Aldersgate Sunday

John 14:15-21

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

¹⁸ ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’

In substance Wesley's teachings contained nothing new. All Wesley wished to do was reintroduce what, in his opinion, had been forgotten. His objective was not to overthrow existing dogmas but to `galvanize them into life'. Wesley took the body of existing Anglican teachings as found in the bible, coupled with the liturgical framework, homilies and articles of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer of 1662 and gave new emphasis to certain old teachings which had, in his opinion, been ‘sadly neglected’.

The reformers focused on the process of justification – how we are declared right with God by faith -`Wesley may be said to have focused on the way of sanctification'. He believed that being `born again' was not simply the moment of justification, a sudden experience but rather `the whole process by which the believer becomes transformed from sin to holiness.' Henry Rack explains that for Wesley the true goal of Christian life was `sanctification, holiness, even to the point of perfection'. Although the process of becoming `holy' might have been Wesley's major focus, it does not mean that `sanctification' or `being made holy' took precedence over justification. Wesley saw both processes as being possible only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Wesley arrived at a definition of perfection that was in itself imperfect `a perfection that was blameless, but not faultless'. In 1759 he described Christian perfection as follows:

           

The loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. This implies that no wrong temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul; and that all thoughts, words and actions are governed by pure love.

Hulley adds that `Perhaps the most characteristic Wesleyan term is`perfect love'. He quotes Wesley as summing up Christian perfection as follows:

           

... the sum of Christian perfection ... is all comprised in that one word, love. The first branch of it is the love of God; and he that loves God loves his brother also ...

This perfect love, according to Wesley, is a gift from God which `could be received at any moment and not simply before death'. Once this gift had been received it could also be lost `if not sustained by constant vigilance' and even the perfected `depended at every moment, at every stage in salvation on grace and faith'.

The perfection Wesley was calling for required a continual process of growing in grace `both before and after "perfection" had been reached'. Hulley explains that Wesley taught that `Perfection is then seen merely as a point on a continuum, not a final objective reached'. He explains:

Wesley never regarded perfection as a state, a position which a believer reaches or achieves. He saw it as a point in the experience of Christian growth which only took place in those who had faith, it was in that sense a gift of God not a human achievement. God is the agent, he does the sanctifying in response to faith ...

Our Gospel reading on this, Aldersgate Sunday, explains how this love, this faith, this process of being in Christ, being made into the people we are declared to be by faith, can become a present reality in the lives of Christians – it is something that we experience as a meaningful reality in our lives, by the Spirit.

My text this morning is written in John 14:15-17

¹⁵‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

In our reading, Philip asks for a theophany – a divine disclosure to man: “Lord, show us the father and we will be satisfied …” – and Jesus repeats the answer that he gave to Thomas because Philip’s request makes the same sort of presupposition as Thomas’ question: it assumed that the Father was other than the Son. Philip could not conceive of the unity of Father and Son which Jesus had spoken of so frequently. Jesus explains by referring to the two dominant themes of the Gospel: his word and his works. Neither of these are done on his own: his words are not spoken on his own authority but with the authenticity of the Father. This is sufficient theophany. His works are also not his own doing, but those of the Father who dwells in the Son. What Philip needs to do is recognise this. Jesus says in verses 10-11: ‘… I am in the Father and the Father is in me …’ and the ultimate proof of this is in Jesus’ works – in what he did.

For Jesus to ‘… go to the Father …’ does not mean a departure; it means staying with him … abiding with him forever. Marsh adds: “The metaphor of ‘departure’ must not be pressed to the point of letting any disciple suppose that there is knowledge of the Father to be had beyond Jesus himself. In the Son the Father has been pleased to manifest himself.”

Jesus had made this point many times: “If you had known me you will have known my Father”; He that has seen me has seen the Father”; “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” and “The Father that dwells in me, he does the works …”

J C Ryle writes: “Sayings like these are full of deep mystery. We have no eyes to see their meaning fully, no line to fathom it, no language to express it, no mind to take it in.” Bishop John V Taylor spoke of Jesus reflecting in a human life the being of God. Norman Pottinger captured the essence of this truth in his book entitled The Human Face of God where he wrote:

“… the Word is made flesh in one of our own kind, our Brother, without over-riding or denying the humanity which is ours, but rather crowning and completing all that is implicit in humanity from the beginning. The divine intention is ‘enmanned’ among us.”

I am also taken with the understanding of Thomas Merton who said that he underwent two conversions – the first to the transcendent, awesome God, with whom communion may be enjoyed through worship and contemplation, the second to the imminent, approachable God, who is present in his world and its people.

Here Jesus reminds us of another two-fold experience: the risen and ascended Jesus of history whose transcendence enables him to be imminent – here with us -in the power of the Holy Spirit as he dwells within us in the world today. Jesus himself said that where two or more are gathered, he is there in the midst and Mother Teresa reminds us of our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 25 that we meet Jesus in the needs of the most vulnerable people in the world … and this is especially evident when people respond in faith and continue to do the works of our Lord in the present.

Jesus offered a test based on two things: what he said and what he did. When we read or hear the words attributed to Jesus, they have the ring of truth and – as Barclay rightly observes – when we hear them we cannot help saying: “If only the world would live on these principles, how different it would be!” And of course Jesus’ deeds does cause one to pause and think; “Who is this?” Barclay comments:

“Still the way to Christian belief is not to argue about Jesus but to listen to him and to look at him. If we do that, the sheer personal impact will compel us to believe.”

Think also of the limits of the ministry of Jesus. He never left Palestine. The world was in a mess: in the Roman Empire morality was hardly in existence even compared to today, things were outrageous. And into this world went the disciples of Jesus – and this world was transformed. In the days of his flesh Jesus was limited to Palestine; when he went back to the Father, he was liberated from these limitations and the Spirit could work mightily everywhere. The disciples of Jesus achieved greater things than he.

It is all too easy for us to forget that we are together with Jesus. His Ascension is a wonderful truth, because it reminds us that Jesus left the constraints of this earthly existence and so can be with us all – everywhere freed from the limits of time and space. But more, He is with us now, when we are alone, and especially when we are together in worship and fellowship with others. What binds us to our Lord is not an act of intellectual assent; it is a bond of love. It is because we love Jesus that we willingly accept what he calls us to do, and this requires obedience to our Lord’s teachings. To those who respond in obedience to our Lord’s calling, he offers us another counsellor. Jesus had been the disciple’s counsellor while he was with them, and when he left this earthly realm he gave them the Holy Spirit who would remain with them forever. Marsh writes: “So his departure will not leave them unsupported and unguided as they might have feared. The coming of the Spirit of truth to stay with them will mark them off from the world; for just as the world cannot see Jesus for the Son he really is, so it cannot discern the presence of the Spirit of truth, for the world cannot see him nor know him. But the disciples will know him, for he will be dwelling in them.”

For the disciples, the Holy Spirit was not a replacement for Jesus, it is Jesus, but just in another form. The disciples will see him for – as Marsh explains “… they together will enter upon a life with quite new conditions.”

All this is based on love and obedience. Love is not a sentimental emotion; its expression is always moral and is revealed in obedience. You cannot claim to love someone, if you bring them hardship and heartbreak. Children and young people cannot claim that they love their parents and at the same time cause them grief and anxiety. There are children who claim to love their parents, yet cause them a great deal of anxiety and grief; there are husbands who claim to love their wives and yet they are inconsiderate, irritable, thoughtless and unkind. Real love is not easy – it is shown through obedience to his laws of love.

But we are not left to struggle alone – Jesus gives us another helper – the Greek word used here for the Holy Spirit is parakletos which is very difficult to translate. The Authorised Version renders it Comforter, Barclay, Helper, NRSV, Advocate. Probably the best way to translate it is ‘… someone who is called in …’ but this alone is not enough; what also matters is why the person is called in. In Ancient Greece, people were ‘called in’ to give evidence in a court of law in someone’s favour; an expert called in to give advice in some difficult situation; to give encouragement to a group of soldiers who had lost heart. The parakletos was called in to help in times of trouble or need. This is what the Holy Spirit does for us: “He takes away our inadequacies and enables us to cope with life.” Barclay suggests that Jesus is, in effect, saying is: “I am setting you a hard task, and I am sending you out on a very difficult engagement. But I am going to send you someone, the parakletos, who will guide you as to what to do and enable you to do it.”

There is also another sense: from the prefix para we get the word parallel, and so there is the very real image of someone coming alongside us to help us, to equip us and to enable us. But this is only part of it; Jesus says, that the Holy Spirit will also be within us, becoming part of who we are.

The world cannot recognise the Holy Spirit because we can see only what we are equipped to see. An astronomer can look into the night sky and see much more than the average person; a botanist can look into a hedgerow and see far more than the average person; someone who knows art will see far more in a painting than others. What we see or experience depends on what we bring to the sight or experience. A person who has dismissed God as impossible will never hear His voice deep within their lives when he speaks, and will never receive the Holy Spirit unless we wait, look and prayerfully seek for him to come to us in the depth of our being.

Christian people ought to be remarkably different; there ought to be something special about us, something that marks them out from the rest of the world. And when this happens, it becomes obvious: it was obvious in the lives of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, but also John Smith of Loughborough or Gareth Jones from Cardiff or Ian MacKenzie from Glasgow – ordinary Christians who make a different for good where they are.

People outside of Christ cannot fathom this. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually.”

This is why it is fruitless to try to convince someone through argument; they have to experience it. When people experience love, they know it; when they experience grace, they know it; when they experience selflessness, they to know it. If we are going to fulfil our calling and thereby come to know what life is really all about, we need to be prayerful people. As J C Ryle states: “He that does much for Christ, and leave his mark in the world, will always prove to be one who prays much.” Those who pray will also be those who are steeped both in the Scriptures (especially the Gospels) so that we can be reminded of what Jesus taught and did and thereby received direction as to what we need to teach and do in His name.

The Holy Spirit is there for all to receive: but it is not automatic – we need to be obedient, we need to be faithful in prayer, we need to search for the truth in our own situations, and we need to ask and then we will be filled and equipped and enabled to live as we ought. Barclay concludes: “The Holy Spirit gate-crashes no person’s heart: He waits to be received. So when we think of the wonderful things which the Holy Spirit can do, surely we will set apart some time amidst the bustle and rush of life to wait in silence for his coming.”

Jesus put it this way: ¹⁵‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. Amen