Homily For The Fourth Sunday After Easter
John Keble, the 19th century Anglican poet/priest,begins his poem for the fourth Sunday after Easter with this question,
"My Saviour, can it ever be
That I should gain by losing thee?"
I believe quite a few of us have shared his sentiment in wondering, “How could the disciples be better with the Lord having left them?” or “How are we better off with Our Lord being physically apart from us?” How can it be good for me to have to wait on God’s answers to my prayers or to resolve issues that are troubling me? Why must I wait?
Today’s Gospel continues our Lord’s teaching in the Upper Room Discourse, where Jesus instructs his disciples on the night before he was betrayed.
Yet, after his resurrection with all the joy of his conquest over death, the disciples needed to know that God was going to provide for them. They needed to know that, in the words of Keble, they would gain by losing Him.
What is it that they will gain? They will gain indwelling of Holy spirit leading to eternal life. We see a shadow of it in the varied appointed readings, the Psalms, the Old Testament Lessons, the Epistles, the Gospel readings, namely life after death. That is why the readings for today are an integral part of another of our most important of Prayer Book occasions - Burial of the Dead. In the midst of Easter, we have declarations of faith in life after death from the earliest times; for instance, in our Old Testament Lesson, Job, confesses from the earliest times the conviction of God’s people of life after death.
He says, “25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;” There is a confidence of Job that he will bodily, physically, come face to face with his Redeemer. The Psalmist also speaks about receiving God’s goodness and how it touches upon death. He writes in Psalm 116, “12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.The reality of Easter beckons us to in Psalm 116 where the Psalmist asks “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” In other words, how should I respond to the great gifts of God?
His response and ours as well should be to receive the cup of salvation, and to call upon the name of the Lord. The meaning of receiving the cup of salvation is two-fold; the cup of salvation has been associated with the cup of suffering, the baptism that James and John said they could join with Jesus in - that being martyrdom which links in with the declaration a couple of verses down in verse 15 - “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Our response should be to take whatever cup of suffering God gives us willingly as part of our sanctification. The second meaning of the cup of salvation is the Holy Communion. The Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and a means by which the Holy Spirit strengthens us in our journey of growing obedience. So, as we take the cup of salvation, we are being made ready for eternal life with God both by our sanctification through suffering and by the strengthening of the Eucharist.
What is the absolute antidote to despair and hopelessness? It is the fact that Jesus has conquered death. This is what we celebrate every time we partake in this Eucharistic feast, as we joyfully make our pilgrimage through suffering. We are declaring the truth of the eternal life in Christ which Job longed for. In the Eucharist, we join our voices with the Psalmist and affirm what we hear in the Gospels and Epistles, Jesus Christ has conquered death.
As I said earlier, Our Gospel is from the Upper Room discourse (this discourse provides the Gospel for last Sunday, this Sunday as well as next Sunday). Here in John 16, Jesus tells His disciples He must go away. We should remember that Jesus never hides the challenges of faith from his disciples. He just declares that He is greater. Our Gospel for today speaks to the soul-renting tension of the disciples felt about being bereft of Jesus.
Last Sunday, Jesus likens their response to his willing self-sacrifice on the cross to the travail of childbirth - immense sorrow followed by immeasurable joy. He makes this comparison because childbirth brings into focus the contrast of pain and new life. Jesus is contrasting the sorrow of death when he will be laid in the grave with the joy of birth to eternal life for all who turn to Him as he bursts from the tomb. Here, he tells that huddled bunch of apostles in that Upper Room on the night before He was betrayed that not only is he going to conquer death, after his resurrection he will be taken away from them again. Not to death but by his return to the right Hand of the Father at the Ascension. Even in his physical departure, for Jesus takes his physical body to the right hand of the Father, Our Lord wants to assure them that they will be better off.
What does this mean for us? Those who didn’t see, hear or handle our lord in the flesh as the disciples did? We share in the promise the disciples received, that Jesus would send us the Holy Spirit, and we are in the same spot of anticipation, waiting for Our Lord’s return.
Our Easter readings pivot toward contemplation of the Ascension, where our Lord left us to take the seat of power, authority and intercession for his people. Let us think about how Jesus’ leaving benefits us. First, he has gone to intercede on our behalf. Imagine the perfection of his prayers. He knows your needs, the groaning of your heart. Second, He promises another person of the Holy Trinity to reside among us, to direct us in all truth and to internally move us toward what is eternally beneficial to us. He has not left us alone; For the resurrected Christ was not satisfied that his righteousness, however perfect, should remain outside us. The Triune God purposed to come among us, not just as a presence in the Temple, but to indwell us. Another of the OT Lessons is from Ezekiel vision of dry bones where God breathes his spirit into the dead and they have new life. Jesus here is promising the fulfilment of Ezekiel vision that he would give the Holy Spirit to the individual Christian and to the church at large, so that we might have new life and harmony with Him.
I would direct your attention to the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work - the surest signs of His presence. First, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. The world is shorthand for those who oppose Christ’s rule in this world. It is the third person of the Holy Trinity who convicts people of sin - He holds the light of God’s perfect holiness up to the darkness of our rebellion. The Holy Spirit convicts those opposed to Christ’s rule of the reality of God’s righteousness, that His actions in this world are good and true. Moreover, the Holy Spirit convicts people that judgment is coming - to those who align with Satan as well as to the Evil One himself.
So in regards to those in rebellion who refuse to receive Jesus, the Holy Spirit confronts them with their unrighteousness, their rebellion and bears witness to their consciences that judgment comes to those who refuse Jesus as Lord.
As for those who turn from judgment and repent, the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth. The Holy Spirit directs the willing heart to the truth of the Gospel and the paths of righteousness that lead to eternal life. Let us take advantage of this promise by asking Him to direct us day by day. Let us ask Him for discernment, every time we study the Scriptures and ask Him to produce spiritual fruit in us. The Holy Spirit guides us into truth and he glorifies Jesus Christ. His ministry is not to draw attention to Himself, but to lead us to properly adore Jesus, so that we are transformed. This is our spiritual inheritance; promised to every Christian heart.
We have two weeks left in Eastertide. We are waiting, as the disciples were, upon God. Every moment of waiting we endure we should take as evidence that God is with us and will bring us to perfection in Christ. God’s purposes are clear. God is consistent. His character, His attributes don’t change. He has given us good gifts, salvation from our sins, eternal life, and His indwelling Spirit. He has given us a new birth through His Word of Truth, Jesus, that we might be the firstfruits of a new creation. (James 1:17-18)
In these next few weeks, there is an undercurrent of longing, that our souls and bodies might be brought to godly perfection. Are you waiting for an answered prayer? Are you undergoing personal discomfort or trial? Everything we need is found in Christ. All is accomplished in Him. Our vocation, our duty, our responsibility is to practice godly waiting, which is patience commingled with joy. We wait because we believe He will return, and in waiting with patience we can learn what pleases Him.
In doing so, we learn to be constant in season and out of season, bearing fruit that lasts. Truly the fruit of the Holy Spirit whose greater coming we celebrate in the weeks to come.
Remember, brethren, that God has given us all that we need for life and godliness. He has given us all that we need to flourish in Him and it is God’s good pleasure - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - to give us the kingdom of God. So let us endure our present moment well. And to answer the question of John Keble earlier when He asks, "My Saviour, can it ever be That I should gain by losing thee?" Let us by faith answer, “yes” when our own souls ask us that. Because of the Father’s love for mankind, the Son’s faithful life and sacrifice, and the reality of the spirit’s indwelling, we can say, “Yes. Waiting on God is great gain for me.” Amen.
