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Erin Warde
6 Easter, A
27 April 2008
John 14.15-21

In “Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats, Yeats makes a poetic plea when he writes, “Consume my heart away; sick with desire and fastened to a dying animal it knows not what it is; and gather me into the artifice of eternity.” The message of the plea is simple – Help me, my soul is trapped in this body, this dying animal, and it knows not what it is. Take me away to a place of life.

Looking at last week’s gospel reading, the church spoke of Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. Rather than using this verse as a way to pick a “my Dad is better than your dad” fight with people that aren’t Christians, I see this as an opportunity to simply see the beauty of the Trinity – God, the creator, only can create a WAY to Himself, Jesus Christ came to the world to speak TRUTH of who God is, and now the Holy Spirit has come in today’s gospel reading so that you, and even I, may have LIFE… and in that, a counselor, intercessor, helper, strengthener, advocate, and standby (as the Amplified Bible eloquently states.) The response to this way, truth, and life should not be spiritual arrogance, but humble thankfulness. In verse 18 Jesus says “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come back to you.” Our way, truth, and life has promised to never abandon us.

But how does God do this? How does God make this promise? He makes a promise that he fulfills in the tangible, beautiful, eternal Eucharist. The way? God allows all people renewed by blessed water a way to feast at a Heavenly banquet that spans the fullness of time. The truth? The truth of the mystery of faith – Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The life? The life is the CHURCH that feasts as one, at one loaf, to celebrate the reason for the hope that they have.

Outside of the Eucharist, God promises to never abandon His people through faith that the Church will do as He’s commanded – that in loving God, they will love others also. He will never abandon His children because the Church will be clothing the unclothed, quenching the thirst of the thirsty, loving the unloved. As the Church, while we feast on one loaf together, breaking bread as a community, we must never forget in eating Heavenly food that our heart must yearn to meet the literal hunger of those around us. We must never believe that bread’s sustenance is limited to those washed in the waters of Baptism. We must love our neighbor, whether believing or not, as ourselves. As much as we feed our own spiritual hunger, we must feed the literal hunger of those around us. In this way, his children are never abandoned, never hungry.

Yeats writes in “Sailing to Byzantium” “An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick, unless soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing, for ever tatter in its mortal dress.” Through the imparting of the Holy Spirit we are given the ability to not be just a tattered coat upon a stick, but a people renewed – people in communion with the great “I AM” and full of love. No, God will never abandon us, just as we are called to never abandon others. In celebration of the Eucharist, we are certainly given a reason for our souls to clap their hands and sing, and louder sing, regardless of every tatter in our mortal dress.