WITNESS OF LOVE

When has the Holy Spirit evoked a sense of awe in your life? For what is your church praying and preparing today?

SCRIPTURE READINGS (Click on link to go to Bible Gateway)

As Jesus promised, God’s presence abides in us through the Spirit,– our advocate, comforter, and encourager,– and the practice of love. God’s nearness in Spirit blesses us in our witness. The hallmark of this relationship is love expressed in word and deed.

Focus Scripture: John 14:15-21

This focus reading is the first of four teachings in John’s gospel about God’s Spirit. Here, Jesus names Spirit as “Advocate,” from the Greek word parakletos. Jesus reassures disciples of all times and places with the promise of the “Paraclete”,– a companion, advocate, and counsellor.

The use of “another” to modify “Advocate” reveals that Jesus understands himself to have played that role with the disciples to this point. After Jesus’ departure, they will not be left without encouragement. In this promise, the text hints at the meaning of the Spirit’s gift given at Pentecost. Spirit comes as a gift from God, just as John’s gospel earlier portrayed Jesus as God’s gift (3:16).

Some of Jesus’ instructions and assurances may seem mysterious or hard to understand, but verses 15 and 21,– which bracket this teaching about the Spirit,– make it clear that to love Jesus is to keep Jesus’ commandments. John 13:34 records one such commandment: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” God’s love for us is not conditional on our obedience. Rather, love for God and neighbour fulfills the words of Christ, who is God’s very expression of love for us.

Jesus addresses the disciples’ fears about his impending trial and suffering by saying they will not be “orphaned,” implying a familial relationship of love. Disciples have a secure place in God’s family, and this accounts for our hope.

Jesus weaves the meaning of his departure with an unspecified word about his “coming” in verses 18-20. Being seen and yet not seen defies simplistic explanations. How the disciples will see Jesus, when the world does not, returns to the practice of love. Being the Body of Christ may indeed be mystical, but it is expressed in concrete actions of love and faithfulness.

Note that Jesus speaks here in the second person plural. The “you” who will not be orphaned and who will know the unity of God in Christ is the community as a whole. Jesus prepares the community, not just individuals, to live and love. Life in Christ presumes life in community.

Power in Christian community is given a fresh understanding by Spirit’s gift and love’s command. Power is not the ability to coerce. Power comes in Spirit’s gift and our openness to that gift. Jesus’ revealing of power comes in the revealing of love.

The nearness of God’s presence is underscored by Paul’s address to the Athenians, recorded in Acts 17:22-31. As Paul’s witness proclaims the saving love of God in Christ, a church forms and grows. Even when God’s presence is unrecognized, God in Christ draws near.

God’s presence sustains life, proclaims the psalmist in Psalm 66:8-20. God’s people move forward in trust and faith, and God does not “let our feet slip.” God’s steadfast love abides.

In First Peter 3:13-22, the early Christian community is exhorted to do good,– to live according to Jesus’ commandment to love. This epistle aims at strengthening faithful witness through trust in God’s presence, through claiming hope in God’s love even in times of suffering.

The Body of Christ is created, empowered, and nourished through God’s gift of Spirit. With this promised comforter and counsellor at our sides, we can be bold to live as witnesses to God’s love. What has been your experience of the Spirit’s work in your life and the life of your church? In what ways are you a witness to God’s love?

Reflection

Shape us, Spirit, into a community of Jesus’ followers who are bold to witness to God’s love. Send us out to tell of Christ’s love with boldness, gentleness, and fearlessness. Amen.

 

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