May 19, 2024: Opening Lines of Communication

Gospel: John 15: 26-27 & 16: 4b-15
Acts 2: 1-21  
                    
Wouldn’t we all like an advocate? Someone who can take our side, defend us, teach us, inspire us, help us to stand up for ourselves or make us feel like we are not alone?

That is what Jesus promised in our scripture from John today, an advocate, who would come when Jesus was gone. Because after all, wasn’t Jesus an advocate for his disciples and many other people when he was here on earth?

I believe Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes captures the description of the Holy Spirit or Advocate from God well in this poem:

Advocate by Steve Garnaas-Holmes.  

“Advocate"
​In Greek, paraclete.
One who comes alongside to assist
God is not your judge or prosecutor,
but your defense attorney,
advocating for you.
On your side.
Against all those voices of accusation,
both yours and the world's--
those untruths, that you're not good enough,
that you have somehow failed or fallen short.
God will never be against you, only for you.
The Advocate will stay by your side
and remind you of the truth:
“You are my beloved.”

It took the Advocate, apparent in flames above the heads of the disciples, to get them out of their own heads, out of their fears, literally, out of the  locked room. It got them talking to people, it allowed them to finally continue Christ’s work. 

The greatest gift from the advocate or Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the ability to communicate in an understandable way, to communicate across differences. In Acts, it comes in the form of the ability to be understood in any language. 

Wouldn’t that be a great gift for our world today? 

What if Palestinians and Israelis could speak and really understand one another - could understand their different points of view, their belief systems, their needs and allow them to seek common ground?

What if Republicans, Democrats and Independents in our own country could listen to each other, try to understand the perspective of the others and learn that they need to work together for our common country and all the people in it?

What if the Ukranian and Russian leaders and people could reach across their divisions and consider a way to live in peace?

What if those who risk their lives to escape their own countries and come to ours could share their stories with those who want to keep them out? Might that lead to compassion?

What if those who feel like they are trapped in a body that does not represent who they really are could speak their truth to those who don’t see them? Might they be seen and maybe even accepted?

What if Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter people sat down together to talk and realized that they ultimately had the same goal of equity for all? 
The Holy Spirit, as an advocate, opens lines of communication, breaks down walls and opens up possibilities. How is this possible? The Holy Spirit speaks to and through our hearts, leading, just as Jesus always taught, with love. 

We have to learn to be heart listeners like Jesus. It sometimes takes turning off our brains for a few minutes to get in tune with our hearts. Our brains tell us that we are justified in not liking this or that person or group for this or that belief, statement, or action. Our hearts remind us that they are people too, fellow members of this planet similarly created and loved by God.

Let’s try it.

Picture someone you disagree with for their background, actions, statements, beliefs etc. 

Now that you have that person in your head, consider the reason or reasons you disagree with them. 

Now picture them throwing the ball to their dog, sitting down on the floor playing with their children or grandchildren, making and sharing a meal with their family. Picture them working in their garden, helping a neighbor paint their house, or delivering meals to someone in need. 

Now they aren’t a label that is disagreeable to you but a person, similar to you. Consider what you have in common: love for family, care for community, and passion for what you believe in.

Now, you are listening with your heart and opening to empathy. You are a heart listener. Only when we are in tune with our hearts and not just our heads, can we hear the advocate, the Holy Spirit speaking to us and through us. That advocate is whispering “you are my beloved just as you are”  but so is he and she and them. That advocate reminds us that we are not in a private club, but part of all of God’s beloved creation. That Advocate, that Holy Spirit, helps Jesus’ words blossom in our hearts “love one another”.

And the Holy Spirit is doing this work in many places for those who will listen with their hearts. We have already been given the gift of the Holy Spirit by God, we just have to be open to it. 

In a small community outside of Jerusalem, Palestinians and Israelis live together harmoniously. Referred to as “the Oasis of Peace” it was started as an experiment 40 years ago. Fifty percent of the population is Jewish and 50% is Palestinian. In their school,  Israeli and Palestinian children learn side by side in both Hebrew and Arabic. After October 7, children were told to share not what they saw but how they felt. The school knows how to deal with difficult times and they say the kids often help the adults get through these challenges. Both Jewish and Palestinian perspectives are taught. The people who run the school say this should be the long term model for co-existence. The Jewish children say they like having Palestinian friends and the Palestinian children appreciate their Jewish friends. 

We can all learn from this model. 

Jesus wants us to love one another and sent the Advocate or Holy Spirit to help us figure out how to do that, even with our enemies. It begins by listening with our hearts first. When you quiet your mind and listen with your heart, what does the Holy Spirit tell you or ask of you?

While the answer will be different for each of us, I am sure of one thing - the Holy Spirit, part of the triune God,  would never tell us to hate or discriminate against anyone. The Holy Spirit, speaking through our hearts for those of us who seek to listen, will open lines of communication and connection, will show us how we are more similar than different and ask us to care for and about one another, especially when we disagree. 
​
Think about the example of the Grinch. When the Grinch, jealous and angry at the mirth of the people below him in Whoville,  stole all of the Christmas presents and treats thinking to ruin their celebration, he found he was quite wrong. The people of Whoville still sang with Christmas Cheer, making the Grinch learn that Christmas was more than presents, more than a feast, something we Christians certainly know. And they say that his heart grew “three sizes” that day as the Grinch returned the gifts and was welcomed into their celebration. He learned to listen with his heart and in doing so it grew.

May we all become heart-listeners baptized with fire by the Holy Spirit and emblazoned to open lines of communication even with our enemies by acting with love.  Amen.

Pastor Michelle Fountain

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