Finding Comfort, today
Did you watch the Prime Minister’s broadcast to the nation last Sunday? What did you think? Comedian Matt Lucas was perhaps a bit mischievous with his parody: 
“So we are saying, Don’t go to work. Go to work. Don’t take public transport. Go to work. Don’t go to work. Stay indoors. If you can work from home, go to work. Don’t go to work. Go outside. Don’t go outside and then we will or won’t do something or other”
Were you a tad confused by what he was saying?
The Disciples were just as confused by Jesus and what He was saying.
I’m leaving. I’ll be with you forever. I’m going. Trust in God. Trust in me. You’ve seen the Father. You’ve not seen the Father. I am in the Father. The Father is in me. You are in me. I am in you.
No wonder Thomas and Philip went, heh? They were only saying what others were thinking. So just WHAT was Jesus on about?
Yes, Jesus was GOING. Don’t think He was saying, I’m off for a few weeks – like you might wave someone off on their holiday, knowing they’ll be back in a few weeks. This was quite different. Jesus was saying, I’m going – to be killed – to DIE. 
Understandably, that was such SAD news for the Disciples to receive. They loved being with Jesus. There was something.. comforting about His presence.
And sure enough, on the Friday of Passover – Good Friday – Jesus WAS killed. Crucified. Now they were left alone. Scared. Traumatised. What would happen to them?
But Jesus also said, I’ll RETURN. I’ll be back. That was BAFFLING. I mean, the disciples knew then what YOU know now: Dead bodies don’t come back. Except on Sunday, Easter Sunday – Resurrection Day. Jesus came back  … Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes
Then, their grief was turned to joy. Elation. Jesus had returned to them. They got to meet with him again - numerous times. Even sit down and have meals with Him. How comforting was that. So many questions! 
So, when You said: “The Son of Man must suffer, and be killed and on the third day be raised to life” – that was YOU?!
That’s nice. I mean, nice for THEM. For the Disciples. For the few who were physically with Jesus... in Jerusalem - 2,000 years ago. But what about everyone else? What about US? Today?
Even Resurrected Jesus could only be in one pace at one time. If He was there, he couldn’t be HERE. If He was then, he can’t be NOW.
So, what are WE supposed to do? Sing our hallelujahs and read stories about Jesus? When life gets tough, sing a song? That doesn’t feel that comforting.

When things got tough for the Disciples… Take getting caught in a savage storm out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The boat’s about to sink. They thought they were about to die. They didn’t just sing about Jesus.  They had Him WITH them, right there, in their boat. He spoke into their situation and the storm stopped. Now THAT is comfort. Knowing that Christ is WITH you.
Or when they were faced with a huge crowd, late in the day, and there was not enough food to go around. Jesus used the little they had to miraculously feed thousands. How comforting! Christ meeting your physical needs.
Too many people – even a few struggling Christians – think that’s all there is to Christianity: a bunch of nice stories about what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Think holy thoughts – think harder!
But Jesus hadn’t finished. Crucially, He said in John 14:16:
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforter to help you and be with you forever.” John 14:16
Yes, Jesus was going. He had to. No death, no resurrection. No resurrection, no breaking the power of death, disease, sin and destruction. But He wasn’t leaving us alone. His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, would live on everywhere, in every time, in every person. Hence “And be with you forever”
Physical Jesus – 6 foot of humanity Jesus – incarnate Jesus, was limited, like us, to being in one place at one time. 
Though always God, He took on the limitations of what it is to be human.
Now, the same Jesus, Resurrected Jesus – ascended back to the Father, Jesus – is seen back as His true God’ness.
And His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ – the HOLY Spirit – continues to do today what Christ did 2,000 years ago in and through the Disciples.

That’s why Jesus said, he will give you ANOTHER comforter. 
The comfort that Christ brought to the Disciples, then, is available for us – YOU – now.
God’s Holy Spirit enables you and I to experience Christ, including His comfort, in the situations we face today – just as surely as the Disciples did 2,000 years ago. 
Their experience of Christ then can be YOUR experience of Christ today through the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit.

So, when you feel like you’re caught in a scary storm 
- the waves feel overwhelming - and that you’re about to sink – go under – 
it’s as if Christ is with you, right there, in that moment – just as He was with the Disciples.
He can speak into your situation. How comforting is that.

And when you’re faced with overwhelming needs, and not sure how they will be met, the Spirit of Christ can miraculously meet them. Wow!
The Disciples lived with the ever-present threat of disease. Leprosy was highly infectious, had devastating consequences for those who caught it. 
And the Public Health strategy then was to isolate all those infected, forcing them to remain socially-distanced, isolated for the rest of the lives. 
It was not only physically devastating.  
There was a lot of social, even religious, stigma attached. 
Those who had it were labelled ‘unclean’ for the rest of their lives. 
Unable to ever work again. No furlough scheme. Forced to leave their community, home, family...
Jesus reached out to lepers and.. touched them and said, be healed. Be clean. His words brought not just physical healing. They brought psychological, emotional, economic and spiritual healing too. 
Wholeness. What comfort!
That same Christ who did all that, then, can do the same today, by His Spirit, through you and me.

Then, Christian faith becomes far more than just singing songs, remembering stories about Jesus, and trying to think holy thoughts.
Even a few Christians – try – and fail – to live the Way or the Truth or the Life of Christ without the SPIRIT of Christ – the Holy Spirit.
For them it’s just about singing jolly or uplifting songs, reading some stories – moral tales – about Jesus, and trying to be a ‘nice person’ (which usually means trying to ‘out middle class’ people.
Christian faith is not just, thinking about Christ. Then. 
It’s about living with Christ. Now. 
It’s about being full of the Spirit of Christ – the Holy Spirit. Joining in with whatever He is doing now.
Singing then becomes worship - worshipping in Spirit as well as in truth.
It’s as if you are singing in the actual presence of Christ Himself, bowing down before God in praise.
Then His Father, God the Father, becomes our Father too. 
We get to experience relationship with God because Christ’s Spirit resonates with our spirit – and we say abba, Father. 
No longer spiritual orphans, unsure of our identity and belonging, through the Spirit of Christ, we become adopted as children of God.
There’s more.
Jesus said in John 14:12:
“Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
What? Greater than calming storms, healing people, raising the dead..? 
Greater than in the sense of more than… 
Then, physical Jesus was limited by his humanity, incarnation - if there, then not here. 
Now, His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ is in ALL who believe. 
The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead also gives us life because His Spirit lives in us.
Think of everything Jesus represented and did: 
His love, compassion, miracles, Wisdom, timely interventions, lives transformed.. 
Turning water into wine, feeding thousands of people, healing the sick, calling random Joes to follow Him, calming storms…
That same Christ, the Spirit of Christ, is able to do all this in and through you who believe.
Imagine the drama, the energy, the fun, the revelation, the comfort that following Jesus must have been for the Disciples back then.
When we open ourselves to the Spirit of Christ, God’s Holy Spirit, their experience then can become our experience now – today.
Don’t try to live the Way of Christ, without the Spirit of Christ. 
Don’t do the work of Christ without His Spirit.
If you do, it’ll simply become YOUR works – not His.
And you’ll miss out on His joy, energising, wisdom, strength and impact.
Go back to the Gospels. Read again what Jesus did and said. 
Read the book of Acts and see what the Spirit of Christ started to do in the Church. 
Jesus gives YOU the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ - the Holy Spirit – to continue experiencing the same today.
Be open to receiving His Spirit.