Divine Counselor!

AS WE CELEBRATE the Festival of Pentecost, in a gospel reading for the day we are reminded that Jesus spoke at some length to his disciples about the gift of the Holy Spirit. The words he used explained to them that the Counselor was to come, and that the Spirit would be their eternal companion…

“Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.’ 

  Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?

 The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. 

 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. 

 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.’”  (John 14:8-17)

 

 

 Forever Companion!

In this conversation the Holy Spirit is presented to the apostles as the future eternal companion of the Church. Revealed then was the mystical relationship concerning the oneness of the Father and the Son. Jesus also related the mutual connection of will that was to exist between Himself and his disciples. The apostles heard their task…. to keep His commandments. With keen interest it would seem, they found the prophecy described that they will do the works that Jesus had done and more. Though Jesus earlier had said that he was going away to prepare a place for them, here the Master told them that personal conversation was to be established eternally between them. In light of this, a directional requirement was given... “If you love me, you will keep commandments.” This last is stressed even yet. Thus as followers are reminded that we are called to love God, and to love one another. If this behavior was kept, Jesus told the infant Church and we ourselves today, that he would pray to the Father to give us the Counselor (In Greek called “paraclete”) as a companion forever. This last, is indeed the gift given at Pentecost.

 We note that in scripture, word “paraclete” has been interpreted in legalistic terms. The Holy Spirit was expressed as a Counselor or Advocate, but also a spiritual Comforter. Therefore we can assume that the early interpreters of the Greek were brought to define the faithful role of this “alongside Stander” John described that Jesus pushed the limits of finite human comprehension and explained that the Paraclete was the “Spirit of Truth”.

 We recall that John had said earlier that Jesus related, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life…” (In Greek we read… ego ami ho odos, kai ho alethia, kai ho zoe…). With this knowledge, therefore, we indeed may claim here that Jesus stood before his disciples as a human Teacher and also the divine Spirit of Truth. The two are one in the same.

 We also note that Jesus related to his followers that the world could not receive this Spirit. Thus the Spirit reveals the deep truths of the faith only to His disciples. The Spirit communicated secrets that were far too deep even for apostolic understanding at the time, if it were laid upon them before the Crucifixion and Resurrection occurred. Only retrospectively, through the Spirit’s revelation and guidance, would the deep, mysterious meaning of the sacrificial act of Crucifixion… and the miraculous acceptance of God’s power in the Resurrection, reveal to the disciples that with God all things are indeed possible.

 Jesus told his followers that the miraculous Spirit was to be placed upon the early Church to guarantee the moral and spiritual impact of gospel declaration. These gifts would be given to them, “…because I go to my Father". He stressed then, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." However, we must be aware that the qualification in this asking and receiving transaction is "that the Father may be glorified in the Son" The gift is not for self-glorification of any person, pulpit or denomination. Because of His going to the Father, the Holy Spirit was given to the whole Church… so that the Father should be glorified. Through this Spirit, therefore, power and mighty works would occur throughout the Church and their prayers would be made effective.

 

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Exclusivity to Proclaim!

Therefore we note that according to apostolic record, the Holy Spirit is Christ's special gift given to the Church. Jesus’ relationship to the disciples is thus selective and peculiar. The Spirit given to any living person is a power which goes far beyond influential thinking or inward feelings. The Truth is given to a person or persons… forgiving their sinfulness… and dedicating them so that they may become one of those who walk in the way and witness of the Word. The Holy Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost thus fulfilled the deep and mysterious will of God’s mercy given through us to the world around us.

 Take special note that Jesus told both to the disciples and we today who follow their footsteps, that in Spirit, "I will come to you" and "because I live you shall live also". This message of divine, eternal companionship became paramount for John’s churches, for they entered a period of history when the message they carried clashed greatly with the carnal world. In spite of resistance, however, the everlasting presence of the Holy Spirit guaranteed that they would yet persist. They would spread the faith. Indeed, praise and prayers would be offered continually. With petitions raised, the proclamations in Christ’s name did go forward. Now, we today who inherit this gift find that as well… if our petitions are purposed for the glorification of God… our prayers are both heard and answered.

 Prompted by the Spirit to ask in this manner in the name of Jesus Christ, in spite of our human sin, this lesson tells us that we are able to plead our Lord’s merit and claim intercession before the Father. In that way, the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon disciples by the Father and the Son, works in today’s world. The Holy Spirit speaks through the Word… increases the whole Church in faith … and empowers us to do great works of healing, teaching and more. We are given the power and words to answer concerning our faith. Consequently, the Church is instructed to tell others of the forgiving grace poured out to us through the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit provides us with a powerful gift of worship, praise and outreach. Today then, may the same Spirit drive us out into the world to do this great and wonderful task.

Perfectly One...

For the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we read once more from the Gospel According to Saint John. In this week’s gospel, we hear words of a prayer spoken to the Father by Jesus. In these words which occurred during the Last Supper, we hear our Lord’s petitions concerning the disciples… and those who would follow after them in faith.

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

 The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world.

 O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

                                                                                     (John 17:20-26)

Why One?

 In the upper room where Jesus gathered with his disciples, he had prophesied many things. As the conversation drew to a close however, Jesus turned his attention to the Father and began to pray departing words before his gathered followers. The emphasis of his prayer concerned the unfolding future of his disciples, and any persons who would come along afterward to walk in faith. As heard by those apostolic witnesses, Jesus petitioned that his disciples would be one in glory with himself and the Father.

 The word glory we understand from the Greek as having a wide application. It broadly carried a literal, figurative, and objective or subjective usage. Here it seems to indicate, however, that Jesus wanted his followers to literally participate in the unified dignity and respect that eternally exists between the Father and the Son. Jesus was asking the Father that those who would be left behind by his Crucifixion should be given this gift. Thus they would not be abandoned.

 The dignity God gave in response, therefore, was a literal quality not earned by any disciple, but yet freely given. Jesus, by enduring the unfolding plan of divine salvation… went to the cross, paying the penalty for human sinfulness. He offered up before God the price for the glory requested from the Father. He offered this gracious gift freely on behalf of those who believed and would come to believe, His life was then, and eternally is now… consequently the price paid for our perfect, eternal restoration and communion with God..

Why Recalled?

When we delve further into the reasons for the writing of this prayer in the gospel of John, we consider the turmoil that was going on in his churches at the time of its writing. These were churches to which this gospel was first written. By studying their setting, we find a message for us as we live now in our own age. For the situation in life (sitz en leben) in John’s churches, we see that the existence they once knew was falling apart. The infant Church of the late first century was being tossed about by hostilities. Therefore, John used this prayer to point out that just as the faith and unity of the first disciples had been challenged, and the Holy Spirit kept them together after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus in spite of threats, so was the eternal Church to be sustained through turmoil.

 In this prayer, therefore, the Johannine community heard words concerning not only the apostles, but their own situation as well. Enlightened by these words, both the church of John and we ourselves who now gather… can realize that while not always being accepted by the world... we are maintained by the grace of God.

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 The disciples were told that the message would endure. Thus the churches who came after them as followers of Jesus Christ who were in the midst of splitting away from synagogues and persecuted by the Roman authorities.... also would know peace even when meeting in the catacombs of cemeteries. These foundling communities were needful of this strengthening message. Jesus prayed that his followers would be one with himself, and one with the Father. Thus they would be eternal as God is eternal. This good news was given by John by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those of the early Church, therefore, had surety of oneness celebrated in baptism and the Holy Eucharist. Each time they gathered, the event became a truly divine moment of togetherness.

What Does This Mean For Us?

Though sinful then, today we gather in similar fashion and may seek our own “agogic” (togetherness) moments. These can occur gracefully within our individual Church communities. We are sustained and reminded that we too are forgiven and made part of a great divine power working within the world about us.

 You see, though we in the Church may find divisiveness in our midst about how separate from the world we should be, we also hear that we are called as disciples to be in, but not of the world. We are called by God’s Son to be witnesses of grace given in our own time.

 As persons who receive forgiveness, and are restored in hope, this reading subsequently calls us to task. We are to do grace-filled ministries in a sinful and pain-ridden world. We are to feed, heal and comfort others, providing the good news of salvation for those that feel the pain of separation from God. We may rightfully ask in prayer that the Holy Spirit shall be poured out upon them, just as our Lord did before the Crucifixion and Resurrection. This is needful for us so to do, that repentant people shall know a better way of being.

 Therefore, as the collective Church gathered, let us together endorse and empower evangelical persons to write the true faith onto the blank slate of waiting hearts and minds. We may rightfully pray that this effort would especially occur in a new, emerging generation. Let us aim to teach mothers, fathers, and children concerning the Holy Spirit’s work among us, so that every person shall know that they are called to join with us in this wondrous task. In the Spirit, let us pray to the Father that we may be one and might participate faithfully alongside one another. So it was written by John.., and so may it be.

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May The Peace Of God Be With You Always!

No Trouble!

FOR THE Sixth Sunday of Easter, many in the Church of Jesus Christ hear a message of promised peace and hope coming from the Gospel of Saint John…

Jesus answered him (Judas, not Iscariot), "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

 These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.'

 If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.  (John 14:23-29)

In! Not Of…

The reading we examine here is singularly within the Gospel According to John, though similar discourses appear in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21. The discussion we study occurred in the upper room as Judas… who was an apostle, but not the betrayer Judas Iscariot… asked our Lord a question. He said, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?"

 This question reveals to us that the disciples were beginning to realize that a difference existed between what we know as disciples, and what will be comprehended by world around us.

 In answer to the question, Jesus promised his followers a peace that the finite world cannot have. The world cannot know because without accepting him, God’s infinite peace is not provided. This perfect peace, one that is beyond understanding, is only given by God through the gift of faith in Christ Jesus.

 Jesus therefore assured those who were gathered with him that though he would be going to the Father, they would not be abandoned. He told them that when the Holy Spirit came to them, they would learn even more. Jesus explained that in the future the presence of the Father and the Son would always be with them. The gifts given through the power of the Holy Spirit (hagios pneumatikos) would provide a faith grounded in peaceful certainty. That promised certainty would eternally be their possession. That peace was one which the world could not comprehend without the Spirit’s teaching.

 The answer supplied by Jesus, therefore, was revealed by John as occurring during the latter portion of the time he spent with them in the upper room. The words were spoken, just before the statement, “Let us go hence.” Then they went out into the Garden of Gethsemane.

 The discourse had revealed the profound distance between the limits of human finitude, and our infinite God's working.

 The text speaks of the disciple’s mental confusion and spiritual unbelief. Profuse questions arose from them when faced with this miraculous telling, for the words that Jesus told them had impressed that with God the impossible was, is and always will be... possible!

 Given that this discussion occurs in John, and is not found in the other gospel records, signifies that this recollection of Jesus’ teaching was likely designed to specifically bolster the faith of the Johannine churches. John pointed out sharply to them that the disciples, though not initially understanding, and stumbling thereafter during the days of crucifixion… firmly followed the Risen Christ after the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Was he not then, saying that in future days the Church would need to recall these words?

 This seems as so. Historical records reveal to us that Christians of the late first century were struggling mightily under Diocletian persecutions. Therefore we ask, “Was the writer of John calling these formative churches in the Greco-Roman diaspora to put their trust wholly in God? Was he asking them to trust the empowerment and teaching of the Holy Spirit so that they will continue strong in faith and future growth?

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 We know that during this time in history, that the emerging Church split from the synagogue world around them. This is evident because of John’s expressed acrimony over against “the Jews”. For John’s churches living the world in which they and the synagogue communities strove, the gospel declaration separated them by faith declaration. When their witness was successfully made, the abyss of separation from the traditions of the synagogue became profound. This was concretely evidenced by later persecutions. The persecutions persisted and worsened as Church history unfolded. Emphasis was thus placed by John on maintaining needed clarity of message and community faith adherence. The text pointed out, however, that this clarity and faith is only obtained from the Spirit. The message concerning the Holy Spirit is therefore of prime importance for all who read.

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

 The peace given from Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit is therefore different from the finite peace or strength that the world knows. The Spirit is the one who stands alongside (paracletos) the Church as trials continue. The Spirit witness needs no substantiation by human science, religious or political power, media or statistic. The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ... is provided by God. The Spirit miraculously provides faith to us. Just as water and wine becomes the body and blood of our Lord for us by the power of the Spirit, infinite peace is also made manifest to us only by the Spirit.

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Peace Be Yours!

 Therefore, we may individually conclude here that since the Church is yet embroiled amid powers that struggle against the Spirit, we shall find this message as heartening. It is the message that John communicated to churches in the latter turbulence of the first century, a message that still speaks to us in our day. Though the profound image of the Crucified and Risen Christ often fades from our minds as the weeks from our exuberant Easter celebration progress, we are yet sustained. As both familiar and new challenges arise around us and amid our ranks, each attempting to wrest us away from orthodox and traditional faith expression, we see that just as the years may fade memories of those who have gone before us into death… we are surely brought back to true faith and heartened by the Spirit’s power.

Blessed ones, we can know that in Christ we are not limited by our own sin and finite human waywardness. By this eternal Word given to us in John, we know that Christ Jesus related to his disciples concerning the third person of the Holy Trinity. Thus he pointed out to the disciples, to John’s audience... and we ourselves, that the Spirit shall work in us to forgive sin, teach us and give us peace. In doing so the Holy Spirit preserves the Church. Thus even in our own day and within this troublesome world, we know that the Church shall continue in faith until the time when everything promised is fulfilled. So it is written, and so it shall be.