They might be among some of the most damaging and destructive words we can hear. They have the power to turn someone’s world upside down.
“I’m leaving.”
Those words might be spoken by the coach or a player to his college or professional team, informing them that he has signed or taken an offer from another team. These could be the words coming from a long-time business partner who wants out or desires to pursue new ventures. And of course, perhaps among the most dreaded, these words might be the bombshell one spouse drops on the other.
So we try to understand the impact Jesus’ words had on his disciples when he informed them that he was leaving. Through the ups and downs of their three-year training during Jesus’ ministry, he had always been there. Even their slow-to-get-it faith at times wasn’t enough to lead Jesus to throw up his hands in frustration and be done with them. Even after he had rebuked them he had always reassured them in their continued commitment to ministry together. Nothing was ever so extreme that Jesus felt compelled to “clean house” and bring in an entirely new crew of disciples to turn things around. They all were with him from the beginning, and he had remained with them.
But soon that would change. Jesus informed his disciples, “Now I am going to him who sent me” (v.5a). He had come from the Father and was now going to be returning to the Father. On Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ arrival as the Savior born in Bethlehem. On Ascension, Jesus departed and carried out these words by returning to his Father in heaven. He would no longer be physically present in person to mentor and equip his disciples for ministry as he had been for the past three years.
Nevertheless, Jesus also assured his disciples that his departure would bring blessing. “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away” (v.7a). That actually might be the more surprising element of Jesus’ words; not just that he was leaving, but that it would be for their good!
Yet, think of certain scenarios involving the relationship between children and parents. We can see how quickly a situation that looks to be like an undesirable case of departure can turn into something positive and exciting. Parents leave… to pick up grandma from the airport, or to bring home pizza for dinner. dinner. They aren’t leaving for good; they’re just leaving for something good, which will make the return even better!
So it is with Jesus. He wasn’t leaving for good; he was leaving for something good, and that will ultimately make his return on the last day even better! Why? Because in the meantime he has sent the Holy Spirit to carry out his work.
And what does this gift, the Holy Spirit, do? He keeps our attention where it needs to be, on Jesus, our greatest gift. The disciples weren’t alone – Jesus gifted them his Holy Spirit to assure them of it. We need the same assurance that we aren’t alone. And in the Holy Spirit we have it!
It isn’t just cases of desertion or abandonment; isolation in general is leaving us reeling as a society. We have more ways than ever to connect with other people, yet we remain as disconnected as ever. We have fewer friends than we have in the past. We socialize and spend less time together with them than we have in the past. Sure, there are many contributing factors, and there’s plenty of room for healthy debate about why we’re seeing this trend, but there is little disagreement about the conclusion: it is negatively affecting us. We were not created nor are we wired to be alone or isolated.
When God created Adam, his creation was good – flawless, perfect, lacking nothing in terms of how God had created him. Yet for Adam to function optimally, God gave him a companion – another human being. Even in our pet-loving society, God didn’t intend for animals to replace the role of human interaction that would enable Adam to thrive. So God gave Eve, his absolute best companion to Adam, to bring his creation to completion.
Even though Adam’s relationship with God was in perfect harmony, not marred in any way by sin, God went a blessed step further, guarding Adam from loneliness and isolation by giving him another human being. And even though our sinful self-centeredness after the Fall forever changed our relationships and how we interact with other people, we still need each other. In fact, one might contend that loneliness and isolation are even more dangerous threats because of the Fall.
So today we find needed assurance in the Pentecost promise that we are not alone. Single? You aren’t alone. Empty nesters? You aren’t alone. Battling cancer by yourself? You aren’t alone. Surrounded by people but still feeling as lonely as ever? You aren’t alone. New job? New school next year? Not alone. You aren’t alone.
Hear Jesus’ promise to you again: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me” (v.26). What is Jesus promising the Holy Spirit will do? “Testify about me,” he said! Jesus wasn’t going to become an afterthought at all! Quite the opposite – he was going to be receiving even more attention.
Recall how many times Jesus followed up a miracle by telling those healed not to tell anyone about it. Well that time had passed! Now that Jesus was promising to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s whole work is to make Jesus and his salvation known to everyone. The Spirit’s message was that in Jesus, we have a Savior for life, a Savior for eternal life, a Savior who will never leave us. The Spirit and the Savior are on the same team, comforting us with that simple promise: you aren’t alone.
Even the title applied to the HS – Advocate – indicates as much. Think of what it means to have an advocate, to have someone speak up for you is to have someone for you, and someone can’t be for you if they’re not with you, if they don’t know you. That’s what we have in the HS. What is the greatest way the HS can speak up for us as our advocate? By pointing us to Jesus! By reminding us we’re not alone. That is what he does in his Word. That is what he does in baptism. That is what he does in Communion.
And this assurance doesn’t just apply to us when others have left or deserted us; it also applies when we’re the reason for our loneliness or isolation. It could be as simple as withdrawing and making no effort on our end to engage or connect with others, slowly turning sour because “no one ever cares enough about me to reach out and check on me.” Or, when others do reach out to connect, we’re always too busy or have other priorities.
Sometimes it’s worse than that. It’s our words or actions, our habitual behavior, our sin, that drives others away, leaving us isolated. Then, rather than make the effort toward reconciliation that would require our repentance, we keep to ourselves, ruminating on the situation that caused all of it. We allow it to linger and fester, and we spin the narrative in our own heads. This leads us to end up justifying our behavior and refuse to pursue peace and reconciliation because we dig in our heels waiting for the other person to initiate it. And we wonder why we’re isolated or lonely when we’ve manage to plug our noses to the stench of our own sin!
And on top of all of that there is the guilt, the guilt we have from our own neglect of our relationships. Of course relationships with others matter, but we can only maintain so many of them. So when we don’t keep in touch with others and feel like a crummy friend, guilt settles in. When we don’t call our Mother’s on Mother’s Day, and we feel like horrible children. We can’t seem to follow through with that “let’s get together” that’s been going on for months or even years with someone else.
So on top of the isolation we feel, often self-imposed, our own actions have heaped a pile of guilt on us as we languish in our loneliness! But see what the Spirit reminds us of; see what he came to do and how he points us to the solution. “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (v.8-11).
Sin doesn’t smother those who believe in Jesus, because in him it is washed away. In its place he grants us his righteousness. Judgment doesn’t crush us when we’re in Jesus, because look who stands condemned – it is not your name that Jesus inserts there, but the prince of this world, Satan. See how the Holy Spirit reminds us of the victory we have in Jesus! We aren’t cut off from him, even for cutting off others with our sin. It is forgiven and paid for in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will never tire of testifying that truth.
And just as the Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would testify about him, so too, do we. “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (v.27). Yes, we testify to others by imitating the Holy Spirit and directing the attention to Jesus – through our words, of course. But often times, for our words to hit ears willing to listen, they must be preceded by action.
Through our actions, we become the antidote to isolation and loneliness. We don’t need pills, we need people. We need each other. When we see that we understand the joy John expressed in his letters in seeing God’s people walk together in Christian lives filled with love and truth. Event planning brings together like-minded moms who not only maximize their efforts to organize a fantastic event, but keep loneliness at bay by connecting together in the process. Individuals separated by states connect online on a weekly basis to check in and dig in to the Word. The weakened body of a live alone cancer patient requires a hair cut and a light switch, to say nothing of company. In his church family he finds what he needs and isolation is avoided. A motorcycle repair job between two guys is a channel for teamwork and connection, offsetting loneliness in the process. We need each other, and we can give ourselves to each other because we’re not alone.
And that time spend together, both internally with one another, but also in the important relationships we have with those outside the Christian faith, by our actions gives us permission to speak in a way that follows up our actions. And we can testify as the Holy Spirit did, that in Jesus we have what we need. We are not alone. We have Jesus. The Holy Spirit guarantees it.