There’s an old story about a king who decided to create a special holiday to honor the greatest subject in his kingdom.1 When the day came, a large crowd gathered in the palace courtyard. The judges brought four finalists forward, from whom the king would choose the winner. The first person the judges presented was a wealthy philanthropist, who had generously given away much of his wealth to the poor and supported many humanitarian efforts. The second person was a celebrated physician, who had faithfully and conscientiously spent his life serving the sick. The third person was a distinguished judge, who was known for his wisdom, fairness, and brilliant decisions. To everyone’s surprise, the fourth person to come forward was an elderly woman. Her manner and dress were very humble. Was she really someone who would be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom? What chance could she have had, compared with the others who had accomplished so much? Yet, there was something about her: she seemed to radiate love, understanding, and quiet confidence. The king was intrigued, yet also puzzled. He asked who she was. The answer came, “You see the philanthropist, the physician, and the judge? Well, she was their teacher!”
Those of you who were or are teachers know the importance of your work. If you’re fortunate, you occasionally got or get a glimpse of your impact on others – always, we hope, for good. And all of us should be able to remember the teachers who influenced us, the teachers who taught, encouraged, advised, and helped us.
The reason we know anything about Jesus is that he left us a teacher, the greatest Teacher there is. Throughout Easter tide we have been getting glimpses of the impact of the resurrection on the lives of Jesus’ first followers, and on our lives as his disciples. We have been pondering the question, “What does it mean to be disciples of the risen Christ?” Each week, the first lesson from the book of Acts has provided snapshots of the expansion of the first group of Jesus’ followers. Similarly, the reading from the Gospel according to John has reminded us of Jesus’ promises to his followers about what their lives would be like. It’s important to remember that John’s gospel was written in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. Its audience was a community in conflict with both the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman civic leaders, a community that desperately needed reassurance that they had made the right choice in becoming followers of Jesus.
Today’s gospel lesson is a portion of Jesus’ last words to his friends at his last meal with them. Jesus knows that he is leaving them, and they probably do too. They are confused, upset, fearful, and full of questions. “Where are you going? “Show us the Father, they demand.” Today’s portion actually immediately follows a question posed by the other Judas: “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus doesn’t really answer the question. Instead, he tells his friends – and the audience of John’s gospel – what they really need to hear. Jesus makes a promise to them. He reassures them that they will not be left alone. They will not disappear as a community. They will not forever be weak, marginalized, and bereft of God’s presence with them.
Rather – and here’s the good news – Jesus assures his friends that after his death and resurrection, they will have a new way of experiencing his presence. Though he will no longer be physically present to his disciples, he will send them a Teacher. In Greek, the word is parakletos, “paraclete,” or Advocate, as our translation has it. The Greek word is a legal term meaning someone who is called to stand beside a person in a legal proceeding. But a better translation is “teacher,” since the paraclete is really called to teach, not to defend. Here Jesus can already see what his friends cannot as yet see. He promises his followers that the Teacher that will come to them will clarify everything that they don’t yet understand. The Teacher will remind them of everything that Jesus taught them. The Teacher will come to communities of the faithful to instruct and witness to them. The Teacher will give them all the resources they will need to continue as Jesus’ followers. Most important, the Teacher, the paraclete, the Holy Spirit will be Jesus’ ongoing presence with the community of disciples after the resurrection. When the faithful gather together in Jesus’ name, the Teacher will help them to experience the Holy One in their midst, will help them to know that they are connected to both the Father and Jesus.
In John’s gospel, the disciples received the Holy Spirit immediately after Easter, when Jesus came and breathed on them in the upper room on Easter even. In the synoptic gospels, the Holy Spirit came to the gathered disciples fifty days after Easter, at Pentecost. However, it happened, what is clear is that Jesus’ first followers did indeed receive the Holy Spirit, and that the first communities of Christians did indeed continue to be taught by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit helped Jesus’ first followers to spread the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit helped them discern how to incorporate gentiles into what was initially a community of faithful Jews. Even as the good news spread, as we’ve been hearing in our lessons from Acts, the Holy Spirit continued to instruct the new churches and enable communities of the faithful to see the world around them more clearly.
Much has changed in the church since Jesus first promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his followers. Christianity became a favored religion in the late Roman Empire. The Eastern Church separated from the Western Church. The Western church splintered yet again during the Reformation. In 1620, as the community of Pilgrims was about to depart from Leiden for North America, John Robinson, their spiritual leader, told them in his farewell address, “I Charge you before God and his blessed angels that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow Christ. If God reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth from my ministry, for I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from His holy word.” And so the Holy Spirit continues to this day to guide faithful Christian communities.
I believe that we are witnessing a time in which yet more truth and light are breaking forth from God’s holy word. The church is in yet another period of upheaval and transition. We have already witnessed the abolition of slavery and the breakdown of barriers based on ancestry, ethnicity, gender, and sexual preference. We are seeing liturgical change. I think that we will see institutional changes during this century, as the Holy Spirit shows faithful Christians new ways of gathering, organizing themselves, and reaching out to others. We must not resist change. We must not fear it. We must remain faithful to Jesus. We must continue to pray, study Scripture, serve those in need, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to love. We must find ways both in the wider church and in this parish to make the changes in our church lives that the Holy Spirit is calling us to make. We must find new means, whether through social media, QR codes, Instagram, or media we cannot yet imagine, to communicate the good news. We must new times, places, and reasons for gathering together as Jesus’ followers. Above all, we must have faith that the Holy Spirit will continue to be in our midst and will continue to teach us all that we need to learn.
In a lovely sculpture, Vermont artist Jerry Geier gives us a wonderful picture of Jesus’ last meal with his friends. Unlike most renderings of this scene, Jesus and the disciples are dressed in modern clothes and are shown sitting around an ordinary dining table. Jesus’ back is towards us, so that we can focus on the faces of all his friends. Don’t they look like people you might meet at Foodland? They certainly don’t look as fearful in this sculpture as they seem to be in John’s gospel. Perhaps that is because they can already feel the changes that are coming. Notice the open window behind them. The curtains are already stirring, and a breeze is beginning to blow through that window. The promised Teacher will soon show up.
My friends, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Have faith that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach us and lead us. We have Jesus’ promise.
1. Based Gregory L. Tolle, “The Great Teacher,” Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, Series V, Cycle C (Lima, OH: CSS Publishing, 2006), 97-98.
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