The Living Reminder
Dr. Jim Wilson, May 9, 2010 Ann was an amazing person. By any measure, life had not been easy for her. Her husband died when their three children were young, leaving Ann a single parent. Her older son was killed in Viet Nam. Her daughter struggled with breast cancer for a number of years and died in her late thirties. Ann herself suffered with a number of health issues, including rheumatoid arthritis. She had a tough life. Yet, as I said, Ann was amazing. She always had a smile. I never heard her complain. In fact, she always seemed to be so alive and vital, truly in love with life, ready to reach out with a kind word of encouragement or a kind act of caring. When there was a death in the congregation, Ann was one of the first to bring a meal and a warm greeting. If there was a crisis in the congregation, she would say, “Don’t worry, the Lord will lead us through this.” My second year at the church, we experienced a serious financial crisis due to lay offs at a local manufacturing plant. At a Council meeting, we were wringing our hands and grumbling, when Ann smiled and said, “I think it is going to be exciting to witness how the Lord will help us meet this opportunity.” That was typical Ann. At first, I thought she either was somewhat out of touch with reality or was simply “Pollyannaish.” When I learned her personal story and became acquainted with her, I discovered she was neither. She understood reality very well. However, she saw reality from a different perspective. One member commented at her funeral, “Ann reminded me of what it means to be faithful.” I agreed with him wholeheartedly and in my funeral sermon said, “Ann was a woman of a deep and abiding faith, who saw all of life in terms of how Christ Jesus’ redeeming love was at work, bringing new life where there was death, hope where there was despair, and joy where there was sorrow.” We called her “Ann.” I think Jesus might have called her “a living reminder” of his gracious love. In our text, this is how Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit---as the living reminder of his word and his love present with us, a reminder that frees us to live faithfully and fully The setting is the Upper Room where Jesus and the disciples are gathered at table for their final meal together. Jesus continues his farewell discourse, seeking to prepare his disciples for his departure and their life without him. He promises not to leave them “orphaned,” alone or to their own devices. “Those who love me will keep my word,” Jesus says, “and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” Again, Jesus emphasizes the connection between love and obedience, between loving him and keeping his word or teachings. To love Jesus is to obey his word and to obey his word is to love him. Such love and obedience result in the presence of the Father and the Risen Christ with them. That is the promise---God continues to be present with the faithful, those who keep Jesus word. But how are the disciples to keep this word? Jesus does not say, “Each morning, when you get up, go over my teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and then read a few chapters in John’s Gospel, so you won’t forget what I said, and you’ll have my word at your fingertips.” No, what he says is a more complete explanation of the promise: “I have said these things to you while I am still with you,” he tells the Eleven, “But 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.” Jesus promises not to leave the disciples alone, and now that promise will take shape in the coming of the Paraclete, the Spirit. In Greek, the word, parakletos, means literally, “to come along side,” and gets translated in various ways---Counselor, Helper, Comforter, Instructor, and Advocate. In other words, the Advocate or Holy Spirit is God walking alongside of the faithful, reminding them of Jesus’ word. This is the function of Advocate who comes in Jesus name---to teach the faithful everything and remind the faithful of all that Jesus has said. The Spirit’s function is not to offer new revelations but to unfold, explain in ever new understanding, interpretation, and application the teaching and revelation of Jesus. The Advocate, this Holy Spirit of God is to be a living reminder of all that Jesus taught and is. Now the result of the Spirit’s work as the “living reminder” walking along side of the faithful is the gift of peace. Keeping Jesus’ word, results in being secure, at peace, in the promise of the Lord. Jesus states this in words both powerful and profound, “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.” This promise is meant to reassure the faithful. We are not left alone or desolate for even as Jesus leaves, the Father sends the Spirit in his name to enable us to keep Jesus’ word and know the Lord’s gracious presence with us. This One, the parakletos, the Advocate, is the “living reminder” to the faithful of all that Jesus taught and the liberating love he offers to us. I find these words of Jesus so very timely for us. The promise of the Advocate as the living reminder, I believe, offers reassurance to us. There are moments when we find the demands of discipleship overwhelming. As one person told me in a Bible study, “Jesus expects a great deal, I am not sure I can do all that he asks.” I understand the feeling. That is why we need to hear the promise of the “living reminder,” the One who walks along side us, instructing us, enabling us, reminding us that we live by his grace, not our own accomplishment. It is the presence of the “living reminder” with us that enables us to keep Jesus’ word, to walk faithfully. We journey not on our own but in God’s presence. Someone asked a friend of mine awhile ago, “What is the difference between Christianity and Judaism?” My friend replied, “There are doctrinal differences, but these are not the most significant. After all, much of what Jesus taught has its basis in Judaism. Of course, there is the difference in how each faith understands who Jesus is, and this is very significant. Yet, I think the most significant difference is that Christians believe in the presence---the presence of God with us now. We are not waiting for the Messiah. We believe the Messiah has come and is at work among us now.” I think that was a profound answer. Christianity is a faith that proclaims the presence of God among us, the “living reminder,” the Advocate, the Spirit of God. There is no substitute for the presence in our faith or in our daily lives. A story is told of a man who stopped to order some flowers for his mother who lived some 200 miles away. As he got out of his car, he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong, and she replied, “I want to buy a red rose for my mother, but I have only 75c and a rose costs $2.” The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl a rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving, he offered to give the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to the town’s cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet, and drove the 200 mile to his mother’s home. There are times when the living reminder comes through others---even children who often remind us that there is no substitute for being present, for loving not just in word or in thought, but in person. I would guess most of us have experienced the “living reminder” in our lives. For instance, have you ever been reading a passage from the Bible, one that you have read countless time before, but this time the words seem to jump off the page and grab you? You say to yourself, “I’ve read these words several times but this time they speak to me; this time I understand what they mean.” That is the “living reminder” walking along beside you. Or perhaps someone, a friend, a spouse or child, a co-worker, asks you once again to forgive them for some wrong. You say to yourself, “How many times do I have to forgive?” Then you hear that reminder, “…not seven times, but seventy times seven times.” Or you are going through a particularly tough time in your life. You feel like you are walking in the “valley of the shadows,” not knowing what to do. Then in worship, maybe in the words of a hymn or the choir anthem or the Scripture lesson or even the sermon, you hear the word of Jesus, and say, “Now I remember. God is here. God’s grace is sufficient. I belong to the Lord. He will deliver me.” That is the Advocate, the “living reminder” walking along side. Periodically over the years, someone will say to me after the worship service, “Your sermon really spoke to me. It was as if you knew exactly what I am going through and were speaking directly to me. Thank you.” While I appreciate the kind words, I know this is not my doing. It is the work of the Spirit walking alongside, once again being the “living reminder.” I reply, “The thanks belongs to the Holy Spirit who took my words and let them become the Word for you.” Such is the promise Jesus gives us. He will not leave us alone, orphaned. What a comforting, reassuring, empowering promise He offers us. The Advocate comes and resides with us, as the “living reminder,” of all that Jesus taught and all that Jesus did, and all that Jesus is. May we live expecting the Advocate walking alongside us! Thanks be to God! Amen! |
