Glimpsing Jesus - Rev. Cathy Russell
John 14:15-21
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TODAY IS CAMPING
SUNDAY
Today is Camping Sunday in the United Church of
Canada-a day when we celebrate our nationwide ministry of Christian camping
programs. It’s interesting that on the
back of our bulletin this morning, which shows a young girl focusing very hard
on a popsicle stick craft, it’s the 18th verse of our reading from
John, “I will not leave you orphaned. I
am coming to you” which was chosen as the caption. Those of us who have worked in residential
camping ministry know that this verse is an appropriate choice since one of the
main issues we deal with in campers of this age is homesickness.
Once the activity and excitement of
the day has ended, once they’ve put on their p.j.s, brushed their teeth and
crawled into their sleeping bags, suddenly it hits them- “I miss Mommy and
Daddy!” I remember being told in a
staff training session that children of this age with their vivid imaginations
often worry about being literally orphaned, either through accident or through
deliberate abandonment. The last part,
deliberate abandonment was something that really stayed with me, that it was
not only unlikely things like accidents, but impossible scenarios like “What if
my parents decide to move away while they’re at camp and not tell me?” that
could be part of the homesick response.
But either way, those fears combined
with a different environment, and new people can awaken a deep ache in a young
camper’s heart, and a swift flowing stream in their tear ducts. As staff, all we can really do is to comfort
the child, reassure them that they haven’t been abandoned to a fate worse than
death, that they will see their
parents again soon, and that in the meantime there is a lot of fun and
wonderful things to do and learn right here at camp. Believe me, at ten o’clock at night, huddled
in a sleeping bag, listening to the wind blowing through the trees outside,
it’s not always an easy sell.
THE DISCIPLES FEAR
ABANDONMENT
In our gospel reading, Jesus continues what John calls
his farewell discourse, with the same goal of reassuring those who fear that
they will be left alone and desolate. It’s a lengthy speech, so lengthy that it
should probably be called the long goodbye.
But that’s not surprising in a gospel that places such a strong emphasis
on being in intimate relationship with God through Jesus. For the disciples in John’s gospel the fear
of being forgotten or abandoned by God in Christ is so powerful, and so
paralyzing, for the disciples that they need this kind of lengthy reassurance
from the man himself. If Jesus is the
sun, and the disciples are the planets that revolve around him and are bathed
in his light, what happens to those planets, to that solar system when the sun
doesn’t shine anymore? Darkness,
Terrible Cold, Death.
WE FEAR
ABANDONMENT
And we all know that experience in our own lives don’t
we-the deeper the love, the more dismayed we are when that love seems threatened
whether it’s through rejection or distance, illness or death. Certainly it’s during times like these that
we too can worry that God is absent, or at least distant and unresponsive. But there are other times and other reasons
that we can feel separated from God, other reasons we feel outside of the life
giving warmth of God’s love, other times when we can feel like a frozen comet,
hurtling through a cold universe all on our own. We can have fears that live deep inside us
that whisper that we are not good enough, that we have flaws and weaknesses
that make us unacceptable, and that put us outside the love of others, and even
outside that supposedly unconditional love of God. Rejection in our relationships or in our
work, struggles with addictive and compulsive behavior all of these give voice
to that fear, that we are no good and we are profoundly alone.
My spiritual director at seminary told a
counseling class I was in once “You know you’ll spend every Sunday for the rest
of your time in ministry telling people that God loves them and accepts them,
and they’ll never believe you.” That
disbelief, that fear that we are unacceptable is the real power of Sin, and it
can be formidable indeed, even though it’s based on a lie. That fear, that lie, can poison our hearts
against ourselves and against others. It
can push us in ways that are both selfish and self-destructive.
IS THERE SOMETHING
WRONG WITH ME?
My first summer as camp director we had a boy who
along with some behavioral issues, had challenges with nighttime
toileting. That is to say, he wet the
bed. Now this is not an uncommon
occurrence at residential camps where the washroom is not just down the hall but
down the hill. It’s also not uncommon
for kids to come with night pants “just in case”. However, this particular young man was
desperately embarrassed about all of this- in fact he was so embarrassed, that
even after he had soaked his sleeping bag, he adamantly denied doing it, and
adamantly denied his mother had sent him with night pants.
It
was a difficult situation for his counselor and the rest of us, but we had to
do something, for his sake and ours. So
together, we came up with a plan to save his sleeping bag, his cabin mates and
his dignity, and left it to his counselor to talk to him. The young camper listened to his counselor as
he gently but firmly told him that the bedtime routine would now include
changing into nightpants in the washroom, and with a heavy heart, he agreed. And then he said “I don’t know why I do
it. I hate it, but it just keeps
happening. Is there something wrong with
me?” And there it was, the real root of
his denial and his embarrassment and his fear of being exposed. “Is there something wrong with me?” He was afraid that wetting the bed was a sign
that there was something wrong with him, something wrong in him. He was afraid that
wetting the bed made him some kind of freak, an unacceptable, disgusting,
loathsome freak, and so no one must find out because he would surely be
rejected. “Is there something wrong with
me?” This poor boy was afraid that his
secret meant he was isolated, abandoned, alone.
His fear made him ready to believe the Lie.
JESUS SENDS THE
SPIRIT OF TRUTH TO COMBAT THE LIE OF SIN
John’s gospel tells us that Jesus combats the Lie of
unacceptability and abandonment, with the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit of Truth, the Advocate, the person
of God we call the Holy Spirit. And the
Spirit of Truth is all about reassurance and release from the power of
Sin. The Advocate is all about
overcoming the Lie of unacceptability and isolation with the Truth of the
unconditional life-giving love found in Jesus and in the community that loves
in his name. And it’s to those who show
love that he promises to reveal himself.
JESUS REVEALED
HIMSELF AT CAMP
I know from first hand experience that Jesus reveals
himself frequently in our camping ministry, and often it’s with the kids who
struggle the most with challenges of behavioral issues, family situations, or
peer dynamics. Kids like our friend
struggling with the shame of bedwetting, and the fear that it made him
unacceptable. Jesus revealed himself to
that camper and his counselor, in that vulnerable moment between them. When he was faced with this sad boy giving
voice to his heartfelt fear of unacceptability-“Is there something wrong with
me?” His counselor, an older young man,
immediately responded with “Absolutely NOT.
There is NOTHING wrong with you.”
He heard that fear of unacceptability and abandonment in his camper’s
voice and he replied unequivocally- “You ARE acceptable. You are NOT going to be rejected by me or
this community.” I am convinced that those words of his were right from the
Spirit of Truth. That Spirit who says
that all of us are included in the community of God’s love- that there’s
nothing we can do or be that can put us beyond that life giving warmth. I am convinced that the one who called us to
love in his name kept his promise and revealed himself in that loving action
and in those compassionate words. And I
am convinced that both those young men in that situation, camper, and counselor
experienced Christ in that moment, even if they themselves wouldn’t or couldn’t
describe what happened between them in that way.
JESUS CAN BE
REVEALED TO US THROUGH LOVE
Yesterday morning, we had a planning meeting for this
year’s