Easter 6C 01/05/2016 In our Gospel, Jesus is speaking following the Last Supper about someone he calls the advocate, one who will be there for them. Jesus said that “... 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” (v. 26). Jesus will speak of this advocate, or comforter, several times during this discourse, reminding them that though his departure may seem fearsome, this advocate will not come unless he goes, and will fill them with the spirit of truth. We all need someone to stand up for us, especially when we are in unfamiliar territory. The concept of the advocate came from the Hebrew goel, the advocate or redeemer. Every family is supposed to have such an advocate or goel, to make things right when it all goes wrong. Boaz was the goel for Naomi and Ruth. Job speaks of the need for a redeemer, or goel, who will restore his reputation. That’s why it is a tremendous act of faith when he proclaims, just as it seems that everyone abandons him, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God ...” (Job 19:25- 26). The goel redeemer, which in ancient times was the nearest male relative who was responsible for protecting a person’s interests when that person was unable to do so, is our spiritual power of attorney. But we also need a goel in our life here on earth as well. It may be the one in charge of our medical decisions when we can no longer do so. Or it may be that we are the one trusted with that duty. This is what family solidarity is all about, and God is part of that family. God is the ultimate goel. For Jesus, who is himself a redeemer, his redemption comes when things seem hopeless — in the form of his resurrection. This is the vindication he cried aloud for when he quoted from Psalm 22:1 from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?” Resurrection rewards those who are faithful even when things seem hopeless. We who claim Jesus as our goel, our redeemer, must learn to put our trust in that risen Lord and count on him to be our Advocate. We must learn to trust the Spirit, too. It means taking things on faith. The words of Jesus to Believing Thomas are especially pertinent here: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29). It all comes down to trust. You know where the story is heading. You get there. Do you believe? Faith calls for a leap in the dark. It is different than knowledge. I know
what part of the sky I can find the moon tonight. I know that my redeemer lives. The same word, “know,” is stated with the same certainty in both sentences, but one is based on scientific knowledge. The other is based on something else instead. In both Matthew and Mark the word “afraid” is used in the stories surrounding the resurrection. Jesus tells the apostles they must not be afraid in Matthew. The women say nothing to anyone because they’re afraid in Mark. But in John’s account fear is not mentioned. Why would anyone be afraid in the face of this wonderful event? What were they afraid of? Perhaps the new life. Most of us, even when our hearts are breaking, can handle disaster. We hunker down and absorb our losses. But there is something even more unsettling than catastrophe. It’s what writer J. R. R. Tolkien called “eucatastrophe” — the good cataclysm. He wrote, “The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.”(1) If something good might happen, it requires every ounce of our strength and courage to work to see that it does. Living with hope can be more difficult than living without it. With the possibility of resurrection we must be ready to make changes in our lives and lifestyle. Faced with the eucatastrophe of resurrection we can no longer be satisfied with mediocrity. This hope for the kingdom, this hope grounded in the resurrection, can easily lead to personal disaster. The Greek word for “witness” is “martyr.” We who witness to Jesus stand a good chance of being ground flat. The end of the gospel is not the end of the story. He is risen! Will we have a faith in a Christ we have not seen? Will we trust the Messiah’s promise that death has been overcome, even at the moment we feel most without hope? Will we live in the kingdom now, playing by kingdom rules? Sometimes we say we want to live the resurrection. Sometimes we want to stand tall in a world that has given itself over to doom and death. That’s where it is important that we allow our redeemer, our goel, our advocate and comforter, to stand alongside us and give us the courage we need. Remember, even though it looks like nothing is happening, things are moving at a very swift speed toward something dark, then something very, very good. Our redeemer lives. It was just as true when Job said it while mired in the depths of mystery and despair. It’s just as true now. Our redeemer lives. Politics change and so do policies. Empires come and go. But these three things are sure — Christ has died.
Christ is risen. Christ will come again. “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 let them be afraid.” (v.27) Fellow disciples of Jesus, no better and no worse than those original disciples, that same peace is yours. What are you going to do with it? Think about it. What could the world ever give you that would give you that kind of peace? Wealth and possessions? Jesus warns us about the deceitfulness of wealth and how it promises more than it actually delivers. Worse yet, he warns us how it can choke God’s Word out of our lives. Family and friends? Blessings when they’re there for us, but what happens when they’re not there for us? Far greater is the blessing of being a part of God’s family and having the friend we have in Jesus. So many people in this world are searching for peace in all sorts of places except the one place where it alone can be found, in His Word, in His Sacrament where Jesus gives us his peace. What’s that you say? “That kind of peace sounds really good. I wish I had more of it in my life.” You can and Jesus wants to give it to you. As we heard previously in our Gospel Jesus says, “the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” It seems like the older I get, the more I forget. Sticky notes are helpful if I can remember where I left them. We need reminders in our lives for all sorts of things. How much more so the reminder of the peace we have in Jesus, the promise that, “he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). His love and forgiveness assures us that we are at peace with God. His love and forgiveness strengthens us to live at peace with those around us. God’s storehouse of love and forgiveness is infinite. He wants to pour it out on us. How can we get more of it? By making use of the means by which he pours it into our hearts and lives. He does so through the Means of Grace, the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. Spending time in the Means of Grace enables the Holy Spirit to fill your hearts and minds with peace. So crack open that dusty Bible on the dusty shelf at home. Strive to be in church for Holy Communion every weekend. Stick around for the study sessions and come with those kids to Sunday School. Fill up on the peace that is yours in Jesus. Without the Means of Grace, there is no Jesus and there is no peace. But with the Means of Grace, you know Jesus and you know peace. True and lasting peace, something the world cannot give. Do you want to know an added bonus for those who know the peace of Jesus? Jesus says, “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with
him.” (v.23) You couldn’t ask for better room-mates, or should I say heart-mates, than the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Home is where the heart is. What kind of home will your heart be? One filled with anger and hatred, frustration and worry, or one filled with the peace of God that passes all understanding? There is a place where our innocence, our expectations, our hope, is vindicated. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s word will not pass away. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endures forever! Amen. Father Robert Newton
1). J. R. R. Tolkien, The Monster and the Critics and Other Essays London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983, p. 156.