May 29, 2011 - Easter 6A

Jesus Will Never Leave Us Alone
John 14:15-21
Easter 6A – May 29, 2011

One of my favorite fantasy fiction series is a set of books about the Dragonriders of Pern. In the world of Pern, dragons exist. They are living, breathing sentient beings who partner with humans to fight against the deadly Thread that periodically falls from space and eats its way through anything organic. When the dragon eggs are about to hatch, specially selected humans stand around the edges of the hatching sands, ready to be chosen by a dragonet.

When this happens, what they call “Impression,” the person and the dragon are linked for life. The dragons cannot speak, but each pair can hear each other – in a way, it's like reading each other's minds. Even when they are away from each other, they can communicate. Each feels the other's unconditional love and acceptance. This bond is the deepest, most profound bond they can experience. It is a bond so strong that if the human rider happens to die, the dragon immediately blinks out of existence. It cannot continue without its partner.

It's not quite so easy for the humans though. If their dragon dies, they continue to live. But it is a ravaged existence. They forever feel the emptiness where their dragon used to be – and many succumb to depression or addiction, seeking ways to numb the pain, to fill the void.

I imagine that the disciples felt something like these dragon-less riders on this night in the gospel, for they have a deep bond with Jesus. Jesus isn't quite gone yet, but they know he is about to be. He's told them that, on this Maundy Thursday night, the night of the last supper, the night of his betrayal and arrest. And already they feel that gaping hole where Jesus used to be, the pain of wondering what life will possibly be like without him, the questions – how can we go on? How can we go on living when Jesus is gone? It doesn't really matter that Jesus has also been saying things about coming back – about going to prepare a place and returning to bring them with him, that he will not leave them orphaned but will come to them again, that because he lives, they also will live. Who can make sense of that? People don't come back from the dead. Everyone knows that. The disciples struggle, as they feel this bond – the deepest, most profound, most intimate connection they have ever known – start to slip away, as they slip into the pain and fear of having to say good-bye for what seems like forever...

...the same way we've all felt at some point in our lives. The way we've felt when someone we love is dying, when someone we love has died, and we know that life will never be the same. As we contemplate life without that person – whether it's a parent or friend or spouse – and we wonder if we can go on, as that pain, that fear of being left alone starts to sink in, and we know we'll always carry that hole with us. That fear and feeling of being left alone doesn't come just with death. It comes with the struggle of depression or addiction, the sense that no one knows what we are going through, that conviction we'll just have to muddle through on our own. I imagine the people of Japan still recovering from the earthquake and tsunami and nuclear fall-out know how that feels. The people in the south and mid-west digging out from flooding and tornadoes on a scale they couldn't have imagined – losing loved ones and houses and mementos of precious memories to forces of nature. It's in the faces of veterans who return from wars where they have seen things no human eye should see, returning to a people who are grateful, but will never really “get” it, who cannot understand the post-traumatic stress that they live with everyday as they try to readjust to civilian life back home.

I remember in the Pern books one character named Brekke, a young woman who had lost her dragon. It had been injured so badly that they weren't able to save it. Brekke had been injured too, but her life was saved. Yet as she hovered near consciousness, and her heart realized her beloved Wirenth was gone, she cried out over and over again, “Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me alone!”

It was the cry of the disciples' hearts that night. It is the cry of our own hearts. Don't leave us alone.

The miracle of the dragon tale is that Brekke had a unique ability to hear other dragons, something most of the riders could not do. As she lay there in her recovery, crying out in her anguish, she heard the voices of the other dragons, comforting her, reassuring her, promising never to leave her. It was their presence that pulled her through, that gave her strength to go on living – because they promised always to be with her.

Jesus promises the same thing to his fearful, desperate disciples that night. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

“I will never leave you alone,” Jesus says. And in the meantime, while I am physically gone, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever... you know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” Just as the dragons promise Brekke to be there in her dragon's place, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, to be with the disciples – and with us – forever. It is that Spirit who looks out for us, who comforts us, who is always with us through those times even when we feel most alone.

And that same Holy Spirit, who abides with us, who remains with us forever – that Spirit is in us. The Spirit moves in us to bring the love of Christ to others, to share the presence of Christ with those in our world who feel orphaned and alone. It is the Spirit that works in us and through us to reach out to people in need, to remind them, just as we have been reminded, that Christ is still alive and active and loving this world – through us! Knowing that we will never be left alone, we are given the grace to walk with those in need – given the compassion to weep with those who weep, the energy to work alongside those who struggle, the generosity to give to those who have nothing. We experience the love of Christ most fully when we live the love of Christ out in the world – keeping his commandment to love one another as he has loved us. There are a million opportunities, and million ways that we can be a tangible sign of Christ's love in action. May the Spirit of truth move in us today – and may we reach out with the love and presence of Christ so that all may know that they are never alone.

Thanks be to God.
Amen.