Mastodawn

God’s Advocate: sermon for May 14 2023, Easter 6

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today, we celebrate the new life of young Kennedy, and share in the joy which her coming has brought to her parents and his big sister, and the wider family. And her baptism also reminds us of all about the new life which Jesus offers, to people of any age- the chance of forgiveness, and new start with God. Jesus once said that he had come to bring us life in all its fullness[1]– and that’s an offer which open to us all!

So, it might seem strange, that as we celebrate new life, that we now turn to a story about a departure.

Departures are often hard. An airport terminal, for example, is sometimes a place of tears, as families say farewell to loved ones who are travelling across the world, and who they might not see for a long time. Hospitals, too, can be places of departure- the final departure from this life. It is hard to visit someone in hospital if you know that their life is near its end, and that you may never see them again.

The last meeting of Jesus and his friends was a time of departure. Most of them, I suspect, did not know that this was their last time together. In fact, only one of them realised that- Judas, the one who was about to betray him to the religious authorities. But I think they would have had a sense of foreboding, nevertheless. They had left the comparative peace of the countryside for the hubbub of Jerusalem, seat of the Roman governor, and power centre of the religious establishment. They must have sensed the storm clouds gathering.

Jesus, however, seems to know that his time with his band of close friends is nearly up. And so, the Gospel writers tell us that a lot about what happened at that last meeting together. As I said in the introduction, one of the things he does is to tell his friends that his death will not be the end for him, or for them- he promises them all a place in his Father’s house. And in today’s passage, he makes another promise:

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God.

Jesus is about to depart- he is going to leave his disciples. But he promises his friends he will leave something behind, after her has left- a Helper.

The disciples would have needed to hear something like that. For Jesus and his disciples have been through so much together. He had called them to follow him. They had heard his stories, listened to his teachings, seen his miracles. They have all become friends together. They would be bereft at the though that he was going to leave them. How could they live in his way without him to lead them and guide them?

For in that experience of being friends with Jesus, the disciples learned the truth about God. Jesus taught them, both in words and his actions, that God is a loving God. He taught them about how to live lives of love.

So now he promises his Spirit will remain with them, to continue to remind them of that great truth. This is the Helper, who will stay with them forever.

That word ‘Helper’ can be translated in different ways. The original Greek often meant an ‘advocate’- someone whom you could all in who would stand up for you. In Scotland, we call a senior lawyer who appears in court an advocate. If you are unlucky enough to find yourself hauled before a court, your advocate will try to defend you against the charges you face. She will stand up for you before the judge, and try to put your point of view against that of the prosecutors.

Another use of the word ‘advocate’ I’ve noticed recently is what is called a ‘patient advocate’. In Scotland, some people have a legal right to in independent advocate. If, for example, you have to go into hospital, that can be a complicated and confusing experience. You could be asked about what kind of treatment you think you need. So, for example, a person with mental health issue, or a learning disability, or who has autism or dementia, can have a special person- an advocate- who will help them. Like a legal advocate in a law court, a patient advocate will stand alongside them, and will speak up for them if they need to[2].

It’s great to think that there will be someone who will stick up for you, and be with you to support you, if you need them. As Jesus got ready to leave them, the disciples must have wondered how they were going to do without him. But here he is promising that his Spirit will continue to be alongside them, helping them, being an advocate for them, as they face the world without Jesus himself.

For the disciples already knew that the world could be harsh and unforgiving towards Jesus and his message. Jesus had been teaching about a God of love, but the very next day after their last meal with Jesus, he would be put on trial and executed. It will look like evil has triumphed over love.

And today, still, it is hard for those of us who try to follow Jesus to live his way of love. People scoff if you talk about a God of love. Especially when there are a lot of Christians around who don’t seem to be very loving. Vladimir Putin claims he is defending Christian values in Russia. But he sent his army to invade Ukraine, he has bombed schools and hospitals, tortured civilians and kidnapped Ukrainian children. He doesn’t sound like someone who is motivated by a belief in a God of love.

But the cross of Christ reminds us that the God of Jesus stands with those who suffer- with the victims of war, with the innocents who are damaged by what evil people do to them. If God is love, God is on their side!

I was speaking to someone who isn’t a church member the other day. We were talking about the cost of living crisis, and about how rising food prices and energy prices and rents and mortgages meant that even people in work are finding they are hardly able to pay their way. I said that I wished the government would do more about these things, and she said, ‘Well, you’re the church- you have the ear of the government!’ And she was right! I have, in the past, been part of the church’s attempts to get the ear of government, to advocate on behalf of those who find it hard to speak up for themself. It isn’t easy, and sometimes it can be controversial.

The Archbishop of Canterbury got plenty criticism last week when, just a few days after he had crowned the king at the Coronation, he pointed out how cruel His Majesty’s Government is to refugees and asylum seekers. But the Archbishop was being an advocate for a group of people who need all the help they can get. And I do think that’s an important part of the church’s mission.

In the face of the refugee crisis, with war in Europe, with the effects of climate change continuing inexorably, we may feel that there is little we can do, and that it’s hard to speak up for what is right. And in our personal lives, we may struggle to look after a parent with Alzheimer’s, or a child with autism, or a friend who is mentally ill. We all sometimes feel we could do with a Helper, or an advocate!

But here is Jesus offering us a helper who will not leave us. We baptise people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus called God ‘Father’, because the God of Jesus Christ is a loving God, a God who calls us his children. And Jesus showed us what God is like- preaching about God’s love for us, teaching us to love our neighbours, because God is love. And the Holy Spirit is that Help, that Advocate, which Jesus promises his followers.

In our reading, Jesus says that

Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me.

In other words, a true Christians is someone who listens to Jesus and tries to live by his teaching. A bit further on from our passage today, Jesus makes it clearer:

Those who love me will obey my teaching[3].

One of the most important things Jesus taught his disciples- perhaps his most important commandment- was to love our neighbour. So, someone who says he follows Jesus and then send his tanks into his neighbour’s country has failed to obey Jesus’ teaching. However, if you love your autistic child, or your parent with dementia, you are obeying Jesus’ command to love. If you stand alongside with someone who needs your help, if you advocate for someone who has no-one else to speak up for them, you are obeying Jesus’s command to love.

Baptism is the start of a new life- a Christian life, a life which identifies with the example of Jesus. But it’s hard being a Christian. We need all the help we can get. So, Jesus offers us help- the help of his Spirit which will never leave us, the Helper and Advocate who will always stand alongside us. May Kennedy, and all of us who have been baptised, know the presence of that Helper and Advocate when we pray for God to stand alongside us! Amen.

Biblical references from the Good News Bible, unless otherwise stated

Notes

[1] John 10.10

[2] https://www.mygov.scot/advocacy

[3] John 14.23

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