“Celebrating the Spirit”
Pastor Randy Butler
Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. Pentecost itself of course was a Jewish celebration, but it was during that Pentecost celebration that the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus descended in wind and fire upon the disciples of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem, sometime around 33 A.D. So we celebrate Pentecost and birth of the church. But this morning we also celebrate the Holy Spirit as well. The book of Acts where this is all described is called the Acts of the Apostles, but it could just as well be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is the driving force behind all the Apostles’ activity.
Now even with all the Spirit’s energy in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the shy member of the Trinity. There is a mystery about the Spirit. We sometimes have trouble relating to the Spirit, in some traditions still called the Holy Ghost. Jesus on the other hand was a living breathing person. We read about him and connect with him. The Spirit is harder to get a hold of.
But it’s the Spirit’s day. Though when we celebrate the Spirit we also celebrate the Father and the Son – they are never not together, today we highlight the Holy Spirit in our lives in the world and in the church.
In our text from John, Jesus is telling his disciples that he will be soon leaving them. This saddens them. But then he points out that it is to their advantage that he departs because then he will send the Spirit. If he stays, no Spirit yet. If he goes, then the Spirit comes. It’s like he is saying, “The best thing that could ever happen to you is for me to go away. That clears the deck for the coming of the Spirit.” Jesus the man, after all, was limited by time and space. He could only be in one place at a time. But His Spirit is everywhere in all places and at all times. The Spirit expands the presence of Jesus, makes his presence available to us today. We could say that the Spirit prolongs or extends the presence of Jesus, because the Spirit’s action is entirely related to the activity of Jesus.
We recently lost Anne’s father, who passed away in March 2020. But he was near us in Spokane when he died, and there are still reminders of him in our house. Pictures, of course, and some of his clothing. I often wear one of his sweaters. There are some batteries from his hearing aids sitting in a bag in the garage. I have been using a set of his unused razors for shaving. The jacket he wore is hung in our closest, still with a hint of his favorite cologne. Even though he is gone, his presence lingers. And it is like he is still with us – these delightful reminders of his presence in our home. They are like little relics serving to remind us of him.
Not surprisingly we have always placed an importance on the relics of Jesus. Throughout the centuries people have claimed to have a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, or a torn piece of his robe from the day of his crucifixion. The famous Shroud of Turin was thought to be Jesus’ burial shroud. That way his presence lingers. But Jesus is talking about more than all this, more than sentimental reminders of our loved ones.
When we have the Holy Spirit we have nothing less than the full presence of Jesus. Jesus says, “The Spirit will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you.” And he adds, “All that the Father has is mine.” So all that the Father has belongs to Jesus and all that Jesus has is the Spirit’s. The Spirit is not making anything up that the Spirit has not gotten from the Father through the Son. In fact Martin Luther said humorously, “The poor Holy Spirit doesn’t know any other subject (than Christ).” So when we have the Holy Spirit we have Christ. We don’t need to wait for anything else or anyone else. And though we do look forward to that time when Christ returns, he has in some sense already returned in the form of the Spirit. Everything that God wants for us in Jesus Christ is available right now. And nothing is lost in his ascension to heaven. In the Holy Spirit we have nothing less than the complete spiritual presence of Jesus. So when he says in the gospel of Matthew, “Remember I am with you always to the end of the age,” he really is completely with us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Now the Spirit also has a role to play in the world. It is a convincing and convicting role. It falls to the Holy Spirit to present an alternative view of the world, a completely different reality than what the world is based upon. It is the Spirit’s task to show how wrong the world is about fundamental issues, to call into question the very foundation upon which we build our lives. John says that the Spirit will reveal how the world is wrong about what is most wrong, wrong about what is most right, and wrong about who wins in the struggle between good and evil.
Jesus says the Spirit will show how wrong the world is about sin – about what is most wrong. Now there is a lot wrong with the world. We can draw up a long list – war, poverty, social injustice, world hunger, racism, sexism, etc. But Jesus boils it all down to what is most wrong – that the world does not believe in him. We ask, “Really is that what is most wrong with the world? Is disbelief about Jesus the fundamental problem with the world?” We are not so sure about that, but for the gospel of John that is the big problem. And if we trust what John says about Jesus, that he is the full expression of God in human form, and that this is true, well then to disbelieve it would seem to have major consequences. If we are wrong about what Dale Bruner calls God’s Great Personal Visitor to the earth, well, then that would be a big thing to get wrong.
We make relative most religious claims and truth today, we consider believing in Jesus a matter of personal taste or opinion. But the New Testament makes it the most important of all decisions. So the Holy Spirit convicts the world of what is most wrong. And what is most right. We might think that certain virtues and actions are what is most important. But again for the gospel of John it is Jesus who is most right in and for the world. His life, his death, his resurrection. He is simply what is most right about reality. No one, nothing is more righteous, more right. So the Spirit is to show the world how it is wrong about what is wrong, and wrong about what is right, and wrong about who wins in the end. Jesus says the ruler of this world has been condemned. And we can be assured then that the victory belongs to Jesus. It may not look like it at times, but ultimately God’s ways of love, mercy and justice will prevail. The world may see with despair, but we can hope, because we know the outcome.
Now this task belongs to the Spirit. The Spirit does the heavy lifting, thankfully. But we are still agents of the Spirit and we have our part. So the Spirit equips us too, guiding us into truth, giving us the words to speak, declaring to us the things of Jesus. The Spirit is still teaching us. It is the Spirit’s part to help us continually interpret and apply the words and actions of Jesus for our time. The Spirit helps the Bible remain a living breathing Word from God that is never set in stone but needs to constantly re-interpreted.
In the 18th and 19th centuries some supported the institution of slavery from Scripture. But we have changed. Nobody really uses the Scripture to argue for slavery anymore. We have changed how we understand the role of women in the church and in society. We understand the Bible differently than we did even just decades ago. The same thing is true for our understanding of human sexuality. Just as the Holy Spirit inspired these ancient writings, that same Holy Spirit now interprets and applies and gives us new understandings of these same writings. The writings haven’t changed but we have and the Spirit lives with us as we are today. This doesn’t mean that we are always modernizing the scripture to fit our views. It simply means that the Bible lives and helps us to grow as we evolve.
So we celebrate the Holy Spirit today, the One who is the very presence of Jesus with us, the One who convicts the world and the One who teaches us.
Now even with all the Spirit’s energy in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the shy member of the Trinity. There is a mystery about the Spirit. We sometimes have trouble relating to the Spirit, in some traditions still called the Holy Ghost. Jesus on the other hand was a living breathing person. We read about him and connect with him. The Spirit is harder to get a hold of.
But it’s the Spirit’s day. Though when we celebrate the Spirit we also celebrate the Father and the Son – they are never not together, today we highlight the Holy Spirit in our lives in the world and in the church.
In our text from John, Jesus is telling his disciples that he will be soon leaving them. This saddens them. But then he points out that it is to their advantage that he departs because then he will send the Spirit. If he stays, no Spirit yet. If he goes, then the Spirit comes. It’s like he is saying, “The best thing that could ever happen to you is for me to go away. That clears the deck for the coming of the Spirit.” Jesus the man, after all, was limited by time and space. He could only be in one place at a time. But His Spirit is everywhere in all places and at all times. The Spirit expands the presence of Jesus, makes his presence available to us today. We could say that the Spirit prolongs or extends the presence of Jesus, because the Spirit’s action is entirely related to the activity of Jesus.
We recently lost Anne’s father, who passed away in March 2020. But he was near us in Spokane when he died, and there are still reminders of him in our house. Pictures, of course, and some of his clothing. I often wear one of his sweaters. There are some batteries from his hearing aids sitting in a bag in the garage. I have been using a set of his unused razors for shaving. The jacket he wore is hung in our closest, still with a hint of his favorite cologne. Even though he is gone, his presence lingers. And it is like he is still with us – these delightful reminders of his presence in our home. They are like little relics serving to remind us of him.
Not surprisingly we have always placed an importance on the relics of Jesus. Throughout the centuries people have claimed to have a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, or a torn piece of his robe from the day of his crucifixion. The famous Shroud of Turin was thought to be Jesus’ burial shroud. That way his presence lingers. But Jesus is talking about more than all this, more than sentimental reminders of our loved ones.
When we have the Holy Spirit we have nothing less than the full presence of Jesus. Jesus says, “The Spirit will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you.” And he adds, “All that the Father has is mine.” So all that the Father has belongs to Jesus and all that Jesus has is the Spirit’s. The Spirit is not making anything up that the Spirit has not gotten from the Father through the Son. In fact Martin Luther said humorously, “The poor Holy Spirit doesn’t know any other subject (than Christ).” So when we have the Holy Spirit we have Christ. We don’t need to wait for anything else or anyone else. And though we do look forward to that time when Christ returns, he has in some sense already returned in the form of the Spirit. Everything that God wants for us in Jesus Christ is available right now. And nothing is lost in his ascension to heaven. In the Holy Spirit we have nothing less than the complete spiritual presence of Jesus. So when he says in the gospel of Matthew, “Remember I am with you always to the end of the age,” he really is completely with us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Now the Spirit also has a role to play in the world. It is a convincing and convicting role. It falls to the Holy Spirit to present an alternative view of the world, a completely different reality than what the world is based upon. It is the Spirit’s task to show how wrong the world is about fundamental issues, to call into question the very foundation upon which we build our lives. John says that the Spirit will reveal how the world is wrong about what is most wrong, wrong about what is most right, and wrong about who wins in the struggle between good and evil.
Jesus says the Spirit will show how wrong the world is about sin – about what is most wrong. Now there is a lot wrong with the world. We can draw up a long list – war, poverty, social injustice, world hunger, racism, sexism, etc. But Jesus boils it all down to what is most wrong – that the world does not believe in him. We ask, “Really is that what is most wrong with the world? Is disbelief about Jesus the fundamental problem with the world?” We are not so sure about that, but for the gospel of John that is the big problem. And if we trust what John says about Jesus, that he is the full expression of God in human form, and that this is true, well then to disbelieve it would seem to have major consequences. If we are wrong about what Dale Bruner calls God’s Great Personal Visitor to the earth, well, then that would be a big thing to get wrong.
We make relative most religious claims and truth today, we consider believing in Jesus a matter of personal taste or opinion. But the New Testament makes it the most important of all decisions. So the Holy Spirit convicts the world of what is most wrong. And what is most right. We might think that certain virtues and actions are what is most important. But again for the gospel of John it is Jesus who is most right in and for the world. His life, his death, his resurrection. He is simply what is most right about reality. No one, nothing is more righteous, more right. So the Spirit is to show the world how it is wrong about what is wrong, and wrong about what is right, and wrong about who wins in the end. Jesus says the ruler of this world has been condemned. And we can be assured then that the victory belongs to Jesus. It may not look like it at times, but ultimately God’s ways of love, mercy and justice will prevail. The world may see with despair, but we can hope, because we know the outcome.
Now this task belongs to the Spirit. The Spirit does the heavy lifting, thankfully. But we are still agents of the Spirit and we have our part. So the Spirit equips us too, guiding us into truth, giving us the words to speak, declaring to us the things of Jesus. The Spirit is still teaching us. It is the Spirit’s part to help us continually interpret and apply the words and actions of Jesus for our time. The Spirit helps the Bible remain a living breathing Word from God that is never set in stone but needs to constantly re-interpreted.
In the 18th and 19th centuries some supported the institution of slavery from Scripture. But we have changed. Nobody really uses the Scripture to argue for slavery anymore. We have changed how we understand the role of women in the church and in society. We understand the Bible differently than we did even just decades ago. The same thing is true for our understanding of human sexuality. Just as the Holy Spirit inspired these ancient writings, that same Holy Spirit now interprets and applies and gives us new understandings of these same writings. The writings haven’t changed but we have and the Spirit lives with us as we are today. This doesn’t mean that we are always modernizing the scripture to fit our views. It simply means that the Bible lives and helps us to grow as we evolve.
So we celebrate the Holy Spirit today, the One who is the very presence of Jesus with us, the One who convicts the world and the One who teaches us.
