Pastor Christa von Zychlin

Our Savior’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

Hartland, WI  53029

6^th Sunday of Easter  2004

(May 16^th, 2004)

John 14:23-29  “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…. 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.”

We had a funeral  yesterday for Borgy Jothen, whom some of you knew.  She was the nearly 91 year old Norwegian matriarch of a large family.  Her three now middle aged daughters may LOOK like they’re the picture of middle aged stability and churchiness and motherliness themselves now, but in the course of our conversation I heard of several smashed cars and missed curfews and complaints about chores when they were young, but all three of these now grown up women said their mother gave them her unconditional love and support. “She was ALWAYS there for us” they said. That’s quite a tribute.  The three daughters also shared with me their mother’s last words (or maybe nearly last words) which were: I’m ready.  I’m ready to see Jesus.  I’m ready to see Grandpa again (her husband Ken).

WE do hang on to the last words of people, especially people whom we’ve loved & respected.

Scholars place the Gospel we just heard, the 14^th chapter of John, as being among the last words of Jesus to his disciples.  He’s heading to the cross, he knows he’s going to die and he has some things he wants to say before he crosses over that incredible raging river named Death.

Wayne & I have some friends in France who tell about their pastor who preached a strong Easter message a few years back:  “Death is swallowed up in God’s victory!  Tho we face death we should not fear, because the reality of death is overcome by the much greater reality of the Living Christ! “      

He thundered these words from the pulpit, and people remarked how he seemed especially on fire that day…

 Well, they found the preacher’s  dead body at about 2p.m. Easter Sunday afternoon.  He’d gone home and died of a sudden massive heart attack.  And you know what?

People remembered that last sermon. And they believed it in a new way. 

One of the moving things we do at Christian funerals is that we take time to remember the ways in which the one who died,  taught us & influenced us to become more like Christ.

Well, I was struck at how Borghild’s daughters and granddaughters talked about how their mother/grandmother had been their champion, their advocate --

One of the girls talked about how her mother had made her a lime green prom dress (when lime green was all the rage that year).  And then how Borgy got up at 5 in the morning after prom to get breakfast going so that she could feed everybody breakfast before… they headed off to church.  Because there’s no excuse for not going to church! Even… maybe especially,  on the morning after prom.

That’s the kind of thing Borghild did & that’s the kind of thing she taught her daughters!  She pushed them forward & encouraged them… and she was the one who kept them on the straight and narrow too, on the path, of following the Lord’s commandments.

And maybe that’s a little bit of a glimpse of what the Holy Spirit is like.

Jesus says, among his last words,  “If you love me you will keep my teachings.  And God will send you the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to help you and remind you”

This broken world we live in is in dire need of helpers and advocates.

And that’s part of what we are called to do and be as Jesus’ Church,

Advocates for a refugee widow named Bibi who has never learned to read or write, but must now figure out how to be a breadwinner for her family in America. 

She needs an advocate. and she’s got one in Our Savior’s people.

Friends to children at the Kugichagulia center, whose parents aren’t positive they are up to date on their immunizations.  They need an advocate.  And they’ve got one in Our Savior’s people!

Helpers to serve families at a funeral, to plan music for a wedding, to visit the elderly in the nursing home, helpers in Sunday School to teach children from even the most complicated home lives, that they have a Lord that loves them.    People get that help, from Our Savior’s people.

As Jesus’ church, we are called to follow his teachings to love one another, and when that gets hard (because it will), to call upon the Advocate, the Helper, the Holy Spirit ….

Because we all do need help to do life well.

I’ll never forget our first 6^th grade science project experience, when we didn’t realize just how much help the normal child needs to produce a successful project.  We (Wayne & myself) did the minimum for our oldest child.  Sure, we got him the kind of poster board he said he had to have, we got him new markers. His project was on fingerprinting, I actually took him over to the police station…     I had NO idea!  My gosh, at the time we were living in a college town, and whoa! We walked into that science fair room and there were working robots and computer generated animation, and complicated statistical analyses -- these were kids whose parents were professors at the university, these weren’t 6^th grade science projects,  they were Ph. D. dissertations!  Sons # 2 & 3 got a lot more help, and let me tell you, son #3 won an award for his science project this year.  We knew how we could help this time around!

In his last words to his disciples, Jesus is saying I’m leaving, but I’m going to be sending you some serious help.  The Holy Spirit who will make God’s home right in your heart where you need Him most.

I’d like to close with a parable:

There was a fox who was strolling through the woods. He was very surprised to see a rabbit on a laptop, typing away while sitting upon a rock in front of a cave. The fox came up to the rabbit and asked, “Rabbit. What are you doing?” The rabbit responded with, “I’m typing up my school science fair project.” The fox inquired, “So rabbit, what is it about?” To which the rabbit replied, “Well, right now I’m typing up the procedures about ‘How Rabbits Eat Foxes.’”

Well, the fox was astounded and immediately bellowed at him, “But rabbits don’t eat foxes! Foxes eat rabbits!” He then moved quickly to attack the rabbit, but the rabbit ran into the cave. The fox pursued the rabbit into the cave. From the mouth of the cave, you could hear the sounds of gnashing teeth, biting, and bones scraping. A moment later, a fox pelt flew out of the cave, along with many fox bones.

The very next day, the rabbit was back, at the same place typing away. A wolf came strolling by. Seeing the rabbit, he exclaimed, “Rabbit. What are you doing?” The rabbit responded with, “I’m typing up my science fair project.” The wolf asked, “So rabbit, what is it about?” To which the rabbit replied, “Well, right now I’m typing up the chapter about ‘How Rabbits Eat Wolves.’”

Well, just like the fox, the wolf was thoroughly astounded and immediately bellowed at him, “But rabbits don’t eat wolves! Wolves eat rabbits!” He then moved quickly to attack the rabbit, but the rabbit ran into the cave. The wolf chased the rabbit into the cave. From the mouth of the cave, you could hear the sounds of gnashing teeth, biting, and bones scraping. A moment later, a wolf pelt flew out of the cave, along with many wolf bones.

The very next day, the rabbit was back, at the same place typing away. A bear came strolling by. Seeing the rabbit, he exclaimed, “Rabbit. What are you doing?” The rabbit responded with, “I’m typing up my science fair project.” The bear inquired, “So rabbit, what is it about?” To which the rabbit replied, “Well, right now I’m typing up the chapter about ‘How Rabbits Eat Bears.’”

Well, just like the wolf and the fox before him, the bear was thoroughly astounded and immediately bellowed at him, “But rabbits don’t eat bears! Bears eat rabbits!” He then moved quickly to attack the rabbit, but the rabbit ran into the cave. The bear pursued the rabbit into the cave. From the mouth of the cave, you could hear the sounds of gnashing teeth, biting, and bones scraping. A moment later, a bear pelt flew out of the cave along with very many bear bones.

A moment later, the rabbit steps out of the cave with a lion. The lion is smiling and has his paw around the rabbit’s shoulders.

The moral is, of course: “The topic of your science fair project is not what is important, nor is the research itself. The most important aspect of your science fair project is the strength of the grown-up who helps you.” Choose your helper wisely. Choose your advocate well.

You have an Advocate.  Who loves you irrationally.  Maybe you had the kind of mother who could sew you the perfect lime green prom dress, or a motivated Ph.D. Dad who guided your hand on the 6^th grade science project, maybe you didn’t.  But today I tell you, you do have a God who loves you, and wants you to do well, for yourself and your family, and for the broken world around you.

So Stay in his word.    Keep his commandments.  Appeal to his help.  And you will do well.  For yourself, and for the wider world Jesus loves so much.       Amen.

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