May 2, Easter 5, John 16:13-15
Collect: O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant
that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise; that
among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys
are found. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with
You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
LSB 633 At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing
LSB 768 To God the Holy Spirit, Let Us Pray (sermon)
LSB 837 Lift High the Cross
As people are introduced, usually included is something they have done or
plan to do. For example, "doctor" or some title like "award winner" or
"mechanic" tells what they've done. "Mother" tells what vital task you are
doing now. Sometimes a person will tell you "I like to fish", implying they
hope to do so again soon.
In today's Gospel Jesus introduces His disciples to the Holy Spirit and He
tells us the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to Christ and keep us in
Christian faith. We do well to listen closely!
Our setting is the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday, the night Christ was
betrayed. Jesus had given them some difficult teachings. He taught service by
the example of washing feet (John 13:1-11), and gave the mandate "to love one
another completely, as I have loved you (v.12-35). He calls Himself the only
Way, Truth, and Life, saying no one can get to heaven except thru Him.
(14:1-14). He promises the Holy Spirit (14:15-31), calls Himself the True Vine,
and warns of persecution (15). We pick up the conversation in chapter 16.
"When the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all the truth". The
Holy Spirit is the opposite of Satan (John 8:44), who tries to guide us away
from Christ. He does not force. He guides us. He does this each time we hear
or read God's Word. He also guides into ALL the truth: the truth of sin,
God's anger, the gift of faith, the cross of Christ, and more. "God grants
repentance that leads to life" as the first reading says (Acts 11:1-18).
"For He will not speak on His own authority, but what-ever He hears He
will speak." The Holy Spirit does not make things up. He is under the
authority of the Father. What the Father speaks, the Spirit repeats in a way
we are enabled to understand by faith.
'The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus'. He does not give us anything apart
from Christ. He takes what belongs to the Son of God (salvation, forgiveness,
life) and publicly says what Christ won for us.
"All that the Father has is (Christ's)". Eternal life, total forgiveness,
ideal peace, and every other 'good and perfect gift' is from (the Father). The
work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to Christ and keep us in Christian
faith. He does not work to bring us together and agree with each other. He
works so that we may be of the same will as God the Father: to love what He
commands and desire what He promises.
God wants us anchored in His Holy Word so we will love what He has
commanded and desire what He promises. Then when we are faced with changes and
challenges, we will remain fixed in His joys.
Jesus warned His disciples, "A little while, and you will see me no
longer." He would be betrayed a few short hours later.
Our fallen world did rejoice at an idea of a crucified Christ: Jesus
humiliated, dead, and gone. As Jesus said, the disciples did "weep & lament".
But when Easter came and He rose again from the dead, "the sorrow turned to
joy" (v.20).
As you read the Bible, you will see that men and women of faith faced many
challenges and changes; just like you and I do. Many faced lions' dens,
shipwrecks, banishment, or prisons. They did NOT look to their own reason or
strength. By grace, thru faith, they fixed their hearts and minds on God's
promises and power.
When facing death, they put their hope in passages like Revelation 21.
'God claims us as His people. God will wipe away every tear. Death shall be
no more. The former things (will) pass away.' The Holy Spirit brought men and
women to faith and He kept them there by His Word.
The same must be said for us today. The Holy Spirit has brought us to
faith. He now works to strengthen your faith.
When you face problems in your life, He reminds you of God's promises.
When we feel lonely, He tells us, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
When we face death, He tells us that enemy has been defeated, and Christians
walk thru that dark valley into eternal life. When our conscience accuses us,
we gladly say: I'm God's child, Baptized into Christ. When we face a
challenge to advance, he reminds us we can do all things thru Christ who
strengthens us.
God the Holy Spirit keeps doing the same today in the world around us.
When Bibles and other Christian print and media are given to people, the Spirit
works to bring men, women, and children to Christ; and then keep them there.
He works to point them to the life, cross, and resurrection. He works to help
them first know and then believe in the only eternal joy.
He works in Sunday Schools, Catechism classes, Bible studies, church, and
many other group settings. The Holy Spirit also works in individual lives when
His Word is read then rightly believed. In both cases, the work of the Holy
Spirit is to bring us to Christ and keep us in Christian faith.
This is also true in the Lord's Supper. Disciples confess a common faith
worked by the Holy Spirit. We are given the body and blood of the One 'Who or
a little while was not seen' after He died for all on the cross, and again a
little while (namely three days) was seen again by the disciples. In this
bread and wine, the Holy Spirit offers us forgiveness, life, and salvation in
Christ's body and blood. And "as often as we eat this bread and drink this
cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until He Returns." The Holy Spirit proclaims
it to us, and to those around us.
Again, the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to Christ and keep us in
Christian faith.
The disciples in the Upper Room did have faith, but it was only after
Easter and Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was given to them in great measure.
They had greater faith because 'He opened their minds to all the things in Holy
Scripture concerning Jesus Christ' (Luke 24:27). [We celebrate Pentecost this
year on May 23.]
When Jesus "introduces" His disciples to the Holy Spirit, Christ does not
leave the work of the Holy Spirit to their imaginations or feelings. He
plainly tells us the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, and glorifies Christ.
May we, as God's people, continue to read, mark, learn, and inwardly
meditate on the Word of the Lord so the Holy Spirit will work greater faith in
each of us. To the glory of God. Amen.
