Just the right time
Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on Holy Trinity Sunday + Saturday, June 14, 2025.
In last week’s Gospel reading, we watched the disciples process the news that Jesus was going to die. The disciples faced a terrifying future in which their beloved friend and teacher would no longer be with them. Jesus explained that he would not leave them orphaned. The Holy Spirit would be their Advocate. Just like the disciples experienced Jesus as a supporter, defender, teacher, and comforter, they would experience the same Jesus present with them through the Holy Spirit. Jesus comforted the disciples in the end saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” After this it seemed that their worry had been eased, they had been equipped with the strength of community and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This week, a few chapters later, we hear Jesus say that there are more things for them to learn, but that they cannot bear them now. These are the same disciples who watched Jesus perform miracles, who accepted that Jesus is somehow both God and Human. These disciples have earnestly followed Jesus, leaving their lives behind. They’ve been able to bear everything so far! What could Jesus possibly have to say that these faithful disciples could not handle?
I was reminded of an experience I had last month as I reorganized my bookshelf. As often happens when I reorganize anything in my apartment – I spent longer than expected flipping through some of my old books! A few of them were textbooks from seminary which at that time I remember struggling to read and comprehend. I was amazed at how much easier they were to read and understand now that I was not quarantined in my apartment during a global pandemic. There are so many things that affect the way we process information. Both internally and externally. Our environment, social interactions, emotional state, health. From moment to moment we may have a totally different perspective. When Jesus tells the disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” He is not discounting their ability to cope with change or new ideas. It may be that they are simply not in the right environment, or headspace to understand yet. Something about the coming events would drastically change the disciple’s perspectives. Only then would they be ready to hear the things that are to come.
This week, we may be feeling a little overwhelmed at the often bleak possibilities we see in our future. Our world, and many of our perspectives, have changed, and we are all processing these changes in different ways. For some of us, these may be new and completely jarring events. Many of us have been moved to join the work of those who have been protesting the blatant injustices around us. Some of us who have already been doing that work may be fighting exhaustion at each news headline. So, what could this week’s short Gospel reading provide for each of us?
For some of us the echoes of Pentecost Sunday might still be stoking our courage. We are never alone when we struggle, always accompanied by our Holy Advocate. For others, it may be hopeful, while we stare at a mostly unknown and otherwise terrifying future, to consider that Jesus will share with us the wisdom we need at just the right moment. At the time when we can understand it best. And then there’s the third gift we can receive from Jesus’ words this week: a more full understanding of the importance of community.
This weekend we remember the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Our loving God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, models for us the gift of community. Each member is respected as equal and each member deeply needs the others. This theme runs throughout scripture - the idea that there is some power, some divine spark found when God’s children come together in community. We are created in the image of a God who is loving community.
You may be wondering, “What do these abstract ideas have to do with the real terror we’re facing?” But maybe some of you are already seeing the gift of community responding to the evil of the world. Crowds of community members have been showing up to protect the rights of the most vulnerable. Beyond the public displays of community there are hidden ways in which people protect each other as a community.
In South Africa, under the racist Apartheid system, neighborhoods were separated by race. So, if you were black or brown and working in an white neighborhood – you would need a special ID or pass that said you had permission to be there for work. The same went for black people - the indigenous people of South Africa - working in what had been designated by the Apartheid government as “Indian neighborhoods.” I remember my mother and grandmother telling me about how on their street most houses had a cook or a maid or a gardener who didn’t have the correct “documentation” to be working in an Indian neighborhood. If they were caught, the police might beat them, or arrest them, and in some cases people would “disappear.” So, when the police were doing their rounds, checking each house for so-called “illegal” workers, my Grandmother would receive a call from one of the other houses on the street. She would quickly hide whoever was working in her house. And then she would call the next house to deliver the same warning. They worked together as a community to protect each other.
Community is a gift from God that is not just some philosophical, abstract idea. It has practical implications for our everyday lives. Even and especially as our lives are changed and shaped by the events around us, there is always more power and more safety when we stand together. So, as we stand in a time of uncertainty, may we listen for the Holy Spirit, lean on one another, and live into the sacred strength of community—knowing that we are not alone, and that more will be revealed at just the right time.
