Reflecting on the Gospel for the 6th Sunday of Easter

This is my first venture out into the world of the Web. I thought I would share some reflections on the Gospel passages of the Three Year Revised Common Lectionary in the hope that they might be of use to anyone who has the responsibility of doing a homily on the passage.

The Gospel according to John
Chapter 14: 23-29

Our Lord is reflecting on our relationship with God, and we see how it resembles our human relationships.

Jesus has just been asked a question. Someone says to him "How is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" The rest of this passage is our Lord's reply.

The first great truth in that reply is that our Lord shows himself to the human heart. There are no vast planetary wide manifestations that some Christians tend to long for. Back in his early desert experience Jesus was tempted to such displays and he rejected them. Instead he returned to Galilee, walked the lake shore and began capturing human hearts one by one.

In this upper room he is saying that it will always be this way. In her poem "Immanence" the English poet Evelyn Underhill expresses this perfectly. She writes of God - "I shall achieve my immemorial plan. Pass the low lintel of the human heart."

"Those who love me", says Jesus, “will keep my word". Our Lord shows us love in terms of obedient action. Love is not just a feeling or a sentiment. Where there is love there is obedience.

"We will come to them and make our home with them". If we live a life of intentional obedience to God as we have experienced that God in Jesus, then a relationship is formed. Because we are human this relationship will never be constant or perfect. Our human nature will interfere and put up blocks. Our faith will go through periods of confidence and periods of doubt. But if we strive for an obedient relationship with God we will have moments of natural encounter with our Lord. He is both the object of our obedience as well as being the source of grace that makes our obedience possible.

"The Advocate, the Holy Spirit...will teach you everything". Our relationship with our Lord, like our human relationships, must grow and deepen if it is to be real. My childhood relationship with God, while it affects all my subsequent life, will not itself suffice for my adult life. Very often we fail to recognize this.

"I am going away, and I am coming to you". This is a deliberate paradox whose truth is borne out again and again in our relationships. It’s true between parents and children. If it does not happen the relationship cannot develop. The same is true in our relationship with God. Each stage of it must change. Each stage must "go away" to that the next stage can develop or "come again".

That is the Good News for this week.