Never Alone

John 14: 15 – 21
4/27/2008

Summary

             Jesus knew his disciples would not react very well to the news of his departure, so he assured them that he would not leave them twisting in the wind when he left. Instead, he would ask his heavenly Father to leave the Holy Spirit with them, an ever-present Counselor to teach and to guide them as they did the work of advancing the kingdom of God. The Spirit is with us, too.

Never Alone

            A pastor who had been leading his church for over 30 years stepped up to the pulpit a little more hesitantly than usual.

            “Generally these types of announcements are reserved until after the sermon, but because this is the last time I will be preaching to you, I thought to begin the message with what’s happening in my life right now.

            “Bottom line, God has clearly called me to a radically different ministry, and in his sovereignty, he has chosen not to give me a lot of preparation time. There is a small, underground Bible college in Burkina Faso that needs my administrative and teaching skills. The persecution in that land has driven the teachers into hiding, and they need a new leader to draw them back out and to encourage them. I’ll be leaving tonight. The church is covering my salary and expenses, so I will not be needing to raise financial support. However, I covet your prayers.

            “I informed the church leadership of my decision last night, and after many tears and a few objections, we all came to the conclusion — we believe with the Holy Spirit’s blessing — that this was God’s will for me. It is not the place I imagined spending my golden years, but I am happy now to know what God has chosen for me.

            “The church leaders have assured me that you will not be long without a shepherd. In fact, Marty, our beloved associate pastor, will take over the reins of leadership as the church determines who will lead you next. May God bless all of us as we determine his will for our lives.”

The promise of the Holy Spirit

            Toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he started preparing his disciples for his departure. As expected, they resisted fiercely at first. They had left everything to follow Jesus, and now he was leaving them? What’s up with that? Did they dive in head first only to be left to be tossed along by the waves without anyone to lead and guide them?

            John 14 records the teaching of Jesus in regard to the Holy Spirit, the member of the Godhead who would not only be leading the disciples after Jesus’ ascension, but teaching and encouraging them as they did the work of advancing the kingdom of God. Of course, the Holy Spirit is still leading the church, and by extension, each and every believer today. So let’s see how Jesus said God’s Spirit would be doing this.

            Jesus told his disciples that he would ask the Father to send them a “Counselor” or “Comforter” or “Advocate” (depending on the version of the Bible you use) who would be with them forever, that is, the Holy Spirit. (Since Jesus used the word “forever,” it means that the Holy Spirit is with us today, in the same role, as he was in the first century.)

            The Greek word translated variously as Counselor, Comforter and Advocate is parakletos, which has a range of meanings, including “one who exhorts and encourages,” “one who comforts and consoles,” “one who helps” and “one who makes appeals on one’s behalf.” Thus, all three of the names used by the various translations apply.

            Jesus used parakletos twice in John 14 to describe the ongoing leadership role of the Holy Spirit, over both the church and the life of each individual believer. For our purposes today, we are going to consider just the “Counselor” translation of it.

A Counselor

            Many of us have benefited from the wisdom of a good counselor, either informally in a mentoring context, or maybe in a professional setting with a trained therapist.

            So what do good counselors do that would help us understand how the Holy Spirit leads us today?

            For one thing, they listen. Even the best human counselors cannot help us if they don’t know what the problem is. And to know what’s really going on, they have to listen well. They also understand that as we articulate the problem as we see it, we listen as well, and gain a better understanding of what we’re facing. After all, it’s hard to address a problem that is poorly defined. Sometimes, as we’re speaking, the counselor has to read between lines and peel back layers to help us see things that perhaps we’re blind to. But first the counselor has to listen attentively and fully understand our situation both as we perceive it and as it really is.

            As our ever-present heavenly Counselor, the Holy Spirit listens to us with a degree of empathy and understanding that transcends human comprehension. The Spirit knows us better than we know ourselves, knows our every thought and every motivation behind our every action.

            This truth can either be terrifying or comforting. Adam and Eve first experienced this sense of terror, knowing that they had been exposed in the Garden (and thus unsuccessfully tried to hide from God). So, if we think we can hide anything from God’s Spirit, our divine Counselor, we’re just fooling ourselves.

            However, once we concede that God’s Spirit knows everything that’s going on in our hearts, we can pour out everything that’s there and trust the Spirit to separate the wheat from the chaff. The scriptures assure us that the Holy Spirit not only listens to our imperfect, sometimes emotional, sometimes stoic, prayers, but he also interprets them for us so that they perfectly communicate to God what is on our hearts.

            Once a good counselor fully understands our situation, he or she starts leading us down the path of self-discovery and internalized responsibility. A good counselor wants us to “own” the solutions to our problems so we’ll be properly motivated to implement those solutions.

            The Holy Spirit does that, too.

            In Acts 15:28, the apostles made an interesting statement in regard to a leadership decision that they had just made: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us ....”

            As the Holy Spirit leads us as our divine Counselor, the Spirit’s work in us and through us takes place in a venue of cooperation: The Spirit enables us to practice our gifts, energized by God’s power. We participate with the Holy Spirit in the work of God’s kingdom.

God’s love language

            Later in John 14, Jesus reminded his disciples that the Holy Spirit would not only teach them, but also remind them of everything that Jesus had taught them. As readers of Jesus’ words today, we, too, should be assured that the Holy Spirit is ready to prompt us and lead us in the direction God wants us to go.

            Today’s passage begins and ends with reminders by Jesus that God’s “love language” is obedience. Jesus said repeatedly during his ministry, “If you love me, you will obey me” Not the type of obedience that’s borne out of duty or obligation, but the type of obedience that stems from love, as an expression of love.

            The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are not called just to believe in Jesus, but also to follow him. The Holy Spirit is one who helps us to step out on what we believe to put our faith into action. And it is out of these love-based, love-empowered acts of obedience that the Holy Spirit, as our divine Counselor, can do his most effective work.

            Let us focus our awareness on the power of God’s Spirit in our lives, our ever-present divine Counselor. The Holy Spirit is listening to us, reminding us of what Jesus said and prompting us to obey.