We began with prayer and a guided meditation on next Sunday's Gospel. We were drawn to a place of great depth. The silence was rich and the group so embraced by that which they had encountered that we sat in the quiet of the Peace Chapel for a very long time. Yes, we also moved back upstairs and talked about by-laws and norms, mission statements and parish statistics. But we had grounded ourselves in prayer and scripture so that we might see these other things as a trellis we had crafted to guide our growth. A trellis is important, but the life resides in the vine that is growing on it. It is the vine that in time yields the fruit, so we kept our focus on the vine. Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches," and the language of parable and story informed the rest of our day together. We had gathered on retreat looking for vision. We left carrying an image of our life at Saint James as a vineyard of interwoven vines under the loving care of Christ.

In today's Gospel reading Jesus says, " Those who love me will keep my word…" But what is His word? His word was the language he used and the life that he led. Jesus spoke of the value of a life lived in prayerful attention, and in response to the will of God. The language of Jesus was filed with the phrases of scripture and enlivened by the promises of a loving God. Betrayal and crucifixion tested the strength of this word in the eyes of Jesus' disciples, but Resurrection confirmed the truth that was in Him. The risen Christ came to rooms with locked doors, to doubting disciples, to beaches at the break of dawn. He showed his broken flesh, forgave them their trespasses, and broke the daily bread. Jesus broke open the scriptures and set their hearts on fire, again, so that they rose from the ashes of fear and loss and looked for the world to come. Words have power.

The words we use create a resonance that spreads out in our lives. Conversion to a deeper life in the spirit starts with the language we use to describe things. Notice the difference in how you feel as I give these two different descriptions of relationship: "we are faceless cogs in a machine"; "we are members of the body of Christ." We too hearken back to metaphors about growing things and the words of scripture because there we find the deepest language to describe ourselves. As we change our vocabulary it changes how we see and do our work together. New perceptions and new experiences can change a person's sense of identity. When enough individuals experience a sense of conversion the culture in which they dwell is changed. This is true of a parish. It is true in a band of disciples. It all starts with words, but it will grow into every corner of our life if it is allowed to take root - if we let Christ fully into our garden.

Those who are in resonance with the word of God have access to new ways of seeing and being present in life and that alignment opens their eyes to love. "Those who love me will keep my word and my Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with them." It is like tuning one stringed instrument from another. The players sit close together and one plucks a note. The student turns a tuning peg to tighten or loosen the equivalent string on their instrument. With practice and an attentive ear one learns to match the master's note. When the two instruments are in tune a string can be struck on the master's instrument but both His and the student's will sound. Physicists call this sympathetic vibration. When we are tuned to the word of Christ, the love in Christ's life transmits across time and space and our lives begin move in concert with His.

The disciple had this experience - before the Resurrection and after it. But Jesus is well past Easter when He speaks to them this morning, and Ascension is coming. Jesus is going to leave, again. Jesus is telling the disciples that he is about to go. The instrument of his physical presence will be with them but a little while, so how can he still speak of making a home with them?

Love is stronger than loss, God does not leave us comfortless, and there is more than one way to transmit the love of God to those who are tuned to receive it. Jesus was preparing His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was teaching them about a new tuning. Before it sounded Jesus told them to get ready. We know that this new sound, this new Spirit came on what we now call the Day of Pentecost. We know that the resonance and harmony of that day changed the world, but all the disciples had between Ascension and Pentecost was Jesus' word.

But think of the strength of that word by that time in their experience. It is a strong word, stronger than death and mightier than the power of sin. In the face of yet another unknowable transition, Jesus lays His peace upon them like a warm mantle loving placed on the shoulder of a friend who has felt a sudden chill.

The love of God, the peace of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit have all been promised in today's Gospel. Jesus does not describe exactly when, or even what this Advocate - this Spirit - will be like. But He gave His word and the told the disciples to live it. And He promised that love would be the proof of the God's presence. When our hearts beat with the love of God the spirit is present among us.

In two weeks fire appears in our midst. We will hear the story of Pentecost and commission your Vestry to be fire-bearers. In two weeks we will call down the Spirit over the water of baptism and watch new Christians rise glistening in the light. But today is Rogation Sunday so we will bless earth, and carry it home to spread abroad. We will dedicate a silver vessel for water used at the altar. All this to acknowledge what the word of God is doing in our lives.

Hold fast to prayer, and tune your hearts. Learn the stories of scripture and hear the melodies of God in the lives of those gone by and in the life of those around you. Then act in concert with Christ so the world will know the presence of the Spirit through the power of love made manifest in you.

AMEN.