Help

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! We are now approaching the end of the Easter season. After today there is one more Sunday, and then Pentecost. In this season we are focusing on Jesus’ teaching as he is preparing the disciples for their mission with him seated at the right hand of the father. So today we hear Jesus tell them, and us about the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes you just need help. Do you know what I am talking about? There is a particular task in front of you that you need to do, and for whatever reason, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t do it on your own. You simply need help.

I found myself in just such a situation the one time I went skiing. A least I was supposed to be skiing. I was actually never vertical long enough for it to be technically considered skiing. The only time I have ever been skiing was when I was on vicarage in South Dakota. We went to the black hills with the confirmands for a weekend retreat. Now the “bunny hill” was just a little bit steeper than the roof. So needless to say, I fell down a lot. My supervising pastor finally got me up to the top of the mountain, and after I fell down four times in three seconds he said, “This isn’t good.” Two other members had to come up, tie a scarf around me and drag me down the hill.

Sometimes you just need help. Some of those times are no big deal, and can even be funny. Some of those times, however, can be kind of serious and are no laughing matter. That is what we are talking about today as we hear Jesus in John’s gospel.

Jesus spoke these words to his disciples just before he was crucified. He is explaining to them how things are going to be different and that he is going to the Father; and while the prospect of change and facing the unknown can be really scary, Jesus is providing for everything that is needed.

He says to the disciples and to us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Um. OK. So what do we do with this? Perhaps we could ignore it. We could just pretend that it doesn’t exist and then we don’t have to worry about it. Sound good? Of course if we were to try that then we would be placing ourselves above the Scriptures and that isn’t a good thing.

Maybe what we could do is to set up a bunch of rules. We can define what it means to love Jesus and then create a bunch of rules and a check list of activities that will help to ensure that as long as we follow this list than we are loving Jesus. We can spend all of our time making sure that we are keeping the list and that other people are keeping it as well. Sound good? Of course the danger in this is that you could possibly just go through the motions without really loving. Or worse than that, you could come to believe that your ability to check off those items on that list would make you worthy of God’s love and grace.

So then, what do we do with this? If we can’t ignore it, and we can’t address it in a legalistic check-list checking kind of way, what do we do with it? We understand it, and we allow the Spirit to do what he does through the word, and that is to strengthen our faith and to renew our minds.

Remember the context. Jesus is speaking this on the night of Maundy Thursday. The night that he is betrayed. He is literally hours away from the cross. He had just washed his disciples feet. Judas has already left to betray him. Jesus gives his disciples the new commandment to love one another as he has loved them. He predicts Peter’s denial. He tells them that he is the way, the truth and the life. He tells them that he is going to the Father. He is going to no longer be with them in the same way that they have grown accustomed to.

A big theme on this night is love. But not the warm fuzzy feeling kind of love. Not the kind that is sung about on the radio. This love is not an emotion. This is the kind of love that is self-sacrificing. This is the kind of love that would cause us to put our own wants, needs and desires off to the side so that someone else can have what they need.

This is the kind of love that would cause a solider to put themselves in harm’s way in order to save the life of another. This is the kind of love that would cause a parent to risk or even give their life for the sake of their children. This is the kind of love that our God loves each and every one of us with. This is the kind of love that he loves the whole world with. This love is so much that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

This is the kind of love that Jesus loves us with. It is the kind of love that he calls us to love one another with. It is the kind of love that he is talking about when he says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” This love is an active love. It is not just telling Jesus that we love him. But it is seen and heard in the things that we do and in the words that we say.

Now that that has been cleared up, do you feel better? We understand the kind of love that Jesus is talking about here, but how well do we do this? How many times do we have opportunities to love others with this kind of love, but chose instead to love ourselves? How many times do we find ourselves doing what we want and focusing on what makes us happy instead of doing something for someone else, or asking what is it that God wants me to do here?

If we take an honest and hard look at our lives I think that we will find that this is more often the case than we would like to admit. It’s not hard to understand why this would be the case. After all, this is how the world around us tells us to live. You have to look out for number one. It’s a dog eat dog world out there.

And yet, it is in the midst of this kind of situation and in this very world that Jesus’ words come down through time to us. If you love me you will keep my commandments. What is important to understand here is that these words are not being spoken to condemn us. It is not as if Jesus is saying, “Oh boy. I’ve really got them here. I am going to tell them to do something that is absolutely impossible for them to do. Look out. Watch them squirm.” That is not at all what is going on here.

Sometimes you just need help. So Jesus knows that. And not just us, but his disciples too. He knows that we need help and so his very next words. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.” We are given the Spirit and that Spirit is our helper, who is with us forever.

Jesus promises that he will not leave us as orphans forever. That he will come back for us. But while we are waiting we have this helper. The Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth.

Now when Jesus talks about “keeping” the commandments the word that is used here is not talking about checking off a check-list. Although sometimes it is easy for us to get caught up in that way of thinking. But what the word means here is a type of taking care of something that is important. Being good stewards and treasuring this life that we live in Jesus.

We cannot do this on our own or by our own strength. So we have the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, God himself who lives with us and who lives in us and who keeps us so that we are able to keep the commands of Jesus. That is so that we can treasure and care for what Jesus has left us with. So that we cannot live only for ourselves, but can break out of that to find ourselves living out the mission of making God’s love known to the world; of showing people that they are loved greatly by our God.

God loves us. He forgives us and restores us because of and for the sake of Jesus. We have life and salvation. We have a relationship with him. We belong to him and are his, there is no doubt about that. And he also gives us his Holy Spirit. The Spirit works in our lives and is with us always. He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies us. He is active through the Word of God and through the Sacraments. Through these things he helps us. He strengthens us. He protects us and keeps us.

Through him we have help, and are able to do what Jesus talks about here. Now don’t get me wrong. We are not doing this on our own, or by our own strength. We don’t get to take credit for it, and we don’t earn anything beyond what God freely and graciously gives to us. But in so doing we find ourselves living life the way that God intended for it to be lived. And when we live life in this way, it is life that is better than anything we could ever hope for.

Because this is the case, then when we hear Jesus’ words about loving him and keeping his commands we can hear words that invite us to experience life with him in freedom. We hear words that invite us to experience life with him in being a part of something that is much bigger than ourselves. We hear words that invite us to experience life with him in being a part of something that is not just long lasting, but is eternal. We hear words that invite us to experience life lived in the resurrection. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.