Loving God, Loving Others

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, May 10, 2026
John 14:15-21

    I can only remember one time that my mom forgot to pick me up from school.  To be fair, it was also my dad who forgot to pick me up.  Or the situation actually was that my dad thought my mom was picking me up, and my mom thought my dad was picking me up, so they both got home and realized no one had picked me up!  AND thankfully, I was 14 or 15 years old, in high school, waiting for them and wondering where they were, because I had some kind of practice, probably a musical practice (I was in a lot of musicals in high school), it was dark, a teacher waited with me and helped me use the school phone to call home when they were 20 minutes later than they should have been, and at that point my mom was already on her way.  This was before cell phones, of course.  It was a terrible feeling, nonetheless.  You may remember a similar experience, waiting for someone you thought would be there, and they’re late.  I knew and still know that my parents would never really forget me, thank God.  But we can still understand what it’s like (hopefully for most of us rarely) to be left alone or forgotten.
    It’s still Easter!  Christ is risen, we still proclaim!  But for the last three Sundays, we have gone back in John’s gospel to the night in which he was betrayed, BEFORE Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection.  We are remembering, along with the other disciples, an anxious night with Jesus when he tells them he is leaving for a little while – he is foretelling his death, resurrection AND ascension.  We can understand the anxiety.  What will they do when Jesus is no longer bodily present with them?  What will happen to them when he dies and is raised and then ascends into heaven?  They don’t want to be alone – no one wants to feel that kind of alone, forgotten.  So Jesus’ words are very powerful, to us as well as to those first disciples:  “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.”  Jesus will never forget us or abandon us.  Even when the world can’t see him, we will see him.  Because he lives, so we live also. This is the hope we have as God’s Easter people!  Even when we ARE alone, we are never truly alone, because Jesus lives in us.
    On this Mother’s Day, some of us are actually orphans by definition. We have lost both of our parents, and it is a bittersweet day – maybe you yourself are a mother or you rejoice at celebrating your daughter or even granddaughter as mothers, but no matter how old you are, you miss your mom, or aunt or grandma especially on a day like today.  Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned.”  Jesus has made us a part of God’s family – just as he is the son of God, so we are children of God, and so we always belong to our heavenly parent, no matter what happens to our earthly parents.  This is a great comfort.
    Then, Jesus jumps ahead a bit not only to telling the disciples about his death, resurrection and ascension, but also about Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit!  When Jesus first appears to the disciples in John 20 after his resurrection he shows them his wounded hands and side and then breathes on them the breath of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit lives in us, Jesus says – abides with us.  So even when we cannot see God at work in our lives, when we feel alone or even forgotten by others, the Holy Spirit is God’s eternal presence with us, as close to us as our own breath, who is called the Advocate, the Comforter, literally in the Greek the one who comes alongside us.
    We may have grown out of our fear of being forgotten or left behind or anxiety about what to do if Mom or Dad doesn’t pick us up from school.  We still, sometimes, feel very alone.  In 2023, you may remember that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared a loneliness epidemic in the U.S. and research since has found loneliness on the rise across the globe for adults – as many as 1 in 2 adults or 50% of the U.S. population struggles chronically with feelings of isolation and loneliness.  Increased technology usage as well as decreased social interactions in our society are main factors causing this rise in loneliness.  Jesus’ words to us this morning may at first seem basic – yes, God is always with us.  Jesus lives in us, and also we have the Holy Spirit living in us, serving as God in our corner, our Advocate – great!
    Let’s hear these words from Jesus not just as basic reminders for us as people of faith, but as God’s way of addressing an urgent need for our society today – God does not want us to be alone.  God has not left us alone.  Jesus points to the love that God has for us, and then encourages us to love one another, so that we might be tangible signs of God’s love for all God’s beloved children.  The small things we do to show love, appreciation and support for others, especially for those who are feeling more isolated and alone, matter!  In fact, from our Small Catechism, Luther teaches us that this is the Holy Spirit’s work: to call, gather, enlighten and make holy the whole Christian church.  The Holy Spirit brings us together and empowers us to love one another as Jesus first loved us.  The Holy Spirit makes God’s love possible to be lived out through us.
    So yes, Jesus is coming back. He has not forgotten us – he has died, he has risen and he will come again – this is our confession of faith.  In the meantime, we celebrate the Holy Spirit at work in, through, and among us to build up the church as a community of support to combat the isolationism and loneliness that we experience.  God does not leave us orphaned but has made us a part of the family of God eternally.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.