Memory and
belonging: Jesus reminds the disciples that the Spirit will continue to give
them what he gave them when he was with them: memory and belonging. He stresses
the disciples will continue to remember him and belong to him if they live out
his commandments, the things he did and said while he was with them.
This part of John’s Gospel takes place at
the Last Supper, the night before Jesus died. Jesus tells the disciples he is
leaving them but that they will have something else in their defense. The word
Jesus uses for both himself and for the Spirit is “advocate.” In this case, it
is a legal term, a term that means someone who argues on behalf of his or her
client. An advocate defends his or her client. An advocate supports his or her
client. Jesus reminds the disciples and reminds us, that he is with us as our
advocate though the agency, the working, of the Holy Spirit.
Several years ago,
about a week prior to Memorial Day, I was in the grocery store. I heard a story
that made me think of memory and belonging. The woman in line ahead of me said
she was having a big dinner for family and friends. She told the grocery clerk,
and others of us waiting in line, that her Memorial Day tradition was about
remembrance and belonging. She explained everyone invited brings a dish that
reminds him or her of a person they love who has died. As each dish is served
the person who brought it tells a story about why the dish reminds them of the
person they love. The group who gathers is not all related to one another, and
some of them meet for the first time at the dinner. But the gathering is
something to which they all belong, even if it just for that day. And the
stories they tell remind them of the people whose love they shared.
As we think about this story and these things Jesus spoke to the disciples about, I wonder,
How do we know we
belong to Jesus?
What is belonging to
Jesus like?
Now that we know
how we belong to Jesus and what belonging to Jesus is like:
How will we be
advocates to help someone else know they belong to Jesus? AMEN.
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