Always There

It was the evening of the last supper. He had shared some time around a table with his twelve followers and friends. It might have been just another pleasant evening together, but Jesus had to tell his disciples that he would soon be leaving them. So what ought to have been a joyous celebration of Passover turned into a rather maudlin and sentimental meal. Jesus was indeed going away. He was preparing for his death on a cross.

You have to wonder what was passing through the disciples' minds as they heard him talk about his body and blood and about suffering and sacrifice and death. Can this possibly be true? "Where are you going?" Peter asks. "Where I am going, you cannot follow now," Jesus says. "But you will follow later." "Why can't I follow you?" Peter persists. "I will lay down my life for you." Jesus' reply is, of course, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows you will disown me three times." Then Jesus says those words that we've heard so many times: "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also." (Jn.13:36-14:3)

As it has always been, Jesus' concern is for his friends, for their reassurance and their peace of mind. That is why he gives them the promise we heard in today's reading.

"All this I have spoken while (I) am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." (Jn.14:25-27)

As Jesus leaves his disciples he tells them that he will not leave them without support and comfort. "Yes, I am going away from you," he says, "but you will never be alone."

Jesus doesn't make any promise he knows can't be kept. He assures his friends that they are not going to be cast into the world like orphans. They will have nothing less than the power of god in then and with them.

In the original Greek, the word Jesus uses to assure his friends is paracletos. It means, literally, "to call alongside." Different translations of scripture use words like advocate and friend and counselor, but they all really mean the same thing: Jesus promises a companion, someone who shares the journey and who provides his friends with comfort, guidance and inspiration. "I am sending you my presence in a new way," he says, "so that you can be confident that I am with you always." I can't tell you how often we receive prayer requests for someone who is seriously ill. All-too-often it involves cancer, a terrible disease that has touched us all in one way or another.

Of course there are other kinds of crises which can arise in someone's life, the kinds of situations which have the power to set us back on our heels. They could be psychological, emotional, and even spiritual. We are talking about the kinds of situations that eat away at our strength, our spirit, and maybe even our faith.

There have been times when I've received a phone call from someone feels overwhelmed by a sudden death or some truly tragic news. They just aren't prepared to deal with whatever is unfolding right then. "What do I do? How am I ever going to get through this?" These are the kinds of questions that rise right up from their heart. "I can't do this alone!" someone may say. I do what I can to calm their fears and to assure them that God has not abandoned them, and that God wants them to feel some sense of his presence and his strength. Sometimes their hope comes from a word of scripture like we shared this morning.

"You will never be alone," Jesus says to his friends. "God, my father is going to send you a comforter so that you will know that I am with you always." When someone feels pushed to what feels like the breaking point, they want very much to believe and experience the promise which Jesus made in that upper room. They want to believe with some certainty that they are not being forced to endure this all by themselves. I continue to be confident that, when we seek the presence and the comfort which Jesus offers, it will be there for us. I believe that, and I hope you do as well.

In just a few moments we will be coming to our time of prayer. What I'd like to ask you to do this morning is to pray for anyone who is suffering, anyone who is feeling alone, anyone who has experienced a death, either in their own family or the death of someone they knew and cared about. What we're asking for and praying for is that they will all feel Christ's comfort and Christ's presence. It has always been a foundation of our faith that this man who suffered and died such a hideous and cruel death is intimately familiar with whatever we or anyone else is experiencing. We are not alone. That, my friends, is the Gospel truth, and it might be the best good news you're going to hear today.

We give thanks to God for this reassurance.

Amen.