(John 14: 23 – 29)

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 28 Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. 29 I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.
 
There are three different stages to any sermon that I preach and each is progressively harder than the previous one. My first task is to give you the context to the passage. In academic terms this is called ‘exegesis.’ This passage is a part of Jesus’ extended farewell to his disciples during the 40-day period between his Resurrection and his Ascension back into heaven (next Thursday (May 17th) is Ascension Day when we mark the end of this period). Jesus appears on different occasions to Simon Peter and the Twelve (1 Cor 15:5), to five hundred brothers at once (1 Cor 15:6), to James and all the apostles (1 Cor 15:7). Here he has just tackled Thomas’ doubts and now deals with the question about how future generations will come to know and love him, when they can not, as Thomas has done, touch the wounds in his hands and side themselves?

The last words that someone says before they die are always going to be significant – it is how we remember them and it is what they consider to be the most important things about their lives. Jesus tells his disciples that not only should they not fear his departure, but also that they should actually rejoice at the prospect of his immanent return to heaven (Jn 14:28). His ascension into heaven will allow him to return to the Father and open up a whole new future for the disciples as well. The Holy Spirit will fill the void in the community left by his departure, teaching and bringing to mind what he had already taught them (Jn 14:26). There will be no new revelation; God has already revealed Himself in Jesus but the Holy Spirit will deepen the disciples understanding of that actually meant. In fact they will be better off with the Holy Spirit than they ever were with him because he could only be in one place at once where as the Holy Spirit will be everywhere in people’s hearts

Once I have explained the context, the second thing that I need to do is to pick one particular area of the passage to focus on. In my previous job I was a university lecturer and could have six hours in a day to open up a line of thought. Now as a parish priest I have a 10-15 minute sermon and so I have to cut my cloth accordingly. Any Bible passage is pregnant with ideas and so picking one among many is not hard. It is my task as the preacher to bring together the revelation of God through scripture with the insights of our hearts (reason and revelation). What I like most from this passage is Jesus telling his disciples not to be troubled. “Do not be afraid” is the most common commandment of Jesus? “Love one another as I have loved you” is second.

Finally I need to apply this idea to some part of our lives so that we understand the scripture as real and relevant to our lives here in Shepherds Bush. In academic terms this is called ‘apologetics.’ The trick of good apologetics is to make sure that you both understand the application and also recognise how it connects with the passage from scripture. If you don’t make this connection back to scripture then my sermon becomes like the advert when you can remember the advertisement but not what it is for. All I have given you is a thought for the week but I have not done what I am here to do which is to teach you about God.

How do we take Jesus at his word and live without fear. One key to living without fear is other people. The promise of a relationship with Jesus is on offer to all of us together as a community and not to each of us separately as individuals. A community of faith (such as we are) is different to family or a friendship group. Family and friends mirror back to us our own hopes, aspirations fears and worries. A community of faith is a group of people who apart from their shared belief in God might otherwise be total strangers. Our shared time together then becomes one of either wonder or pain: wonderful when we can sense a oneness between us and are aware of the fellowship of God, painful when we realise the differences between us.

Another key to living without fear is the peace of God. The "peace" that Jesus came to bring is not "Don’t worry, be happy": something psychological that can be realized only within our mental states. "Peace" is not just the absence of conflict, but also the far wider concept of shalom, (everything that makes for) the total wellbeing of the person and community. Our gathering at St Stephens is not just a collection of people who share common beliefs or common efforts. There is a unity among us that is reinforced by the presence of the Holy Spirit teaching us to remember who we are as Jesus’ followers. It is this act of being reminded that happens week by week as we gather to celebrate the Eucharist together

This leaves the key to living without fear as a commitment to love God and to love each other. The command in Scripture is not for us to love the whole world but to love one another. The idea of loving the whole world is something warm and fuzzy; the idea of loving one another is sharp and real. Look around at each other and it might appear far-fetched for me to say that each of us hold the key for the other to a life without fear. We barely know each other; there is hardly time after the service even for a cup of coffee. It is easy for me at this final point of the sermon to begin to hector you and to tell you what I think you should be doing rather than the promise that is on offer from God. However I will do nothing more than what I have outlined to you as the task of the preacher. I will set out the context of the passage and this is Jesus’ farewell to his disciples. I will draw attention to one idea within the passage and this is the idea of us living without fear. Finally I will apply this to our lives and this is that we should live in love and fellowship with each other. It is for you to decide how well I have succeeded.