6th Sunday of Easter

In today’s Gospel reading,
Jesus says: “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.”

This is one of Jesus’ most beautiful promises.
The promise that we will be taken care of:
Never orphaned, or left alone.

God promises to take care of us.
And this isn’t anything new.

Throughout all of human history--
God has promised to take care of His people.
And over and over again,
God sends others to help with that mission.

Noah built an arc.
Moses climbed a mountain.
Isaiah brought a prophesy of hope.
Jesus was born in a barn.
Died on the Cross.
And was gloriously resurrected.

After his resurrection: Jesus Returned to Earth,
Before eventually ascending to the Father,
And finally sending us the Holy Spirit.

That’s what this Gospel reading talks about:
Jesus’ ascension into heaven,
and the sending of the Holy Spirit to continue to take care of us.

What’s funny is that in John’s Gospel,
Jesus is talking about this even before his arrest and death:
Not after his resurrection.

Today, we’re still in the Easter season,
But our Gospel reading transports us back to Holy Week:
To the time right before Jesus’ death:
And even then, Jesus promised the post-Easter sending of the Holy Spirit.

According to John,
Jesus’ final words before his arrest point to his ascension into heaven,
And ultimately Pentecost:
The sending of the Spirit.

Following his death,
When Jesus is resurrected,
He’s first resurrected to earth:

He lives on the earth,
Spends time with his friends,

And he prepares them for the future:
The future where even Jesus had to leave this earth.
Where even Jesus had to ascend to the Father.
Even after dying,
And resurrecting:

Even after all that:
Jesus still had to leave this earth.

And still.
Still that’s not the end of the story.

Death wasn’t the end.
Resurrection wasn’t the end.
Even the ascension into heaven wasn’t the end.

Still, that’s not the end of God’s earthly care for us.
Because even after Jesus leaves,
He sends his Holy Spirit:

His holy spirit upon the earth to care for--
Nurture--
Watch over--
And fill the souls and bodies of God’s people.
Promising to never leave us orphaned.

Jesus said that you will know the Holy Spirit,
Because he abides with you.

And is IN YOU.

IN YOU.
God never leaves us.
The risen Christ dwells in us:
As the spirit of truth.

We talked about this last week:
When we made our own holy water:
And put it in the “stoop” at the entrance to the sanctuary.

We talked about dipping our fingers in the holy water as a reminder of this
dwelling of Jesus within us.
The spirit living within us.

We receive this spirit at baptism,
And that same spirit continues to transform us into the body of the risen Christ in
the world.

Because of God,
Because of that spirit dwelling within us,
We are never alone.
We are never left as orphans.

And seriously:
We need to understand that God is not up in the clouds.
Not Distant--
Not Far Away--

Not Looking Down--

But God is really and truly--
Always WITH YOU.
IN YOU.

Before moving to Wisconsin:
I spent seven years as a church camp director at an amazing place called
Thunderhead Episcopal Center.

One of my primary tasks,
Was writing the program for each summer camp:
Putting together the actual lessons and learning that kids would experience at
camp.

A number of years ago,
I wrote a camp program that focused on God working through popular music.
God Working:
The Holy Spirit MOVING,
Through top forty radio.

I know it sounds kind of crazy,
But the idea of God living—dwelling within us is kind of crazy too:
Sometimes even hard to believe.

And of course, there are some songs:
That are clearly not God.
But at the same time, there are songs that point to God:

To God living and moving in the world.

We explored some of those songs at camp that summer,
One of them was Pharell Williams’ “Because I’m happy.”

And there was one in particular that relates to today’s Gospel reading.

The popular country group, called Lady A
Had a great song in 2013 called, “Compass.”

The chorus of the song proclaims:
let your heart, sweet heart
Be your compass when you're lost
And you should follow it wherever it may go.

When it's all said and done
You can walk instead of run
'Cause no matter what you'll never be alone.

THIS is what Jesus is talking about.
No matter what, when it’s all said and done,
You will never be alone.

Because God is with you.
IN YOU.
To be your compass when you’re lost.
With you wherever you go.

And I don’t mean this to sound cute and adorable.
Because it’s actually pretty serious business.
So serious,
So amazing,
That it seems kind of crazy:
Kind of hard to believe:
Beyond anything we can imagine or comprehend.

Our opening collect today speaks to this directly.
To remind us that God dwelling in our hearts is not cute.
It’s not trite.
It’s real.
Completely and utterly real.

The collect says,
“O God, You have prepared for those who love you
such good things as surpass our understanding.”
God has prepared for us,
Things that are beyond our understanding.
Beyond our knowledge.
Beyond our imagination.
Beyond anything we could ever hope or dream for.

The collect continues:
“Pour into our hearts such love towards you,
That we, loving you in all things and above all things,
May obtain your promises,
Which exceed all that we can desire;”

God makes promises that EXCEED all that we can desire.
(I love that: EXCEED: PAST, BEYOND, MORE THAN)
Exceeding all that we can even DESIRE.

So much so:
That we can’t even fully know what those promises are.
Because it’s beyond anything than we could ever want.
More amazing than anything we can ever hope for.

So surely:
We are not alone.
Surely:
We are never orphans.
Surely, we shall never be dead.

Because the promises that God makes us.
The presence that God consistently brings to us:
Dwelling within is,
Is bigger than all that--
Including anything else we can ever ask for or imagine.

Amen.