No more Orphans

 

John 14 15 -21

 There are just two points from this passage that I want to make.

One is not being an orphan, the second is the coming of the holy spirit and  never being without the presence of  God.

What rights did orphans have in the time of Jesus? Children generally had no rights, and those that were ill, unwanted or did not fit in, could be abandoned. Orphans were certainly not on the cared for list.

I once heard a preacher introduce his talk with the words, “ I know nothing about what I am going to talk about.” My reaction was why speak about it then because you have no knowledge. But so often we do speak about things that we have no experience about and seem to think we are all knowledgeable. We may be, but what we don’t know is how it feels, the emotions that people go through. When I did my reader training the essay markers did not want to know what I knew of Jesus or of my faith, they only wanted to know what I knew about him and the history.

But here Jesus is already  saying you are children of God, you are not orphans, with no rights, you will not be put outside the care system when you are 18, when you should be going to see  universities for your future, having the support of a family as you step on to threshold of being an adult. Even fledging birds have their parents to feed them in the wild for a while, until they get their  wings and learn to feed themselves.

But we will not be orphans, we have our father, forever. This is the greatest gift we can have; we should be impassioned to tell everyone that God’s love is so immense. It should fire us up every day to be full of joy and want everyone to know this promise.

You don’t get this promise if you are of the world, it  says that in verse 17.

The bible here uses the word advocate, but in this sense the word often used is  comforter, because when we are orphans  we might need a comforter, but also an advocate to plead for us, to give us our rights.

This passage is amazing, God knows our situation, he knows our loss, he knows how we feel when we fall. Yet he knows how to ensure that we are covered by his love, The death on the cross was necessary , yet we will not be alone.

 I don’t know if the disciples understood all this, my view is they did not, because in verse 20, Jesus says on that day you will realise that I am in the father. They were going to feel despair, utter loss, yet he knows this and will send the holy spirt and they  will know then that they are not alone, they are not orphans, that he will never leave them. Because they will realise they are children of God.

 

Just for us to understand, we will never be orphans. Not because of our age, but because God will always be our eternal father.

There is a warning here. The advocate is going to be with them for ever, it is unequivocable  Jesus is not going to be with them for ever. But  Jesus goes on to say I won ‘t leave you as orphans. The disciples  knew all about the status of an orphan.  There is a dire warning that something is going to happen, “ I will not leave you as orphans,” to be an orphan means your parents are going to die.

 

Jesus had inspired  the disciples with this vision of what a new world looked like. And now  as it is getting to  its climax, he is going to leave them. What had happened, a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, worshiped by the people, surely this was the time for a regime change.

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin told us how the shepherd slept in the gate way to protect the sheep. Now the shepherd is leaving, who is going to sleep in the doorway to protect them. The shepherd is about to be eaten by the wolves, so no voice to listen to. The average sheep is probably up for “let us just scatter and take our chances,” which is what happened later.  After all the wolf is not going to wait for the mint sauce to arrive 

We need the holy spirit because he is with us always and everywhere. Now we all know Kevin, good guy, caring guy, and at present he is at the back, next to Graham, and although he has all our interests at heart, he cannot  be next to Graham and next to Diane there, and next to Sue here, at the same time. He can only be in one place at a time; the holy spirit can be everywhere all at once.

 

God is with us forever. What a promise!

There are caveats to all this having God with us for ever, verse 21 says Whoever keeps my commands. Not a threat, but a boundary for us to live by, but we will have the holy spirt to help us.

I am excited that our faith is not a set of rules but a relationship with a living God, one that knows how I feel, not just about what I know, but understands my frail human feelings, feelings will hinder my walk with God, but I am over joyed that God knows that my feelings matter to him and to me. Th good and the tough times.

God made us, and knows we have feelings, he does not disregard them.

 

 What were the disciples thinking,

This has to be a bit of a roller coaster ride. What is this guy on about, hey the crowds love us, they think he is the answer to all the oppression,  like we know he is going to deliver us. We backed the right horse.

No unbeliever saw Jesus  after the death on the cross, so I have gleaned from various theologians.

How do we feel. You see sometimes things have to develop; there are times of testing.

Love  is  more than kind words, it is commitment , deeds, and conduct.

We don’t need to know the future; we need to have faith in God that he knows the future and that he knows what is best for us. We need to have faith  in God to be secure about the future.

It says here the spirt will be us with for ever.

Did John have an issue? I think I would have. Here is Jesus and he is leaving us, we are following your vision Jesus, and you are going? When Steve Jobs started Apple, he did not say (as far as I aware) that his vison for the company would be without hm, that he would pass it  on to someone else, he got people to buy into his vision, and implied he would be there, not absent.

Many people think, and I am one of them, that it would be so much easier to have Jesus here now with them, so that they could just ask him  a question and get the great answer, it be would so much easier than having to pray about it and mull over the situation, and wait for the holy spirt to give us the answer.

But Tom Wright said that is not the case, based on evidence in the 4 gospels people around Jesus did not see it as that simple. Some of his closest friends betrayed him and denied him. Most people could not make him out. He was compelling but puzzling.

Two things are happening, being left, but having the knowledge that God is with us forever. He gives us the right to be children of God. Better than an earthly father.

We all become orphans as our parents die, but God does not die, so forever we have a father.

As orphans , we have no inheritance, no family estate to take over, no business to continue, but as children of God we have an inheritance, we have  a business, the inheritance is eternal life with God, and our business on earth is to tell  people about the promises of God and to live that life for all to see.

 

 

Prayer

 We thank you lord that you loved us and still love us so much that you have made for us an everlasting family and an everlasting inheritance.

Amen

 

Andrew F