Loving God, you have saved us through your Son, Jesus, and have come to make your home with us through the Holy Spirit.  Teach us to live in that same Spirit, that all that we do may be to the praise of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus speaking about how he will be leaving earth in order to return to his Father.  Even though his disciples will be sad to see him go, Jesus tells them that he will be sending the Holy Spirit in his place.  Indeed, the coming of the Spirit will bring rejoicing with it, for it will be just like the Father and the Son coming into our hearts and making their home there!  At the same time, the Spirit will enable us to do many things.  Those who love Jesus will be able to keep his commands (Jn. 14:23).  We will be taught all that we need to know and will be reminded of all that Jesus has taught through the Holy Scriptures (Jn. 14:26).  And, among other gifts of the Spirit, we will receive the gift of peace which will overcome fear and worry (Jn. 14:27).  Of course, for us, living in the time after Jesus has been raised from the dead and has ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit has already come and has given us all of the gifts that are needed for ministry.  And so, let’s reflect a little bit further on some of the activities of the Holy Spirit that are mentioned in today’s gospel.

    First of all, the Spirit will enable those who love Jesus to keep his word.  In a number of places in the gospel of John, we hear Jesus speaking about how those who believe in him will keep his word (Jn. 14:12) and those who love him will keep his word Jn. 14:15).  Really, what reasons do we have for keeping the commands of Jesus?  Do we keep them because we love Jesus or out of fear of punishment?  Do we keep them because we believe that Jesus has redeemed us and given us salvation or because we’re hoping to chalk up enough points to get into heaven?  Do we truly believe in Jesus and do we love him?

    It seems to me that love for Jesus is only possible when we have truly believed and understood what Jesus has done for us.  When it comes right down to it, the story of Jesus is totally unfair.  We have Jesus, the Son of God, the one who lived a sinless life, loving and serving the people around him.  In response to his love, the sins and hatred and ugliness of the whole world are thrust upon him all the way to the cross, willingly accepted by him in order to redeem our fallen humanity.  He died in agony, knowing that this is what it would take in order to wipe out the power of sin and death and evil forever.  He took this upon himself for you and for me.  It is only because of Jesus’ loving sacrifice of himself that we have access to God and hope for the life to come.  When we truly understand this, how can we help but respond in love?  And with love for Jesus comes the desire to live according to his word.

    So what is this word that we are to live by? – Above all, we are to love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength and love our neighbours as ourselves (Mk. 12:29-31).  We are to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and give drink to the thirsty (Mt. 25:34-36).  We are to welcome the stranger, just as Lydia did in today’s first reading from Acts (16:15).  We are to do away with earthly idols that will not last and that draw us away from the kingdom of God, especially the pursuit of wealth and material treasures (Mt. 6:19-24).  We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Mt. 5:44).  We are to be faithful in our marriage relationships and are to treat others in the same way that we would want to be treated ourselves (Mt. 5:27-32; 7:12).  We are to love one another as Jesus has first loved us (Jn. 15:12).  And it is the Holy Spirit who fills our heart with the love of Jesus and who enables us to live by Jesus’ commands.

    Of course, it is also the Holy Spirit who teaches us what Jesus has commanded and who enables us to understand the Scriptures (Jn. 14:26).  All of the things that I have just mentioned that are part of the commands of Jesus are recorded for us in the gospels.  The Holy Spirit still speaks to us through the Scriptures, which lead us to Jesus.  Martin Luther described the Bible as the cradle in which we find God’s living Word, who is Jesus Christ.  As we continue to read and to study the Scriptures, we are led into a closer relationship with Jesus and a greater understanding of what it means to live as his followers.

    At the same time, the Spirit gives the words and the knowledge that are needed to those who are called into ministry – in other words, to all those who are baptized!  Two examples from our first reading today are Paul and Lydia.  Paul is called upon to speak about Jesus to many different people in many different settings.  It is the Holy Spirit who works through Paul, giving him the words that are needed and leading him to where God wants him to be.

    For Lydia, too, the Holy Spirit has to be very active in her life.  She is the first convert in Europe and is the head of the first church there, which meets in her house (Acts 16:40).  She comes to know Jesus through Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke, and through what writings they would have had at that time, and through the Holy Spirit working in her heart.  By the power of the Spirit she is taught all that is needed and reminded of Jesus’ life and teaching.

    In the same way, the Holy Spirit continues to teach and to lead us.  We learn through the Scriptures, and through other believers, and through the Holy Spirit working in our hearts.  We, too, will be given the words that we need in order to share God’s love with others, if only we open ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.

    Yet, many of us are held back by fear.  We can’t imagine talking to another person about Jesus because we’re afraid that we wouldn’t know what to say.  We can’t imagine inviting strangers to come and stay with us like Lydia did, because how do we know what they’re really like?  We can’t imagine praying out loud, or getting up in front of other people, or even going to visit people who are lonely or sick or grieving, because we might not know what to say or might do something to embarrass ourselves.

    However, God doesn’t ask us to do any of these things on our own.  Instead, God asks us to allow his Holy Spirit to work through us.  And so, when we pray with others and rely on the Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit who speaks through us and who gives us the words.  When we speak to another person about our faith and share with them the good news of salvation through Jesus and ask God for the Spirit’s guidance and direction, the Holy Spirit will speak through us then, too.  The thing is that for anything that God calls us to do, the Spirit provides whatever gifts are needed in order to do it.

    The Spirit will also provide peace in our hearts, no matter what the circumstances, as long as we remain open to God’s presence and God’s leading in our lives.  Once again, Paul gives us a little glimpse of what this can be like.  As he follows the Spirit’s leading in his life, he is led to all kinds of different places where he is called upon to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  Some of these places even include imprisonment and flogging and shipwrecks, and yet he learns by the power of the Spirit to be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:11-12).  

    C. S. Lewis writes about what it is like to hand over ourselves and our lives to Christ.  Part of what he writes is worth sharing here:

“...the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day.  Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.” (from Mere Christianity)

He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?  This is what it is like to listen to the Spirit and to seek God’s agenda for our day rather than our own.

    May each of us continue to learn how to follow God’s leading, that our hearts may be filled with peace rather than fear and worry.  May each of us continue to learn from Jesus – through the Scriptures, through other believers and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  May each of us find our hearts filled both with love for Jesus and with the love of Jesus, that we might live to the glory of God and in the service of others by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  May it be so.

Easter 6(C)                                    John 14:23-29
May 5, 2013                                    Acts 16:9-15
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2013 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved