The Sixth Sunday of Easter Year B

Easter 6B_2021 May 9, 2021 This week’s gospel is an immediate continuation from last week’s gospel. This portion of John’s gospel is known as Jesus farewell discourse, where he is telling his disciples goodbye, that he won’t be with them much longer, and he is offering them some serious pastoral care as they are sad and confused about what he is telling them. “Abide in me,” Jesus tells them over and over again, “and I will abide in you.” Another translation of this is “make your home in me and I will make my home in you.” In talking about these passages, one of my colleagues reflected on a time when she was serving as a priest to a church that also had a day care. Her office was right near the stairwell that led from the day care to outside, and every day, she’d hear small children have complete and utter melt-downs on the stairway as they were reunited with their parents after a long day and preparing to head home. My friend remarked to the day care director one day how horrible it must be for those parents to be greeted with their kids’ meltdowns every day when they picked them up, and the day care director looked at my friend like she was an idiot, and told her that when the kids were with their parents they knew they were safe enough to have all their feelings. It’s not unlike what we do when we are all at home, when home is a safe place where we can be vulnerable. My friend connected this to a poem by Rumi titled the Guesthouse: The Guest House This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. i In our gospel reading for today, Jesus reveals his hand, showing the purpose of this farewell discourse as well as revealing the purpose of his ministry: “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” And a little later in John’s gospel in chapter 16 verses 21-22, Jesus talks about this joy that he offers in an unusual way: “When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” As one commentary puts it:” Jesus’ mission is for the sake of joy, yes — but not just any joy. Think of it, he says, like the joy of a new mother, strong and creative, exhausted and exultant, a joy that is no stranger to anguish, and above all the joy of having brought new life into the world. From this angle, we may put the poetry this way: every Christian disciple is a mother or a midwife!”ii And then there’s the reading from Acts for today. This story marks the beginning of the full inclusion of Gentiles in the group of those who follow Jesus. It’s interesting to me that the Holy Spirit shows up and anoints everyone even before all the Gentiles have been baptized, and so Peter makes his case for their baptism based on the highly compelling argument “Why not?” (He actually says, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” which equates in my book to, “Well, why not go ahead and baptize them?) When joy shows up and surprises us, how often do we try to manage it or maintain it rather than asking “well, why not?” So what does this have to offer us in terms of an understanding of our own life, our own faith, our own calling? If Jesus’s mission is “so that [his] joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete,” then how does that shape your calling as his friend and follower, the one who makes your home in him and he in you? How might the Holy Spirit be calling you to experience unexpected joy, a joy that is like that of a new mother: strong and creative, exhausted and exultant, a joy that is no stranger to anguish, and above all the joy of having brought new life into the world? How might God be calling you to serve as mother or mid-wife to this kind of fierce, creative joy? And what might your suffering have to teach you about joy? i. https://allpoetry.com/poem/8534703-The-Guest-House-by-Mewlana-Jalaluddin-Rumi ii. Salt Lectionary Commentary Easter 6B: https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2018/5/1/love-for-the-sake-of-joy-salts-lectionary-commentary-for-easter-6