Let me assure you, today’s question is not left over from the last national elections and there’s no political significance in it. My question is this: Do you think there are too many lawyers today? Do you think we really need more of them? But if I’ve annoyed you with this question, how about this one? Do you have a trusted friend available when you run into trouble? Someone who can listen to your problems and give you wise and useful advice. Someone you can confide in. Someone whose opinions you greatly respect. A person who is there for you, day or night. Who will defend you when you’re under attack.
Every one of us, I think, longs for such a friend. It’s probably been that way for thousands of years, maybe all the way back to Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble1. It was certainly that way some two thousand years ago when Jesus promised his disciples, his friends, he would send them another trusted friend to take his place once he was gone from their sight. He called his friend a “paraclete”.
Paraclete. Now that’s a strange name. Some translations try to make it sound more familiar. They use the word “advocate” or “counselor.” These are terms we use for the person usually called the Holy Spirit, the sacred breath of God blowing upon the Apostles at that first Pentecost. However, if translators were, perhaps, less prejudiced, they would choose a closer English word to translate “paraclete,” the word, “lawyer.”
Once again, how would you react, if you heard Jesus say, “I’m going to have my Father send you a lawyer to take my place?” Yet, this was what he promised. You see, in Roman law, a paraclete was the defense attorney. Sort of the Perry Mason2 of 33 AD. The one who spoke on your behalf if you were taken to court. A person who had your best interests at heart, who would defend and protect you. The one who would offer sound advice. Your advocate. Your counselor. Your trusted friend. Someone to guide you and keep you from getting lost in the world.
It’s a terrible thing to get lost in the world, in a crowd of strangers. Every little kid and parent knows this, especially in a place like Greenspoint or Willowbrook3. Or when visiting a foreign country. I know this feeling from personal experience, as I’m sure many of you do, too. Recently, my wife and I went on a Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. When we go on a trip, I seem to see most of it through the viewfinder on my camera. Which is OK, except in a place like Pompeii, with acres of narrow streets packed with other tourists. And since they’re always in the way of my taking the best photo possible, I have to wait for them to clear out before I can take my shot. Which means the rest of the tour group disappears around the next corner, leaving me feeling very lost. Which is why I prefer my wife wear very recognizable clothes when we are touring, so I can spot her and the rest of the group when I get lost. When you’re surrounded by foreign tourists, it’s comforting to be able to recognize your spouse, or the next best thing, your guide waving some sort of flag on the end of a stick. A good guide allows you the freedom to wander around without getting lost in the crowds.
Well, Jesus must have taken his own tours in the cities of the eastern Mediterranean, and knew about the problem of getting lost or, maybe, it was a childhood trauma from being left behind in Jerusalem as a young teenager, even if it were his own choice. But whatever the reason, Jesus promised his companions they would be able to recognize the guide, the wise friend, the counselor he and his father would send. And how would they recognize him? Not by what he wore, not by any flag on the end of a stick but, rather, because this friend, this counselor, this lawyer, would speak the truth.
The truth. A few weeks ago, we heard Pilate ask Jesus the question: “What is the truth?” And now the question is: How do I recognize this truth? When I’m under attack, either by outside enemies or by my own accusations, how am I to know the truth? When others try to tear me apart, who is there to put me back together again? Who is there to render an objective opinion of what is really true? Where do I find the wise friend who listens without judging. Who counsels without lording it over me. Who has my best interests at heart and can help me see both what is right, without prejudice, and what is wrong, without condemnation. How do I recognize the friend who speaks the truth when I need to hear it?
Jesus, in today’s Gospel reading, tells us this special friend, this Advocate, is inside of each one of us and we will recognize him because he is the spirit of truth. But how do we recognize this spirit of truth within us? What do we look for? Perhaps, there is a clue in another verse from the Gospel of John. In chapter 8, Jesus says to his friends, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
“The truth will set you free.” Truth and freedom. Is Jesus telling us we will recognize the Holy Spirit within us because of the sense of freedom we find within us? But then, what is this freedom? We know it is not a license to do whatever we want, whatever gives me pleasure, without regard for others. To be free is not to be uncontrolled. To be uncontrolled results only in anarchy, not freedom.
For a moment, let’s consider the idea of “free time,” something we all desire, those moments of freedom from all cares, duties and responsibilities. A time merely to be, and not a time to do something. Free-time is truly a gift of freedom, a gift of being. A gift of a moment of being loved.
What is it to be loved? Is there not, in that moment of being loved, a feeling of complete freedom? A feeling you are whole, everything is at peace, at oneness. Is this not what Jesus is telling us in today’s reading: “Those who love me will be loved by my father. I too will love them and reveal myself to them.” Is this how we are to recognize the Holy Spirit with us? By knowing that each one of us is beloved by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
To be loved by God is to be called to be my true self, to be the best I can be, to be called to wholeness. Each one of us is loved by God, not for what we can do but, rather, for who each one of us is. We truly love our kids for who they are and not as replicas of us and a demand they do everything we command of them. Rather, we hope they will do what is right because we love them and they love us. The same is true for our spouse. We love a spouse not as a servant, boss or wage-earner, but rather because we need this other person for our own completeness.
Again, Jesus has said, “Those who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me.” And so, once more, Jesus gives us his promise. We are not left alone in this world. We each have within us, a trusted friend to assure us, to counsel us when we meet with the trials of this world. The Father and the Son have given each one of us a guide to follow when we are lost in the crowds of the world about us. This friend whispers the truth to each one of us, the truth about how each one of us is the beloved of God. And knowing this truth, we have the freedom to follow where we are led. And where we are led is into the Kingdom of God.
Sixth Sunday of Easter; May 16,1993 Acts 8:5-8,14-17; 1 Pet 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21
- Fred and Barney probably do not need a cultural footnote. They are the quintessential friends, albeit in cartoon form, dating back to the stone age.
- Again, a cultural footnote is probably not needed for Perry Mason, the quintessential defense attorney of books and TV.
- Greenspoint and Willowbrook are two major malls in northwest Houston, serving the area where the members of Christ the Good Shepherd live.