Sermon 4th June 2017

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches. The reading is from John 16: 1-15.

Pentecost

Today is Pentecost, one of the great Christian festival days. Yet this morning we are feeling sombre, anxious and grieving for the victims of last night’s horrendous attacks. We may also be feeling understandable rage and anger at the perpetrators of last night’s atrocity, and maybe a bit scared ourselves.

Today is a difficult day. But it is also a day that we can come before God and reflect on our own response. Of course the security services must do all they can to stop such evil actions, and we must support them. But ultimately the antidote to hate and murder is not hate and retaliation, but God’s love and grace. And the Holy Spirit, whose coming we remember today, can help us minister God’s love and grace to a broken world.

Today is Pentecost, one of the great Christian festival days. So what is Pentecost? The word Pentecost comes from Greek and it means "50th day". Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the early church, and the beginning of the church’s earthly ministry to bring the Good News of Jesus to the whole world.

Pentecost is also a Jewish holiday, which Jews use to celebrate the end of Passover. Jews celebrate the gift of the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai on this day. And that is why crowds of people from many nations had gathered in Jerusalem on the first Day of Pentecost. The story is told in Acts Chapter 2. The Holy Spirit poured out on Peter and the apostles and they spoke in tongues – people heard the Good News of Jesus in their own language. It was a dramatic day – in some ways the birthday of the church.

So, what is the Holy Spirit? Well, actually, you may be thinking I’ve asked the wrong question, and indeed I have. The right question is: “Who is the Holy Spirit?” The Holy Spirit is a person and indeed one of the three persons in the Holy Trinity. Briefly put, the Holy Trinity is the belief that the one God exists in Three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, Jesus (who became a human being), and God the Holy Spirit. They are all God, yet are also in relationship with each other. The Holy Trinity is in many ways a mystery which we human beings struggle to grasp. But today I’m proceeding on the basis that the Holy Spirit is God, in the same way as God the Father and Jesus are God – Three Persons, one God.

 So, who is the Holy Spirit – And why did he come? To help answer these questions we’re going to look at our reading from John’s Gospel. Our reading forms part of what is sometimes described as the Farewell Discourse given by Jesus to his disciples immediately after the Last Supper in Jerusalem, the night before his crucifixion. And as his final statement to his disciples before the Cross, it’s worth paying close attention to it.

If we look at our reading closely, it’s a bit like one of those “Good News – Bad News” questions.  “Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?” I think I prefer the bad news, because if you can handle the bad news, it can only get better. And Jesus gives his disciples the bad news first. And the bad news is that there are terrible times ahead. Look at verse 2: “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.”

And if we look ahead to the book of Acts we see that these times arrived all too quickly. Peter and John were arrested on the Temple steps for talking about Jesus. Stephen became the first Christian martyr when he was stoned to death by the religious leaders. People like Saul of Tarsus (who subsequently became St Paul) went around throwing Christians into prison – or even having them killed. These words would soon become all too real. And sadly for Christians in some parts of the world, they are still all too real. 

“The time is coming…” Not every time and not everywhere. But Coptic Christians in Egypt are facing murderous attacks from so-called Islamic State. There are parts of the world where being a Christian is dangerous. Fortunately for us we live in a country where there is freedom of religion. We don’t run any risk coming to church. But we also live in a society that is increasingly secular, and there are those who are suspicious of religion of whatever type. There are some aggressive atheists who want to marginalise Christianity, along with other religions. From time to time, we do hear concerns expressed about the way things are going; for example there have been legal cases about wearing religious symbols in the workplace. But we’re far removed from what the Egyptian Christians have to face.

The thing that troubles me more is the lack of impact that the church seems to have on society. In Britain the church seems relatively weak, its numbers are waning, and it’s short of the clout it used to have; the country appears to be growing increasingly secular. And so it sometimes seems hard to accept that the church is really God’s cause. But today we’re having a Communion service, and Communion shows us that’s actually the wrong way of looking at things. Communion points us to the Cross, reminding us that Christianity isn’t meant to be a triumphant march where the church sweeps all before it.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus isn’t merely warning us that we may face hostility and persecution; he’s also letting us know this so that we can more than endure. As we see from verse 1, Jesus explains that he is warning his followers about the troubles to come so that they will not fall away. Jesus is about to leave his disciples, but he doesn’t simply say, “I’m off.” In verse 7, Jesus tells them that it’s for their own good that he’s going.

Of course, it’s partly to do with the way that he’s going via the Cross and Resurrection and Ascension to his Father’s house and all that he is going to achieve: death defeated and sins forgiven. But at the heart of what he is saying is the fact that the Advocate is coming. Jesus says to them, in verse 7, “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” The Advocate is the Holy Spirit and he will transform the disciples.

Shortly after the Last Supper ended, the disciples would flee when Jesus was arrested. Peter, their leader, would deny three times that he knew Jesus. But fast forward to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit has come, the disciples speak fearlessly and are willing to risk imprisonment, savage beatings and even death. The Holy Spirit transformed them. “The Advocate is coming,” said Jesus. Now, the choice of the word “Advocate” to describe the Holy Spirit is interesting. It is in fact a legal term. In England we refer to “barristers” as the lawyers who stand up in court and argue cases. But in some countries, like Scotland and South Africa, they’re called “advocates”. Verses 8-11 speak of the Holy Spirit as an advocate or barrister in a court case and proving that the world is wrong.  The world outside of the church may be sceptical about Jesus, the world may be hostile about Jesus, but ultimately the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong.

As Christians we believe that the Holy Spirit is still active in the world. Later on this morning, we’ll be saying the Creed and declaring, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Now, the disciples would have liked Jesus to stay around. But Jesus, as a human being, was limited by place and time. Only a relatively small number of people in the Holy Land could see and speak to him. But there are no limitations to the Holy Spirit. Wherever the church goes, wherever Christians are active, the Holy Spirit goes with them.

The Gospel writer then goes on to provide a summary of the Holy Spirit’s work. He will prove the world wrong about three things: he will prove the world wrong about sin, about righteousness and about judgment. Now, this might sound a bit negative, but actually it isn’t. The Greek word that’s translated as “prove wrong” is difficult to translate; other versions of the Bible use the word “convince”. The work of the Holy Spirit is to prove to the world that it’s wrong about Jesus and to convince it of the truth. 

First, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong and convince it about sin. Does that mean that as a church we should be moralising and condemnatory? No, definitely not. I think that’s one thing we learnt from our Lent series on Philip Yancey’s book, Vanishing Grace; that our role isn’t to be bleak moralists. Convincing people about sin isn’t about condemnation; it’s about opening people’s eyes to God’s grace. As Philip Yancey wrote; “Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it, and I am one of those people.”

It is only once we’ve become convinced of our own sin and the sin in the world that we can avail ourselves of God’s grace. Even if we don’t commit adultery, fiddle our tax returns or tell lies, we still sin and need God’s grace. I don’t think any of us can pretend that we never have moments of selfishness, self-centredness, jealousy, greed and apathy. We also live in a world that is obviously far from perfect. Climate change, unfair trading systems, war, violence and corruption mar God’s perfect creation. Sin isn’t simply a question of breaking moral rules; Tom Wright, the former Bishop of Durham and theologian we often quote in our church, points out that it goes much deeper than that. Sin is a symptom of idolatry.

When we turn from worshipping the true God, we surrender the authority God has given us to idols - the powers and principalities of darkness.  This does sound rather mysterious – the powers and principalities of darkness. Tom Wright explains it by referring to Jesus’ clashes with the religious authorities and with the Roman authorities described in the Gospels. Behind these confrontations there was an even bigger confrontation - Jesus’ confrontation with the dark power of evil itself - evil that uses human structures in various ways.  And today evil uses human structures to advance the forces of darkness. Evil can use political structures, economic structures and indeed the internet to further its destructive aims. The Bible makes it clear that evil exists as a powerful force in the world, and that we are in a battle against evil. The Bible refers to Satan, or the Devil, as the source of evil, but whatever language we use to describe it, evil is a potent force in today’s world. We as Christians are part of God’s plan to rescue and restore God’s creation. And in doing so, we need to recognise our own individual sin and need for grace. And we also need to recognise and call out the sin in the structures of this world.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong and convince it about righteousness. So what is this “righteousness” that the world needs to be convinced about? Well, Tom Wright describes it as “justice”. Jesus was arrested, tried as a criminal and crucified. He was regarded as an evil heretic and dangerous criminal by the people of his time. In today’s world Christians believe that he is the Son of God, but many people, even if not hostile to Jesus, are at best sceptical about his claims to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. He may be a great teacher, but that’s all. But ultimately the Holy Spirit will prove to the world who Jesus really is. He will press home Jesus of Nazareth is not an impostor and a deceiver, or merely a good man, but the Son of God. And the Holy Spirit has now been doing this for just over 2,000 years. A significant chunk of the New Testament was written by Paul who, as I said earlier, was once the sworn enemy of the Church. Yet he became the man who took the Good News of Jesus beyond its Jewish beginnings to the wider world.

And thirdly, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong and convince it about judgment. And he will prove the world wrong because, in the words of verse 11, “the prince of this world [that is, Satan] now stands condemned”. Jesus was looking ahead to the Cross – a reminder that the world had got it wrong in its basic spiritual assumptions. It saw the Cross as Jesus’ condemnation, but in fact it was Satan’s. At the cross, Satan’s fate was sealed. He still roams about, there are undoubtedly very powerful forces of evil, but God has already passed judgment on him and the forces of darkness. Many in today’s world regard the Cross as the end, or an irrelevance. The world needs the Spirit’s help if people are going to see what Jesus achieved on the Cross – that he has overcome the forces of darkness and death itself.

Jesus was leaving his disciples, but he wasn’t saying, “I’m off; it’s over to you.” Yes, Jesus did give his followers the commission to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth. But, who is the primary mover in this? It’s the Holy Spirit. Not you or me. But at the same time there’s a challenge. Who will the Spirit use to challenge the world about sin, righteousness and justice, and judgment? It is the church – that is the likes of you and me. It is through the Church that the Holy Spirit will seek to change lives and the world! Are we willing to work with the Holy Spirit?

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit. May we be willing to follow him where he leads and to bring the Good News of Jesus to the heart of our community. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Amen.