The Love Lobbyist
John 14:15-21
Reflection by Rev. Dr. Kathryn Johnson Cameron
Had the Washington Post sported a banner headline announcing a new Love lobbyist, we might have questioned the truth of the news and never guessed the source.
Unless we knew John edited this special edition press release.
Unless we saw the by-line naming as the reporter none other than the Beloved disciple.
Still, we might be surprised to learn that according to John, Jesus campaigned as a single-issue candidate.
News reporter and Biblical scholar, Jamie Clark-Soles gives us her fact check of John’s gospel:
Fifty-seven times Jesus uses love verbs (agapao, phileo). Add to that all of the occurrences of "friend"
(
which is the translation of the noun for sibling-like love
)
as well as the fact that the primary disciple in the Fourth Gospel is an unnamed character called "the beloved disciple," and we might accuse the author of touting a single issue. And why not, for is it not the case that "God so loved the world that God gave God’s only-begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life"? (3:16).
[1]
That’s the news, and it is good news we will not see making headlines. For while there may be prophets of love, there are no profits in lobbying for love. Unless you count the profit of gaining your life.
Do you remember where we were last week at this time? Jesus began the long goodbye speech with his followers (John’s writing takes up five chapters for this farewell!) “In a little while I’m going away to Dad’s place,” he tells them, “and I’ll be back to get you.” Jesus and God shared so intimate a relationship, Jesus called God, ‘dad’, one of our first good news items about this prophet of love.
In the meantime, which is where we pick up the story this week, “I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus tells them/us.
In those times, disciples without leaders were called “orphans”. What Jesus is letting them know is that while he is leaving, he will not leave them leaderless.
Jesus knew that when he started talking about his crucifixion and death, his disciples might panic and think ‘OMG he’s abandoning us; we’ll be without a leader.’ They might worry about the shame of their leader being crucified and they would become anxious to find a new messiah. But Jesus also knew that in love, he must speak the truth of his death. So when Jesus said, “I’ll be back and,
and
God is sending
another
Paraclete; then the disciples started to calm down and think, ‘we can carry on’.
Once they calmed down enough to think about it though, they might have wondered who or what is this other Paraclete, assuming Jesus was the first one?
The Webster’s dictionary of John’s time defined Paraclete as the one who ‘embodies and reveals God’s divine love’. That would be Jesus, then.
John’s thesaurus listed as synonyms for Paraclete the names, 'Advocate,' 'Counselor,' 'Comforter,' 'Holy Spirit.’ Okay, now we’re talking. We recognize the Holy Spirit from Matthew, Mark and Luke, even Genesis. Paraclete is just another name for Spirit. Jesus even says, “
Spirit
of Truth”. Someone asks , "Does John mean the Spirit is the new leader?" (2). This question reveals that then as now we long, for pray for leaders who lead from a spirit of truth.
In answer, John refers us to his Senior Thesis written in fulfillment of his graduation requirement, with a (virtual) nod to his fellow graduates this week. He did a comparison between Jesus and the Spirit:
‘Both Jesus and the Spirit are sent from God,
are rejected by the world,
are known by Jesus' followers and
both represent "the truth".
After Jesus returns to the Father,
the Spirit remains with the disciples;
but this does not mean the Spirit replaces Jesus.
The Spirit does not suffer and die and rise from the dead
as Jesus did. Rather, the Spirit discloses the presence
of the risen Jesus and God to the community of faith.
Then the community of faith lives as Christ lived
with the help of the Spirit.'
We already know John thinks differently than Matthew, Mark and Luke. We already know he gives us a unique perspective on the presence of the Word with God in the beginning, at the Genesis of creation. Now we learn that what John teaches us in his Gospel about the Holy Spirit/Advocate is to 'see' her as a helper; one called alongside another. One called alongside another as a lawyer comes alongside a defendant, or as a teacher comes alongside a student; or as a nurse comes alongside a patient; or as a pastor comes alongside her congregation; or as a lobbyist comes alongside constituents in truth and with love. Now that
would
make headlines.
Jesus lobbies us to
love me as I have loved you; come close to me and live in me in love, and by virtue of that closeness, keep my commandments.
And the Spirit, the Advocate, the Paraclete “called alongside” us, is here to help us do just that - so we might come alongside God’s beloved world.
[1]
Workingpreacher.org, April 27, 2008. Commentary on John 14:15-21.
[2]
From our Zoom Bible study on Tuesdays at 12:30.
