Gentle and Lowly, Chapter 9 - “An Advocate”
This reflection is written by a brother who is experienced in foster care. While Visio Dei knows who he is, we’re leaving his name off of the article due to the sensitivity of his family’s service.
Chapter 9 of “Gentle & Lonely” introduces us to the concept of Jesus as an advocate for sinners with the Father. At first, this concept eluded me since I was always taught that Jesus is “one in being” with the Father. This makes it hard for me understand the idea of Jesus acting separately from the Father. But as I thought about it, I came to realize that Jesus acts in concert with the Father—there is no true separation between them.
When I read about Jesus as an advocate for us at the right hand of the Father, my mind immediately thought of the Court Appointed Special Advocate program in the child welfare system. A “CASA” worker is a volunteer assigned to a foster child to fight exclusively for their needs and wants within the system. The CASA worker does not always side with the care team, but instead works to promote the best interests of the child regardless of the situation.
When some of the foster children in our care have made mistakes, made choices that are not good for them, or even broken the law, the CASA worker has always been on the side of the child, kindly and lovingly working to make sure that the system does all that it can to benefit the child. I experienced this recently when one of my foster children had to go into rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. The CASA worker has been with the child every step of the way, fighting for her best interests. She stood up before the school suspension board when the foster child got in trouble at school. She even challenged the opinions of the care team before a judge when deciding the foster child’s fate. And when the foster child had to move away from Jefferson City for rehab, the CASA worker kept in contact with her, doing all she could to help the child make better decisions and work towards sobriety. The CASA worker consistently accepted the child despite their failures and forgave their actions.
In much the same way as a CASA worker, Jesus stands as an advocate for all of us before the ultimate judge, the Father. It does not matter how bad we sin, or even if we are still wallowing in our sin, Jesus will always defend us, pleading with the Father for our forgiveness. Jesus is not just the propitiation for our past sins, but he continually advocates with the Father for us when, due to our human condition, we inevitably sin. Thus, we can feel confident that even in our weakest, most sinful moments, Jesus will still be there begging the father for mercy on our behalf. With Jesus as our intercessor and advocate, we can boldly go before God’s throne knowing that we can receive God’s grace and forgiveness, even for our most powerful sins and addictions.