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Not As Orphans

I will not leave you as orphans. This, Jesus's assurance to His disciples that with His impending departure, they should not panic, become disoriented, or give up. There are people all around the world who grow up as orphans - without parents and in too many more cases than we often care to think, without any adult to care for, protect, nurture, or love. In the U.S. it can be bad enough, horrific enough. But in the first century it would literally be unbearable with abuse expected, starvation likely, and a shortened life guaranteed. That life would likely be anguish with death welcomed. To be destitute and without hope, that was and too often still today is what being orphaned is.

I will not leave you as orphans.

The disciples I suppose probably didn't think that deeply about what Jesus's departure would mean to their physical wellbeing. They were, at least the male members of his little tribe well, men. They could work and would not be deistitute. But Jesus doesn't mean that He was ensuring their livelihood would be secured, that they would have homes and meaningful work. No, Jesus knows rather that He is God and His departure, if not prepared for, would mean that they would not have God Himself in their midst as they have had for these past few years. That - having God leave you - would be far more devastating than being orphaned although neither the disciples or we, having seen the decimation of human life that can come as a result of being orphaned, would think so.

I will not leave you as orphans.

But that's Jesus's  point - He knows what not having the presence of God does to people. Human history and even the society in which Jesus lived was clear evidence of the darkness and reprobation that can take over humans and human society when they live without God. This Jesus wants them to know, need not happen. God is not leaving them, nor is He leaving the world. Jesus will ascend to the Father and the discples will not physically see Him again. This though is not abandonment of the disciples or the world. No, if Jesus leaves, He will send the Comfortor, the Paraclete, the Helper to them. He will be in them and with them, and remind them of what Jesus had said and did. In fact He will be the very presence and power of God in their lives - equipping them, leading them, upholding them in their lives.

I will not leave you as orphans.

Today marks the remembering of His not leaving us as orphans. The Spirit of God Himself comes to us, lives in us, and nurtures us so that we might become fully transformed into the likeness of Christ Himself; fully into the Image we already are - created to be - in fact who we are. Much of the New Testament, and much of the Old tells us that God wants to live with us, to nurture us, to love us. We don't believe it when our lives get in the way, and many of the people in the Bible also felt that same desolation and were tempted to give up. Peter's second epistle was written precisely because of that temptation. Peter reminds his beloved readers that in truth Jesus was tellling the truth when He said,

I will not leave you as orphans.

God is with and in the world, but most importantly with His disciples so that they are not orphaned, left destitute. Because God doesn't ever want to, nor does He ever leave us. His presence in the very beings of His disciples, marked today in remembering the clear demonstration of that truth 2000 years ago, is our assurance that we have believed correctly and we need not think we are left as orphans. God is with us and entices us to use the power of the Creator Himself to live His life right here and to be transformed into Him, the head of the body of God in the world.

I will not leave you as orphans.

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