God at home with us

We are now deep into the journey through the Easter season. Today, we reach the Sunday before the Ascension and are two weeks out from Pentecost. The mystery of Jesus’ resurrection, and his presence among the disciples, has been the experience needed to build the trust that Jesus will remain with us. But we are now quickly moving towards Christ’s return into heavenly glory and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

However, in today’s gospel, we are back in the upper room, with Jesus speaking to his disciples on the night before he dies. He knows where the story is going; he needs to share with his friends what lies ahead. And so we hear his final words to them, trusting they are words for us.

Five words stand out in what he wanted to say: Home. Advocate. Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe.

Firstly, God wants to make his home with us. This is tremendously good to hear! The Creator and Redeemer of all, the Almighty Trinity, wants to spend his divine life living with us at our home. Our home, of course, is our heart, our inner core, the life we each live. Jesus, with the Father and the Spirit, is looking to reside within our lives, if we are willing to welcome him.

How will this come about? We will, as Jesus promised, receive the divine advocacy of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to open the door to our hearts, to make it a fitting home. The Holy Spirit will remind us how we can welcome God into our lives.

And in receiving the advocacy of the Holy Spirit, we are receiving the gift of God’s peace into our home. We do not wish for our homes to be places of discord or contention; we do not wish that our hearts become discourteous and cold. A place of peace is a place of warmth and trust and forgiveness. Homes are meant to protect and keep safe those within. (Woe to us if our homes are not so!) Jesus will bring us his peace, that we might build hope.

For this reason, Jesus assures us that we do not need to be afraid, that he wants to make his home in us, that he will give us the advocacy of the Holy Spirit so that we might welcome his arrival, and that he will bring with him a peace that is so unlike what the world pretends to give. All these mean that fear does not need to overwhelm us as we navigate our way through all that the world will throw at us. God is with us.

And finally, it is by faith in what we experience of God’s indwelling, his coming home to our home, that we might learn to live our lives fruitfully. Faith in God is grace for our lives. Faith in Christ is seeing through his death to his resurrection. Faith is our doorway to hope and the best way of interpreting all that happens in our lives.

So, home, advocate, peace, do not be afraid, and faith. These five gifts, given by the risen Jesus to us, are our Easter guides on the journey through our lives.