(#8) John 16 Sermon: Conclusion

Some of you are not Christian (or at least you are not sure of it), and yet at the same time, you are attracted to Jesus. It’s almost like you’d like to be free of this meddlesome person. But there is something inside of you that keeps drawing you to Jesus.

And I want to help you see that God may have a presence in your life; that you may have God working in the deep places of your heart, drawing you right now to making a choice to follow Jesus. Don’t walk past the violinist. Don’t walk past Jesus.

Some of you are Christian and you are not sure of the presence of God in your life; you are called into this service of Jesus and therefore you are called to be testify to him. And yet at the same time– you are have suffering with (pereivced or real) hatred and hardship.

And I want to help you see that God is present in you as you join his mission to the world, in a way that gives you confidence, even that it feels difficult.

The upshot of all of this is: Love Jesus, and read your Bible, be a part of a community that reads the bible, and he will guide you, my friends.

Fin.

Comments?

(#7) John 16 Sermon: In order to teach Something New, he has to explore Something Old

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

And the last paradox: In order to teach Something New, he has to explore Something Old.

In verse 12-15, Jesus has his disciples in a room. They haven’t understood what he has been saying. They don’t get why he must die. And they certainly don’t get a Resurrection. No – the Spirit has to come before they fully get that and explain that. And so he says:

V12 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; …

There is still more that you cannot bear. But the Spirit will give you that more.

Some of you will see the difficulty: That Jesus seems to be saying that his Word is not enough. That there is a deficiency in all he has said. And that he is opening a blank check to all sorts of abuses in the church. That is: People claiming a whole lot because the Spirit 'told me this' and the spirit 'told me that'.

Laurel and I sat next to someone at a wedding once who said to us: "The Spirit told me I could fly"; and I thought: "This is more than I can bear right now."

But that’s relatively harmless stuff (or is it?). I guess it is compared to the claims of people all over the world saying that the Spirit told them this or that. When ‘this’ or ‘that’ is a damaging claim to speak for God.

And more, this verse has been used for the basis of much revisionism and progressive theology that leaves the old gospel behind.

But no – and here is the paradox: He has more to say; and yet the ‘more’ will be the old Gospel made clear in a new context.

14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

And it is even clearer in John 14:26:

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

So there is at least a tension to hold. This makes total sense when you read the epistles. The letters. Because the basic new context is this:

First, the reality of the Resurrected Jesus. (Something that the disciples could not have imagined) And in our reading from Acts, we witness the coming of the Advocate: Like a wind. And if we had kept reading, we’d hear Peter (who is famous for getting things half right.) fully proclaim the implications of the Resurrection within a few weeks of this moment.

And Second, the pushing of that gospel into all the world and how especially non-Jewish people would practice a faith in the Jewish Messiah. So if we kept reading Acts, we’d witness Peter again worry about eating with a Non-Jew and accepting him as a brother, and the Spirit has to awaken him to the reality that a Non-Jew is clean if he accepts Jesus as Messiah.
Something he couldn’t bear until it happened.

A case can in fact be made that the ‘more than you can now bear’, that ‘the Spirit brings’, is the ministry and writing and preaching of the Apostles in the early church. And simply the gospels and the letters; the New Testament.

But today, the Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus, and things that you cannot bear, and makes them plain to you.

Conclusion to come...

(#6) John 16 Sermon: In order Comfort, the Spirit has Convict.

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

Who is the Holy Spirit, and what does he do?

Who is he? He is the Advocate. (V7). Last week we discovered that the word 'Paraclete', translated here 'Advocate' could also mean comforter, helper, or counselor.

What does he do? (V8). He comes to 'prove the world wrong' (NRSV). And when he (the Advocate) comes, he will 'prove the world wrong' about sin and righteousness and judgment. I'm told that 'prove wrong' is probably an unfortunate translation, for it then appears that the Spirit's work is to win an argument about sin, like He is beating the world at Chess or something.

The Greek work for 'prove wrong' is elencho. The Spirit will 'elencho' the world. Another translation - He will convict the world with regard to... The Advocate will reprove the world. He will lay it bare, expose it; or in the Moffatt translation, he'll take it to task!

Have you noticed the paradox then?

The Advocate: he Prosecutes?

You say: I thought Advocate defended. And prosecutors prosecuted. But here the Advocate Prosecutes. I thought that the Spirit would always make me feel good. And now Jesus is saying he will 'elencho' me? I'll get elenchoed. The World will get elenchoed?

But the Spirit does both: he defends and he prosecutes. And in fact, in order Comfort, the Spirit has to Convict.

We all know this a true paradox in intuitively. In any relationship, for someone to defend and comfort you and be on your side, that person will need to be upfront about things that damage the relationship. Otherwise the relationship cannot survive. We all need to be elenchoed in a functioning relationship. Are any of you married? You know this every other day. You know instinctively that the path to healing comes through openly dealing with the wound.

And what does the Advocate do? He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, for she has it all wrong.

• She is wrong about sin, says Jesus, because she doesn't realize that unbelief in me (through whom the world was created) is the basic human tragedy.
• She is wrong about righteousness for she fakes and falsifies righteousness; covering up the basic human tragedy with pretend acts righteousness for show: Giving a donation here and there and performing a good deed every now and then; pretending that we part of the solution by our own righteousness, and not part of the problem. And Jesus exposed that in his ministry, and when he goes to the Father, he'll be able to expose that in all the world.
• She is wrong about judgment, for she sides with common opinion all the time, but the ruler of this world stands condemned.

There's lots of sin in the world. And I don't care what you say: we all know it's effects. And the Spirit will work to convict the world. I think that without being born again, the world knows something of the conviction of God. They know that things are NOT RIGHT. What did Reinhold Niebuhr say?

The only empirically verifiable doctrine of Christianity is the doctrine of original sin.

The more we learn about The Darfur conflict (At least 200,000 dead and million refugeed); and about what is happening in every corner and in every home in America; The more we examine with full disclosure our own lives, then we know something of the work of the Spirit. Because the ONE thing we cannot abide is when one who has committed a crime shows no remorse behind their eyes.

We have enough knowledge to potentially be driven to the cross; to Jesus; to our knees to plead for his Advocacy; to beg him to forgive me to find ease our troubled hearts.

The last paradox next: In order to teach Something New, he has to point to Something Old....

(#5) John 16 Sermon: What does this mean?

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

What does this mean?

Jesus WITH them...

All through his mission, Jesus has been in the flesh, localized in Galilee and Jerusalem; sometimes with his disciples, and sometimes not with them. But what about the disciples’ NEW mission? Well, by leaving them and going to the Father and sending his Spirit, Jesus will be with them the whole time. How will this help them? When they are speaking the Gospel in a hostile environment or about to die they can know personally that Jesus is WITH them & has not left them as orphans.

Jesus IN them...

And more … By leaving them and going to the Father and sending his Spirit, Jesus will be in them the whole time. How will this help them? There’ll be an new internal dynamic of change and growth, and power, and revelation through a person: through the Spirit. They can know personally that Jesus is IN them & has not left them as orphans.

Jesus present IN all the world...

And more … By leaving them and going to the Father and sending his Spirit, Jesus will be present in all parts of the world, and not just in Jerusalem and Galilee. How will this help them? Wherever they go, Jesus will have his presence there. Here in this room, thousands and thousands of miles from Jerusalem. You can know that Jesus has his presence.

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.

If you will not think me blasphemous, any company can catch a glimpse of this. If the founder of a company has to be physically present at every meeting, and at every branch of the company, then that company will remain very small indeed. No – the company works out a way to live beyond the physicality of its founder or CEO.

There is something of that here in this text; with the important difference being this: That the founder IS present at every point (in your heart) and every branch (in every believing church) by his Spirit.

One reason it’s wonderful to know this is this: We would like to have been there in Jerusalem, watching Jesus live and touch people’s lives and speak. Like our violinist friend, I would have liked at least to have the opportunity of stopping; stopping to appreciate his life. But the truth is… Without the Spirit, I would not have stopped. (A point made very clearly in the Bible) And so order for Jesus to stay in the world (by his Spirit), he had to go.

Next, Paradox #2... In order Comfort, the Spirit has Convict.

(#4) John 16 Sermon: In order to Stay, he has to Go.

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

V6 – But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.

Jesus is with his disciples for the last time. Within a couple of hours, he’ll be betrayed with a kiss; and within 24 hours, he’ll be crucified with a cross. The disciples don’t know this of course. But Jesus does, and he reads the face of the disciples and sees in their hearts.

And he is straight with them: 'All of what I’m saying to you is heartrending, isn’t it?' (Like saying Goodbye at the Airport, the words will almost always tear at the fabric of your heart.)

But I am telling you the truth, 'you’ll be better off if I go'. – V7:

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.

What are Jesus’ words that are tearing at their hearts?

In Chapter 15, it’s this: You will be hated as you testify to me. You will not be liked one little bit. If they persecuted me, what makes you think that they will not persecute you?

And you will be my witnesses: What’s so hard about that? Well, you’ll be saying to Jewish people: Your Messiah has come and gone, and yet is alive today. And you’ll be saying to the Greeks: All your beauty and sophistry is summed up by a man on a Roman Cross.

You’ll be saying things that either people will find offensive or they’ll laugh you off. (And I’m not sure which is worse.) Or they'll kill you.

And more – you’ll be on your own! I’m going away (V5) and leaving you to it. So good luck, fellas. (At least that is what they hear.)

But I am telling you the truth – V7:

It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate (The Spirit) will not come to you.

Next: Why this is important...

PS Points for Blog comprehension: Where is this Pic taken, and what are the circumstances?

(#3) John 16 Sermon: Most will walk by...

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

So 1000 people walked past one of the finest violinists in the world. How similar, in some respects, Joshua Bell is to another Yeshua: to Jesus of Nazareth?

• Jesus is the 'finest' person in the world (He is the risen and living Messiah of the whole universe);
• He has the most wonder-filled message in the world (that this planet will be comprehensively and decisively renewed in Him);
• He has the most valuable instrument of that renewal (The Gospel: The declaration of complete forgiveness thought the merits of Jesus and his cross.)

And yet most will not receive him.

What does John say? John 1:10

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, but his own did not receive him.

So here is my question this morning: How will you be able to recognize Jesus as Messiah? Who will stop you from walking by and not recognizing Jesus?

And John says that there is only one reason why you might stop and listen: Only The Holy Spirit’s work in your life.

Let’s explore together from John 16:5-15: I want to touch on three paradoxes of the Spirit (these paradoxes may explain your experience of God’s Spirit in your life.)

1. In order for Jesus to Stay, he has to Go. (V5-7 )
2. In order Comfort, the Spirit has Convict. (V7-11)
3. In order to teach Something New, he has to remind you of Something Old. (V12-15)

More to come...

PS For points, what is the name of the Garden near where this pic was taken? And what movie(s) were filmed nearby?

(#2) John 16 Sermon: Pearls Before Breakfast

(This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.)

Allow me to quote [With some edits] from last month’s Washington Post.

“He emerged from the METRO at the L'Enfant Plaza Station and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: A youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap.

"From a small case, he removed a violin.

"Placing the open case at his feet, He shrewdly threw in a few dollars as seed money and began to play. It was 7:51a.m. on Friday, January 12 - the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Each passerby had a quick choice to make, One familiar to commuters in any urban area:

"Do I stop and listen?

"No one knew it", said the article. "But the fiddler standing there was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written, on one of the most valuable violins ever made.

"All an experiment exploring this: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?"

The Article was named: “Pearls before Breakfast”

Who was he, and how did people respond?

His name is Joshua Bell , a non-descript person if you met him (A Jew interestingly), one of the finest violinists, playing a Stradivarius violin worth $3.5 million. And yet Only 7 people stopped to listen, 27 gave money, most nickels and dimes, and on the hop… For a total of $32 and change!

The obvious question is: How is that someone who in a future context (like at Carnegie Hall) will be adored, and yet at this point is ignored?

More to come...

(#1) John 16 Sermon: Prayer

This is my SECOND sermon on the Work of the Spirit in John. Read John 16:5-15 before reading.

Here is a good prayer, yes? >

Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That as you love so I may love,
And do what you would do.

Amen.

More to Come...

Pic is The Boy in February.