John 14: 15-21

Jottings on John…Easter 6…2017 

At a Confirmation I heard the bishop encouraging the candidates, all teen-agers, to be not just ‘joiners’, but ‘stickers’, too! That has stuck with me! Reminding me that the Paraclete, the Spirit Jesus calls to our side, not only joins us on our journey, but sticks with us. ‘Stickability’ doesn’t get onto the normal lists of ‘gifts of the Spirit’. Which is a great pity! For ‘Stickability’ is a great gift! Right up there with those others Paul lists! God expects us to have stickability because God Himself is a Sticker. In the Person of Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, God is always at our side, come what may. ‘Paraclete’ has remained my preferred understanding of Holy Spirit since I heard that bishop put it that way that day. Besides, it doesn’t carry the baggage that seems to come with some other ways of thinking of Holy Spirit.

It’s easy to segue from Jesus spelling out how He is the Way, the Truth, & the Life, to Holy Spirit’s fulfilling that same role among us now. Our Paraclete enables us to walk the Jesus Way, become as True as Jesus is, & Live out that Way & that Truth as He / She sticks by our side in the ups & down & ins & outs of our humanity. Through thick & thin, there by our side is God in the Person of our Paraclete. Making all the positives of God real for us & those among whom we live & serve. Remember, too, how, as + Rowan Williams puts it: ‘…all that God does is done by the whole Trinity equally…’¹ 

We’re living through times when the image of Christianity & our churches is well & truly damaged; on the skids. Breaches of trust like abuse, inability or disinterest in communicating the Gospel meaningfully at ‘ground level’. And, allowing our Churches to become, in so many cases, organisations, instead of living, breathing, serving organisms of the Body of Christ! Are we allowing things like these to distract us from our calling to Walk the Jesus Way, Live the Jesus Life, & be the Jesus Truth? Calling our stickability into question?

Recognising the Paraclete beside us empowers us to walk beside others & stick with them as their ‘small p paraclete' by their side. One more segue from the Jesus that John portrays for us today. 

¹ The Dwelling of the Light, John Garratt, Mulgrave, 2003, p.49