I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

Sermon-6 Easter May 29, 2011
Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
Grant to me, O Lord, an eloquence most gentle and wise, that for your good gifts I may not be puffed up and extolled above my brothers. Place in my mouth, I ask You, through your Holy Spirit, words of consolation, edification, and exhortation, that I may encourage the good to better things, and by word and example bring back to the threshold of your righteousness those who walk apart from You. May the words which You give to your servant be as keen darts and as burning arrows to penetrate the minds of those that hear, and inflame them with fear and love of You. Amen.
Do you ever think about your “farewell speech”, you know, your last words? Here are some famous ones: Humphrey Bogart said "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis." Oscar Wilde said "Either this wallpaper goes, or I do!" When she woke briefly during her last illness and found all her family around her bedside. Lady Nancy Astor asked ," Am I dying or is this my birthday?"

Do you ever think about what you want to say to those closest to you, with your last breath? A million years ago I was sitting with a family waiting for their elderly, and cantankerous grandfather to pass. The large Italian family was sitting around the bed in silence, crying, grieving. Grandpa had been asleep or unconscious most of the day, and the hospital was giving him palliative) care, with painkillers. A nurse came into the room, lifted up the covers, and gave him a shot of morphine in his hip. He turned over, eyes wide open, looked at the startled nurse and said, “WHY THE BLANK DID YOU DO THAT?” The family broke into a great release of laughter, and a few days later after he had passed, at the funeral everyone was quoting grandpa’s last words.
Wellington Burt was in the news this week. He died 92 years ago, and in the early 1900s he was ranked as the 8th richest man in America. He was a former mayor of E. Saginaw and a state senator. But what he is remembered most for was the “spite clause” in his last will and testament. He got mad at his 7 children and put into his will that neither his children nor his grandchildren would ever receive anything from his sizable estate. Instead the will specified that everyone would have to wait 21 years after his children and grandchildren were dead before his fortune could go to any descendants. His last grandchild died in May of 1989 and last week May 2011his great grandchildren were to receive 100 million dollars. He is remembered as a vindictive, bitter old man. That was his real last will.
The season of Easter is 50 days, 7 Sundays long. The first 3 weeks of Easter every year we hear stories of Jesus’ Resurrection appearances. On the 4th Sunday of Easter every year we celebrate Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Then a shift begins every year on the fifth Sunday as we get close to the Day of Pentecost. We begin to hear verses from the Gospel of John from Jesus’ last supper-his last words. Deacon Dick told you about that last week. Today is the 6th Sunday of Easter-and this is what Jesus says to his closest friends at his farewell dinner- “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, …You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."I will not leave you orphaned;”
Jesus, at that last dinner, knows he will not be able to stay with his friends. He knows that his end is near. But he doesn’t just want to say good bye, and say something memorable. He wants a part of himself to stay with them forever. He wants his last will and testament to be something greater than just “good bye”. He wants them to know that his power is going to be coming to them, strengthening them, inspiring them, convicting them-long after he is gone: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
Alyce MacKenzie, a preacher I seem to quote a lot tells this story:”I once heard a motivational speaker turned preacher describe why he gave up his lucrative career on the lecture circuit in favor of being a preacher and pastor. He answered‘I realized that, in my motivational speeches, I was telling people to turn up their thermostats and turn up their thermostats and turn up their thermostats. And then one day I realized that I had no furnace. [so he became a pastor]‘Jesus' …address in John 14-16 has a furnace.’”
Jesus is sending his power. To them. It will be like he is with them.
Jesus is telling his friends with his last words that someone is coming that will be with them forever. And they will never be alone-"I will not leave you orphaned…” The problem with these words, like lots of last words-is that his friends, the disciples, didn’t understand them. And they seem pretty hard for us, too.
Kate Huey writes: “But they aren't just pretty words. Jesus backs up his claims with a promise to send the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to be with these disciples, and with all of us today, two thousand years later. Burridge says that "the word 'Paraclete' means 'someone called alongside' to help or assist," and this helper is our "advocate…Counselor and Intercessor…Comforter." But he draws on the original meaning of the word "to comfort," which is to give strength or courage. Thus the Paraclete is our counselor, advocate, intercessor, comforter, strengthener – an all around helper"
Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned”-He will be giving us himself in a way that will never go away. When we are encouraged, strengthened, comforted-Jesus is there. That is what he tells his friends. When we most feel alone, orphaned, abandoned-Jesus is there. Jesus doesn’t say, “I will announce myself, leave clues, spread small hints that it’s me-but it is.” The Spirit is God invisible, powerful, lifting us, helping us, with us-that is what Jesus is promising at his last dinner.
The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad has this great quote: "The reason mountain climbers are tied together is to keep the sane ones from going home." Whoever said that was playing with us a bit, for we know mountain climbers are tied together to keep from getting lost or going over a cliff. But there's another piece of truth here. When things get tough up on the mountain, when fear sets in, many a climber is tempted to say, "This is crazy! I'm going home." Jesus promises that he will not leave us orphaned-he will be tied to us on the mountain, and will never let us go. Most days we never realize that there is a Spirit, a breath, moving through our lives. I don’t. I will be lifted up, strengthened, encouraged, someone will stand alongside me and I will just think-“boy, is that nice”. Never wondering where it is coming from, how I am being held. Alice Walker wrote a famous book many years ago called, The Color Purple.
Shug is describing the wonders of God’s creation, and the lengths to which God will go to try and get us to pay attention to it. "I think it really [makes God mad] pisses God off, when you walk by the color purple in a field, and don’t even notice," she says.
The Spirit is always painting the world purple, trying to get our attention, hoping that we will realize that we are not orphans. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.”
This is week 6 in Easter Season, 2 more weeks to go til Pentecost. This coming Thursday we remember that Jesus ascended into heaven, never to be seen again. But he did not leave us alone. We are not orphans. Unlike people who want to control those they leave behind, or want just the right ext line, Jesus gave away himself. Jesus’ last commandment which runs throughout his final sermon was, “love others, as I have loved you.” Today we hear that we are always and everywhere surrounded with the color purple. Amen.