I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

The disciples were panicking. They had thrown in their lot with Jesus, they had left their families, friends, and livelihoods back in Galilee, and they had followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem. They’d been there with the crowds welcoming him into the city like the next David, but they quickly realized that he had no intention of asserting himself militarily and claiming David’s throne. What then? He’d gathered them in an upper room for a special dinner. A farewell dinner. But then he’d done a strange thing: he behaved as if he were a servant and persuaded the disciples to let him wash their feet. As they were eating, he announced that Judas was going to betray him. How? When? Then, after Judas had hurriedly left, he announced in that commanding voice of his, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.” A little more softly he said, “Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” The disciples froze. Jesus started to speak again, but the other disciples didn’t hear anything else until Peter blurted out, “Where are you going, Lord?” He didn’t really say. He just kept saying that they couldn’t follow him, and that they should love one another. Philip and Thomas asked him again in different ways where he was going, and he more or less said the same thing. The more he spoke, the more it became clear that he was preparing to die – and he implied that his death was part of God’s plan. The disciples froze. He did say he would send them another Advocate, the “Spirit of Truth,” but what did that mean? What on earth would the disciples do without Jesus? How would their little community survive without him?

In the midst of his speech, Jesus said something that caught them off guard. He said, “I will not leave you orphaned.” The disciples knew very well how desperate life was for orphans. Without a father – or a husband for that matter – children and women had no social place. Unless a relative adopted them or took them into their own household, orphans would most likely become beggars or even die of starvation or exposure. The same for widows, who often were forced to become servants or, worse, prostitutes. The disciples also knew their Scripture. They knew that, because orphans were so vulnerable, God had a special concern for them. Didn’t God say in Deuteronomy that he would hear the orphan’s cry if anyone abused them? Didn’t the psalmist promise that the Lord upholds the way of the orphan and widow? Didn’t all the prophets command them to take care of the orphans and widows? Yes, like orphans, that’s just how the disciples were feeling when they thought about Jesus leaving them. So would God take care of them too?

The disciples paid close attention to the next thing that Jesus said: “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I in you.” The disciples got a little glimpse of Jesus’ meaning right then and there in the upper room. After his death, resurrection and ascension, really after Pentecost, the disciples finally understood what he had been saying that night. That night Jesus consoled the disciples by making them a promise. He promised them that he himself would dwell amongst them, in the midst of those truly committed to him, in the community he was birthing there among them. He was already looking beyond his own death towards his ascension and towards Pentecost. And so he promised the disciples that through the power of the Holy Spirit, who would come into their hearts, they would have a second Advocate, i.e., another Advocate besides himself. They would have God’s Spirit, who would enable them to participate in Jesus’ God-given life. Just like Jesus, they too would now be sent into the world, they would be empowered to be Jesus in the world, and they would be able to continue his ministry.

The disciples knew well what Jesus’ ministry had been. Hadn’t they watched what he did as they travelled with him? Hadn’t they seen him heal all those people, take care of widows and orphans, calm the storms, drive out demons, feed people, make peace, and call people to join with him in bringing in God’s Reign? They knew what he was talking about when he commanded them to “love one another as I have loved you.” They’d seen him demonstrate that love in the world. And they realized that with the Holy Spirit in them they would be called and empowered to do everything that Jesus did – including reaching out to those who felt orphaned and abandoned themselves.

My friends, are we too sharing some of the disciples’ panic? Do you feel a little like orphans here in this place? We might wonder, has God abandoned us? Does the diocese care about us? Does anyone in this community care about us? Do even some of our former members care about whether St. Peter’s survives or not? What’s going to happen next? Hear again Jesus’ promise: “I will not leave you orphaned.” We may feel cut off, we may feel as if scarcely anyone cares about us. But the good news is that God loves us in Jesus! God asks us to trust him, and God is always present with us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at work in and through us, even when we don’t recognize the Spirit’s power. We may feel lonely and cut off, but we have Jesus’ promise: “I will not leave you orphaned.” We have not been abandoned! We can trust that God will show us what our ministry in this place can be, and how we are to continue to be Jesus in the world – in new and different ways from the ones that worked for earlier generations in this parish. We can trust that that second Advocate will also empower us all to heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and be good stewards of our environment. And if we know a little of the feeling of possible abandonment, perhaps we too can reach out to care for the orphans and widows among us.

I want to tell you a story, a story that’s particularly appropriate for this Memorial Day weekend. I want to tell you about three people living in Bangor, Maine, people who would have understood the disciples’ panic, who themselves might have felt orphaned, but who reached out to others anyway. Jerry’s beloved dog was dying, and he was battling a heart condition. Joan was none too steady on her feet and worried about slipping on the ice in her driveway, which in central Maine is possible for at least half the year. She also worried about her granddaughter who was deploying to Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot. Bill was drowning in debt, was trying to get his old farmhouse cleaned up for sale, and was being treated for prostate cancer. Bangor, their home town, is a small city four hours north of Boston and close to the Canadian border. It once boasted a Strategic Air Command base, so it has a huge airport, one big enough to land jumbo jets from overseas. Consequently, since 2003 it has been the first domestic airport for troops arriving home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Jerry, Joan, and Bill might have felt like orphans themselves – or given in to understandable self-pity. Instead, they realized that soldiers far from home and family might also feel like orphans. Empowered by the Spirit, Jerry, Joan, and Bill banded together with about a dozen other retirees to meet every troop plane landing in Bangor. Many arrive in the middle of the night. No matter. When they get the word, Joan starts the telephone tree, and they all converge on the airport – at any time of day or night. They applaud the returning troops as they exit the jetway, they shake their hands or hug them, thanking them for their service, and they direct them towards the room where snacks and free cell phones are available for calls to loved ones. They show returning soldiers where pictures of fallen comrades are posted, and they keep them company as they wait for connecting flights. Since the operation began, the Bangor seniors have welcomed over 750,000 weary soldiers back to the United States. Unquestionably, Jerry, Joan, Bill, and the others provide us with poignant examples of the Spirit at work through us, of ordinary folks sharing God’s grace with strangers.1

The Spirit is ready to empower us here. If we believe that God brought this Christian community into being, then we also have to trust in Jesus’ promise: “I will not leave you orphaned.” We must trust that the Spirit will continue to empower us. Just as the folks in Bangor realized, there are orphans and widows, single mothers, and disabled people, hungry and lonely people, who call out to us to share God’s grace with them. When we commit ourselves wholly to Jesus, the Spirit will empower us. I believe that with all my heart!

1. The story of the Bangor Airport welcome operation is told in the documentary film The Way We Get By. Information about the film is available at http://www.thewaywegetbymovie.com/ . The film is also available on Hulu.