SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – C May 25, 2025 Quincy, CA
John 14:23-29
Jesus said to Judas (not Iscariot), "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. 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.
"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,
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. 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. 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. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so
that when it does occur, you may believe."
Let us pray … I pray again the Collect we heard earlier.
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 love as you
love, and manifest your promises and healing presence for and to this
broken world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With the Easter Season, which consists of seven weeks, in which next Sunday
will be the final and Seventh Sunday of Easter, our Gospel readings, and the
other readings in general, focus on the gift of life that is ours because of the
death of Christ who victoriously rose from the dead, for he had destroyed sin,
death and evil. Christ grants to all who believe in him, life now and for
eternity.
Today, with our Gospel reading from John 14, we specifically focus on two
important gifts that are ours because of the Easter resurrection: the gift of the
Holy Spirit and the gift of peace.
Our text opens with Jesus just days prior to his death and resurrection gathered
with his disciples at the Last Supper. With his final days, rather than
contemplating and planning on how to deal with his impending suffering and
death, we see that he is not thinking of himself, but rather is focused on, and
concerned about his disciples – how are they going to handle his departure, his
death? How will they function without his physical presence? What tools will
they have to continue to do the work they have been called to do? How can he
guide them and prepare them for this new phase and life of discipleship?
In other words, my sisters and brothers, Jesus is speaking to us and asking you
and me, right now: How are we, as the people of God, a community of
resurrection, living out our faith? How are we to dealing with the clutter in our
fractured lives, our lost dreams, the broken promises, the deception and lies, as
well as the numerous assaults which are destroying our morals and corporate
values? Where do we find truth as fear becomes more and more our dominant
daily reality?
Preacher Charles Hoffacker who addresses this text from John offers this in a
new and creative way which I feel captures what you and I are experiencing
today. He writes:
There are reasons to believe that Americans are growing more and
more preoccupied with their homes. Some people claim that we have
gone from simply cocooning in our homes to burrowing into them,
and thus shutting out the world far more successfully. No longer is our
home just our castle; it has become our fortress.
When we have a choice, we don’t venture out as much as we used
to. It’s at home that we now have our feasting and fun, our games
and celebrations. The home entertainment center and the Internet
now consume much of the time once taken by the city park, the
private club, the neighborhood bar. Our world now consists of two
distinct halves, like an apple split by an ax: the one side is work or
school or whatever it is we must do; the other side is what we’re free
to do, and increasingly we choose to do that at home.
We all know that our homes are more than the four walls that surround us.
But we also have a most significant home inside of us, which often we
forget or ignore. Yes, the majority of us may have an awareness of this
inner home, and are comfortable with it. But many do ignore it because of
the clutter they have allowed to accumulate and are unwilling to unload.
The condition of our inside home is as important as that of our outside
residence. We need to be as concerned about who occupies this interior
space as we are about those persons or things that cohabitate with us.
Our inside home is of great importance because it is here that God desires
to be our guest. We hear this promise from Jesus today with our Gospel.
“If (anyone) loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him,
and we will come to him, and make our home with him.”
It is God’s will and God’s desire, as is told in the Story of the Creation with the
creation of humankind, that God “breathes” himself into each of us and gives
us life – in other words, God gives God’s-self to dwell in us.
God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer desires to dwell inside us! The Holy
Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, chooses to live in and through us – but
the question becomes – Do we make room for the blessed Trinity, OR do we
leave no space for God?
We find ourselves in a bit of a dilemma here.
You see, culturally, our Christian beliefs tend to encourage a clearing and
cleaning out our homes and hearts. We empty out rather than accumulate.
Society, on the other hand, encourages and promotes a preoccupation with
acquiring and consuming things. With this predominant societal influence, our
faith living more often than not becomes a matter of collecting “brownie
points” to find favor with God. But it’s not about what we do; it’s about who
we are. God desires us to be a manifestation of love – “loving God with all
our hearts, mind and soul,” and “loving others.” God who is love, has made
us to be love for others.
So how are we doing with that?
The Creation Story informs us that we are created in the Image of God, that
God dwells in us, and God who is manifested as love works in and through
the likes of us, as worthy or unworthy as we could possibly be.
Then, through Holy Baptism, this one-ness with God, connects us
intimately with the life, suffering, death, AND resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is manifested in the waters of baptism, enabling and
empowering us as God’s beloved, to be love, to be God’s presence for this
broken world.
God, who identifies with and knows our sufferings, strengthens and
empowers you and me to be a source of comfort, a source of hope and
love for the world around us. It is in this experience of faith alone, that we
have the gift of the Holy Spirit and peace. We can do and be because it is
God who is at work in and through us.Again, I refer to words of Rev. Hoffacker.
“It’s a strange thing that God wills to be our guest, as strange as Jesus
born in Bethlehem’s barn, yet equally true. So strange is this divine desire
that we may fight it or ignore it, trying to keep the Trinity at a cold distance.
Yet our inside home can be a royal suite that welcomes the King of glory. It
may seem to us to be a dump, but God seeks it out as a lodging place in
this world. To accept this visitor is to become holy. In the end, holiness is a
form of hospitality.”
My sisters and brothers, there is a danger in having God enter into and
reside in our inner home, our hearts. The clutter, the obstacles that we have
accumulated will likely, and need to be destroyed by the fires of Pentecost
so as to make room for greater things. With God’s indwelling there comes
greater space and room to love others … even those who know not God,
nor love God. When we know the love of God and its transformative power,
our home, our hearts welcome all whom God has created.
When we welcome God, hospitality becomes inclusive: we welcome all
creatures, both good and bad, because they all are in God as they “exist,
move, live, and have their being.”
The Gospel compels us to take a stand, and commit ourselves to be a
friend of Jesus, who loves all people and respects the dignity of every
human being, as we say in our baptismal rite.
- Can you accept being a friend of Jesus who is indiscriminate about
those he embraces?
- Can you open your house, your heart, not just for the glorious
aspects of God, but even for the lost, lonely, and broken ones that he
accepts, which may mean suffering and a cross for you?
Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Peace of Christ that is ours as
an Easter people, our inside homes and hearts can and will then become
not some place for us to become withdrawn or reclusive, not a way for us to
avoid life and stay safe. Our inside homes and hearts will then become a
foretaste of that holy city sent from heaven, a grand hotel for the universe,
a place of healing and peace.