We Are Not Orphans

John 14: 18

May 1, 2005

We Are Not Orphans

You probably know that virtually all translation is approximation. The challenge of translating a word from one language to another is to find a word in the "translated to" language that best approximates the word in the "translated from" language. Because word meanings change over long periods of use, the translation of ancient writings into modern speech, such as biblical Greek into modern English, must undergo constant revision to avoid possible misunderstandings. For example the RSV translates what Paul says in 2 Cor. 11:25 as, "Once I was stoned." Now for those having grown up with the language of the drug culture, to be stoned means to be high on drugs. So the NRSV, introduced in 1989, changed the translation slightly to convey its intended meaning, "Once I received a stoning." That same general purpose was the reason for the slight change in Psalm 50:9 from "I will accept no bull from your house," to "I will not accept a bull from your house."

Most translation changes, or, as I sometimes prefer to call them "translation adjustments", go unnoticed. But some Bible verses are so familiar that a person almost stumbles over them when they are first encountered. John 14:18 is such a verse for me. The RSV, the Bible I grew up with, translated those words of Jesus as "I will not leave you desolate." The NRSV, the new standard in Bible translation, translates that "I will not leave you orphaned."

When I read that I said to myself, "Whoa! Where do they come off changing "desolate" to "orphaned?" So I pulled by Greek New Testament from my bookshelf, looked up John 14:18, and guess what the Greek word is. It is orphanous, literally "orphaned".

Actually, I'm quite pleased with the change. That is a powerful image, the fear of being orphaned. That is also a powerful promise, that Jesus will not leave us orphaned but will come to us.

What is so bad about being orphaned? To be orphaned is to be left alone and vulnerable in a hostile world. That certainly must have been a fear of the disciples. In John 14 Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure, for his crucifixion and ultimately his ascension, when he would leave this earth for good. That must have been a scary prospect for the disciples. There were just a few of them, and now they would be alone and vulnerable in a world intent on doing them harm.

Last week Jesus explained why he had to leave: "I go to prepare a place for you". This week he promises that he will make provisions, nevertheless, to come to them again. He is preparing them for the moment he will send them his spirit. He is preparing them for Pentecost. They may be few. They may be in a hostile world. But Jesus will leave them neither alone nor vulnerable. Jesus promises his very spirit to be their guide and strength and comfort.

The disciples' world was a pre-Christian world and hostile to Christianity on two fronts. Judaism was hostile to Christianity on religious grounds. Christianity taught that Jesus was the Messiah, a claim Jews rejected. Paul and Peter were both jailed at the instigation of Jews, and Stephen was stoned to death by Jews. The Roman Empire was hostile to Christianity on political grounds. Christians would not worship the emperor as a god, so Christians were imprisoned, tortured, and put to death as political subversives. The disciples' world was a pre-Christian world.

Some suggest that today we live in a post-Christian world, that we live in a world that is, at best, indifferent to Christianity and, at worst, hostile to it. There is a large chunk of Western European culture and history that was Christian. Beginning in the time of Emperor Constantine in the early 4th Century and ending with the period known as The Enlightenment in the mid-18th Century, Christianity and the surrounding culture merged into one. Christian themes were the marks of major works of literature. Christian figures and biblical stories were the dominant subjects of painting and sculpting. The best music was written for the church by men commissioned by the church and reflected religious motifs. And there was no dividing line between Church and State in government. In the Christian Age culture was not only friendly to the Christian faith, it promoted it. The Christian religion was at the center of all of life.

Some suggest that all of that came to an end with the Enlightenment in Europe and the adopting of the United States Constitution in America codifying the separation of Church and State, both occurring in the 18th Century. Those events marked the beginning of a post-Christian age in which society has become increasingly secularized.

But one cannot imagine a more post-Christian environment than the one we live in now. Consider this. Prayer has been removed from schools; the Ten Commandments have been removed from the courthouse lawn; and it is my bet that it will not be much longer before "In God We Trust" will vanish from our coins and “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. The visual arts, painting and sculpting, no longer reflect religious themes. Popular music no longer focuses on Christian subjects. One looks almost in vain to find any positive portrayal of clergy or organized religion in television, movies, or Broadway. Sigmund Freud wrote in his Introductory Lectures in Psychoanalysis: "Darwin has banished God from nature; Marx has banished him from history; and I have banished him from man's inner life." Living in a post-Christian age means that God is being increasingly banished from more and more areas of human experience.

Joe Garagiola was talking to a sports writer on television's Today Show and the two men were recalling some humorous incidents that had happened in baseball. Joe said that several years ago in a baseball game a batter stepped up to the plate at a crucial point in the game. Being a devout Roman Catholic he made the sign of the cross with his bat by home plate. Catcher Yogi Berra, of the opposing team and also a devout Roman Catholic, signaled for a time-out. He leaned forward across the plate and with his catcher's mitt rubbed out the sign of the cross. Then he said, "Why don't we just let God watch this game?"

That's the attitude of a post-Christian culture. God can watch, but let's not let him get involved. God is moved from the center of human experience to the outskirts of life. Compare that with the words of the theologian and WW 2 martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he wrote in his book Letters and Papers from Prison shortly before his execution at the hands of the Nazis: "I should like to speak of God not on the boundaries but at the center...I therefore want to start from the premise that God should not be smuggled into some last secret place, but that he be in the middle of things." God must be in the middle of things.

By now you might be getting nervous thinking I want to plunge us knee-deep in political alligators. This might surprise you, but I am not on a crusade to restore prayers to the classroom, return the Ten Commandments to the courtyard lawn, or, for that matter, put God in sports. Nor would I lose much sleep if they removed “In God we trust” from our currency and coin. In fact, truth be told, there are significant dangers when Christ and culture become confused.

I am simply making the observation that we are living in a post-Christian age that, at best, is indifferent to Christianity, and at worst, hostile to it, and that if God is to be returned to the middle of things, it must happen in spite of, and not by the help of, our surrounding culture. We cannot leave this building trusting that out there we will find help to believe and trust and live in God's name. We cannot trust culture to provide a foundation for faith. God is, for the most part, absent from the arts and music and entertainment and media that surround us. Rather, we must leave this building carrying in us the faith that believes and trusts and lives in God's name. We must leave this building confident in the spirit of Jesus that goes with us.

The threat that Jesus identified and the promise he made are as real and as necessary today as they were when he first spoke them to his disciples. "I will not leave you orphaned; I will come to you." Jesus warned that he, indeed, had to leave the world to take up his kingdom throne in heaven but he would not leave his followers alone and vulnerable in a hostile world. He would send his very own spirit to be his presence and power in you and me. When that spirit finally came to the disciples at Pentecost, they went on to transform the world with Jesus' word. When we listen to the Spirit and trust in its leading and power, we, too, can live transformed and transforming lives with God in the middle of all things.

What a wonderful promise! I will not leave you orphaned. I will not leave you abandoned. I will not leave you weak and vulnerable. I will be with you at all time and in all circumstances. I will be your comfort, your strength, and your guide. You will never be alone. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.