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SERMONS Sean Gilbert Introduction to the Reading:I mentioned last Sunday that the Gospel texts leading up to the day of Pentecost are taken from what is known as the farewell discourse in St. John. A beautifully crafted and highly nuanced section, that both summarizes the teachings of Jesus from the author’s quite unique perspective, but also addresses the early Christian community’s reality of not having the physical presence of Christ to guide and instruct them. In other words, this is no mere historical narrative, far from it. Rather it is written in an almost timeless fashion for all Christian communities; the legacy of Jesus’ life and his ongoing spiritual presence essentially being the same for all future generations of believers. And in that light John’s author introduces a great and mysterious figure, the Paracletos, known only in his writing, a teasing, yet all encompassing designation for the Spirit who in fullness is to come in Christ’s name, and in the coming, to empower, ennoble, advocate, instruct, counsel, comfort, inspire; further to humanize and to encourage; that is, to instill or imbue within Christian believers, the continuing presence of Jesus the Christ. So that the Christian movement will go on but that a dependence upon a physical presence and authoritative voice will give way to a coming alive to the voice of community and to the voice of one’s own heart, mind and soul. Reading from John 14:23-29 It’s an analogy that I have used before in this context, but I still think it’s a very clear and helpful one. The author of that famous poem Pied Beauty, Gerard Manley Hopkins, once likened the presence of the Spirit in our lives to that of a non-striker in the game of cricket, hard as that may be to believe. The non-striker, of course, responsible for the calling of a run when the batter hits the ball behind their own line of sight - behind square to be more precise. In that moment, in theory at least, the batter gives way to their own judgements (and fear) and simply trusts the call and perspective of their mate, who again in theory, yells out “Yes” and then takes off for a run or two or three. Now the colloquial point that Hopkins was making is that the Spiritual presence, when best understood, is a deeply an encouraging one, whose broader view and perspective if you like, see beyond our fears and self-limitations and call us out and through life regardless. “Come on, you can do it, and you won’t be alone on the journey!” Now, not only do I think this is a positive and helpful analogy with John’s figure of the Paracletos in mind, I actually believe it rings true to human experience when we are open enough to see and hear the Spirit of God at work, or better still at play in our common, everyday lives. Because in the end, it is a cooperative and non-coercive experience of Spirit that Jesus lived and sought to pass on. Most significantly, it is a greatly encouraging and enlivening experience of Spirit that encounters us at places of deepest desire - which ironically are most often our places of greatest vulnerability and fear - and in the encounter would quietly but assertively say, “C’mon, arise, follow through, live the dream, express the desires of your heart.” You know I well remember being told when I was young that I had trouble communicating, that I couldn’t write or phrase my words very well, and that, by inference, I might not amount to much. And yet from an early age that is exactly what I wanted to do; that is what gave me most pleasure and meaning. So, to fight against the perception and my own fears was pretty tough, particularly when you have a grand vision of standing before people speaking and singing your own written material. The great gift of the Christian faith – and this stands, I think, right in the face of those who might rail against its relevancy – is that at best, Christianity is an incredibly encouraging and believing faith and perspective; for God in Christ, through the Spirit, is not about punitive measures for wrong-doing, but enabling life choices for the sake of greater love, creativity and peace in our midst. This is the legacy of Jesus continued on by the Spirit – the Paracletos –and indeed this is the mark of genuine Christian community; where in many ways we are the voice of the Spirit to each other: “C’mon, yes, you can do that which you’ve always dreamt of doing and we will support you in it. We will not use the all too common ruler that is the tyranny of excellence to measure how you are going; we’ll simply use the rule of a warm and compassionate humanity.” For this is where life is, this is where genuine and lasting love is born. It’s a fascinating turn of phrase, but the author of John concludes this section by saying through Jesus, “Rise, let us be on our way,” which given there are 3 more chapters of heavy discourse before he goes anywhere, might suggest something more than mere physical movement. For in the end, both the theology and experience of Spirit are about stature and a purposeful way of being in the world; standing tall in the grace and goodness of God and offering that same dignity and encouragement of being continually to others. In
the poetics of John Bell, and here I’ll conclude, it is the living
and offering of the same spiritual presence who,
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