A Holy Companion

Rev. Debbie Cato
John 14:15-21
Fairfield Community Church
May 7, 2023

Savior God, your Word is a lamp to our feet on this discipleship road. Walk with us. Guide us with your wisdom and grace. Open us to recognizing your will and your way. Amen.

 

A Holy Companion

 

I love watching the Olympics.  Do any of you? I love to watch the athletes who have trained and sacrificed their whole life to compete at the Olympics.  Everything they have lived for, every ounce of their thoughts and efforts has come down to this one race, this one event, this one opportunity to be the best.  I’m always moved by the courage and fortitude the athletes have – fighting through pain and injury, participating on a world stage, putting it all on the line. 

Back in the late 80’s,  there was this 19-year-old British runner named Derek Redmond who had skyrocketed to fame by shattering Britain’s 400-meter record. But then an Achilles tendon injury forced him to withdraw from the 1988 Olympic Games and he endured five separate surgeries.  Five surgeries.  Just think.

When the Summer Olympics arrived in Barcelona in 1992, Derek Redmond was absolutely aching for a medal.  By now Derek was 23 years old and he was ready to win.  It was at these Summer Olympics in Barcelona Spain that hold the most memorable Olympic moment for me.

The day of the 400-meter race, 65,000 fans streamed into the stadium in Barcelona to watch.  All the media attention was focused on Derek – focused on his come-back story; focused on this athlete who was expected to win the 400-meter race.  The sportscaster pointed out Derek’s father in the stands cheering for his son and throughout the race the TV cameras panned back and forth between the race and Derek’s dad.  Sitting in my living room, I could feel the excitement mount as the racers lined up for the start.

The race began, and Derek immediately broke through the pack to seize the lead. “Keep it up, keep it up,” his father yelled. Heading down the backstretch, only 175 meters from the finish line, it looked like Derek was a shoo-in to win.

But then Derek hears a pop. It’s his right hamstring. He pulls up lame, looking as if he has been shot.  The camera shows his leg quivering, and his face is wrenched in pain. Derek begins to hop on the other leg, and then he slows down and falls to the track.  Medical personnel run toward him as he sprawls on the ground, holding his right hamstring. 

The TV cameras scan to the stands.  Derek’s dad, seeing his son in trouble, is racing down the bleachers. He is pushing toward the track, sidestepping people and bumping into others. You can see that all he can think about is getting to his son. He is absolutely single-minded about this, and he isn’t going to be stopped by anyone.

Back on the track, Derek must have realized that his dream of an Olympic medal was gone. The other runners streak across the finish line. Derek is like an orphan, a lonely figure on the track, all alone.

Tears pour down Derek’s face.  I imagine they were tears of pain and tears of heartache.  When the medical crew arrives with a stretcher, Derek tells them, “No, there’s no way I’m getting on that stretcher. I’m going to finish my race.” You see, “Did-Not-Finish” was not part of his vocabulary. And so he lifts himself to his feet, ever so slowly and carefully, and he starts hobbling down the track.

Suddenly, the crowd realizes that Derek isn’t dropping out of the race. He isn’t limping off the track in defeat, but is actually continuing on one leg, in a fiercely determined effort to make it to the finish line. One painful step at a time, each one a little slower and more agonizing than the one before, Derek limps forward, and the crowd begins to cheer for him. The fans rise to their feet and their cries grow louder and louder, building into a thundering roar.

Finally Derek’s dad reaches the bottom of the stands, vaults over the railing, dodges a security guard, and runs out to his son — with two security people running after him. “That’s my son out there,” he yells back at his pursuers, “and I’m going to help him.”

He reaches his son at the final curve of the race, about 120 meters from the finish line, and he wraps his arm around his waist. “I’m here, son,” he gently says while hugging his boy. “We’ll finish together.”

Derek puts his arms around his father’s shoulders and sobs. Together, arm in arm, father and son struggle toward the finish line with 65,000 people cheering, clapping and crying.  Just a few steps from the end, with the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Derek’s dad releases the grip he has on his son so that Derek can cross the finish line by himself.  It was very moving.

Do you ever feel like you won’t make it over the finish line?  Like you are hobbling on one leg, and the pain and disappointment is too much to bear?  Do you ever feel like you are all alone – yearning for someone to put their arm around you and bear some of your pain? 

In today’s scripture, I see similarities to Derek, the race, and his dad.  We see the disciples who’ve been riding on the back of Jesus for three years. They were together 24/7.  Jesus was their teacher, their mentor, their friend, their companion.  And Jesus is telling them it is coming to an end. He’s talking about his own death in terms that the disciples don’t clearly understand.  Something is in the wind.  The disciples begin to feel the tension, to feel the pain. But Jesus tells them that he “will not leave [them] orphaned. “I am coming to you,” he says, and his coming is in the form of the Holy Spirit.

You won’t have to do it alone; Jesus tells his friends.  You will have an advocate, a helper, a holy companion.  John understands the Holy Spirit as one who stands in for us.  He says that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us, keep us on track.  We can depend on the Holy Spirit, lean on the Holy Spirit and be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

John says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life.  “Because I live,” promises Jesus, “you also will live”. The good news is that Christ has conquered the power of sin and death, and the same God who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our bodies through his Spirit that dwells in us.

No matter what tragedies come our way, whether they are medical or financial or vocational or emotional, we can hold tight to the promise that Jesus gives us the gift of life – through the Holy Spirit. 

One of the confessions of our faith – the Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1562, begins with this question:  “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”  The answer is as true today as it was almost 500 years ago: “That I belong — body and soul, in life and in death — not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”  We belong to Jesus Christ, and his Spirit gives us life. This is good news for any of us who find ourselves limping toward the finish line.

John also says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love.  The love between God and Jesus spills over into our lives through the Holy Spirit and saturates us with unconditional love and acceptance.  There are expectations, of course.  Jesus does talk about obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. The commandments of Jesus all involve living a life of love.  That same evening, Jesus tells his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”.

When we are feeling defeated, we are to love one another. When the medical test is disturbing, love one another. When a family member faces a layoff, love one another.  When we are rejected and hurt, love one another. When there’s a death in the community, love one another. When life sucks, love one another.  “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” says Jesus, “if you have love for one another”. The Holy Spirit leads us into a life of love, comforting and She carries us through anything that life throws at us.

John’s words for Holy Spirit - advocate, helper, comforter; are not just names for the Spirit, but they are particular ways of describing the functions of the Spirit.  What the Spirit does is not new but is a continuation of the work of Jesus.  The Spirit shares in the work of Christ.  The Spirit is Christ’s presence within us and within the world.  Jesus repeatedly emphasizes his presence in and relationship with the faith community:  “the Spirit will be with you forever”; “the Spirit abides with you”; and “the Spirit will be in you”, he says.

The disciples never could have done all they did without Jesus. In their faith run, they’ve never been alone. Jesus has always been there. The very physicality of Jesus has been their source of reassurance; their source of strength. The miracles; the teaching; his leadership - It’s been enough to keep them going in the good and the bad; the easy and the hard.

Now Jesus is talking about dropping out. The unthinkable is happening. How are they to keep going? Some are no doubt already contacting their fishing buddies to see if there’s an opening at the cannery in Galilee. But Jesus says that even after his death he will still be with them. He will still encourage them, plead with them, pray for them, and teach them.

Just the nature of his presence will change. “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me,” he says. He will be present to them in the form of the Holy Spirit.  They will not run the race alone; they will not have to cross the finish line alone.

We do not have to run this race alone either.  We do not have to cross the finish line alone.  God is with us – in the good and the bad; in the easy and the hard.   It’s easy to believe that God is present in our lives, that God is trustworthy, that God is Someone we can count on when things are going well.  When we are healthy, when we can pay our bills, when we are at the top of the mountain.  But then, things happen that seem to suggest that God is not with us. That Jesus has indeed left us “orphaned”. And when that happens, we’re tempted to take a Did Not Finish. 

It’s when we are in pain and exhausted, with our spirits dashed, drained of hope that we are reminded that Jesus did not leave his disciples – or us - without providing guidance for living in a world of hostility and fear. What he taught us is not only reinforced by Scripture, but by the Spirit - our Holy Companion that never leaves us.

 This race called life – specifically the Christian life is not for the lighthearted.  It’s a long-distance race – a distance that finds us exhilarated, excited, exhausted, hurt, broken, discouraged.  It takes work.  It takes courage and perseverance and hope. 

We are not alone.  Just like Derek’s father, God is walking beside us.  He has his arm around our waist and he’s bearing some of our weight.  He’s cheering us on, encouraging us to keep going.  He loves us.  He believes in us.  And he’s with us always.  Always and in all things he is present.  In every time and every place and every situation, Jesus says, “That’s my child out there, and I’m going to help them.”   “I’m here, beloved,” he gently says. “We’ll finish together.”  We’ll finish together.  Amen.