John 15:26-27; 16:4-15

Day of Pentecost May 23, 2021 | Sermon Text: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 | by David Brooks |

If you have ever participated in a scavenger hunt, you know that the excitement comes in two ways: part of the fun comes from the competition, from the effort to be the first to complete your scavenger list; but the other fun comes from the adventure of the search itself, from the excitement of being sent out to uncover, discover what is out there in the world. Part of the challenge and the fun of discovering is changing the way you look at things, to see items around you in a new light: searching in a “natural” area for a human artefact challenges you to look at things that you might not have otherwise noticed or thought of in that way before. Searching means being open to seeing the world in the way that the one who sent you out sees!

In the conversation between Jesus and his disciples on this night before everything changes, there is more tension and worry rather than excitement and anticipation. There is a lot here for this small band to digest: Jesus is departing, and there is an as yet unknown replacement on the way. Somehow there is a connection, that the one whom Jesus will send from the Father (and let’s notice that word send) will convey their rabbi’s presence. Jesus prepares his disciples in this night by reminding them of their relationship over the years, how they had grown in their life together and how, as they move forward, that they will have a new role to fulfill—that of testifiers, witnesses, and interpreters of who Jesus is and what is happening because of him.

Implicit in this conversation is something that Jesus will make explicit at the end of John’s Gospel—that the disciples are about to be sent. Even as Jesus prepares to return to the Father who sent him, and promises an Advocate whom he will send from the Father, so in John 20: 21-22 the resurrected Jesus breathes on the disciples—giving them the promised Spirit of truth that comes from the Father—and then says “as I was sent, so now I send you!” This sending happens in and under the power of the Holy Spirit, who now takes up the mission of God. As the disciples (apostles, “sent ones”) move into daily life proclaiming the kingdom of God, they are both empowered to speak about and, in their lives, the catalysts for the Spirit’s work of proving the world wrong about “sin, righteousness and judgement.” We who have been baptized are now commissioned in that sending, for we have received the same Holy Spirit as the first disciples did.

Of course, the Spirit’s work regarding sin, righteousness and judgement addresses us! We are quick to give room in our lives for those worldly spirits that call us to celebrate ourselves, to give our hearts and our love to those little gods we make with our own hands—gods of money and things, gods of lust and physical beauty, gods of power and expertise and authority. The Holy Spirit judges these and reveals their emptiness, and in the power of truth demonstrates our false loves, our false seeing. First, we mistake our problem when we imaginer sin is about misdeeds. No, true sin, the real Sin, is false belief, trust put in anything other than God. Second, we are misguided and walking in darkness when we try to create our own types of righteousness, our self-chosen values. Rather, righteousness is found when one resides in the presence of God. And finally, we stumble whenever we see Jesus as the one rightly condemned and not worthy of us rather than „the world” and its ruler.

Yet the Holy Spirit, sent, given, breathed upon us, moves us out into the world. We now live with the Spirit of life and our life in the Spirit is to grow to resemble Jesus. So we are sent! The place to encounter the risen Christ is out there in the world, and others need us to interpret, testify and give witness to the work of our Lord in their lives. It’s the greatest scavenger hunt ever! We go to our homes, our neighborhoods, our work, our schools, our playgrounds, anywhere and everywhere to watch with the eyes of faith, the eyes that the Spirit gives, eyes that are trained to see with God’s light and notice what the Lord is doing in the lives of others, day in and day out. And the best part? We are already winners, thanks be to God.

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The Rev. David Brooks

Durham, NC USA

Pr.Dave.Brooks@zoho.com