In today’s gospel reading, we hear again, Jesus trying to leave the disciples with comforting words. He knows what lies before him, and he knows what lies ahead for the disciples as well; he knows about the betrayals to come, he knows about the fear that shall almost tear the community apart; he knows that they will need each other to get to Easter morning when God’s truth shall be revealed… he probably also knows that they will likely forget everything he is telling them, at least until Easter morning…
Jesus promises that even when he leaves, the disciples will not be left without comfort and guidance. The Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of God’s truth shall be with them forever… God’s own Spirit, who is intimately connected to the Father and to Jesus, will also be intimately connected to the disciples, guiding them and assuring them of the power, the love, and the guidance of the Holy Trinity… But again, I am sure as Jesus spoke these words, the disciples were probably confused and afraid. Eventually, it would become clearer… but for now, all they have are Jesus’ words and their incomplete faith.
I remember when I was in seminary, a professor of mine said something that has stayed with me all this time… there are many things I have forgotten from those days, but this I have remembered. He said, that when we pray, it is really the Holy Spirit praying in us… I don’t remember if he was quoting Romans chapter 8 or not, which says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness… but I remember being incredibly moved by the knowledge that my prayers were joined with the Spirit’s prayers… that somehow the Spirit was intimately connected to me… just as the Spirit is intimately connected to Jesus and the Father… and that it is through the power of the Spirit that my prayers were conceived and given on behalf of those for whom I prayed…
That’s pretty powerful stuff don’t you think? In our baptism, the Spirit becomes one with each of us, and we become adopted children of the living God… we become loved and cherished for all eternity… we are members of the kingdom of God here on earth, sent out into the world to continue the work of Jesus in the world. And we know that sometimes the work is scary stuff. We know that the world which God loves is not always the most open and loving place… we know that sometimes we are told that our faith in Jesus has no place in the workings of the world, that it’s silly, or a fairy tale… and that’s on the good days. On other days, we see the faith perverted and twisted to advance someone’s cause; what some of our brothers and sisters go through because of the Gospel are much worse than ridicule. May ridicule be the worst of it for us…
The Advocate that the Father gave to the disciples is the same Spirit that he gives to us… we are the inheritors of that same Advocate that will help and guide us just as it helped and guided them; we are part of that same kingdom of God, that shall continue to love Jesus and keep his commandments to love God and to love our neighbor, so that the kingdom of God might be known here on earth in this time an place…
One of the ways that we do that is to pray. Prayer is our life’s work as members of the kingdom. The apostle Paul speaks about praying without ceasing, and that is our goal. If our prayers are the Holy Spirit praying within us, what do we do to get there?
So many things in our lives are filled with noise, and for so many of us our prayers are no different. So often we get caught in the trap of thinking that in prayer we have to SAY something; I have heard people say they don’t know how to pray… and yet our relationship with Jesus should be the closest one in our lives… so often in the gospels, Jesus asks the disciples to not be afraid, to listen, to believe; perhaps those are the instructions that we need for our prayers to truly be joined to God’s Holy Spirit within us. Part of prayer is to listen; and I find that if I am going to truly listen, I need to let go of my own ideas and be quiet, so that I can truly hear what is being said. God has a great deal to say, and we can read scripture to hear what God has said, and continues to say to God’s people; but there is also the time that we should each be spending in quiet letting ourselves let go of fear so that we can truly listen and believe the God who loves us beyond all measure. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when some friends and I were talking on a zoom gathering, and someone mentioned that prayer was helping them get through these uncertain times… I thought to myself, Oh yeah, that… why is it that I always forget that it is prayer that I need above all things to get me through the day? And not just words that I might mumble in order to fulfill a requirement, but true prayer where I actually let God do the talking so that I might be strengthened and loved; it’s the kind of prayer that requires some real work on my part. It also requires a huge amount of vulnerability because I don’t like admitting I don’t have the answers.
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding us right now; and when groups of people start to feel uncertain and afraid, violence of all kinds begins to surface; we can see it as we watch the news every day; as Easter people who believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we are called to show love and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear; we are to call out acts of violence as the evil that they are so that our lives might be a holy example to others. Our call is to reflect the love and peace of Christ to a hurting world. In order to do that well, we all have to protect our time of intentional prayer so that we might feel God’s Spirit stir within us to guide us into discipleship. All we have to do is ask… and be quiet enough to listen. Let us pray:
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: 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; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.