Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
"Through Love"
John 14:15-29
I don’t remember my grandfather ever insisting that I had to make something of my life. I don’t remember him ever telling me what to do; and if he did I don’t remember if there were any consequences if I choose to disobey him.
I always knew my grandfather as Tūtūpa. It was one of those made-up words that combined part of a Hawaiian word – tūtū – with an English word – pa – and came to mean“grandpa” to me. It was Tūtūpa who raised me from the time I was three years old to the day he died when I was a teenager.
As the years went by I began to feel that whatever aspirations I may have had for my own life all of them were connected to the unspoken expectations of my grandfather. I don’t remember him insisting that I had to make something of my life, but I felt it. I don’t remember him telling me what to do; and if he did I don’t remember if there were any consequences if I chose to disobey him, but I remember feeling a great deal of discomfort when I realized that I did not want to disappoint him.
That sense of disappointment ran deep within me for many, many years.
Our reading from The Gospel According to John is about love and obedience and what happens when we fail to obey God’s command to love. This and other passages join love and obedience together. If we are to understand what this means, we must think of love as other than a feeling lest we feel that we may be a disappointment to God whenever we fail to love.
For the writer of John “feelings are not commanded but love can be. To love is to be for another person, to act for another’s good, to do that which brings benefit to the other. This is much more than liking a person or having a particular set of feelings.” (Preaching the New Common Lectionary: Year A, Craddock, Hayes, Holladay, & Tucker, Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1986, page 215)
What becomes important for the writer of John is we are to obey the command to love; that is we are to love obediently. But we know such a command is more easily said than done. We have all had our share of failures and we know there will be other occasions when we will fail.
Yet we know that by doing so we will be able to lay claim to the promise of the gift of the Spirit (John 14:15-16, 26; 15:26; 16:7-11, 12-14). It is through the giving of the Spirit that the season of Easter is made complete.
In our reading this morning we learn that the Spirit will come from God at the request of Jesus; the Spirit will come to be the helper, comforter and companion that Jesus had been; the Spirit will never go away but will be with the church forever; the Spirit will be with and in the church; and the Spirit will be a source of truth for the church and for each of us.
We also will be able to lay claim to the promise that Jesus always will be present with us. Whatever else may be said the fact remains that “God with us,” “Christ with us,” or the “Spirit with us” are one promise of power, guidance and comfort without which we would not be able to live faithfully. (Op. cit., page 216). So we will be empowered and guided by the Spirit to obey the command to love and to love obediently.
We may be tempted to believe that any failure to obey and to love would become a source of great disappointment to God. But Jesus reminds us that the Spirit will always be present to teach and guide us along the way.
I remember the day my tūtūpa was buried at Lanakila Church just on the outskirts of Kainaliu town in Kona on the island of Hawai‘i. When I left the cemetery that day at the age of fourteen, I began to wonder what would become of my life. Another twenty five years or so would pass before I would finally decide to return to the place where my grandfather was buried.
In the intervening years I returned home to Kona frequently to attend family events. On more than a few occasions I found myself driving by the cemetery. I was always reluctant to stop for a visit.
I know that my reluctance to visit my tūtū’s gravesite had to do with my fear that I would have nothing to say for my life; that I would be a great disappointment to him. So for many years I always convinced myself it was not time.
But one day it was time. I parked in the lot adjacent to the social hall of the church. No one was around. All of the doors to the hall and the church were closed.
Although I did not remember the precise location of tūtū’s gravesite I managed to walk directly to a corner of the cemetery where it was located, clasping bouquets of flowers for my grandpa and other family members who were buried nearby.
The sun was shining; the air was clear. Below the cemetery was a field of coffee trees that seemed to stretch towards the horizon. The sky was a cobalt blue.
There was a slight wind blowing through a cluster of bamboo trees in that very corner of the cemetery. In the shadow of the bamboo trees that seem to whisper with each passing wind, I realized that everything was okay.
Jesus said and continues to say to us, "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid."
Whatever fears I may have had about disappointing my tūtū quickly dissipated in the morning air. I realized standing there that whatever difficulties any of us may face in our lives, we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to guide us through all our days and for that we give thanks to God.