When I was living in Tennessee, I was a volunteer fireman for a few years. The fire chief went to Jack Heffner, the Headmaster of my school, and he explained to him that the school’s insurance rates depended on the response time of the fire department. To keep those response times low, he needed to know that two of the teachers who were firemen could respond to calls during the academic day. Jack gave his permission, and we had a plan with the Academic Dean. If my beeper went off, I had a manila envelope with the words “open in case of fire” printed on it. I would give the envelope to a student who would take it to the Dean, and he would either cover my class or give it to someone else.
Now think of another situation. I read an article recently about a woman who was a single parent serving in the military. She had to file a Family Care Plan with her commander outlining who would take care of her children in the event that she suddenly had to go to war. Imagine having to notify your children that you would be going away soon and might be gone a long time. I am guessing that for anyone who has served in the military, this all is just standard procedure. I had just never thought of it, and it was a thought that seized me.
This Family Care Plan would require a lot more than a manila envelope. Those of you who are parents can imagine how tough it would be. There would be a lot more involved than just packing things and driving the children to your sister’s house. They would need to know that you would be OK and that you would return. One of the challenges of course is how you could prepare them for this without scaring them half to death?
Of course, you don’t have to be in the military to face this kind of issue. A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. She had to have a plan with her children. What happens when mom goes into surgery? You don’t want to alarm them unnecessarily, but you also want them to be prepared. It turned out my friend has been cancer free now for fifteen years or so, and this story ended well, but the fact remains. There had to be a plan.
On some level a will is this same sort of thing. The rubrics for baptism advise priests to counsel parents about having a will. I am not trying to drum up business for Pete Rockaway, if you don’t have one, you need one. We might not want to think about it, and we don’t want to need a will, but we need to have a plan.
Jesus was faced with this problem toward the end of his life on earth. He had tried to tell his disciples that he was going die, but they weren’t able to hear that. Jesus’ words pretty much went in one ear and out the other. But Jesus persisted. He said:
“It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you;but if I go, I will send him to you.”
When Jesus mentioned the Advocate, he was talking about the Holy Spirit – God’s Spirit dwelling in us. The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek word used in this verse was “Paraclete.” That’s the word that is translated “Advocate” in our Bible.
People in Jesus’ day knew that word, paraclete. Roman soldiers had paracletes. They had a “buddy system,” and their buddy was their paraclete. When one needed sleep the other pulled guard duty. When surrounded by the enemy, they stood back to back, protecting each other. Having a paraclete was like having an extra pair of hands or like having eyes in the back of your head.
Jesus told his disciples that he must leave so that the Paraclete – the Holy Spirit –could come to help them. Then Jesus said that he had many things to tell his disciples, but they weren’t ready to hear them. Then he went on to make this promise:
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
The Holy Spirit would guide the disciples “into all the truth.” Truth is a wonderful thing, but many of you may remember Jack Nicholson’s line in “A Few Good Men:” “You can’t handle the truth.” Sometimes we just aren’t ready.
That was certainly true of Jesus’ disciples. They had already demonstrated that they were not ready to deal with the truth. When Jesus told them that he would have to suffer and die, Peter protested, but the rest of the disciples just ignored what Jesus had told them. Today, we would say that they were in denial, but Jesus knew that they just weren’t ready yet to hear what he had to tell them.
Hold that thought, and I will come back to it.
I have a poem for you this morning. The author is Joyce Kilmer. I am going to tell you a few things about Kilmer before giving you the poem. First, in spite of his name, Joyce, he was a man. Second, he is the guy who wrote that poem, “Trees.” You know that poem. It begins:
“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.”
It turns out Kilmer was a man of faith. Kilmer’s full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer. His middle name, Joyce, was the last name of the Episcopal priest who had baptized him. I was surprised that he had chosen to be known as Joyce instead of Al. Joyce Kilmer was killed during the Battle of the Marne in World War I.
Here is Kilmer’s poem that I read this week. He entitled it, “Love’s Lantern.
“Because the road was steep and long, And through a dark and lonely land,
God set upon my lips a song, And put a lantern in my hand.
Through miles on weary miles of night That stretch relentless in my way
My lantern burns serene and white, An unexhausted cup of day.
O golden lights and lights like wine, How dim your boasted splendors are.
Behold this little lamp of mine; It is more starlike than a star!
I especially like that line, “An unexhausted cup of day.” Kilmer’s lantern was “An unexhausted cup of day.” That lantern guided Kilmer through “miles on weary miles of night” — and was “more starlike than a star.”
You are thinking “It would be nice to have a lantern like that.”
You have the same lantern that guided Kilmer through his dark nights. That lantern is called the Paraclete – the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of God who was dwelling in Kilmer’s heart a century ago and who dwells in your heart today.
When Jesus told his disciples of this Paraclete, it was his promise that he would not leave them desolate. The Paraclete was their Family Care Plan. They would not have to face alone the trials of living. They would not have to figure it out on their own. Jesus promised the spirit of truth would dwell in them, and so no one would be able to it away.
That promise was for those first disciples, and it is for us today. The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. That same Holy Spirit “sets upon our lips a song” and “puts a lantern in our hands.”
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at St. Thomas Episcopal – Plymouth
May 22, 2016; Trinity Sunday
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15