Love for Those Not There Yet - Sixth Sunday of Easter
Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
May 10, 2026
I remember when our kids were little, we got the “why?”
phase. Every time we would tell them to do something, they would ask “why?” As
young parents we often gave those gentle explanations, but other times, especially
if the “why” happened repeatedly, truth be told, we ended up saying, “Because
I said so.” Behind that commandment was the notion that if we were not around,
what would they choose? What would happen?
“Because I said so” worked well for things like “don’t touch
a hot stove” or “you have to wear pants,” but not so great when it came to
relationships and emotions and things like love. After we outgrew the “why’s’ I
remember the angst and agony of the teen years, where instead of asking “why”
there was a lot of energy was spent on sorting out when you could say, “I don’t
have to” or “I don’t want to.”
As hard as it was for us as parents, we had to offer love and
respect and distance far more than fixing, so our kids could hopefully grow in
their understanding. We hoped that they would embrace who they were and whose
they were and how to learn to love as life became more complicated. But along
the way in the learning process, inevitably there were times when they felt
scared facing decisions or alone in their perspective. Though we were not
always around, I remember more than once reassuring them, “I want to let you
sort it out, but I won’t abandon you.” Imagine a momma bird pushing babies out
of the nest, letting them flap really hard to fly but not letting them fall.
And in part, that’s how I hear what Jesus said to the
disciples “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
At first this sounds like “because I said so.” Keeping God’s commandments is a
way of loving God and others. We are urged to act in obedience, yes, but it is
obedience borne of a relationship of love and trust, not fear and compulsion. What
love asks will look different as we get older or find ourselves in new
situations, maybe wishing our parent was there to give us advice to help us
choose. I know I sure do.
And that’s a part of Jesus’ conversation with his followers
too. Equal parts teaching and consolation because he knows he is saying an
earthly goodbye, but he wants to help them remember all he has taught and shown
in a way that shows love not as a feeling or a “check the box” task, but as ongoing
action grounded in relationship.
“Those who keep my commandments are those who
love me” captures that the first three commandments are about building and
caring for our relationship with the God who loves us- seeking God first, not
claiming that God is speaking when what we say or do is not loving and making
time to be with God to be taught and consoled. When we do this, Jesus says, we
will feel the love back and even more, we will see Jesus revealed to us in the
moment. Jesus knows though that when we are
confused or scared or angry, sin can make us feel cut off. No one would know
that more than his disciples at his crucifixion and death. It’s why he promised
that God the Father will give another Advocate, (the way Jesus has
been for them) to be with you forever. “I will
not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. Because I live, you also will
live.” Jesus is preparing his followers for what sounds like “if we were not
around, what would happen?”
Hear the compassion of Jesus who knows that in the absence of
Jesus here in the flesh, God in Christ can be hard to see sometimes.
Jesus is
encouraging us to believe that just as he embodied the persistent presence of
God in his earthly ministry, the Spirit will enable this presence even now. And
the way we experience this is through love in community, grounded in faith and
in Spirit. It takes God active in each of us.
And it is manifested in the ways we keep those commandments
that focus our hearts and minds on others. Reminding us that when we take life
away, when we take what others need to live, when we destroy each other with
falsehoods, or get so focused upon getting “ours” that we fail to see others’
pain, there is not love. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Encountering Jesus in this life looks like love and service,
beyond words, going even deeper, often asking us to sacrifice our self for
others. Sacrifice your need to get the
upper hand, your need to be first, your need to have everything you want the
way you want it. When we fail to do so, our actions can lead to hurt and even
killing and destroying others in ways that love cannot justify.
We know that God so loved the world that God gave all to save
every bit of beloved creation. And so, Jesus tells us as his followers that when
we love and give like Christ, we bring forth God’s vision of salvation for all
of God’s beloved creation.
We also know that love can be difficult to embody less
sustain. And the answer to “So how do we love?” depends upon what time, other
people and the Spirit reveal about the heart and persistence of God. In my
younger days it felt far easier to see things as being clear cut. And I know
often we crave simple rules, but the truth is that love is an art it takes our
whole lives to learn. It is an actual practice between real people in
the real world. It’s even been said that love is a practice where we
participate in other people’s becoming what they are not yet. Not just when we
are kids.
This is exactly where Jesus was with his followers in the
gospel and with us. We are becoming. We can continue to become more loving disciples,
but we are not yet everything we could be. Truth is that we can never be Jesus,
but God’s Spirit wants to continue to usher us deeper in faith and growth. It
feels so tender to
consider we are given the space to become what we are not yet. Maybe that is
why Jesus called his followers little children. Receive that grace- you are not
done learning, and Jesus is not done with you.
But can we also
admit that we chafe at living with someone else’s learning curve? And while
someone else is learning, it can be hard for us to show grace.
But friends,
remember where Jesus is in the gospel. He keeps pointing to love. It’s the
night before he will be arrested, handed over by a follower and abandoned by
his closest male followers.
Imagine Jesus
knowing his followers were about to fail in deadly ways, succumbing to empire
in ways that threatened that his message of love would seem to be snuffed out
in favor of greed, domination and might.
And yet here
is Jesus in equal parts teaching and consolation saying, “keep loving, you will
not be abandoned, and God will send you a Spirit to help you see truth and feel
my presence.”
Here is the
perfect moment to look up to Jesus and ask like a child, “But WHY?”
God’s answer is always, “Because I love you all.”
God does not abandon us to stumble
through our life’s journey alone. The Spirit is always with us, drawing us into
community with all others who follow Jesus Christ. In him we live and move and
have our being. Praise God!
Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2026 All
rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without
written permission.
Sermon
Text: John
14:15-21
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15 “If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive
because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with
you, and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you
orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no
longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in
my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep
them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
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