Trinity, 05/30/2010

Sermon on John 8:48-59, by Walter W. Harms

[Jesus said:] "I still have many things to sayto you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he willguide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, butwhatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that areto come. He will glorify me, forhe will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that hewill take what is mine and declare it to you."

WHERE DOESTHE SPIRIT LEAD?

Who is God? What is the business of God? In our lives? In the church?

In order to define, slightly thatis, who God is, the church many centuries ago came up with the formula that iscalled the doctrine or teaching that God is Triune. He is one God, but three Persons-Father, Son, and HolySpirit.

That's something like calling me,Walter, Dad, and Grandpa-three different roles and three different titles, butstill just one me! That is aboutas clear as we are going to get God defined, although tomes and tomes have beenwritten about the Holy and Blessed Trinity, who is our God, further explanationonly clarify the roles of the Persons of the Trinity, without being much helpin defining how three Persons can be one God.

Many people today would like tothink they know God, but some define him as the spirit within us (whatever thatis). You know, that part of usdeep inside which is pure and leads us to ponder the great wonders of theuniverse and moves us to see world peace or whirled peas as some car stickerdescribed it.

Some look to a God who somehow,they say, is in charge of the world, but clearly not how he is in charge andwhat is he doing. You know, whydoes he make volcanoes pop, orcause oil rigs to explode as the Governor of TX recently said God did in the TXgulf-an "act of God" he called it. Hum, seems he know something about God the rest of us don't know

For most of us, even those of uswho call ourselves Christians and may or may not be a member of a "Christian"church, God whoever he is has moved to the fringes of our lives, our work, andeven our morals. Or so it seems tome, at least.

Whoever God is, however we callhim, what is his business with us?

Talking to his followers beforethe crucifixion, his death, and resurrection, Jesus tells those folks, that theSpirit of truth is coming, and that he will guide them into all the truth theyneed to know.

The 12 followers of Jesus at thattime were still pretty fuzzy about the "truth." They were quite uncertain about resurrection. They were most unenlightened about whatthe "kingdom of God" really was all about. (Perhaps even we here today don'tknow.) They were yet confused andremained so for quite a while about the need to keep the OT laws about ritualpurity, temple sacrifices, circumcision and more. You and I really have a hard time understanding what radical changes that requiredin their thinking and way of worship and living.

One of the major bits of truththat still needed to be revealed to them was this: everyone is saved by the power of the death and resurrectionof Jesus. All that kept anyone,themselves included from being accepted by God, loved by him, given eternallife had already been done by this Jesus. The "heathen," theGentiles, the Greeks (substitute your own brand of "immigrant), were asacceptable to God through the love and power of Jesus as they, Jewish personsthat they were! Wow!

So God's business with us is todeclare to us the truth which hopefully then we will pick up and run with. This "truth" is not new; it is old; itis what God the Father has received from Jesus, God the Son; it is on theauthority of God the Father and God the Son, that God the Holy Spirit declaresto us-all that is to come.

Well, now on this Sundaydedicated to the honor, praise and revelation of God as Father, Son, and HolySpirit-on this Trinity Sunday in this year of our Lord, 2010, we may want totake a peek into the truth God the Spirit has led us to and see whether we areliving in that truth or some other way of living which would be false, untrue,and therefore against our glorious and wonderful God.

The Spirit has declared that allmen are to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He has declared that there is no othername under heaven, except the name of Jesus by which people can be saved. By "saved," is meant more than simplygoing to heaven when this life is over. Saved means that people need to be freed from guilt over the very ugly,hurtful, degrading, immoral behavior they have done. Saved means to be rid of any concept, idea, thought thatthey by their own reason or action can get on the right side with God.

You might want to ask yourselfhere. When someone says, are youperfect like your heavenly Father wants you to be? Your answer might be and the most common answer is: "Well, Itry to be!" Does the Holy Spiritshudder at that answer, you think? Have we deserted the "truth" that God lovedevery one, the whole world so much that just faith in Jesus makes you perfectwith God? Wow!

Does the joy of knowing that ourimperfections, faults, failures, hereditary and environmental imperfections andanomalies, our utter failure to be what God has created us to be have been onceand for all eliminated by the cross of Jesus make you at least a little morefilled with hope and joy? Or are we as sour as the wine they offered to Jesuson the cross?

Is it the leading of the Spiritof truth which makes us worship fewer and fewer Sundays every month?

Are we good at criticizing thefaults of others and now giving them also the joy of forgiveness and acceptancewe have received from this magnificent God of ours?

Have we joined the herds thatsurround us in their belief that material possessions, sensual experiences offood, drink, sex and drugs are what life is all about? Are we being sucked into the vortex of trusting economics,governments, the military, education, and science to save us and create somekind of heaven and earth? Is thisthe "truth" revealed by God's Holy Spirit to us?

And what about where the Spiritwants to lead us? What is Histruth to us as the body of Christ in this world today?

Main line churches in most areasof the world are slowly but surely declining. Maybe the community of Christians to which you belong is oneof these. Is that where the Spiritsent by God the Son is leading us? Or have we fashioned our own kind of truth?

My father was a pastor. At one time (yes, I'm that old!) hepreached in German to the farmers in rural Nebraska. Imagine today if your pastor got up and preached in German(for those of you who are fluent in German, change the language), you wouldwonder if he lost his marbles, become senile, or simply was led by the Spiritto speak in tongues! What youwouldn't say is: keep it up, preacher! Right on, reverend!

There is an expression called hogtied. It refers to tying upsomething so that it is stymied, helpless, cannot carry out its function.

Have we hog tied the truth ofJesus with all kinds of layers of liturgy, ritual, ways of "churchly" behaviorand dress so that others who know not of our Jesus can no longer see him, butsee all the fine layers of customs we have laid over the truth the Spirit hasrevealed?

Those twelve close followers ofour Lord had seen him strip away many of the layers that hid the truth God hasfrom ancient revealed to his people. He accepted the sick and the diseased. He loved the low lifes, the cheating government officials,the street walkers, the aliens, and mixed blood people. He associated and ate with all kinds.

Why? Why? Why?

Because when He sent us the HolySpirit in full measure we would know that everyone, the neighbor next door, theperson across the railroad tracks, the people who are in gangs and deal drugsare all loved by God.

And, and, let's review this onemore time. How does God's love getto people? How does the Best Newsin all this world get to people? Ibelieve the answer is: you and me. Right?

That what God is about. That is what our one God in threePersons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit wants us to honor and follow.

May we be praising the Trinitytoday. May the truth of God leadus to honor him as we carry out our wonderful privilege of sharing the truthwho is Jesus, the way and life it self to others. Amen.

retired clergy Walter W. Harms
Austin, TX U.S. A.
E-Mail: waltpast@ aol.com

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