Sixth Sunday of Easter
A sense of impending devastation confronts the disciples in John's gospel today. Jesus is aware of their deep anxiety as they face the reality of his final departure. They are who they are because of him. He was the centre of their small community, the one who gathered them together, the only factor the diverse characters held in common. Without him, what will become of them? Jesus sets about preparing them for the day of his departure. "Let not your hearts be troubled or afraid", he urges them. As we see in the readings from the Acts, the minds and hearts of the young Church were indeed very troubled and distressed.
As our first reading tells us today, some men came down from Antioch to Jerusalem, a journey of three hundred miles which would probably have taken them ten days. Antioch was a huge city, with a population of over 500,000. (Jerusalem had 80,000) Of these 70,000 were Jews. It was a cosmopolitan city located on a trading cross roads. Jewish factions were insisting that gentiles should convert to Christianity via Judaism. In other words, Christianity should remain a minor sect within Judaism. They should all observe the Jewish diet laws and the law of circumcision. Unless a household is observing the Jewish dietary laws, a Jew cannot share a meal with them. The implications of this are serious: Jew and gentile, thought they have both converted to Christianity, cannot share a common table. This had serious implications for the young church. If they cannot sit down at table together, they will be unable to share Eucharist. So this is the matter that is referred to the council at Jerusalem. It was to defend the unity and the universality of Christianity that Paul and Barnabas took the two-week walk to Jerusalem.
James hands down the verdict at Jerusalem and it is carried back to Antioch by Paul and Barnabas. "It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burdens than the essentials." After all, in his final discourse with them, Jesus had told his disciples that they would have to grow beyond this infantile stage of development.
We experience a similar development in our own personal lives. We move beyond the laws that necessarily regulated our lives as children to a more mature internalized conviction. We too have to find our feet as adult Christians. And all growth involves pain. If they are to mature into the adult church that Jesus had in mind, then he must necessarily take leave of them and they must literally find their own feet. His presence with them could not realistically continue on as a physical presence. If he is to be present to a universal church, he must withdraw his physical presence from a particular church. Henceforth he would be present to them in different forms and on different levels. He would be present to them through his peace, through his word and through the promised Spirit, the Advocate who would lead them into the fullness of truth, as St. John puts it.
Despite everything and everyone, the spirit of Jesus is still moving quietly among his people, making himself available to those who call on his name. The Spirit is manifested in the ordinary events of our lives, and also in the Rites of Passage that mark the journey of every Christian. You see evidence this morning of the workings of the Holy Spirit through the work of the little kids who made their First Communion in the Church here. You will see similar panels in every parish Church throughout the country. In the week leading up to their big event they spent their time painting those colourful panels you see around the church this morning - the spirit of God working through their parents and teachers, through very ordinary people. As we approach the feast of the Holy Spirit, we should take heart from that reassuring message.