Message

On a hot southern night, some 150 years ago, a weary slave sat before a tar-paper shack and lifted his voice in a song of lament — a mournful, deep song whose words gave expression to the pain of having been taken from home, separated from family, and subjected to slavery. With hurt and longing he sang these words: 

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long ways from home. 

Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone, Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone, Sometimes I feel like I’m almos’ gone, Way up in de heab’nly land. 

Have you ever felt that way? Outmatched by life? Up against what seems to be impossible odds? Depressed? Downhearted? Hopeless and helpless, overpowered by life? What do we do when life bullies us into a corner? Where do we turn when trouble traps us? 

Well, there is good news. As we gather here today, we encounter the resurrected Christ, the one who has triumphed over the cross and the grave; the one who stands eternal in the throne room of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who says to us as he did to the disciples, 

“I will not leave you as orphans.” I will not leave you alone. I will not abandon you.” 

Orphans … Now that’s a word we don’t hear very often any more. It’s not a popular word. In fact, we try to avoid the thought that orphans even exist anymore. 

And yet, it is estimated that the South China Sea tsunami that struck at Christmas time in 2004 left as many as 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN ORPHANED. Just think — 1.5 million children left without parents from that one tragedy. 

And there’s more children like them are made orphans each day. According to a 2014 IHH Humanitarian Relief Report on Orphans “up to 210 million of child population are orphaned.” Numbers are growing due to wars, Cartel violence, and natural disasters. 

And yet, we know that it isn’t just children without parents who are orphans. There are countless others who feel abandoned, who feel alone without help, who are left without guidance or comfort who feel like orphans as well. They can be like the following people. 

The 55-year-old factory worker is laid off when the plant closes leaving him with no prospect of another job. Too old and too weary to consider re-training, without skills that can be retooled, he feels alone. Unemployed and living off pension funds that will soon run out, who is there to say to him, “I will not leave you as orphans”? “I will not abandon you”?

It may be the teenager who is different from the rest, the wife or husband whose spouse has left them, the businessman whose business is failing, or the parent whose child has rebelled and left home. Or any of the countless others in the world around us who feel alone and without hope, rejected and lonely, like that the slave. To them and to us, there is good news this morning. 

For there is one who is here to say, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will not abandon you.”

In the gospel reading today, Jesus sits with the disciples in the upper room. The candles of the Passover meal have burnt short and it is time to go. 

One disciple has already fled the gathering, his betrayal a shock to all of them. Another disciple’s denial is predicted and the pain of the cross awaits them all.

And in the midst of this uncertain gathering, Jesus reaches out to them in love. 

Listen again to what he says in various verses. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. In just a little while, the world will not see me again, but you will. For I will live again and you will, too. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor who will never leave you — a Counselor who is the Holy Spirit. 

I will not leave you. I will not abandon you. I will send you a counselor, an advocate, a comforter, a friend who will care for you, who will offer you hope when there is none to be found, help when you are helpless, comfort when you can find none, and life in the face of death. 

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us in our baptism. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in life. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s gift to us and the promise to all the faithful. The Holy Spirit sends us forth then as messengers of God’s love to the poor, the unemployed, the young and the elderly, the sick and rejected, the unhappy, the sorrowful, the lonely and the dying. Who is there to say to them, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will not abandon you.”

Well, God says it can be us. For we are the ones whom God entrusts with the good news. We are the ones sent forth with his love. 

One of the themes that dominate this passage of scripture is the theme of love. 

“If you love me,” Jesus says in verse 15, “obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor, who will never leave you.” 

In his great love for us, Jesus promises us help. He promises us the Holy Spirit. He promises us one whose presence will comfort us. 

One could easily make the case that where there is no love, there is no comfort. That is what Jesus says. “If you love me….” 

For all too many of us, our Christian faith is centered 18” too high, for that is the distance between our head and our heart, between knowing about God and personally knowing God, between understanding the presence of God and experiencing it. 

You see, ideas are powerful things. But an idea has no power to heal a broken heart. An idea cannot take away the pain of heartache or fill the void of a loss. An idea can bring no comfort in the face of tragedy or peace in the wake of death. An idea is no substitute for experiencing the love of Jesus Christ. 

That’s why Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans.” I will not abandon you. You will have my love to strengthen you. 

Love has the power to heal. It has the power to make well. It has the power to lift drooping heads and fill empty hearts. No wonder people were healed just by coming into the presence of Jesus. 

Did you ever wonder about that — those stories in the New Testament that tell of someone who just came to Jesus and with just a touch or with just a word were made well? There’s no secret to that. 

If we believe that Jesus was God’s love incarnate, God’s love in the flesh, why shouldn’t people be healed by just coming into contact with him? For love has the power to do that. Love has the power to heal and that’s what Christ’s presence can do and continues to do. 

But we must come into his presence. We must draw near to him. That’s why personal time of devotion and worship and prayer and contemplation are so important. 

Herb Woertz, dying of kidney and bone cancer, In his last hours was listening to Gospel Music… He drew his last breaths worshipping God, And celebrating his awareness that he was a beloved child of God. 

For in our spiritual disciplines we come close to Christ. In these, we draw near to our Lord. And in coming to him, we enter the presence of God and God’s love makes us well. 

For he can heal the broken heart. He can fill the emptiness of loss. He can comfort the lonely and strengthen the weak. Sometimes we do feel like a motherless child. Sometimes we feel overmatched by life. But we have a Father who loves us. We have a Savior who triumphed over death. We have the Holy Spirit, God’s presence, to bring faith to life. And because of that we have the peace of God that passes all understanding to keep our heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

Pastoral Prayer

Ever Present God, with the warm spring breezes lifting our spirits, and the glorious sun spilling through our souls, we gather to lift your name on high. For the song rising from deep within us, we praise you. Remind us, O Lord, that it is sometimes in the most unexpected moments that we experience your presence with fresh wonder. Today, bless us with eyes of anticipation to witness your presence in all the events unfolding around us. 

Lord of all life, we enter your presence taking deep calming breaths that we might hear the whisper of your Holy Spirit. We confess that there are times when we hesitate to admit the depth of our need for you. Many of us are reluctant to acknowledge the limits of our self-sufficiency, and struggle to realize that true freedom comes from surrendering into your goodness and your will. O Master, we confess the ways we have turned from you – in our busyness, our self- absorption, our blindness to other’s needs – we turn to you now asking for your forgiveness. We know we need healing for our souls and peace for our spirits. Come to us now to grant that healing, to receive our confession that we might be made whole again. Then set our minds on things above that we might live in the fullness of life in your kingdom. 

As we turn to you grateful for life’s blessings, we also turn to you with life’s complexities. O God, each one of us has carried with us concerns that weigh heavily upon us. Whatever we have brought with us, you invite us to offer those situations to you in trust. For the sobering issues of violence and suffering around the world, we offer our prayers for peace. We entrust each person, each situation, each worry to you, knowing that you will care for them, providing forgiveness, direction, and peace. Precious Lord, we are discovering that your joy is our strength and your peace is our comfort. So, create of us a fellowship of ones who know the Master, and who live for him in faith and confident power, for it is in him that we pray together as one people:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.