John
16:12-15
Trinity
Sunday
June
16, 2019
William G. Carter
Jesus says, “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.”
In a
couple of weeks, one of my daughters will take me to a concert in Gettysburg. It’s
my Father’s Day gift. We are going to hear Bruce Hornsby play some of his ‘80’s
hits, written back when he still had a lot of hair. He always puts on a fun
show. Some of his fans will write down titles of his songs on a scrap of paper,
wad it up, and throw it on stage. Bruce will smooth them out on top of his grand
piano, and they will become part of his set list.
But
here’s the thing: he doesn’t always play them the same old way. If you know the
melody and lyrics, you’ll recognize the song. But the man has a lot of imagination
and a jazz degree from the University of Miami. When he plays the same old
song, it comes out in fresh new ways.
Over
the years, some of his fans grumbled about this. They wanted to hear “The Way
It Is,” his classic song about racial intolerance, and he channels it through a
twelve-tone tune by Elliot Carter. Or they request “Jacob’s Ladder,” a rocking
tune once recorded by Huey Lewis, and he turns it into a bluegrass romp.
One
fan complained, “We spend a lot of money on tickets, expecting to hear something
familiar that we remembered, and dang if he turn it into something new.”
That
can be very disturbing. I’ve noticed it can be really disturbing for church
people. They hear the preacher read John 3:16, their all-time favorite Bible
verse, and then the preacher says that verse has nothing to do with Jesus dying
on the cross, which is the way they always heard it. No, says the preacher, it
has to do with God sending Jesus into the world; it’s really a Christmas text. “Well,
that’s not the way we always heard it.”
Or
years ago, while we were rattling our swords in the build-up to the first Gulf
War. Saddam Hussein had ordered an invasion in Kuwait. Right after Christmas, some
sly preacher did a children’s sermon on the three wise men, who came bearing
gifts to worship Jesus. She pointed out the three wise men came from a land we
call Iraq. Some people in the back got up and walked out of church. It wasn’t what
they wanted to hear. It wasn’t the way they heard it before.
All
of this, of course, has been suggested in the last words of Jesus. As he
prepares to depart his disciples and return to the Father in heaven, he says, “I
have a lot more to tell you, but you can’t bear to hear it now. But I will send
the Holy Spirit, my Spirit, the Father’s Spirit, and the Spirit will tell you
what I haven’t told you yet.”
It’s
a staggering claim. It suggests the Bible has a future and not merely a past.
It suggests there is some essential material that didn’t get written down on the
page. It suggests the Risen Christ keeps speaking. For a lot of people, that’s
troubling.
After
all, the scriptures tell us everything we need to know, isn’t that right? Well,
maybe. Jesus says there is more to come.
But
isn’t everything written down in the Bible? No, it’s not. Last we checked, the
Bible doesn’t say a word about global warming, Russian interference in our
elections, or the platypus. It doesn’t ever mention Father’s Day, which was invented
in 1908 in a United Methodist church in West Virginia.
One
of the church’s confessions declares that everything we need to know for the salvation
of the world is written in the scriptures.[1] I
believe that to be true. Yet I’ve noticed there are a lot of things more than
the matters pertaining to salvation that are written down in the Bible. And
today we hear the Lord himself declare there are some important matters that
remain off the page. In the time of Jesus, they weren’t written down yet, if in
fact they were ever written down.
And when
we read some of the things in Bible, we have to wonder, “Is that the last word
that God has to offer?” Or is there something more that God will say?
Here’s
one: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters.” That’s in the book: Ephesians 6:15.
Is that the last word on slavery? I hope not. When the Bible was written down,
over the course of a thousand years, slavery was an accepted business. If you wanted
to build a pyramid, you captured another tribe, dominated them, told them they
were slaves, and pointed them toward the stone quarry.
Slavery
was a brutal, dominating, demeaning practice, unworthy of a God who creates
each person in the divine image. It needed to go away. In the ways that slavery
is still practiced under other names, it still needs to go away. But a South
Carolina plantation owner could point to Ephesians 6:15 as way of maintaining
what southern folk always referred to as “our way of life.”
Then
the Holy Spirit said, “That’s not the last word. Human slavery has to go away.”
In the name of Christ, it has to go away.
And
lest you think that’s a mildewed old illustration from the 1860’s, let me tell
you about two recent illuminations. The first is the work of Henry Louis Gates,
Jr., professor at Harvard. In elementary school, Professor Gates was told by a
teacher that President Lincoln emancipated the slaves. Then he studied American
history and discovered that’s never really been true. Slavery might have been
outlawed but it’s still around, under a hundred different names. He has written
a book about this, and hosted a four-session documentary on PBS.
Closer
to home, a Vacation Bible School curriculum has been under fire in the past
couple of weeks. Group Publishing has put out a curriculum called “Roar.” In
one lesson, the kids are told, “Pretend you are slaves,” purporting to teach a
lesson about Moses, I think. But to make matters worse, the entire theme of the
curriculum is set in Africa.[2]
Imagine
some of our little kids being told, “Pretend you are slaves… in Africa.” Uh, no. The Holy Spirit says no. Maybe that’s
why our Christian Education committee didn’t buy that curriculum. It’s
certainly why a lot of other churches are asking for a refund and buying
something else.
Christ
has kept speaking. The Holy Spirit has pushed us beyond ever thinking that human
slavery is acceptable… even though the Bible says, “Slaves, obey your masters.”
And this perception that Christ still speaks is both comforting and troubling.
It’s comforting to know he is still with us, yet it’s troubling that he might
push us into uncharted territory.
It’s
helpful, then, to note the words Christ speaks through this text move in two
directions at once. They are both liberal and conservative. The liberal sees
the continuing progression, the evolving insight, the unfolding wisdom:
something new is being spoken. “When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” even the
truth we haven’t been able to bear yet. The faith has a future and there will
be progress. Who knows? Maybe one day after the death and resurrection of Christ,
women will be called to preach!
The
conservative sees that what is being spoken is all about Jesus Christ: “The
Spirit will glorify me,” Jesus
says, “because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” So the
conservative needs not worry that the Spirit would ever say anything that directs
us away from the will of God. Christ is Lord and all must honor him.
Part
of his lordship is to push us toward a growing faith in a living God. God is
alive and dynamic. There is an internal energy in God’s own being. Faith in a
God like this is neither bound by the past nor afraid of the future. So when we
come across some new insight, some new discovery, the question must always be, “Does
this lead us into the Risen Christ?” Does it declare Jesus as a Living Word who
is greater than all of our written and spoken words? That’s really what
matters.
This
is where faith must be practiced and life must be lived, on the boundary
between what we remember and what lies before us. In his book Have a Little
Faith, Mitch Albom goes to visit his childhood rabbi who is terminally ill.
Mitch asks the rabbi if he believes in God. “Yes, I do.” Do you ever speak to
God? “On a regular basis.”
What
do you say? “These days? These days I say, ‘God, I know I’m going to see you
soon. And we’ll have some nice conversations. But meanwhile, God, if you’re
gonna take me, take me already. And if you’re gonna leave me here,” he opened
his hands and looked to the ceiling, “maybe give me the strength to do what
should be done.”
What
a wonderful prayer! The old rabbi didn’t have all the answers. He didn’t need
to have everything figured out. All he needed was to trust, to pray for strength,
to rely on God’s wisdom which far surpasses our own.
Jesus
says, “I still have many things to
say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” It’s a clear reminder that we don’t
have all the answers. Sometimes people ask me tough questions: why did this
happen, what should I do, how can I believe, what’s going to happen? At my
best, all I can say is “I don’t know.” Or even better: “We don’t know yet.”
Jesus never promises the answers. What
he promises is to be with us. What he promises is the presence of his Holy Spirit,
abiding, astonishing, unfolding, still teaching, still comforting, still revealing
the truth and grace of God. And that’s the gift we receive.
During
a time of confusion and uncertainty, Thomas Merton wrote a prayer. It’s a great
prayer and I pray it might be helpful to you. It goes like this:
O Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going,
I do not see the road ahead of me,
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
And that fact that I think
I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe
That the desire to please You
Does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire
In all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
Apart from that desire to please You.
And I know that if I do this
You will lead me by the right road,
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always
Though I may seem to be lost
And in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
For You are ever with me,
And You will never leave me
To make my journey alone.[3]
I have no idea where I am going,
I do not see the road ahead of me,
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
And that fact that I think
I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe
That the desire to please You
Does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire
In all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
Apart from that desire to please You.
And I know that if I do this
You will lead me by the right road,
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always
Though I may seem to be lost
And in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
For You are ever with me,
And You will never leave me
To make my journey alone.[3]
As
for me, I quote the words of a much wiser preacher: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now.” So I will see you again next week.
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