Pentecost
May 23, 2021
William G. Carter
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
But I have
said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I
told you about them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning,
because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of
you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things
to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
Nevertheless
I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not
go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to
you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and
righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in
me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see
me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been
condemned.
I still have
many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit
of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on
his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the
things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is
mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this
reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.” Of all the harsh things Jesus ever said, that must be the most difficult.
The setting is the Last Supper. The Lord has announced that one of the twelve will be betray him. All of them look around the table, wondering who it will be as Judas Iscariot slips out into the darkness.
They know the time is coming. Anybody who has followed Jesus knows that his departure is imminent. There were murmurs in the city. It had been a week of conflict and testing. Jesus won every gambit by the Pharisee, scribes, and Sadducees, but this is their town and their rules.
According to three of the Gospels, Jesus told them he would be arrested, tortured, slandered, and crucified. He said it here in the Gospel of John, too, but, well, John doesn’t always say things straight. Nevertheless they know – they must know – that Jesus is on his way out.
Today’s text is a slice taken from four chapters where Jesus is saying goodbye. It’s followed by one more chapter where Jesus prays a farewell prayer. The mood around the Table is affectionate but sad. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled,” he says to them. You know why he says that: precisely because their hearts are troubled.
They know he is going away. It’s crystal clear even on a gloomy night. He seems to make it worse when he says, “And it is to your advantage that I go…” Ouch. That hurts.
It’s hard for us to say goodbye to the people we love, whether they are moving to Delaware, or Colorado, or some higher form of heaven. And to bid farewell to a leader, to a person of significance, to the One who has stood in the center of our circle, well that’s just brutal. And when he says, “It’s to your advantage that I go,” that’s like the prune flavored frosting on a stale cake.
John gives us this lengthy section of his book to help us make sense of the departure of Jesus. He reminds us that the fundamental crisis of the early church was the departure of Jesus. He is the source of our lives, like the vine beneath so many branches. We did not choose Jesus; he chose us and appointed us to be faithful followers. Yet he is gone. That is what Easter means. Remember what the angel said at the tomb? "He is risen, and he is not here." John’s Gospel faith tries to make sense of that absence.
One of my teachers described it this way. "Before the departing Christ, the disciples had been as children playing on the floor, only to look up and see the parents putting on coats and hats. The questions are three (and they have not changed): Where are you going? Can we go? Then who is going to stay with us?"[1]
Where are you going? "I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer" (John 16:10).
Can we go? "Where I am going, you cannot go.” (John 13:36)
Then who is going to stay with us? “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.” (John 14:16-17)
Here is the advantage, the hidden advantage of Christ’s departure. Jesus goes so the Holy Spirit can come. It is this Spirit, this Advocate, who is God’s gift to church folks. The promise of Jesus comes true. He promised, “I will not leave you as orphans,” as those without father or mother. “I go away so that I may come to you again.”
Now, this is the first of three clues to comprehending the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often described as the “shy member of the Trinity.” I’m not sure I agree with that description. I’ve found myself in some Spirit-filled moments that were noisy. What made it a Spirit-filled occasion and not merely an amplified moment was the presence of Christ. It was a holy moment because Jesus was there. Somehow, he was there.
John wants us to know that the Holy Spirit is the Presence of Jesus. That’s the first clue. This is the Risen Christ, available at any time, in any place. This is why Jesus must go away in order for the Spirit to come. They can’t both be there because they are the Same Thing - essentially, they are the Same Person, or better said, Two Persons of the Same Trinity. Jesus the Human is crucified, raised, and goes to the Father, in order for Jesus the Risen Presence to come. That’s how John understands the Holy Spirit.
Why is this important? Because there is continuity. The same Christ who spoke still speaks. The same Savior who healed still heals. The same Lord who serves still serves. And he does it through the people who love him.
This came home to me some years ago when some of our Deacons were delivering flowers. One of them went to see a senior citizen in the hospital. She was struggling with her illness, and the Deacon stopped in to say hello and take a bouquet from that morning’s worship service.
I’m not sure what happened in that hospital room that day. Don’t know how long the Deacon visited, if they had a conversation, if the Deacon felt confident to offer a prayer. I don’t know what happened. What I do know is the lady’s adult daughter called the next day to check in.
She said, “Somebody stopped by to deliver flowers. I think they came from the church. We appreciate it very much.” She paused and said, “Do you know who made the delivery?” No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
“Well, I asked my mother about it. She said Jesus brought the flowers. I kind of went with it for a minute, and said, well, Mom, are you sure about that? She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I’m absolutely sure.’”
We both paused for a moment on the phone. Then I said, “Well, why not?” John says the Risen Christ is among us. He continues his kindness in our midst. He brings the grace of God into the world. Whenever we experience that unexpected love, it’s a sign that, not only is he alive, but he is also working among us.
But from the beginning, John has also taught that Jesus doesn’t only bring grace; he brings truth. It’s grace and truth, truth and grace. They are inseparable. That’s the second sign of the Spirit. The grace gives us the freedom to be honest about ourselves, where we have fallen short, where we have gone off the tracks. The Spirit’s truth is that honesty. And if we are honest, truthfully honest, the Spirit’s grace receives us and scrubs us clean.
Truth seems to be in trouble these days. Truth has frequently been reduced to someone’s opinion. In one all-too-common example, someone might say, “This corona virus thing is nothing.” Well, where did you learn that? “Well, I just know it’s true.” Who told you that? “Everybody knows it’s nothing.” And I think of the people I know who have gotten sick, and those who died, and here is this person who has convinced themselves of something false. And if someone exposes the falsehood by giving evidence, they twist it around and declare you’ve been hoodwinked by fake news.
One thing I know about myself is that I am capable of convincing myself of just about anything. If I keep repeating something over and over again in my head, and surround myself with people who agree with me, I can put some legs on a lie, and it will run a good way down the track.
That’s why it is so important to be in a church where everybody doesn’t always agree. That’s healthy. If you can stay in community even though you differ, the Holy Spirit bubbles up with the truth. I have seen this when church elders come together around some important matter. They may differ. They may come from different points of view. But if they speak honestly and listen respectfully, they may change their minds and build a consensus. It can happen. I have seen it happen. And I name it as the work of the Holy Spirit.
What I’m talking about is that moment when the opinion in somebody’s mind gives way to the mind of Christ, which becomes shared within the community. If we are open to the presence of Christ, and welcome the truth of Christ, together we often are led into the mind of Christ. We discover together what he is inviting us to do. It makes all the sense in the world. And then we have to go home to our loved ones and confess how we changed our minds – or maybe, how the Lord has changed our minds.
The Holy Spirit brings truth. In my experience, the Spirit builds truth among us. The Spirit reveals what we are called to trust and what we need to do.
This leads us to the third indication that Spirit is among us: we are given a future. The same Lord who floated on a boat in the Sea of Galilee is here, present, and true, and leading us forward. The One who came before us is also ahead of us – doesn’t that just blow your circuits?
And if that’s true, we don’t have to worry about the future of our church. We don’t have to fret about the condition of the world. It’s already in the hands of the One who is both with us and ahead of us. For our part we must show up, and listen, and pray, and follow, and trust.
I love that line that Jesus speaks in chapter 16:12 – “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear to hear them now.” The Lord sounds like a preacher whose sermon has gone on far too long. The congregation is zoning out, but he reminds them there is even more to say, more to learn, more to discover. And it’s there in the mind of God, which leads us forward.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” What truth? Well, the truth about Christ, and the truth about us, and the truth about us living in the presence of Christ. And what is that truth? Well, he hasn’t told us that truth yet. You’ve got to come back tomorrow, and next week, and the week after that.
What is required is a new openness to the Spirit. That’s how our Presbyterian Church’s Book of Order puts it (F-1.0404). In the church there is continuity with the past. We never begin from scratch. We begin with Christ. And there is the continuing call to change and become more like Christ. Continuity, as the Holy Spirit reminds us of everything Jesus says. Change, as the Holy Spirit beckons us forward. There is continuity and change because we are alive in Christ.
Christian faith is just that: faith in Christ. We trust what we have heard him say through scripture, yet we remain open to hear him still speak through the Holy Spirit. In the end, we trust God will sort everything out, for the primary role of the Spirit is to point to Jesus and guide us into his truth. The Spirit of Christ will lead us into the life that Christ has come to give. The Spirit will teach us; the question is whether we are willing to learn.
That, it seems to me, is how we live without the physical presence of Jesus and with the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit. Like the wind, the Spirit blows when and where it wills. We have no control over what God is doing in the world. But if we open our arms like a cross-mast, if we set our sails and wait for the Spirit to blow and propel us, we find ourselves directed into the deep waters of grace.
Jesus says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away. And if I go away, the Spirit of truth will come and testify on my behalf.” This is the promise of Pentecost. And if we remain open to that promise, we may discover that, even in his absence, Jesus has been with us all along.
[1] Fred Craddock,
John: Knox Preaching Guide (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982) 98.
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