John 16:25-33
It seems that last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
The last words of a coach before a really big game.
The last words of a parent
when sending a child off to preschool
or kindergarten
or on move in day at college.
The last words before an expected lengthy time apart from loved ones.
The last words before a beloved
is deployed into harm’s way
The last words before going out the door to work
or before going to bed at night.
The last words of a pastor or deacon
preached to a congregation
before leaving for another call.
The last words of the dying.
The last words to the dying.
It seems that last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch -
a professor of computer science and design
at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh
and Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal
became a New York TImes best-seller.
In it, Pausch essentially fleshes out both his philosophy of living and dying.
The Last Lecture
was originally intended to be a hypothetical “last talk” about what matters -
until Pausch learned a month before the lecture
that his pancreatic cancer was terminal.
It longer was hypothetical.
Instead, it truly then became
A last lecture
To his spouse
His children
His students
His colleagues
His peers
-and to millions of others.
He first gave the talk.
Then it became a book.
It remained on the NY Times best-seller list for 112 consecutive weeks.
It has been translated into 48 languages
It has sold over 5 million copies in the US alone.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
Twenty-five million people watched President Obama’s farewell speech.
When the planes hit the Twin Towers,
Countless frantic phone calls were made
Text messages were sent,
Emails were written
so that loved ones could give and receive a “last word.”
A simple Google search
reveals thousands of sites
that seek to curate the
last words
of significant public figures
Robert F. Kennedy:
Is everybody ok?
Leonardo da Vinci -
I have offended God and mankind
because my work did not reach
the quality it should have.
Mozart -
The taste of death is upon my lips;
I feel something that is not of the earth.
Jane Austen -
I want nothing but death.
Thomas Edison -
It is very beautiful out there.
Harriet Tubman -
Swing low, sweet chariot
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
My father has been dead for over 15 years
And still, I often attempt to recall
my last conversation with him.
It was Holy Saturday
I called on way to church for the Easter Vigil
We remembered together
Easter Vigils of years gone by
He told me that he hoped that night’s service went went well
He asked me about Easter Sunday services the next morning.
I wished him a happy Easter.
“I love yous” were exchanged.
He died the following Tuesday.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
As we come to the end of another liturgical year
We have before us today
From the Gospel of John
The last words,
of sorts,
of Jesus.
When we think of the last words of Jesus
our thoughts are typically drawn to the cross -
To the seven last words
compiled from the four Gospels
that the stories collectively tell us
Jesus spoke while he was dying.
Today, however, we have last words
of a different kind.
It is the end of the Farewell Discourse -
Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John
to the disciples
about what is coming for him,
and what is coming for them.
In the next chapter,
Chapter 17,
We find the High Priestly Prayer,
But here,
at the end of chapter 16,
we have the conclusion
of Jesus’ words of preparation.
There are words of
Comfort and hope,
words of promise
and prophetic words about what is to come.
Jesus has washed his disciples feet
He has given them a new commandment of love
He has predicted his betrayal
He has predicted Peter’s denial
And then his words turn to comfort.
In my Father’s house are many rooms...
He has spoken of Way to the Father
He has promised the Holy Spirit
He has given them the picture of the vine and the branches
He has talked about the animosity of the world
To him
And to them
He has told them that he must go away
So that the Spirit can come.
He has told them how the Spirit will
Lead them into truth
He has promised that
like birth pangs,
their grief will give way to joy.
And then we come to today’s reading,
A reading where Jesus
Reminds the disciples - and us -
That amid what is coming,
They will leave him,
But the Father will not.
They will scatter
But the Father will be with him.
And then comes Jesus last words.
Jesus says three things -
One.
I tell you these things that you may have peace
Two.
Because there will be suffering and trouble in the world -
Three.
And then that final, bold command and proclamation -
Take heart!
I have overcome the world.
Take heart!
I have overcome the world.
I have overcome the world.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
My own spiritual practices include
A regular rhythm of lectio divina
A practice of praying the scriptures
And dwelling in the words
That rise to the surface
In our hearts and in our minds.
As I have lived with his reading
From the Gospel of John
Over the past several weeks,
I have been both drawn to
And troubled by
those final words of command and promise
Take heart!
I have overcome the world.
I have been drawn to them because of their unequivocal promise -
The perfect tense,
already-complete,
yet with ongoing effects in the present.
Nevertheless,
I have been troubled by them
Because every time I hear them in my heart and my mind
A question arises,
Almost like a reflex -
“Really?”
Take heart!
I have overcome the world.
Really?
I have been troubled
because those words seem to be so incongruent
with the reality of life lived in the world.
Children are gassed on our border.
Hardly a day goes by without another mass shooting -
Tree of Life Synagogue
Yoga studio in Florida
College night at Borderline Bar and Grill
Birmingham Mall
Mercy Hospital Chicago
A seemingly never-ending,
frightening litany of tragedy and death
Siblings with black and brown skin
live in a different world
than those of us with what is called
“white” skin.
Apocalyptic fires rage across climate-changed-California-earth
Public discourse has degenerated into
Name-calling
Bullying
Hate-filled screeds
Racism is suddenly in-vogue
On, and on it goes.
The world seems to be both in control
And out of control and the same time.
And yet Jesus says
Take heart!
I have overcome the world.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
As the incongruence of this
bold and life-giving declaration
confronts the everyday realities of lived-life,
I am reminded of the words of Walter Brueggemann.
When writing of God’s people of old,
Brueggemann says,
They sing in defiance of the data.
The song of God’s people
is an act of imagination
that hopes an alternative
because the data
is all against the song.
We sing it over and over again
against the data of the day.
We refuse to give in
Because we,
Like them,
Long for the place that has been prepared for us.
We sing in defiance of the data.
I would say that the same is true for proclamation.
We proclaim in defiance of the data.
Take heart!
Christ has overcome the world.
Our proclamation is an act of imagination
that hopes an alternative
because the data is all against the proclamation.
We proclaim it over and over again
against the data of the day.
We refuse to give in because we,
like God’s people of old,
long for the place that has been prepared for us.
We proclaim in defiance of the data.
Take heart!
Christ has overcome the world.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
When children are gassed on our border
We proclaim,
If you’ve done it to the least of these,
You’ve done it to me.
Christ has overcome the world.
In the face of gun violence and tragedy,
We proclaim,
Christ came that you might have life,
And have it abundantly.
Christ has overcome the world.
When we are confronted with a world
That attempts to separate people because of the color of their skin
We proclaim,
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
Slave nor free,
Male nor female.
We are all one in Christ Jesus.
Christ has overcome the world.
When we encounter the suffering of our planet home,
We proclaim,
The whole creation groans in eager longing,
Waiting for its redemption.
Christ has overcome the world.
In the face of destructive public discourse
That heightens divisions,
Tearing people down
And tearing people apart,
We proclaim,
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking lies.
Christ has overcome the world.
When we encounter attempts to denigrate
The vast and beautiful diversity of this world
By the threats of racism and sexism and every other kind of -ism
We proclaim,
In the image of God,
God created them.
Christ has overcome the world.
And then we come to this table
Where we taste and see
The fulfillment of these promises.
We come to this table where we hold in our hands
And take into our bodies the incarnate Christ
We eat
And we drink
We are nourished,
We are formed
and we are shaped into Christ’s own living body
for the world today.
And then we go out from this table
Into God’s beloved world
And we proclaim,
Over and over again,
As often as we are able.
We proclaim
In defiance of the data -
With our words
And with our deeds
And with our very lives
Take heart!
Christ has overcome the world.
Last words carry a lot of weight.
Last words matter.
AMEN
