Year A Easter 6 2026 Youth Sunday The Advocate

 Year A Easter 6, 10 May 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“Youth Sunday: The Advocate”

I am working with Ryan G., a youth at St George’s and am very pleased with what he has done here. His sermon is bookcased by some words of mine.

Collect: O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”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 forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Greetings! This morning is one of our regular Children & Youth Sundays, and we are blessed to be hearing from a recent addition to the St George’s family. I am honored to know Ryan, and thankful that he was willing to stand and speak today.

Ryan was baptized last fall, and confirmed when the Bishop visited with us. In his life story I see the Holy Spirit working in him, having him ask questions and seek answers. He chose this church and the Episcopal approach to things, and I see the Holy Spirit at work in that as well. I continue to pray for his growth and maturing in his faith, and for his loving family that supports him. Welcome, Ryan!

GOOD MORNING!

First I want to say happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful

mothers out there. I hope you are able to celebrate and are

celebrated. Today is the one day that your kids for sure have to

listen to you, so make sure to take advantage of that. <pause for

laugh> And for our part we’ll try to use words you understand and

not stuff like cringe, rizz or anything like that. <pause for laugh>

Today’s lectionary talks about the promise of the Holy Spirit. It

says, “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 forever.” Jesus knows that he’s going to heaven and his

followers are worried. Jesus tells his followers to show their love

for him by following his example but along with that we will get an

advocate after Jesus is gone. The word advocate here means

helper, comforter or someone who speaks on someone else’s

behalf. The advocate that we receive is the Holy Spirit. The

lectionary says the spirit, “abides with you and he will be in you.”

To me this means that the spirit is with us whether we know it or

not. It also means that keeping Jesus’s commandments is an act

of love and not just following the rules because he said so. Love

is an action, not just obedience. It makes sense that Jesus would

send us another advocate because he himself was an advocate.

He comforted the sick and spoke on behalf of the poor. Jesus

wants to continue what he started!

If we think about it we have had many other advocates in our

lives. Teachers and coaches. Clergy and parents. Helping us

along the way, comforting us when we need it and speaking on

our behalf. I have had teachers take extra time to help me get a

better grade, taking their own time to suggest corrections and

extra credit. I have seen coaches argue with a referee against a

disqualification during swim meets because they knew the

swimmers cooked. Oops, sorry young people word…they “did

everything right.” <pause for laugh> Advocates are all around us

whether we recognize it or not and when these people positively

impact our lives, their advocacy and lessons can become a part of us. Those lessons become a part of us forever, like the spirit. And we can show our love to them by living those lessons.

In the way that the lessons are with us forever, the Holy Spirit is

with us forever and at all times. We are never truly alone since,

as the passage says, the spirit “dwells in us” My teacher is not

taking the test with me…I’m taking it. My swim coach isn’t

swimming my race with me…I’m swimming it. But the spirit is

there, being my advocate. That’s very empowering, but that’s

also very comforting. The Holy Spirit being with us at all times

brings a sense of sameness and stability that is a big source of

comfort in a world that is changing a lot. No matter what’s going

on, the spirit has our back. And our front. All sides of us because

it is in us.

Today we celebrate one of life’s biggest advocates…our mothers.Those of us that have been lucky enough to have mothers in our lives can see love as an action on full display. Can feel their lessons present in the way we act. So let’s use the Holy Spirit, and put our love into action by recognizing everything they’ve done for us. Maybe let’s just not let them get away with the whole “I carried you for 9 months” deal. Happy Mother’s day!

Didn’t he do a good job. I love that idea that the Holy Spirit is in us. He is with us when we are at our best, and with us when we are at our worst. The Spirit is always there.

One of the great strengths of the Anglican or Episcopalian way of faith is that we take the Holy Spirit seriously. Our charismatic brethren might urge us to be more demonstrative, but still waters run deep. I feel the Holy Spirit led me and my wife into the Episcopal Church, and through the years the Holy Spirit has prompted us and guided us along the way.

It is not an impersonal prompting, like the Force in Star Wars where it is there without knowing me. Some nonpersonal energy that I can control. The Spirit is not controllable, like a desert storm. It cannot be tamed. And it is not like Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio sitting on my shoulder directing me on which way to go. I feel it is that still small voice that encourages me to take the steps of faith, knowing me fully and guiding me lovingly to be who I can be in Christ. Jesus promises: “You know [the Spirit], because [the Spirit] abides with you, and… will be in you.”

Friends, as we live our lives of faith, let us make room for the promptings of the Holy Spirit. They say if you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans. God has things bigger, better, and more beautiful than we can imagine, and through the work of the Holy Spirit we can get there. Amen