Easter 6 – C

The Advocate

John 14:23-29 – NRSV

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Power-point slides available upon request:

kennstorck@gmail.com

Slide #1

Before we begin the Message for the Day let us take time to remember those Americans who have fought and died to defend our freedom:

Almighty God,  we give thanks with humble hearts for those who have given their lives for our freedom.

We commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils that surround them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Slide #2

23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

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25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, [a] 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. 

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27 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. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

Footnotes:

[a] John 14:26 Or Helper

What does the Holy Spirit look like?  The Biblical witness makes it somewhat difficult to pin the Spirit down.  That divine wind in the Hebrew Scriptures that blew over the dark waters of chaos at the beginning of creation continued to blow fresh breath into the prophets who called God’s people back into the covenant of compassion and justice. 

Jesus speaks of the Spirit early on in John’s Gospel in Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus:  “The wind [Spirit] blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Now in the Gospel reading for today – Jesus is giving his farewell message to the disciples.  This takes place before his death – so we are back in the passion story.  So Christ promises that the Father will send the Spirit.  What kind of Spirit – one as wild as the wind.  What kind of Spirit? - A Spirit that is and Advocate – the Spirit of the resurrected Christ.

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Advocate:  from Old French avocat "barrister, advocate, spokesman," from Latin advocatus "one called to aid; a pleader, advocate," noun use of past participle of advocare "to call" (as witness or advisor). 

One aspect of the Holy Spirit – one picture is that of an Advocate:  one who takes your side, speaks on your behalf, stands up for you when you when you need it, won’t forsake you when you are down.  The Spirit is like that person who not only stands in solidarity with you – but speaks and acts in your favor no matter how bad things may become.  The Spirit has your back.

So the Holy Spirit looks like an Advocate.  More on that later.

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The Holy Spirit is the ongoing Spirit which brought about the Creation,

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which birthed the Christ and continues to rebirth Christ in each of us. 

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So the Spirit will act like Jesus.  And who did Jesus identify with?  In John’s Gospel alone he stands with a barren woman at Jacob’s well, a man born blind, a cripple at the edge of a pool.  In Luke’s Gospel he is condemned for ‘eating with sinners’ by the religious establishment.  In Mark and Matthew he heals on the Sabbath – goes to the unclean to heal them of demonic spirits – crosses boundaries of race and prejudice. 

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This is the Spirit that Jesus promises will come upon his followers.  This Divine presence will be a counselor and embed the heart of Christ in the faith community.  This work is two-fold 1) giving comfort and aid to each of us;  2) calling each of us as members of a faith community to be Advocates on behalf of the marginalized. 

As the Spirit gives voice to our very needs – we in turn give voice to the needs of others – those who have no voice – those who have no seat at the table.  Advocacy belongs to the very heart of the ministry of the Church.

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To engage the world’s deep need this faith community and every church is called to engage in both evangelism and social ministry. 

Evangelism is the call to bring all people into a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ.  That entails a spiritual conversion – a turning toward Divine love. 

Social Ministry sets us on a mission to strive for justice and peace in all the earth through concern for physical welfare.

Both are necessary for the fullness of the Church’s ministry and mission.

Unfortunately most Church’s emphasize evangelism and neglect social ministry, in particular – advocacy.

What is social ministry?  We might think of food pantries or soup kitchens or counseling centers – these are indeed part of social ministry.  But a deeper step that parishes shy away from is advocacy. 

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There is a helpful expression from our Jewish sisters and brothers that is helpful in understanding the call to social ministry.   The expression is Tikkun Olam.  The origin of the expression goes like this:

Tikkun Olam (Hebrew: תיקון עולם‎) is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world" (or "healing and restoring the world") which suggests humanity's shared responsibility (with the Creator) "to heal, repair and transform the world."

Isaac Luria, a sixteenth century Rabbi, used the phrase “Tikkun Olam,”

Luria taught that God created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the Divine Light. But as God poured the Light into the vessels, they catastrophically shattered, tumbling down toward the realm of matter.

Thus, our world consists of countless shards of the original vessels entrapping sparks of the Divine Light. Humanity’s great task involves helping God by freeing and reuniting the scattered Light, raising the sparks back to Divinity and restoring the broken world.

We are called and empowered by the Divine Helper – the Divine-Advocate to be servants for the mending of the world.  That will involve getting our hands dirty in the messiness of the world’s disease.

That means going after systemic changes.  There are unjust systems at work that keep people oppressed or in hunger.  Yes, we do good work when we feed the hungry and assist those in need.  But we are also called to advocate for just systems that work for equity. 

That means getting involved in the legislative process-using our voice on behalf of those who have no voice.  Churches of our Synod have been invited to enter into this ministry through an offering of letters. 

Each year every congregation in the Northern Illinois Synod is invited to bring a designated “In Kind Offering” to the Synod Assembly. In the past it has been very tangible items – like non-perishable groceries for food pantries, laundry soap, or other items for distribution.

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This year the “In Kind Offering” is an Offering of Letters to members of Congress supporting legislation that advances assistance to those in need in developing countries as well as the U. S. The letters on this occasion will be a request to congressional leaders to support Advancing Global Nutrition.

The source of the letters you are invited to sign is an ecumenical non-partisan Christian advocacy group known as Bread for the World.  I encourage you to use your phones and digital devices to look on their web-site:  www.bread.org.

Slide #14

Almost half of all child deaths worldwide are linked to malnutrition. The children who survive remain at high risk of irreversible stunting, which affects their physical growth and brain development. For 151 million children under the age of 5, the majority in Central America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, stunting is a life sentence.

The letter goes on to request:

Providing $250 million for global nutrition this year could reach more than 10 million women and 7 million children with nutrition programs. Increasing access to nutritious food and vitamins, supporting breastfeeding, and ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation will enable more children to grow and reach their full potential.

Slide #15
Letters will be available for signing on Sundays – June 2 and June 9. The letters will be taken to the Synod Assembly by our Voting Members and lifted up as an offering at worship. Then they will be sent to our Representatives and Senators. This is an opportunity to advocate for systemic change that will ultimately reduce and lead to the elimination of hunger. Your voice and your letter will make a difference. 

Letters have been successful in keeping the SNAP program in the latest Farm Bill.  A major cut ($22 Billion) was proposed but due to advocacy was not part of the Farm Bill that passed.

What does the Holy Spirit look like?  You have probably seen the Holy Spirit this past week when anyone stands up on behalf of another; anytime anyone acts like Jesus (Kendrick Costello – Stem School Hero); anytime someone bears the love of Christ to another.

In fact, look in this mirror – this is what the Holy Spirit looks like – you – the body of Christ continuing to be comforted and empowered by the Spirit to be a voice for those in need.  Amen