We Are Not Alone
Sermon
THE POWER OF DARKNESS
SERMONS FOR LENT AND EASTER (SUNDAYS IN ORDINARY TIME)
The term "Holy Spirit" has become a kind of catch-all-phrase where we place all those aspects of the faith we don't understand. He becomes a scapegoat for sloppy thinking and lazy efforts. In this understanding we preachers invoke the Spirit in this fashion. "I preach the Word of God. If the people don't understand it or heed it, it is not my fault!" The implication is that it is either the fault of the Spirit or hard hearts. Or, if we face a tough decision; or we are in the middle of a controversy; or we don't know the answer to some problem or issue - the frequent response is: "Leave it to the Spirit!" It would seem that we can make the Spirit into whatever is convenient or necessary.
In this way the Holy Spirit increasingly became a mysterious power through which the otherwise incomprehensible, and indeed even the absurd, is nevertheless to be legitimated ... We may well ask ourselves whether this was not an all-too-easy way of escape from the questions which faced the Christian message - the question of what was really true. And has the Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit not been misused and discredited because it has been used as a fig-leaf to protect the nakedness of the Christian tradition from the questionings of modern critical thinking?1
We know that our church history records a number of evil things done in the name of the Spirit. There are people who claim special appearances of the Spirit. Some are naive and confused Christians. Some are charlatans who desire to exploit people. I have been in conflict situations where people have told me that, while reading the Bible the Spirit had told them it was time for their pastor to resign! Is this how the Spirit works?
Besides all these questions, some of us wonder why our Christian lives are so ordinary and routine and even boring. Why don't we experience more of the "spirit" that other people talk about. The prayer in the Old Testament remains a vital one for many of us:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm 51:10-11)
Our Gospel reading comes from the lengthy farewell speech of Jesus at the Last Supper. The atmosphere is one of confusion and fear. The main topic of Jesus' speech is the Holy Spirit. Immediately one thing becomes clear: Jesus is leaving, but we are not left alone. "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name ..." (v. 16) We have God the Father sending the Son. In Jesus' life on earth we learned about God. This work has been completed. But God did not leave us empty and alone. We are told in our text that God, the Father will send the Spirit. God remains present in our lives through the experience of the Spirit.
The close relationship of God, Christ and the Spirit is clear. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ is the ongoing and contemporary presence of Christ.
As Spirit of God and of Jesus Christ for me he is never identified with man's own possibilities, but is force, power and gift of God. He is not an unholy spirit of man, spirit of the age, spirit of the Church, spirit of office, spirit of fanaticism, but is and remains the Holy Spirit of God who moves where and when he wills and does not permit himself to be used to justify absolute power of teaching and ruling, to justify unsubstatiated theology, pious fantisism and false security of faith.2
The Spirit comes through God's Word. He does not add anything to God's Word. The Spirit does not bring new revealed truths about God. This is one reliable guide to "test the spirit."
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. (1 John 4:1-3)
If at times we are confused as to whether or not it is our spirit, or the emotional moment, or the spirit of a high-powered evangelist, we have this simple and helpful test to guide us. Is what we are experiencing or hearing consistent with the message and life of Jesus Christ?
So we are not alone. The Divine Spirit is in our midst. The Greek word is the word "parakletos." There are various English translations for this word. The Spirit is our "helper" or "comforter." This is not to be interpreted as a kind of "security blanket" or some magical power that will protect us from all harm or get us through life without trouble. To be filled with the Spirit is not to be wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket.
The presence of the Spirit in our lives enables us to cope with what life delivers to us. This is a more realistic understanding of the Parakletos. When our life threatens to get out of control, or be overwhelmed by circumstances and events, it is our Lord's promise and the power of his Living Spirit that enable us to pick up the pieces and to once again see our life with meaning and purpose. God does not leave us alone. The Parakletos is with us - as Comforter, Helper and Counselor.
One of the ways in which we are helped by the presence of the Spirit is this: "He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (v. 26) "All that I have said to you" reminds us again of the relationship between the work of the Spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ. But in the vernacular of our time, the Holy Spirit will help us to "get it together" - this whole business of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Later on in this goodbye speech, Jesus calls the coming Spirit "the Spirit of Truth" and says to his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." (16:13)
One of the great challenges our government faces today is that of credibility. Few of us take at face value any statements that come from the White House or from Congress. The problem is not new and it is not located just in Washington. It is worldwide. Because the problem of truth is so extensive and deep, a growing cynical spirit pervades our time and our land. We just expect to be lied to - if not all the time, at least most of the time. It might as well be all the time, for it becomes increasingly difficult to sort out the truth. So today, much of our serious conversation ends with: "What can you believe? What can you believe?" In the eighth chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus says these words: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth."
We don't always understand or recognize the truth. We need help. The truth needs additional "light or illumination:. Or, if we do understand the truth it may not be able to penetrate our greed and prejudices. The "old nature" in us has many ways of filtering out truths we don't want to hear or follow. For these truths to reach us inwardly and to overcome our deeply-rooted prejudices, we need the Spirit of truth teaching and reminding us of "all that Jesus has said and done for us." Again we are not talking about new truths or teachings, but through the Spirit of Jesus, his teachings become for us a new reality. The once-for-all teachings of Jesus Christ unfold for us in the ever new understandings, ever new interpretations, ever new ways of living the Christian life.
Our lives don't always reveal that they have been taught by the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit does not put us into the delightful land of bliss and happiness. This calls for some humility on our part as we interpret the work of the Spirit in shaking and shaping our lives. There is mystery here. There is also our own sinfulness which continues to complicate and confuse our thinking and understanding. The clear, blunt words of George Sweazey are instructive here. He writes in his book, In Holy Marriage, concerning the power of the Evil One and the alluring disguises of lust: "A man getting into a sordid affair tells himself that he is impelled by tenderness and sympathy and spiritual affinity. Temptation gets at us through our virtues. Religious people readily mistake their hormones for the Holy Spirit."3 But in spite of all the problems and difficulties, in spite of what we see or don't see in our lives in reference to the Spirit's presence, we have the promise and we hold fast to that. The Spirit has been given to us. We are not alone. We belive he continues to teach us - to lead us into all truth through the foolishness of what is going on here at this moment. Through the means of grace - The Word and Sacraments - the Spirit of Christ continues to shape us. Through these means the Spirit brought us to faith. He is responsible for why we are here. Jesus did not leave us alone. He continues to teach us, to lead us into the truth, to hold us fast in the faith.
The result of all this is his peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (v. 27) In this parting gift of peace, we have a majestic promise. But again we see this great promise in the light of Jesus' life. Hence we know his peace is not necessarily to be understood in the light of "positive thinking" or that we can go through life as always "winners."
The peace of which Jesus speaks has nothing to do with the absence of warfare (indeed it will come only after the world has been conquered; 16:33), nor with an end to psychological tension, nor with a sentimental feeling or well-being ... In Johannine language "peace," "truth," "Light," "Life,", and "joy" are figurative terms reflecting different facets of the great gift that Jesus has brought from the Father to men. "Peace is my gift to you" is another way of saying "I give them eternal life" (10:28)4
This little group of people, hearing the promise of this gift of peace, did not know where it would take them. We know that this peace did not keep them out of trouble or pain. It would seem that many of these early followers died a martyr's death. Yet there is little question that their lives were filled with the peace of satisfaction, purpose and meaning. They had a reason for living. It is in this experience that we begin to understand that "peace which passes all understanding". Martin Luther did not know all the excitement and problems his study, prayer and thinking would get him into. But in and through the struggle came the glimpses and assurances of Jesus' great promise, "my peace I give to you, but not as the world understands it."
Here is peace coming through the promise that we don't have to stay the way that we are. There is power to change. We can get out of our rut. Every day holds the change for newness, for surprises. Because of the power and presence of the living Spirit of Jesus Christ our faith is the faith of new beginnings. Herein lies our peace. So "let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (v. 27)
Amen
1. Wolfhart Pannenberg, The Apostles' Creed, (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1972), pp. 130-31.
2. Hans Kung, On Being a Christian, p. 471.
3. George F. Sweazey, In Holy Marriage, (New York, Harper & Row, 1966), pp. 73.
4. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John XIII-XXL, (New York, Doubleday and Company, 1970), p. 653.
In this way the Holy Spirit increasingly became a mysterious power through which the otherwise incomprehensible, and indeed even the absurd, is nevertheless to be legitimated ... We may well ask ourselves whether this was not an all-too-easy way of escape from the questions which faced the Christian message - the question of what was really true. And has the Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit not been misused and discredited because it has been used as a fig-leaf to protect the nakedness of the Christian tradition from the questionings of modern critical thinking?1
We know that our church history records a number of evil things done in the name of the Spirit. There are people who claim special appearances of the Spirit. Some are naive and confused Christians. Some are charlatans who desire to exploit people. I have been in conflict situations where people have told me that, while reading the Bible the Spirit had told them it was time for their pastor to resign! Is this how the Spirit works?
Besides all these questions, some of us wonder why our Christian lives are so ordinary and routine and even boring. Why don't we experience more of the "spirit" that other people talk about. The prayer in the Old Testament remains a vital one for many of us:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm 51:10-11)
Our Gospel reading comes from the lengthy farewell speech of Jesus at the Last Supper. The atmosphere is one of confusion and fear. The main topic of Jesus' speech is the Holy Spirit. Immediately one thing becomes clear: Jesus is leaving, but we are not left alone. "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name ..." (v. 16) We have God the Father sending the Son. In Jesus' life on earth we learned about God. This work has been completed. But God did not leave us empty and alone. We are told in our text that God, the Father will send the Spirit. God remains present in our lives through the experience of the Spirit.
The close relationship of God, Christ and the Spirit is clear. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ is the ongoing and contemporary presence of Christ.
As Spirit of God and of Jesus Christ for me he is never identified with man's own possibilities, but is force, power and gift of God. He is not an unholy spirit of man, spirit of the age, spirit of the Church, spirit of office, spirit of fanaticism, but is and remains the Holy Spirit of God who moves where and when he wills and does not permit himself to be used to justify absolute power of teaching and ruling, to justify unsubstatiated theology, pious fantisism and false security of faith.2
The Spirit comes through God's Word. He does not add anything to God's Word. The Spirit does not bring new revealed truths about God. This is one reliable guide to "test the spirit."
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. (1 John 4:1-3)
If at times we are confused as to whether or not it is our spirit, or the emotional moment, or the spirit of a high-powered evangelist, we have this simple and helpful test to guide us. Is what we are experiencing or hearing consistent with the message and life of Jesus Christ?
So we are not alone. The Divine Spirit is in our midst. The Greek word is the word "parakletos." There are various English translations for this word. The Spirit is our "helper" or "comforter." This is not to be interpreted as a kind of "security blanket" or some magical power that will protect us from all harm or get us through life without trouble. To be filled with the Spirit is not to be wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket.
The presence of the Spirit in our lives enables us to cope with what life delivers to us. This is a more realistic understanding of the Parakletos. When our life threatens to get out of control, or be overwhelmed by circumstances and events, it is our Lord's promise and the power of his Living Spirit that enable us to pick up the pieces and to once again see our life with meaning and purpose. God does not leave us alone. The Parakletos is with us - as Comforter, Helper and Counselor.
One of the ways in which we are helped by the presence of the Spirit is this: "He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (v. 26) "All that I have said to you" reminds us again of the relationship between the work of the Spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ. But in the vernacular of our time, the Holy Spirit will help us to "get it together" - this whole business of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Later on in this goodbye speech, Jesus calls the coming Spirit "the Spirit of Truth" and says to his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." (16:13)
One of the great challenges our government faces today is that of credibility. Few of us take at face value any statements that come from the White House or from Congress. The problem is not new and it is not located just in Washington. It is worldwide. Because the problem of truth is so extensive and deep, a growing cynical spirit pervades our time and our land. We just expect to be lied to - if not all the time, at least most of the time. It might as well be all the time, for it becomes increasingly difficult to sort out the truth. So today, much of our serious conversation ends with: "What can you believe? What can you believe?" In the eighth chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus says these words: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth."
We don't always understand or recognize the truth. We need help. The truth needs additional "light or illumination:. Or, if we do understand the truth it may not be able to penetrate our greed and prejudices. The "old nature" in us has many ways of filtering out truths we don't want to hear or follow. For these truths to reach us inwardly and to overcome our deeply-rooted prejudices, we need the Spirit of truth teaching and reminding us of "all that Jesus has said and done for us." Again we are not talking about new truths or teachings, but through the Spirit of Jesus, his teachings become for us a new reality. The once-for-all teachings of Jesus Christ unfold for us in the ever new understandings, ever new interpretations, ever new ways of living the Christian life.
Our lives don't always reveal that they have been taught by the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit does not put us into the delightful land of bliss and happiness. This calls for some humility on our part as we interpret the work of the Spirit in shaking and shaping our lives. There is mystery here. There is also our own sinfulness which continues to complicate and confuse our thinking and understanding. The clear, blunt words of George Sweazey are instructive here. He writes in his book, In Holy Marriage, concerning the power of the Evil One and the alluring disguises of lust: "A man getting into a sordid affair tells himself that he is impelled by tenderness and sympathy and spiritual affinity. Temptation gets at us through our virtues. Religious people readily mistake their hormones for the Holy Spirit."3 But in spite of all the problems and difficulties, in spite of what we see or don't see in our lives in reference to the Spirit's presence, we have the promise and we hold fast to that. The Spirit has been given to us. We are not alone. We belive he continues to teach us - to lead us into all truth through the foolishness of what is going on here at this moment. Through the means of grace - The Word and Sacraments - the Spirit of Christ continues to shape us. Through these means the Spirit brought us to faith. He is responsible for why we are here. Jesus did not leave us alone. He continues to teach us, to lead us into the truth, to hold us fast in the faith.
The result of all this is his peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (v. 27) In this parting gift of peace, we have a majestic promise. But again we see this great promise in the light of Jesus' life. Hence we know his peace is not necessarily to be understood in the light of "positive thinking" or that we can go through life as always "winners."
The peace of which Jesus speaks has nothing to do with the absence of warfare (indeed it will come only after the world has been conquered; 16:33), nor with an end to psychological tension, nor with a sentimental feeling or well-being ... In Johannine language "peace," "truth," "Light," "Life,", and "joy" are figurative terms reflecting different facets of the great gift that Jesus has brought from the Father to men. "Peace is my gift to you" is another way of saying "I give them eternal life" (10:28)4
This little group of people, hearing the promise of this gift of peace, did not know where it would take them. We know that this peace did not keep them out of trouble or pain. It would seem that many of these early followers died a martyr's death. Yet there is little question that their lives were filled with the peace of satisfaction, purpose and meaning. They had a reason for living. It is in this experience that we begin to understand that "peace which passes all understanding". Martin Luther did not know all the excitement and problems his study, prayer and thinking would get him into. But in and through the struggle came the glimpses and assurances of Jesus' great promise, "my peace I give to you, but not as the world understands it."
Here is peace coming through the promise that we don't have to stay the way that we are. There is power to change. We can get out of our rut. Every day holds the change for newness, for surprises. Because of the power and presence of the living Spirit of Jesus Christ our faith is the faith of new beginnings. Herein lies our peace. So "let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (v. 27)
Amen
1. Wolfhart Pannenberg, The Apostles' Creed, (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1972), pp. 130-31.
2. Hans Kung, On Being a Christian, p. 471.
3. George F. Sweazey, In Holy Marriage, (New York, Harper & Row, 1966), pp. 73.
4. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John XIII-XXL, (New York, Doubleday and Company, 1970), p. 653.
