now. This is confusing! It’s the last night before Jesus’ arrest, but they don’t know that yet. Jesus has just served them communion, washed their feet, sent off Judas and now he is babbling on for an extended amount of time about what to do next. Something big is brewing and it is something so big that even today, we have a hard time comprehending what Jesus promised.
Jesus claims that he will ask the Father to send another advocate to be with those who love him. As we all must do, we read this passage after all of this has happened, so we know that Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. He uses the Greek word, “parakletos” which we translate to mean paraclete. Certain translations of the Bible have trouble with this word and translate it as “helper, counselor or advocate.” But Paraclete should be translated to English to mean: The One who comforts, the One who helps, the One who encourages and the One who makes appeals on one’s behalf. Those who were familiar with biblical Greek, as the Johannine community was, would have understood all of these definitions as one. Finding words that encompass all of the feelings we have toward the Holy Spirit is a difficult feat.
How would you describe your experience with the Holy Spirit? People who share their faith often are at a loss for words when they try to explain this feeling that overwhelms them. Yet, for so many, the Holy Spirit’s presence is an important part of one’s faith and an important part of our story.
While on the mission trip this last March to Seattle, the youth leaders and I decided to try something different. I remembered hearing something from a teacher in seminary, who said that if we fail to use theological language and stories from our personal lives, then our children will never learn to use theological language or know what is it is that their parents believe concerning God. With this idea in mind, we decided to have a different leader share their personal faith story every night with the youth. While dreaming up this idea, I imagined that our four faith journeys would be as different as the four of us were. However, I was completely wrong. Images of the Holy Spirit weaved all of our stories together. Every single one of us had an occurrence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that was so life altering, we all named it as the pinnacle of our faith. Now, that is something amazing.
What was similar to our faith stories was the fact that during extremely hard times in our lives, we witnessed the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, I never would have imagined that. When times are tough, wouldn’t that be the time when Jesus got going? Why is it that when so many of us are faced with something difficult in our lives, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, illness, depression, what have you, why is it that during these times Jesus seems to be so close to our souls? It is as if during certain episodes in our lives, our sense of the Holy is heightened because of what is happening around us. I wonder why?
In our scripture today we find the answer. Jesus says to them, “I will not leave you orphaned…I am in My Father and you are in me and I am in you.” That’s the comforting part, Jesus is always with us, even when we are sad, lonely, depressed…even when we are happy, glad and full of life. Jesus will not leave us orphaned.
Jesus will not leave us orphaned no matter what and all he commands is that we keep his commandments. The gift of the Holy Spirit was a gift promised by Jesus to his disciples and those who believe in him. In turn, what we do with Jesus’ gift is to live out his commandment to “love one another just as I have loved you.”
How did Jesus love the disciples? First, he shared with them about God and stories about God loving the people. I think about the parable of the prodigal son—always welcome home. The parable of the sower, the parable of the mustard seeds, the story of the good shepherd, the story of the good Samaritan. I think about Jesus welcoming the children. Jesus used story to share about God. Do we do the same? Do we share with our families our stories about where we have seen God today? Do we share with our families our stories about God period?
Sue Monk Kidd, bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees, explains that personal stories about our faith are necessary for others and for us. She writes, “Discovering our personal stories is a spiritual quest. Without such stories we cannot be fully human, for without them we are unable to articulate or even understand our deepest experiences. Many of us left the storied approach to life at our nursery windows and crossed the threshold into adulthood to more logical, didactic ways of making sense of the world. In a culture that is rational, scientific and abstract we have lost touch with the intuitive, imaginative, and concrete dimensions that inform story.”
Stories inform us and touch us in a way that nothing else does. When we share our stories of our experiences of the Holy Spirit, we are brought back to that moment in time—all the feelings are rekindled in our soul. This is evident in the words we choose to express those feelings. Often when discussing the Holy Spirit, we use words like wind, breath, pulling force. When asked to describe one’s encounters with God, we hear varied accounts from complex feelings to simple observations such as seeing a beautiful flower. And, our stories are put into all forms, poems, story and song. When one hears the descriptions of God, feelings are invoked in us—no matter where we are or what the form is. One example is a song by George Strait. The opening stanza reads:
I just walked down the street to the coffee shop
had to take a break
I'd been by her side for eighteen hours straight
I saw a flower growing in the middle of the sidewalk
pushing up through the concrete
like it was planted right there for me to see
the flashin' lights, the honkin' horns
all seemed to fade away
in the shadow of that hospital at 5:08
I saw God today
We must be brave enough to share our story. This was the way that Jesus taught and if you think about it, it is the way we learn. I mean, how many of us always remember the good stories that Gene shares in his sermons? Stories stick to our bones like a good bowl of oatmeal. Our stories are all that we have. I’d like to leave you with one final story from the book Firstlight, which is a book, based on one’s reflection of God in their life.
“My father-in-law died on September 10th, a sudden death at the age of sixty. Devastated, my mother-in-law carried her grief through the autumn and then winter, through all those barren, dead weeks. As spring came and woke the world, her pain was still locked within her. The jonquils pushed up like breaths of life from beneath the earth, and the lone dogwood tree in her front yard burst into new life, opening its delicate pink buds. Mom watched the tree from the window—it had always been her favorite tree, as well as my father-in-laws—but she could not find much comfort. Summer withered away, children walked back to school and a leaf or two drifted off the trees in her yard. On September 10th, Mom’s grief grew intense. As she wandered to the mailbox, however, her eyes lit on the dogwood tree. In the center of the browning yard, under a golden, almost autumn sun, the tree had burst into bloom. It was covered in new pink blossoms. Spring blossoms on the doorstep of autumn. This began Mom’s journey out of grief. Later that day as I stared at the oddly flowering tree, at the petals that had come back on that day, of all days, I felt awed by mystery. By the myriad of ways God comforts.”
Sharing our story is not just what Jesus did, but it is also a way to grow from our experiences. It is painful and raw. It is comforting and therapeutic. It is a reminder to look for God in our lives. It is a jolt to remember Jesus’ promise, “I will not leave you orphaned…I am in My Father and you are in me and I am in you.” This is comforting to know that Jesus is in us and with us always. If you want to see him, just look around and listen.
In a few weeks, we will liturgically celebrate Pentecost—the day in which Jesus asked the Father to send down the Paraclete or Holy Spirit upon the people. Don’t forget to wear red! But, from now until then, I hope you will seize this opportunity to reflect on what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives. Share your story—it is worth knowing it. Reflect on your experience of story. See where the Holy Spirit is stirring within your soul. We are important people of God, we have a story to share and it is time that we shared it.