Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Text: John 14: 23-31

Theme: Giving the Spirit His Due

But the Helper, 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 said to you. (vs. 26)

This morning we celebrate the Festival of Pentecost and the fulfillment of the promise made by our Lord to His disciples to send the Holy Spirit. With just the mention of the Holy Spirit, it has been common in recent years to hear criticism that the Church just does not give the undivided attention and emphasis that He deserves. We always focus on the Father when our attention turns to God’s work of creation, and we center our attention on the Son of God in matters of redemption and salvation. So, what about the Holy Spirit? He never seems to get the center spotlight when it comes to our attention on God’s work among us. So the criticism goes.

I believe that these are fairly accurate observations. Our focus on God always does seem to put the Holy Spirit into the position of being a sort of: yes, also him - in our teaching and reflection on the Godhead. Its is true: the Holy Spirit is usually relegated to the third position behind the Father and the Son when we talk about God - for instance, in all Trinitarian formulas. It is always the Father, the Son . . . and the Holy Spirit. This apparent lack of focus on the Spirit is further illustrated by the fact that there is really only one Sunday out of the Church year that specifically celebrates the person and work of the Holy Spirit. And that day is today . . . the Feast of Pentecost! Now at least, it is thought by many, we can give some attention, even if it is brief, to the neglected person in the triune Godhead - the Holy Spirit.

So, this morning - yes, this the Festival of Pentecost - let me invite you to pause and give some reflected attention to the third person of the Trinity on the basis of our Gospel for this day as previously read. In doing so, however, I would like remind you about the subject of the appointed Gospel readings for these past four Sundays. They have all come from the 14th through the 16th chapter of the Gospel of John. They have all been part of the extended discourse of Jesus with his disciples in the upper room the night before he was crucified; the night that he instituted his Holy Supper. But more to the point, all of these texts, including that for this morning, deal with the subject of Jesus telling his disciples that he will be going to the Father soon; and then shortly thereafter, the Father will send the Holy Spirit in the Son’s name.

Well today we focus our attention on and celebrate the fulfillment of that promise. Therefore, as we reflect on the significance of the sending of the Spirit, let us include in our consideration, the Words of our Lord in this extended section in John 14-16. And taking in the sweep of Jesus’ words here, I would like you to consider favorably a rather unpopular understanding about the Holy Spirit. It is this: The Holy Spirit is best appreciated and His work is understood properly when we focus our attention elsewhere - when our attention is turned to and remains on the Christ, the incarnate Son of God. Let’s explain. Remember at the Baptism of Jesus, the Father said, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him. When we listen to the Son; when we see Him; when we receive his saving gifts; and when we live in a faith and life relation to Him . . . When all of this happens and we thank the Holy Spirit along with the Father and the Son . . . well then . . . the Holy Spirit is doing His job. He is rightly relating to us, and we are rightly relating to the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. Let’s explore on the basis of the extended words of our Lord about the Spirit in this section why this is so.

As the Spirit has been poured out on Pentecost, what did Jesus say he would do? In our text this morning He promised the disciples, soon to be His apostles, that He would lead them into all truth and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had already taught them. What did this leading them into ALL truth mean? Later in this same discourse, Jesus told them that there were still more things that He wants to tell them but that they were not ready. They were not yet able to receive the teaching (like, for instance, bringing the Gospel to the pagan gentile world - that you do not have to be a Jew to have Jesus as Lord), but when the Spirit comes, He would disclose and explain all this to them. In other words, the Spirit will bring them more of the Word and teaching of Christ. And further on Jesus outlines the three-fold mission of the Spirit in John 16:8-11.

1. He will convict the world of sin. Since it is through the Law of Moses that we come to understand and appreciate our sinfulness, the Holy Spirit will work through the Law to prepare us for receiving the Gospel.

2. He will also convict the world of righteousness. And what is this righteousness? It is none other than Christ’s righteousness. A righteousness made up of three things: His fulfillment of the Law in our stead, His atoning of our guilt on the cross, and His being raised for our justification.

3. And third, He will convict the world of the Judgment, for Satan and the powers of darkness stand judged. The Spirit will assure us that the powers of darkness stand defeated and are cast down forever through the victory of Christ on the cross and resurrection.

Notice that these three things are nothing other than a summary of the saving ministry of Christ in the world. For the past two Sundays our lessons have instructed us that when Jesus ascended into heaven, He did not retire. His work of saving sinners did not come to an end. He is still the One whom the Father has appointed to work out the salvation of sinners and bring in the fullness of His Kingdom. Jesus refers to the promised Spirit as the Helper . . . For whom has He been sent to help? The answer is this: The Spirit has been sent to help the Son in all His work to save sinners and establish His Kingdom. He has not come to principally help us sinners because we are dead in our trespasses and beyond help. We need a Savior from sin who brings life, not a helper who can assist with improvements.

You see, the ministry of the Spirit is no different from the ministry of Christ. And therefore as Jesus ascended bodily to the Father, He now will continue His ministry with a new body, the body of Christ, the Church. We who make up the Church shall supply his arms, legs, mouth, and voice. The Helper of the Son has been given to his new body, the Church. As Joel prophesied, the Spirit has been poured out upon us in our baptism just as Peter in his Pentecost sermon promised: Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and you shall received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

So the Spirit is at His best, doing His job, when our attention and focus is and remains on Christ. Perhaps we can see the work of the Spirit best with this illustration . . . maybe you have heard it before. (And if you have, you get to hear it again!) If all the world is a stage, as Shakespear remarked - then it is true that Jesus has a ministry that even now continues to take place on the stage of history. He is the One through whom the Father has chosen to reveal Himself and through whom to be in relationship with us. As Jesus said, He who has seen me, has seen the Father . . . and no one comes to the Father but by me. Jesus is the Star of Bethlehem who has come onto the stage of human history and the spotlight by the Father has been put on Him in the drama of life and salvation brought to us by our gracious God. In this drama, Jesus takes center stage . . . in what He does and says. The drama of our salvation unfolds and is accomplished, all under the direction of the Father. Jesus said, the Words that I speak, they are the Words that the Father has given me to speak, and the works, they are the works of the Father. All takes place as the Father wills and directs. The Father directs, and the Son out of obedience to the Father, executes His plan.

And what about the Holy Spirit in this drama? What role does the Holy Spirit play? The Holy Spirit is like the stage crew. He is best doing his work when He is neither seen nor heard directly. Nevertheless, He has important work to do in the drama of salvation. He places the spotlight on Christ the Son. He brings the words and deeds of Jesus in the drama of salvation to light - so that we might see and hear the Son. And like a good theatrical performance, when does the stage crew show up? The stage crew shows up in the credits . . . but never on the stage during the performance. When it comes time to praise God from whom all our blessings flow including our salvation . . . we offer up our praise and thanksgiving to the Father, and to the Son, and yes also to the Holy Spirit. And when sermons are finished that have presented the Word of Christ we say . . . in the name of the Father and of the Son . . . and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.