What keeps us going when life feels uncertain, or out of our control?
That is the question sitting underneath today’s Gospel.
Today we celebrate Mother’s Day. For some people, this day brings joy, celebration, phone calls, flowers, and family meals.
For others, this day is complicated. Some miss their mothers deeply. Some carry wounds from painful relationships. Some are doing the duty of mother and father. Some wanted children and could not have them. Some mothers are grieving the loss of a child or children. Some women carry the invisible labor of holding families together while nobody notices. The church makes room for all of that today. Because God sees all of that.
In our Gospel today, Jesus is not speaking to calm and confident disciples.
He is speaking to people who are anxious, confused, and afraid. They know something terrible is coming. Jesus has started talking about betrayal, denial, suffering, and leaving.
This conversation happens the night before the crucifixion. Judas has already left. The tension in the room is heavy. The disciples do not fully understand what is happening, but they know something is wrong. They are scared of losing Jesus.
For three years Jesus has been their teacher, protector, healer, and guide. When people attacked them, Jesus spoke. When people were hungry, Jesus fed them. When storms came, Jesus calmed them. His presence gave them security.
Now Jesus tells them he is going away.
The disciples hear absence. Jesus speaks a promise. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
The word Advocate carries many meanings: comforter, helper, counselor, companion,
someone who stands beside you. In legal language it described someone who defended you when you could not defend yourself alone.
Jesus says “I will send another” Advocate. Jesus himself has already been that for them. Now the Holy Spirit will continue what Jesus began.
The disciples think they are losing God’s presence. But what Jesus is telling them is that God is coming even closer. The Spirit will no longer walk beside them. The Spirit will dwell within them.
This is one of the most radical promises in the Gospel of John. God refuses to remain distant.
That promise is for us as well.
Many People carry fears they do not always talk about. Fear about immigration status.
Fear about losing loved ones. Fear about rejection. Fear about whether truth even matters anymore in a world filled with lies and cruelty. Some people are simply tired.
Many live with orphan-like wounds. Some were rejected by family. Some carry trauma from childhood. Some experienced church hurt. Some feel isolated because of who they are. Some are exhausted from constantly trying to prove their worth and dignity.
And Jesus says:
“I will not leave you orphaned.” That word means abandoned, vulnerable, left unprotected.
Jesus never promises the disciples an easy life. The cross is coming. Fear is coming. Grief is coming. But abandonment, is NOT coming. The Holy Spirit becomes the continuing presence of Christ among the people.
That means when we feel alone, God is still nearby. When we feel weak, God is still working.
When we cannot see the future clearly, God has not disappeared.
The Spirit keeps showing up in everyday life. In the friend who sits beside you in grief.
In the courage to keep going one more day. In the person who checks on you. In the church community that reminds you that you belong.
Jesus then says:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Jesus is not giving a threat here. He is describing what happens when love takes root in someone’s life.
When you truly love someone, their words stay with you. (sometimes for good and sometimes for bad) They shape how you live.
Think about people we love deeply. We carry their voice with us. A grandmother’s advice. A parent’s values. The encouragement of someone who believed in us when we struggled to believe in ourselves. We hold onto those things because the relationship matters to us; Not because we are afraid.
That is what Jesus is talking about.
To “keep” His commandments is not simply following rules like checking boxes. It means holding onto his way of life as something precious and life-giving.
And Jesus keeps showing us what that love looks like:
Love one another. Serve each other. Care for people pushed aside by society. Forgive or ask forgiveness. Stay connected to God. Lay down pride and power for the sake of others.
So, obedience here is not driven by fear. It is shaped by love, because Jesus loves us first.
When we are transformed by Christ love, we begin to live differently, not because we are trying to earn God’s approval, but because we have already experienced God’s love.
A person who has received compassion often becomes more compassionate. A person who has been shown mercy learns to extend mercy. A person who has been carried through suffering learns how to sit beside others in theirs.
Jesus is saying that love for him becomes visible in how we live and how we treat people.
Jesus says:
“I will ask the Father.”
“I will send the Advocate.”
“I will come to you.”
“I will not leave you orphaned.”
Christ is always the one moving toward us first. Because Jesus lives, we live too.
Resurrection is not only something waiting for us after death. Resurrection begins now whenever love survives hatred, whenever mercy interrupts cruelty, whenever hope rises again after despair.
And here at the Lord’s Table, that promise becomes visible again. We come carrying burdens, grief, exhaustion, failures, questions, and complicated family histories. And Christ still comes close. He feeds us and He reminds us that we are not abandoned. He’s love is served at this table. We come not as perfect people, but as forgiven and loved people. And from this table Christ sends us back into the world to love others the same way.
Sometimes we think faithfulness means doing huge things. But it often begins in ordinary places. Listening patiently. Calling someone who is lonely. Standing beside someone being pushed aside.
Asking for forgiveness. Refusing to give up on each other.
The disciples sat in that room afraid their world was falling apart. And Jesus gave them a promise that still speaks today: “I will not leave you orphaned.”
Friends, there will be days when fear feels heavy. Days when grief drains us. Days when the future feels uncertain. And still Christ comes near. Sometimes through people who keep showing up. Through courage we did not know we had. Through mercy that refuses to disappear.
The Spirit is still here.
Comforting.
Guiding.
Correcting.
Strengthening.
And because Christ lives, fear does not get the final word.
Hatred does not get the final word.
Death does not get the final word.
Love does.
That is the promise Jesus leaves with the disciples. And it is still the promise Christ leaves with us. Amen.
