"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."
How long, O Lord, must we deal with the Gospel of John?
How long must we suffer so? Have compassion on your servants
Hasten to our side, and deliver us from this ethereal stuff.
May Holy Trinity Sunday come quickly and not tarry!
Oh Matthew, first of the Gospels, how long has it been since last we looked upon your words?
OK. I’m done with that. . .
"I will not leave you orphaned...”
This is a rich and abiding promise of the rich and abiding presence of God in Jesus Christ. I think often of something that Pat Kiefert said - he claimed that a Gallup poll asked Americans if they could be described as an “emotional orphan” - and over half said yes. . .
I wonder at how loneliness is among the pervasive issues of our lives. Two songs come to mind, the Beatles “All the Lonely People” and America “Lonely People”. The Gospel of Jesus Christ comes to lonely people and promises. . . what? Friends? a life of purpose and meaning? presence and calling?
The Advocate - here’s a question - from Stoffregen - “for whom does the Advocate advocate?” Well, I always thought, “for me.” But he suggests that the Advocate advocates for Jesus. And there are probably many directions we could go with that. Stoffregen goes off on a sin/judgment/forgiveness track. That we're convicted of our sin, judged etc. Kinda negative.
But what if the Advocate advocates for Jesus - calling you to forgiveness and love received, and sending you to live forgiveness and love shown toward others. The Advocate - not as the Spirit acquired - not the Spirit making me better, giving me powers, not even as the Spirit sanctifying (which might be kinda positive, but ultimately, I think, fruitless and inspiring to self righteousness) - RATHER the Spirit equipping and sending. That is an interesting way to speak of the advocating that the Spirit does. . .
2 comments:
a quote or two that may relate
God does not comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters. - J. Henry Jowett
Prayer begins where human capacity ends. - Norman Vincent Peale
or not
This guy in NC, Samuel D. Zumwalt, sometimes has some interesting stuff in his sermons. . .
This one has an opening joke that’s sorta funny. . . but tasteless. . .
and, he kinda does make a good point at the end of his sermon. . .
An Irishman in a wheelchair entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Irishman looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus sitting over there?" The waitress nodded "yes," so the Irishman told her to give Jesus a cup of coffee on him.
The next patron to come in was an Englishman with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus over there?" The waitress nodded, so the Englishman said to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."
The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Redneck on crutches. He hobbled over to a booth, sat down and hollered, "Hey there, sweet thang. How's about gettin' me a cold Coke!" He, too, looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that God's boy over there?" The waitress once more nodded, so the Redneck said to give Jesus a cold Coke, too. "Put it on my bill."
As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Irishman, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Irishman felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig out the door.
Jesus also passed by the Englishman, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Englishman felt his back straightening up, and he raised his hands, praised the Lord and did a series of back flips out the door.
Then Jesus walked towards the Redneck. The Redneck jumped up and yelled ... "Don't touch me.................I'm drawin' disability!"
Face it. Some people just don't want to get better. Do you know anyone like that?
You may be like the redneck in the joke if all you come to worship for is to kind of pay your respects. You may be like the redneck in the joke if you really don't want Jesus to change you because you like your life just the way it is today.
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