St. Andrew’s Pictou May 1^st 2005 Battle of the Atlantic Sunday

 

Being There

 

Acts 17: 22-31

John 14:15-21

 

I have noticed that there is one memory people seem to have in common: through all of the really bad and all of the really good experiences of life, it seems that people remember who was there for them.

 

You and I may forget where we were, but the person who was going through a bad time or a time of celebration will remember that we were there for them. Maybe you have had the experience where you pick up an old card, or someone will remind you of a time when you were there for them, but you might have even forgotten yourself and the event. But they remember that you were there for them!

 

As move towards the 60^th Anniversary of the ending of WWII, we are remembering who was there for us to save our country and our world from an evil tyranny that sought to destroy and conquer freedom as we presently know it. All over our country are plaques on the walls of churches, Royal Canadian Legions, Cenotaphs and other places where the names of the lost are etched in bronze and in stone so that we will not forget who was there for us as a country during war.

 

Maybe you remember times of tragedy, death or sickness, and there special individuals (could be family or friends,) who were there for you.

 

As a church, we remember that the Pictou Fire Department was there for us several years ago, when lightening hit the steeple and there was a fire. Certainly, we would have lost this church, had not the Fire Department been there for us.

 

Now we human beings are always thinking about what we should do, and are sometimes even distracted about… doing the right thing. Of course during a fire, the firemen also put water on the fire, but often we are remembered not so much for what we did, but for simply, being there: listening, holding a hand, or for something as simple as making tea.

 

I remember a minister telling about a story where there was a terrible accident on the 401 Highway near Toronto. The ambulance had been called and there was nothing more that could be done until they arrived, but there was a woman trapped inside of her vehicle and there was no way to get her out. But they could reach her hand. So this minister reached into the wreck and held on to her hand, until the paramedics arrived.

 

There is something primal about our presence; about simply “being there.”

 

There is something even radical about simply “being there.”

 

When the apostle Paul talks to the people in Athens about God and Jesus, he talks about going around the city and finding an altar with the inscription, “to an unknown god.” In addressing their spiritual needs, he seeks to introduce them to God you can get to know.

 

He says; “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live on shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything mortal, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.”

 

Paul is telling them that the God of Creation was there; God was there to make the world as we know it: the essence of God’s being was to be there. Paul quotes one of their own poets: “In him we live and move and have our being.”

 

Paul brings home the notion of a present God as life giver. Parents are there at conception and birth. God is our creator and we are his offspring. God has also given us reassurance by sending Jesus and giving us security by raising him from the dead.

 

John 14 is a special chapter because it was a scary time for Jesus’ followers: the betrayal, the arrest, and crucifixion were about to happen and this chapter is the evidence that Jesus was there for his disciples in their fear and their grief.

 

In this context of terror, Jesus makes them and you and me… a promise.

 

Jesus promises us all that we will never, ever be alone. He promises us that if we love him and keep his commandments, then at his departure, God will send us an “Advocate to be with you for ever. (He says)

This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

 

Abandonment is a massive human fear. We are terrified of being alone and our Jesus knows us and our fears.

 

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” He says. Jesus is talking about spiritual issues here. He is telling us that if we love, he dwells within us.

 

As I mentioned earlier, through all of the bad times and the good times, all that is important to us is who was there for us.

 

We all have the ability and the choice to love and if we love, we have our Saviour’s assurance that we will never be alone. We will never be abandoned. We will never be orphaned. The Spirit of Truth will abide and guide us to where we need to go.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we human beings are very concerned at doing things, so we are often not there for each other, because as we have said and heard, over and over gain, “I didn’t call or go, because I didn’t know what to say.”

 

You don’t have to say something; you just have to be there. All that you have to do is, “be there,” and there are all kinds of ways of being there:

-you can send a card,

-make a phone call, (You can say, I don’t know what to say,” if you want.)

-hold a hand,

-you can give some food,

-make a cup of tea,

-one of the most profound things we can ever do in life, is to simply “show up.”.

 

Where would we all be today if Jesus had not shown up?

 

There is a unique Spirit in this church today; a spirit generated by the departure of Jesus, and the presence of each and every man, woman, and child as testimony to the Holy Spirit.

 

When we feel badly, we hope that someone will show up.

 

When we call 911, we hope that someone will show up.

 

In the end and finally, loving and caring by “being there” is all that matters.

 

AMEN                    Rev. Alan Stewart