Sixth Sunday of Easter

First Reading

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.

Second reading

1 Peter 3:15-18

Beloved:
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence,
keeping your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ
may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Gospel

John 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Sermon

Sisters and brothers!

When the Bundestag or the state parliaments pass a law, it occasionally happens that these laws are challenged by someone, and the Federal Constitutional Court overturns them in whole or in part. The system of laws and legal norms has become so complex that no one can fully grasp it anymore. As a result, different legal interpretations sometimes come into conflict with one another. Higher courts examine whether a law is compatible with the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution or in international treaties.

Religious rules and commandments are simpler in nature. After all, they must be understandable to everyone. But does that automatically make them easier to follow?

Time and again, I meet people who regret that most people no longer know the Ten Commandments. Children, in particular, should learn them by heart. The Ten Commandments are simple; anyone could memorize them, and they contain everything necessary for people to live together. Unfortunately, in practical life, things don’t always work out so simply. Long before the time of Jesus, it became clear that the commandments alone were not enough. Jewish teachers of the law developed further commandments and prohibitions to interpret the basic commandments and adapt them to their time.

Jesus criticized the practice of legalism in his time. He accused the teachers of the law of interpreting the commandments in a way that ignored their true spirit.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, taken from Jesus’ farewell discourses, Jesus urges his disciples to remain in communion with him and to keep his commandments out of love for him (John 14:15). His commandments were even simpler than the numerous commandments of his Jewish tradition. He simply emphasized love of God and love of neighbor, and he clarified this with the statement: “Love one another as I have loved you!” (John 13:34). Basically, that is enough. But where different interpretations of this basic rule clash, conflict can arise. And a conflict among committed believers can sometimes become very intense. That is why the addition that Jesus appended to his request seems very important to me: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.” (John 14:16).

We need this Spirit if we want to continue in Jesus’ footsteps after his Ascension. His commandments are very simple, but we need his Spirit to recognize their meaning and consequences in our daily lives. No canon law and no magisterium can replace it. To understand what Jesus wanted and what he wants from us today, we must continually immerse ourselves in those stories and words that tell us how he lived and what was important to him.

Not all problems can be solved by inventing new rules. This became clear, for example, when Pope Francis convened the Synod on the Family a few years ago. Many expected that, at the end of the deliberations, the Pope would issue new guidelines on how to deal with controversial issues regarding sexuality, marriage, and family life. For instance, when marriages have failed and the partners have entered into a new relationship. Countless variations are now being practiced. How can one deal with this without violating the commandment of love? Finding a rule that does justice to all individual cases is currently hardly possible.

When people, in the spirit of Jesus, struggle to find a solution they can stand by in good conscience, they may trust that they do not fall outside the love of Christ or the love of God. For them, the following applies: “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21). Of course, there is a danger that some may take the decision of conscience a bit too lightly.

Civil laws dictate what we must do and what we must not do, but they do not determine what we ought to do. The Ten Commandments and Jesus’ commandments tell us what we ought to do. They show us the way to a goal. This is the life in abundance that Jesus came into the world to bring. (John 10:10) Life in abundance is given to us when we allow ourselves to be embraced by the intimate love of the Triune God, as expressed in this short prayer with which I would like to conclude my sermon:

We give thanks to you,

God, whom we call our hope:

For the Gospel,

for the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper,

for the paths we walk with you.

You do not leave us alone,

you stand up for us.

We ask you:

Pour out your Spirit upon us,

help us to keep the commandment of love

and grant us the great freedom of your children.

Every day we receive from your hand.

In Christ, our Lord. Amen