7th Sunday of Easter, May 12, 2024: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19; Psalm 1
There are Sundays when parts of the readings are difficult to reconcile with life as we know it. John’s gospel today is primarily Jesus’s prayer before his ascension: directed to God, it is spoken aloud so the disciples hear it. Jesus asks God to “protect them. . .that they may have my joy made complete.” Insofar as we know the fates of the disciples who are listening to this, they were executed for their work in spreading the gospel of Jesus. So whatever protection God offered, it did not protect them from a terrible death. And what is the joy that has been made complete? And then Psalm 1: “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked”. Really?
The problem is that we can point to any number of examples in the world today of people who have most certainly not walked in the counsel of the wicked who are far from happy, and certainly have not been protected. Whether victims of war in Gaza, Sudan, or Ukraine; victims of environmental disaster around the globe, we can point to people who have lost loved ones, or homes, or communities through no fault of their own, other than living where they live. And yet, we always find amidst the despair signs of hope.
The promises John makes are not, of course, focused on physical experience as much a spiritual experience. You may face danger, and loss, but the protection is that you are not alone: God is with you. God may manifest themself to you through people who care for you or help you, or even just show that they recognize your suffering. Those who have suffered profound loss, for instance, often talk about the importance of feeling not just God’s presence and love, but also practical assistance from those who show up.
In recent weeks, students concerned about the war in Gaza have set up tent camps at many colleges and universities. While they have demands focused on the divestment of university funds from Israel, the immediate impulse is simply to do something to call attention to the unimaginable suffering of the people of Gaza: 35,000 dead, thousands of children left without surviving parents, all hospitals and universities destroyed. It feels important to many to show that this suffering is seen.
The joy and happiness that we read about in today’s gospel is not, of course, the casual happiness that we so often talk about, or recognize on social media with confetti. It is rather joy and happiness of the spirit, grounded in relationship with God and Jesus. It is the knowledge of that connection that carries us through. We are not protected from bad things; we are protected from being alone. May we always feel God’s presence with us.