{"id":4826,"date":"2016-05-03T13:02:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T18:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2016-05-03T13:02:05","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T18:02:05","slug":"promises-promises-take-ii-may-1-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/2016\/05\/promises-promises-take-ii-may-1-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Promises, Promises Take II, May 1, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cPromises, Promises – Take 2\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

John 14:15 – 29<\/span><\/p>\n

Chilmark Community Church<\/span><\/p>\n

May 1, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

Rev. Vicky Hanjian<\/span><\/p>\n

This has been an emotionally strenuous week. On Thursday morning, my email contained a message from Rev. Amy Edwards. She is the pastor of the Federated Church in Edgartown. The email went to all the island clergy to let us know that she has discontinued treatment for the cancer that is sapping her life and that she is going home to Little Compton to be with her family as she prepares to die. As she is coming to terms with her impending death, she extended the call to the rest of us to be available for her congregation to walk with them as they grieve. <\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the same morning, I met with the small clergy group support that I have belonged to for several years. We sat and processed our grief together. We came up with a tentative plan for how to share our own lives with members of Federated Church as we walk this valley with them. As we sat close to each other, we marveled at how we could feel such profound grief and such sustaining gratitude and joy all at the same time. We marveled at how, when we spoke about our sadness – – acknowledged it to each other – – there was an immediate inrushing of assurance and loving-kindness and comfort that pervaded the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

We marveled at how this was possible between and among a Methodist, a Congregationalist, a Baptist, a Unitarian and a Jew. And we laughingly wondered if this could happen anywhere but on Martha\u2019s Vineyard. It seemed uncanny to me that we should be entering this process together with Amy and her congregation during the week when Christians read the story of Jesus saying farewell to his disciples – – the story of how he was preparing them to move on into the future without him in their midst. It seemed as though the ancient story was being recapitulated in our own personal experience – played out in real time<\/span><\/p>\n

Such is the ironic wit and wisdom of the Holy One.<\/span><\/p>\n

In John\u2019s Gospel the section we just heard is part of what are called \u201cthe farewell discourses\u201d in chapters 12 through17 as Jesus concludes his public ministry. John has Jesus giving these teachings in the context of sharing his final meal with the disciples. Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples. He has commanded them to love and serve one another. He has announced that one of them will betray him. He has warned of Peter\u2019s coming denial in the dark hours just before dawn. The chapters are rich with the wise and loving preparation Jesus imparts to his followers as he prepares to die and as he seeks to prepare them for what his death will mean.<\/span><\/p>\n

The part that we just read is chock full of promises. Jesus promises that in his absence, another Presence will be given to the disciples – – one that will be with them forever – – a Presence that will abide with them – – and abide in them.<\/span><\/p>\n

He promises that he will not leave his little band orphaned – – that even though others may not \u201csee\u201d him with their eyes, the disciples will still \u201csee\u201d him….He promises a beautiful mystical knowledge of Holy Oneness – where the disciples will <\/span>know<\/u><\/span> that Jesus is in God – – they will <\/span>know<\/u><\/span> that they themselves are in Jesus – – and that Jesus is in them – – They will <\/span>know<\/u><\/span> that in this promise is implied that the disciples, too, are in God and God is in the disciples. And then in verse 23, the age old ancient promise that we looked at last week is revealed again: \u201cThose who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.\u201d And thus the New Covenant is built upon the promises of God to God\u2019s people almost from the beginning of time. \u201cWe will love them and make our home among them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus goes on to say that he is telling the disciples all these things while he is still with them and that the new Presence – the Advocate – the Holy Spirit will continue to teach them all that they need to know and will remind them of everything that Jesus has taught them. He promises them his peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we sat together in our small clergy group on Thursday morning, it was as though that Presence, that Comforting Advocate, were there in the room with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

We spent periods of time in silence. When it was time to speak, I was literally reminded again and again of Jesus words and teachings as I found the assurances and the promises becoming real in our midst. I found myself affirming the truth of the promises and the wisdom of Jesus over and over again. As he promised – – the words are in us. The Spirit reminds us. And in a very profound way, comfort does , indeed, come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy Edwards\u2019 journey toward the end of her life here is having a transformative effect on me and my clergy friends in much the same way that Jesus\u2019 movement toward his own death had on his closest friends. As we grieved the impending loss, the palpable Presence of the Spirit met us where we were most distressed and comforted us with wisdom and truth and clear seeing about what our role would be as we move forward as friends and as caregivers for a grieving congregation in Edgartown. I realized that this is, indeed, a literal way of being the comforting Presence our sacred texts promise – – that as we share our oneness, we become an expression – – a manifestation if you will – – of all that has been promised.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a few minutes we will share in communion together. This ritual is the continual reminder of the promises of Jesus – – of his desire for the wholeness and well-being of the beloved community he left behind in this physical world, only to rejoin them again in his eternal nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

The experience of joining in Amy\u2019s forward movement has been, for me, a profound re-awakening to the notion that we are one body in Christ. When one member hurts or grieves, we all hurt and grieve at some level. I don\u2019t know all <\/span><\/p>\n

the members of Federated Church. I know Amy Edwards only slightly. But we are all one body. We are all one in Christ. We share in the same bread and the same cup. Jesus said \u201cI am going away, and I am coming to you.\u201d What a paradox. It is only in his going away that we get to have him with us always and everywhere – – eternally. He says \u201cI have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As we prepare to move to the communion table, perhaps this morning our movement may be a time of drawing close to our collective memory of the life of Jesus in our midst – – in his Risen and Eternal form – – waiting at the table to greet us once again in the symbols of bread and cup – – reminding us of our own true nature as his people – – giving us his blessing as we seek to live out our oneness with one another and with his people everywhere. May this be so. AMEN<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cPromises, Promises – Take 2\u201d John 14:15 – 29 Chilmark Community Church May 1, 2016 Rev. Vicky Hanjian This has been an emotionally strenuous week. On Thursday morning, my email contained a message from Rev. Amy Edwards. She is the pastor of the Federated Church in Edgartown. The email went to all the island clergy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-and-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4827,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826\/revisions\/4827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}