“When I go, you will not be left all alone.” – John 14:18
In which world do you live? Is it the world of paralysis or stress or tension or rowing, nagging or cussing or fighting or shouting or screaming or the world of liars and thieves? Good news – help is on the way.
Help knocks, but we are often too deaf or too busy; by our own actions we say “I don’t need help”. God never crashes into a man’s heart, God ain’t no party crasher; he waits to be received. On what is he waiting? He wants our obedience.
In John 14:15 Jesus says “If you love me, you will obey my commandments and then I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper who will stay with you forever.” There is only one test of love and that is obedience. We must be obedient to God if we love Him. Many of us have emotional, sentimental love to God, as we go contrary to obeying Him.
Many might pray and simultaneously break every commandment God has laid down. Many want happy families but never obey God by worshipping and praying as a family. Many seek God’s blessing but have children indiscriminately outside the bonds of marriage. We live in an age where women unashamedly ask the priest to counsel their sweetheart or to bless homes destined for shacking up.
We know all too well those who proclaim love in words but who, at the same time, bring pain and heart break to those whom they claim to love. There are children and young people who say they love their parents and who yet cause them grief and anxiety. The teenage girls who break their parents’ confidence by rushing to become unwed mothers; so many of our boys break their parents meager savings when they end up in the hands of police for foolish behavior and then thousands of dollars go to the lawyer who is expected to be the great deliverer.
Many more break hearts by messing up in school and then think the world owes them a living. There are husbands who say they love their wives and wives who say they love their husbands and who yet, by their inconsiderateness, irritability and thoughtless unkindnesses bring pain the one to the other. Spousal abuse is so prevalent as many spouses submit to living in “hell holes” and will not muster strength after years of abuse to get the hell out of the hell hole. Too many spouses are suckers for abuse. To Jesus real love is not an easy thing; it can only be shown in true obedience.
Jesus does not leave us to struggle with life, especially with the Christian life, alone. He promises to send us another helper. The Greek word for helper is “parakletos”, which is untranslatable. The American Standard Version renders it “comforter”, which comes from a latin word “fortis”, which means to be brave or to be fortified for the battle.
The comforter is to enable some dispirited person to be brave. The helper is not coming to do your work, but enable/help you to be brave, fortify you to be obedient to God. An obedient life fortifies you to stand in your weakest hour. He will strengthen you not to be a doormat to lies and an abusive spouse. He will strengthen you to stand on your own two feet against those who shout and scream or try to deprive you of your rights.
God has no use for weaklings. Christians stand up in strength through obedience. The Bible is pretty clear on our obedience to God and to those placed in authority over us, for they are his representatives. Respect and obedience to authority are qualities sadly missing in our national life. It filters right on through every situation.
Some persons think it is so cute to be disrespectful and rejoice in giving a piece of their mind; many times it’s just downright rudeness. “I speak my mind child” is an accepted cliché for a Bahaman to stone authority, hurt feelings and mash up character.
Our children will only be obedient if they see it displayed by adults. Check disobedience in the classrooms, then look in the mirror; ask the question, “Is my obedience up to date?” God poured out the Holy Spirit on his people when they lived in obedience to him. Comb carefully the acts of the apostles and see the Christians living out their obedience and consequent strength.
The comforter is not only to have sympathy with us as we cry “poor me”, or as we beg for sympathy. The Spirit enables us to cope with life. Too many of us live in self pity, but remember someone only rides your back when you have it bent over.
Help is on the way. The parakletos means someone who is called in as an expert and helps us deal with a given crisis in given situations. Call Him in! The parakletos is someone called in to help in time of trouble or need.
John14:18 tells us how to call him in: Love God by obeying his commandments. If he isn’t in, it means that you simply haven’t created the environment. As a person and as a Christian we have a very difficult engagement, but through our obedience help is on the way. “I will send you someone, the parakletos, who will guide you,” Jesus says.
In Acts 8:26 the Ethiopian Eunuch, an important official, the treasurer and minister of finance of the queen of Ethiopia, needed help in scripture. It wasn’t speaking to him, but help was on the way. He had obeyed God; he’d just been to Jerusalem to the temple to worship. How is our obedience in worship and prayer. “Man ought always to pray and never faint,” Jesus tells us.
In Verse 29 the parakletos speaks “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it, someone needs help.” To embrace the help God sends is to understand scriptures.
In 1 John 3:14, John addresses love and obedience of God, Help is on the way when we love God through our obedience to him. Acts 4:26 says God gives his Holy Spirit to all those who obey him. So whatever the circumstances life throws at you, there is always someone with you to hold your hands. If only in humility we learn true obedience to God, dethrone self and beat your ego in subjection to the Spirit that God may be all in all.
• Reverend Canon S. Sebastian Campbell is the rector at St. Gregory’s Anglican Church.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
