A sermon idea for Pentecost

John 14:8-17 (NRSV)

⁸ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

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 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.

I begin my reflection with inspiration from John Marsh’s excellent commentary on John’s Gospel.

In our reading, Philip asks for a theophany – a divine disclosure to man – 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 (as recorded in the Johannine version of the Gospel). Jesus refers 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 (verses 10-11) ‘… I am in the Father and the Father is in me …’ and the ultimate proof of this is in Jesus’ works – 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.

Indeed, the Feast of Pentecost reminds us of another two-fold experience: the risen and ascended Jesus of history whose transcendence enables him to be imminent 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 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 put it this way: ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 

The relationship between a student and his teacher is special. Every teacher has a responsibility of ‘… transmitting something of the glory of the subject to those who listen to him; and he who teaches about Jesus Christ can, if he is saint enough, transmit the vision of the presence of God to his students.” Barclay adds that “… a great teacher stamps his students with something of himself …” If a divinity student has been trained by a great preacher whom he loves, ‘… we will see in the student something of the teacher and hear something of his voice …’ Jesus did immeasurably more than this: he brought God’s accent, His message, His mind and the very heart of God to humankind!

I never realized this at the time, but I have been touched by some great teachers. I think of JAB Benyon, probably the most inspiring teacher I ever had, who in his humility, gave me a passion for history – a subject that I literally hated at school because of appalling teachers; I can think of Neville Richardson (only recently retired) whose profound yet humble approach to the New Testament has given me a great love for the Scriptures. And most recently, William Barclay, whose work I ignored for so many years – to my cost – but who has been a great companion since we began these reflections.

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 did 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.”

Jesus has sought to comfort his disciples by revealing to them the fact that his death is not the tragedy they think it is going to be. From verse 12 he goes on to show that they can be part of his ongoing ministry by sharing in it and in a sense to even greater things than the Son has achieved.

It is quite clear that in the early days of the Church close to the first Pentecost, they possessed miraculous powers, and healing was a significant part of their ministry. But it is not clear from the Scriptures that they did greater healing miracles than Jesus. Today, these seem less manifest, and we rely more and more on the work of skilled medical professionals. However, if our modern medical care would have been available at the time of Jesus and the early Church, it would have appeared fantastic! There is a very real sense that people have striven to make these advances, because of the example of Jesus, for we know that the early medical professionals were inspired by the teaching of Jesus. Barclay suggests: “… whether they knew it or not, Jesus was saying to them through his Spirit: ‘These people must be helped and healed. You must do it. It is your responsibility and privilege to do all you can for them.” People today do things that in Jesus day would have been considered utterly impossible.

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.

It is all too easy 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. Barclay claims that there is ‘… only one test of love and that is obedience.’ Love is not s 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.”

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. 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.”

Christian people ought to be remarkably different; there ought to be something special about them, 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 Luther, Wesley, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, but also John Smith of Stepney or Gareth Jones from Cardiff or Ian MacKenzie from Glasgow.

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 I said earlier that 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 come to know it.