May the words of my mouth and this meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you a story. A story of a 5 years old girl with beautiful brown eyes and curly hair. Her name was Selene. She was an orphan, her parents passed away in an accident when she was 3 and ever since then she had been staying in an orphanage. Selene had a sparkle in her eyes, she was so beautiful and everyone just loved her.
In the orphanage, she was given everything she needed, food, clothing and shelter. But life was not easy for her, and even though she had the necessary things, she always felt something was missing. She didn’t remember her parents’ faces but missed the embrace of love that her mom and dad gave her.
Selene grew up with other orphans like her and loved playing with them. She also noticed the people who visited the orphanage and that many of her friends were being adopted. She prayed to God to be blessed with a mom and dad like her other friends.
One fine day, when she was busy in her own world coloring and playing with her toys, a couple noticed her and they loved how beautifully she was enjoying the little things and how happy she was.
The couple decided to adopt her and give her a new home. When she was told she was being adopted, she started dancing with joy and excitement to be a member of a family once again for she had always dreamed about it.
When Selene met her new parents, her eyes were filled with tears of joy. The couple hugged her and promised to give the best life they could for she deserved it. She packed all her stuff, said goodbye to her friends in the orphanage and left to go home with her adopted parents. (written by Poonam Vashist
“There is a place for the sadness. Hold on to Love. There is a season of gladness.
Hold on to Love. When pain and confusion seem endless, hold on to Love.
We cultivate healing through kindness. Hold on to Love.” (Jesse Manibusan)
Isn’t being orphaned one of the greatest fears we have as a child? Even as adults we fear being abandoned by family or friends. We fear isolation and loneliness. Most of us are not cut out to be hermits, or solitary souls. As the pandemic showed us, we thrive better when we have contact with others, we need community. We don’t function well as Lone Rangers, it’s better not to stand alone.
There are times in each of our lives that challenge us especially when major changes or tragedies can feel like we are being orphaned. We find ourselves asking these questions either out loud or silently: “What will I do now? Where do I go? What will happen next?”
Anyone who has loved and lost - a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend, a job, financial security and hope, knows the same fear and questions that an orphan faces.
Jesus promises us that we need not fear being orphaned or alone. Even though he knew he would physically leave his followers, he took the time to reassure them and us that we would not be alone. He gave a blueprint or GPS directions on how to carry on without him.
1. Jesus wants us, his followers, to keep ministering in His name. We are not to give up. He says, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’.
Wow, Jesus puts it quite simply – we need to walk and act in the same way He did. We are to pay attention to the heart of his mission and ministry, “Love another as I have loved you.”
Yes, he loved his family and his friends but beyond that Jesus loved unconditionally with a self-giving love. In Greek this type of love is known as agape love. Agape love is a deliberate choice to act in the best interest of others, often involving sacrifice or self denial.
Remember the sheep and goats story in Matthew 25. “As long as you did if for the least of these you did it to me” Love beyond measure, love those on the margins of society, love those who persecute you, love the untouchables of the world. The law of love is the commandment that Jesus requires of us.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments”, is not a test, not an option. Since we love Jesus then we will want to please him and do what he says, even if it is hard to do or we don’t understand why.
To walk in the way of Jesus means we learn to love how he does, to love others no matter who they are or where they live or where they came from. We love Jesus so then we MUST LOVE every person because each person is a beloved child of God.
“Hold on to Love, where hope is found. Hold on to Love, where joy abounds.
Hold on to Love, where grace and mercy’s overflowing. Hold on to Love.” (Jesse Manibusan)
2. Jesus promises his followers the Holy Spirit “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever”. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as Advocate, Helper, Interceder, the One who comes alongside us and who tells us of God and speaks to God for us..
I like to think of the Holy Spirit as female and refer to the Holy Spirit with feminine terms because the Spirit is the animator of life. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God.
She is the Spirit of Truth. She reveals to us the Truth: the truth of God, of the love of God, of our need for God. She ignites in us the spark of love for God and for Jesus, the Son of God. She gives us a longing for God; She will begin to open us up to the word of God and open the word of God to us. She will help us to understand and to receive the word of God. She helps us ‘to remember’ what Jesus has said. She helps us to pray, to cry out to God in love and longing, and even prays within us. {Malcolm Rogers, Talks, Sermons and Reflections}
The Holy Spirit is the force that pushes us forward, who makes us leave our comfortable places. She helps us to love and serve others. Jesus knew that we would not have the impetus or the get up and go on our own after He was gone so He promised to send another force to be our emissary. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Life, the very essence of God, will never leave us.
“When terror and fear overwhelm us, hold on to Love.
Courage and faith will sustain us.
Hold on to Love. When violence seeks to destroy us, hold on to Love.
Acts of compassion restore us. Hold on to Love
Hold on to Love, where hope is found.
Hold on to Love, where joy abounds.
Hold on to Love, where grace and mercy’s overflowing.
Hold on to Love.” (Jesse Manibusan)
3. Jesus promises that he will come back to his followers, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.”
Jesus knew that his time of being physically present to his disciples was quickly coming to an end. He promises them that when he is no longer physically present in their daily living, he will not leave them. He would not leave them orphaned and alone.
Remember just a little bit earlier in John 14, Jesus said he was going away to prepare a place for you. …and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3)
This promise is not only for the disciples of old but it still is a promise for us today. Jesus will not leave us orphaned and alone. He comes to us daily, sometimes in jaw dropping ways but more often in little, inconsequential ways we might overlook.
Jesus comes to us through other people we meet daily, in the words of Holy Scripture, in the bread and wine of Communion and through the waters of Baptism. We just need to hang in there with hope and joy and with the help of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us we can live the law of love with great expectations.
“When hatred is used to divide us, hold on to Love.
Wisdom and truth reunite us. Hold on to Love.
When prejudice poses as freedom, hold on to Love.
Dignity means “all are welcome!” Hold on to Love.
Hold on to Love, where hope is found.
Hold on to Love, where joy abounds.
Hold on to Love, where grace and mercy’s overflowing.
Hold on to Love.” (Jesse Manibusan)
Blessings on your day.
Notes: Preached (Delivered) May 10, 2026 at First Lutheran Church, Hinckley, Minnesota
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A
Readings: Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 66:8-20, 1 Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21
