Easter 5, Cantate, May 2, 2010 A+D
Easter 5, Cantate
Rev. Dr. Benjamin T. G. Mayes
Emmaus Ev. Lutheran Church U.A.C., St. Louis, Mo.
+Jesu juva!+
John 16:5–15
The Holy Spirit speaks!
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Dearly Beloved:
Speaking. The false gods don’t do that much. In the old pagan religions, indeed in most non-Christian religions around the world, the so-called “dieties” may speak a little bit, but they are mostly there to provide power, fertility, success, safety, and luck. That’s what pagan people seek with their prayers, vows, and sacrifices. That is a big contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit. In today’s Gospel, the work of the Holy Spirit is verbal. He communicates. He speaks. Our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—does indeed have all power; He alone can provide fertility, life, safety, and success both in this world and the next. But He exercises His power through speaking. He is a personal God. He has a will. He converses with mankind. His power is in His speaking. The Holy Spirit speaks! That is a huge difference between the true God and the false deities of the pagans. And it is a difference that we Christians must remember, for we, too, are tempted to think of God mainly as a source of power and luck, when really He is one who wants to speak with us. From today’s Gospel, there are three main questions: Why should the Holy Spirit speak to you? What does the Holy Spirit speak to you? and How does the Holy Spirit speak to you?
The first question is: Why should the Holy Spirit speak to you? This is an important question. When a young man seeks the attention of a potential wife, he asks himself, “Why should she speak to me?” An infatuated schoolgirl would really like for the boy to speak with her. When you’re sick, you’d really like to get in to see the doctor and speak with him. If you’re struggling in college, having some private tutoring with the professor might be the only way you’ll pass the class. If they don’t speak to you, it’s because they don’t care about you; they’re too busy for you. But if they do speak to you, it’s because they take an interest in you.
So now, why should the Holy Spirit speak to you? Because of Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to you and speaks to you because of what Jesus did on the cross. This is how Jesus put it in today’s Gospel: “But now I am going to him who sent me,” and “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” When Jesus says, “I am going away,” He means He’s going to die. It’s because of His death that the Holy Spirit will come and speak to you. Jesus spoke these words originally not between Easter and Ascension Day (as we have it in our Church Year), but in the time leading up to His death on the cross. His death is His “going away.” This is the same “departure” that He was discussing with Moses and Elijah on the mountain of Transfiguration (Luke 9:31). From other parts of John’s Gospel, likewise, it’s clear that the disciples understood what Jesus meant by “going away.” They had already asked Him what He meant and had the gotten the explanation (John 13:36–38; 14:5–6). The really important thing here is this: The gift of the Holy Spirit depends on Christ’s “going away,” on His passion and death. This is to your advantage, Jesus says. Only if Jesus goes away, only if Jesus dies, can you receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus first had to take the responsibility for your sins upon Himself, suffer in your place, die in your place. Jesus first had to make peace between God and you. And He has done it! Peace and forgiveness have been established for you! Your sins are forgiven if you are sorry for them and trust in Jesus. Because God cares for you so much that He let His only Son die in your place, God now sends to you the Holy Spirit, so that the Holy Spirit can speak to you. That is the answer to our first question. Why should the Holy Spirit speak to you? Because of Jesus’ “going away,” His death on the cross.
The next question is: What does the Holy Spirit speak to you? The answer to this question is not a simple one. We have the entire Bible for an answer, and there is no time to speak about all of its content in detail. The Holy Spirit speaks everything that is in the Bible. That would be a long sermon. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus summarizes everything: There are three things the Spirit speaks to you; three categories of what the Holy Spirit says. They are: Comfort, Reproof, and Teaching. First Jesus says, “If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you.” Some Bible translations say “The Helper will not come to you,” but “Comforter” (KJV, Luther Bible) is a better translation. With God, names have meaning. If the Holy Spirit’s name is “Comforter,” then that is the kind of Person He is. When we say “Comforter,” we’re not talking about a blanket. This kind of comfort is not the same as “leisure,” or “comfortable shoes.” This kind of comfort is the same as “consolation.” The Holy Spirit’s name is “Comforter.” He comforts or consoles. When you are worried or scared, He gives you confidence. When your conscience accuses you because of the bad things you’ve done, the Holy Spirit brings you to Jesus and gives you forgiveness. When you are sad and grieving, the Holy Spirit gives you hope. That is His proper work. That is the kind of Person He is. If the Comforter is sent to you from God, that means that God wants to comfort you. Your sins are forgiven. God loves you. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter. What does He speak to you? As His name is, so does He speak: comfort.
But as Jesus will make clear, that is not the only thing the Holy Spirit says. He has a totally different kind of message, too. He also “reproves” or “convicts.” Jesus says, “He will reprove the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” What does “reprove” or “convict” mean? It means to “disgrace, put to shame,” “accuse one of doing” something, or “bring to light the true character of a man and his conduct.” That is to say, the Holy Spirit gets up in your face and calls you a sinner. He doesn’t let your sins remain secret. He convicts you. He makes you feel guilty. Yes, He makes you feel bad because of the bad things you have done. This reminds me of when I was on the high school basketball team. My basketball coach told us that if he criticized us, it was because he thought we had potential to become good players. His criticism was actually a sign that he was interested! But if he neither praised me nor criticized me, that meant he didn’t think I was worth his time; in that case, he had no expectation that I would ever become a good basketball player. Well, what happened? The coach didn’t talk to me much, and for good reason. I was a terrible player. Now think about what the Holy Spirit does. He criticizes you, He shows you your faults. But He doesn’t do this because He hates you; He does it because He’s concerned about you. He wants you to repent and improve. As Jesus says, this is “to your advantage.”
The Holy Spirit not only reveals the Gospel and grace, but also the Law and sin. As Luther puts it: “This office [of the Law] the New Testament retains and urges …. And Christ says, John 16,8: The Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin. This, then, is the thunderbolt of God by which He strikes down both manifest sinners and false saints together, and allows no one to be in the right, but drives them all together to terror and despair” (SA III III 1–2). The Spirit’s work is to reprove sin, that is, to preach the Law. If you’re never made to feel bad or guilty at church, then there’s something wrong with the pastor’s preaching, or with your hearing. Yet sinful people don’t like it because it makes them feel uncomfortable or guilty. But this, too, is the Spirit’s work, and preachers are faithful and filled with the Spirit precisely when they reprove.
Repent. Repent of all the times you have ignored the Holy Spirit’s speaking through preachers, and through all those who teach the message of Jesus. Repent of seeking the Holy Spirit only for worldly success, luck, and health. Repent of feeling resentment toward pastors, parents, or friends who reprove you for your sins. Repent also of neglecting to reprove when it was your duty to do so: when you should have reproved and corrected your wayward child, your family member, your student, your friend, your co-worker—but you didn’t do it. Too often peace in the community takes precedence over truth. Too often reproving wrong behavior or false attitudes is low on our list of priorities. Reproof. Conviction. That is the second thing the Holy Spirit speaks to you.
The other thing He speaks to you is teaching. Jesus said, “He will guide you into all the truth.” That is to say, the Holy Spirit is a teacher. Now, of course, the disciples already had the truth. In v. 7 of our Gospel reading, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth.” But it’s the Holy Spirit who will lead them into “all the truth.” The Holy Spirit came to the disciples at Pentecost and filled the disciples with courage and gave them the words to preach. Even in our times, the Holy Spirit comes to us and leads us into all the truth. He does this not by teaching us different things, as if now we’re done learning about Jesus and can move on to new doctrines. No, the Holy Spirit leads us into all the truth precisely by bringing us back to Jesus. You can never stop learning. The knowledge of God and Christ is infinite. You can never come to a point where you know it all. You must always learn. Friends, do you not see how important it is to learn God’s Word? You always hear us pastors encourage you to learn from the sermon, to come to Bible class, to read the Bible at home, to have devotions with your family, and to pray. Do you not see how important this is? This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He leads you into all the truth by teaching you. But if you close yourself off and treat God’s Word as something that only kids have to learn, then you are closing the door to the Holy Spirit. Open the door! Learn! Receive the Holy Spirit’s teaching. I guarantee, the more you learn, the more you will want to learn. The Holy Spirit has good gifts for you. Come and receive them!
The Holy Spirit speaks! Now our question is, How does the Holy Spirit speak to you? I can tell you this: it’s not through the little voice in your heart. The little voice in your heart is not the Holy Spirit. That little voice could be your conscience; or it could be your own mind. That little voice might tell you good things, or it might tell you bad things. But usually it just seeks the path of least resistance. There’s nothing wrong with paying attention to that little voice in your heart, especially if it warns you not to sin. But that’s not how the Holy Spirit speaks to you. And in fact, it is idolatry to say “God said,” when it was not God, but your own heart that said it. Idolatry, friends. Instead, the Holy Spirit speaks to you through the prophets and apostles, as we say in the creed, “who spoke by the prophets.” That is, the Holy Spirit speaks with the words of the Bible. If you want to know God’s will for your life, look at the Ten Commandments, not at your heart. And when I am here explaining the Word of God to you, and I’m doing it according to the Bible, the Holy Spirit is speaking. That is how the Holy Spirit speaks to you. And the Holy Spirit speaks also through the sacraments: In Holy Baptism, the Spirit says: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord’s Supper, our Lord Jesus says, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These are words of our Lord Jesus, who gives us the Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to you through the Bible, through preaching, and through the sacraments.
Our God loves to speak. He is not a mere battery, giving power to your life. He is powerful, that’s true. He is the giver of life. All success, fertility, and prosperity comes from Him. But over all, He is the God who speaks. The Holy Spirit speaks. That is what Jesus says to you today. Listen to the Spirit speaking in the words of the Bible, in the preaching, and in the sacraments. This is to your advantage. He cares for you. And so He speaks to you. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
