Our reading tonight takes place
on the night Jesus was arrested. It’s part of what I call Jesus’ Farewell
Address.” It’s the last major speech of Jesus that’s recorded in the
gospel of John. After this, he’s going to go to the Garden of Gethsemane,
where he’ll be arrested and eventually killed.
Jesus is trying to get the disciples ready for this. He may be trying to get himself ready, too. The disciples don’t necessarily understand what’s going to happen, but they understand that he’s going to leave them. And they’re pretty upset about that. For one thing, Jesus is their friend, and you never want to hear that your friend is leaving. But more than that, Jesus was their leader. He was the Messiah. He was the Savior. If he was leaving, well, where did that leave them? Where were they going to go? What were the going to do?
So Jesus tries to tell them that it’s going to be all right. He tells them he’s sending someone else to be with them. To lead them. To guide them. The Holy Spirit.
And I’m sure the disciples thought, “What?” The Holy Spirit? Who’s the Holy Spirit? How’s the Holy Spirit going to lead us? And how’s a Spirit, no matter how Holy, going to take the place of Jesus?
Well, Jesus tries to explain it to them. Jesus starts by saying that the Holy Spirit is an advocate. So what’s an advocate? An advocate is someone who supports you. An advocate is someone who represents you and works on your behalf. So that’s one thing to know about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is for us. The Holy Spirit is for you, and the Holy Spirit is for me. The Holy Spirit is supporting us and working on our behalf.
The next thing Jesus says is that the Holy Spirit will be with us forever. The Holy Spirit does not come and go. There may be times when we feel the Holy Spirit more, and times we feel the Holy Spirit less, but that’s not because the Holy Spirit leaves us. It’s because we sometimes leave the Holy Spirit. We go our own way, trying to do our will instead of focusing on God’s will. But the Holy Spirit is always there for us. The Holy Spirit will be with us forever.
Jesus then says that the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth. You know, that’s an attribute of God that we probably don’t talk about enough--truth.
Truth is something that seems to be in short supply these days. The truth still exists. The truth is still the truth. But it seems like it’s harder to find. It seems like it’s not respected very much any more. A lot of times, it seems like people are more interested in winning an argument than they are in finding the truth. And if the truth does not support their argument, well, they’ll just refuse to hear it or accept it.
But the truth is incredibly important to God. Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of truth. Isaiah quotes God as saying, “I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” God is truth. And the Holy Spirit is God--one member of the trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth.
And I don’t think it’s an accident that right after saying the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth, Jesus says, “The world cannot accept him.” Again, the truth can be very hard to accept sometimes. And often, that’s especially the case when we’re talking about God’s truth. There are any number of Bible verses that make us very uncomfortable. Jesus said any number of things that we wish he had never said.
In fact, just the claim that Jesus Christ is the Savior is hard for the world to accept. Right after Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life”, Jesus then said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” There’s a lot of the world that does not accept that. In fact, there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians who don’t accept that. They want to believe that there are many roads to heaven and that as long as we just try to be nice to everyone it does not matter what we believe. But that’s not what Jesus said. That’s one of the reasons the world did not accept Jesus. And it’s one of the reasons the world does not accept the Holy Spirit.
But Jesus goes on to say this of the Holy Spirit: “But you will know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” When we know the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not something separate and apart from us. The Holy Spirit is with us and is in us. The Holy Spirit is part of us.
Now maybe that’s not a new thought to you, but really think about what Jesus said. Because, again, the Holy Spirit is God. So when Jesus says the Holy Spirit lives with us and will be in us, he’s talking about God.
When we know the Holy Spirit, God lives with us and God is in us. That’s
an amazing thing. God, the all-powerful, almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise, all-everything God. That God is in us. God is in you. God is in me. If we know the Holy Spirit. What an incredible thing that is.
You’ve heard me pray for God’s Holy Spirit to be with us. In fact, when we read the Communion liturgy, we pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out onto us. We pray for the Holy Spirit to make us the body of Christ. If you think about it, that a really awesome and incredible thing we’re praying for. And we don’t stop there. We pray for the Holy Spirit to make us one with Christ. We pray for the Holy Spirit to make us one with each other. We pray for the Holy Spirit to make us one in ministry to all the world.
What would it be like if that actually happened? What would it be like if all Christians truly were one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world? What would we be able to accomplish if that actually happened? Can you even imagine it? I don’t think I can.
But you know, we don’t have to think that broadly. The United Methodist church claims to have twelve million members. What would it be like if all twelve million United Methodists truly were one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world? What would the United Methodist church be able to accomplish for the Lord if that actually happened? It would be incredible.
But we don’t have to think that broadly, either. What would happen if the Holy Spirit was truly poured out on every person in the three churches of the Wheatland Parish? What would happen if all of us truly knew the Holy Spirit, so that the Holy Spirit would live with each of us and would be in each of us? What would happen if the Holy Spirit was truly poured out on each of us? What would happen if all of us who are associated with the churches of the Wheatland Parish became one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world? What would we be able to accomplish for the Lord if that happened?
Now please don’t take this the wrong way. Our churches do a lot of things right now. A lot of you work very hard for the Lord and have been for quite a while. Even in the current situation, you are still working very hard for the Lord, doing whatever you can do. I’m sure I don’t even know all the things you have done and continue to do for this church and for God. A lot of you have done more than I have. So please, don’t hear this as the pastor complaining that people are not doing enough. That’s not my point at all.
What I’m inviting you do, really, is imagine. Just imagine what could happen. Imagine what the Holy Spirit is capable of doing. Imagine what it would feel like to feel the Holy Spirit being poured out on you. Imagine what it would feel like to be part of a group of people--the people of this parish--who all feel the Holy Spirit being poured out on them. Imagine what it would feel like to truly feel one with Christ. Imagine what it would feel like if everyone in this parish felt at one with each other. Imagine what could happen if we were all working together and felt the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
Imagine this. And then, really think about it. Think about what we’re asking the Holy Spirit to do. Try to feel God’s Holy Spirit being poured out on you. It could change your life. It could change our church. It could change our parish. It could change everything. It could even change the world.
Imagine it. Then feel it. Then let it happen.
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