Abiding in the Spirit

John 14:15-21

A sermon by Kathy Toivanen at EMUC, 5/1/2005

The Gospel of John was written in the midst of an early Christian community who were feeling pushed to the edges of despair. As a fledgling group of believers, they struggled to stay committed to the way of Jesus Christ when Jesus as a flesh and blood person, someone to touch and see, was no longer with them. How could they keep on hoping in his vision of God’s world without daily hearing his words of support and encouragement? How could they keep on loving their neighbour without his daily reminders? How could they experience the compassion and friendship of Jesus without his arm around their shoulders, his voice speaking words of love or his gentle eyes upon them to steady and comfort them? Truth be told, they were feeling orphaned, bereft of their teacher, friend and guide.

In response to the shaky and fragile faith of this early church community, the gospel writer pulled together many of Jesus’ sayings into one section of John’s Gospel that we now call "The Farewell Discourses". These discourses are a bit like the last class of a favourite retiring teacher, or the last speech of a beloved community leader. In John’s gospel, all this takes place between Jesus and his companions during the Last Supper. And they sit there a long time – three chapters pass between the meal and the departure to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. Today we are invited to hear for ourselves a small portion of Jesus’ final words to his closest friends.

And as friends of Jesus in this day and age, these are words that we also need to hear. For we have days when our faith is shaky. There are times in our own lives and in our life together as a community when we feel on the edge of despair. And yes, sometimes we feel like orphans who lack the support, direction and the protective embrace of someone who can shelter us and let us rest for a while.

In response to all of those needs and longings, Jesus says to his closest friends – and that means you, "I will not leave you orphaned, I will not let anything tear you away from me. I will be with you in the Spirit who abides in you." In the Greek, the word used to refer to the Holy Spirit is "parakletos". "Parakletos" means comforter, advocate and counselor. So, more precisely, Jesus is saying, "I will be with you, I will abide in you through a Spirit who will be your comforter, your advocate and your counselor.

Abiding, means taking time to be with. Abiding means drawing along side of another, accompanying another, staying with the other, leaning into the other for support.

In our society, rather than abiding, there is the pressure to pass on by as quickly as we can, to step over or around another, to communicate instantly through text-messages or emails. We are a society and a people who are in danger of forgetting how to abide with each other. And in forgetting how to abide, we are at risk of becoming increasingly more distant from the Spirit who longs to abide among us. And as the lack of awareness grows, so grows our feelings of being abandoned, orphaned and neglected.

Let me suggest a way forward. Personally and as a community, let’s make it our project to encourage the practice of abiding. Let’s draw others into this practice as we model and mentor one another in a different way of being in this world and in the process, who knows, perhaps we will come to know the abiding Spirit that Jesus talks about.

What do I mean by the practice of abiding? Well, here is my beginning list. It is not comprehensive. There is space for your ideas too. Take my suggestions as a catalyst for your own imagination.

1. Take time each day to just be. Listen to your breathing, feel your heart pumping, become aware of the texture of the ground beneath you and the air around you. Attend to the sounds you hear and the sights you see. Ponder your connections with the world around you. Express one thought or one word of gratitude to God for your life that day.
2. Each time you sign your name on a document or a piece of paper, be conscious of the God who created you in love.
3. Take home the scripture reading printed in the bulletin each week, and read it each day that week. Let it percolate through your heart and mind as you go about your daily routines. Ask the Spirit to give you a word of wisdom or guidance for the week.
4. When you are in conversation with someone, give that person your full attention. Look at them, listen to them as if you are hearing what they are saying for the first time. Let them speak without worrying what you are going to say next. Let there be silences between the words. Rejoice in their unique reflection of God’s love.
5. Stay after worship today and begin to get to know someone you only know by face. Ask what brings them to EMUC? Share your own experiences of being in this community. Plan to meet here again to carry on the conversation in more depth.
6. If you are active in one of the small groups in the congregation, personally invite another to join you as your guest at the next gathering. And when they come to the group, welcome them and make them feel at home. And if you are the one being invited, come with the spirit of anticipation and openness to expand your network of friends and companions.
7. Take time each week to pray for those in our midst or in the world, who feel orphaned. You may choose to join those who gather here for prayer and communion on Wednesday evening at 6:45. You may also choose to join the prayer chain.
8. And there are other ways to abide with those who feel orphaned. There are youth leaders and leaders with children in the congregation or community, who can at times feel very much alone in the leadership they offer. Go downstairs after worship to connect with Joanne Hines in the EMU Club or Bonnie Turner or Lorraine Brignall in the Junior Youth Group. Talk with them about their work. Listen to their need for support as they advocate for a place for children and youth in this congregation. Join with the children or youth some Sunday or during a mid week group just to be with them; to take time to discover the lively spirit who abides in them. Consider how you might strengthen connections with them and with the Spirit that abides among them.
9. There are others among us who may feel cut off because of health concerns or family circumstances. Speak with Norma Griffith or with me to find out ways you can be an abiding presence – it may mean writing a card, making a phone call, or taking some training to become a regular pastoral visitor.
10. Stretch your horizons and practice abiding with those you might not normally connect with in your usual routine. Become a volunteer at the Springfield breakfast club or with the Deacon’s cupboard foodbank, not just to serve food but also take time to be with those whose life situations call out for the advocacy, comfort and counsel of the Spirit.
11. Call Debby Sturgeon or Jane Fry and join with them to explore the possibility of refugee sponsorship with those who may have been orphaned or cut off from their homeland because of war or crisis. Your participation might open the door to a new opportunity for the Spirit to find expression among us.
12. Consider the powerful way that music and song can draw us into the abiding presence of the Spirit. Speak with Kevin Norbury about joining or supporting the chancel choir or one of the other musical groups in the congregation.
13. Join the "Heart of Christianity" discussion & study series and meet with others who take time in a busy week to ponder, to question, to pray and to call upon the abiding Spirit.
14. And lastly, make space in your calendar for regular worship with the community. Worship is an opportunity to reinforce and restore those commitments and those ways of being that are often challenged by the world around us. And just as important, each one of you is a vital expression of the abiding Spirit in this community, and when you are not present, the community is diminished.

I have suggested 14 ways to begin the practice of abiding – there are many, many more rich possibilities. I firmly believe that as our practice of abiding becomes more regular, we will be drawn ever deeper into relationships of caring with those in this community, in our neighbourhoods and in God’s creation, and in doing so, we will come to know and experience the Spirit who abides with us as our advocate, counselor and comforter.

The abiding Spirit of Christ very much alive. Open your hearts and minds to welcome the Spirit, take time to abide in the Spirit, to learn from it, to be strengthened by it, to lean into it, to connect with its presence in others and to courageously and joyfully express its counsel, comfort and advocacy in all that you are and do. Amen.