“Spirit of Truth”

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

This morning’s scripture from John’s fourth gospel is beautiful and deeply spiritual. Another memorable scripture in today’s lectionary is from Luke’s Book of Acts 2:1-21. These are completely different representations of the celebration of Pentecost. Maybe you’ll see a bit of my conflict about which one to discuss today as we go a little deeper into Pentecost, using John as the primary text and Acts as a different way to tell the same story.

Many Christians feel that Pentecost is the birthday of the church as we know it. Pentecost is also the celebration of a Jewish holiday that falls fifty days after Passover, which is essentially fifty days after Easter. In Jewish tradition, this is the day that Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mt Sinai. Pentecost, then, was about the giving of the Law, the revelation of God through the Ten Commandments.  It is this understanding of Pentecost that serves as the background for the Pentecost celebration in Acts. There are two accounts of Pentecost in the New Testament, and they are decidedly different is size, scope, and impact.

Luke in Acts 2:1-21 describes an enormous celebration in Jerusalem. Literally thousands of people were there for the Jewish celebration of the Ten Commandments.  One hundred twenty people in the house and three thousand or more outside in the street. A violent wind comes upon the people, sweeping through the room and the streets. There was fire in the air, fire shaped like tongues, and people began to speak in other languages, but everyone understood them. Peter spoke and said, “God has given us the Holy Spirit.” After he spoke, three thousand people were baptized and confessed faith in Jesus Christ, departing from the Jewish faith their brothers and sisters were there to celebrate through Pentecost.  You can see why this might be called the beginning of the church as we know it. It is said that Luke’s description of the events is based on Exodus 20 in the Hebrew Bible, where God commands the law, and now God has given the Holy Spirit in the same way. As Moses went up to the top of Mt Sinai, there was a violent wind and fire; the people were afraid and demanded that Moses go quickly to ease their fears. Some say that any congregation or denomination, whether Protestant or Catholic, that wants to keep alive the experience that Luke describes in Acts 2 is a truly “Pentecostal” church. Our scripture from John is decidedly different, yet not divergent in its message. Let’s take a look.

John offers a quiet version of Pentecost. Some of the disciples are in a house in Jerusalem. The door is locked; they are scared for their lives – literally. “What is going to happen to us?” they wonder. Suddenly Jesus appears in their midst. “Peace be with you,” he says. They do not respond; they stare at this man. Jesus shows them his hands and feet, and they announce, “It is the Lord.”  In this gospel message, there is no description of violent wind, but Jesus breathes on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” John offers an image more like that in Genesis 2: “God breathed life into their nostrils and they became living souls.” First God made everything we know in Creation, and then God decided to make a human being in God’s own image. God made us out of clay, forming us to be part of Creation. I must admit, when we dig into this scripture I always think of holding my daughter in the delivery room, fresh from her emergence, pre-cleaning and all, as she took her first breath. She was alive – full of herself – energized by God’s breath flowing through her being, bringing her alive in God’s Spirit. I think it was very much this way on Pentecost, as Jesus brought forth the Spirit.

We humans spend a fair amount of time wondering what will become of us after we draw our last breath here on earth. As God has given us our first breath of life, we believe we will live again, in some form, because we have the breath of God to sustain us. As some of you have heard me say, I also remember holding my mother as she took her last breath of life. It was so clear that her spirit had gone to God, sustained by the gentle wind and flowing energy of God in her. Her body was still, but her spirit was alive – I just know it.  I couldn’t touch it when my daughter was born or when my mother died in my arms, but I know the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and Amy, and my mother. As long as I live I will never forget those moments.

The gospel of John tells us about the disciples, who were pretty regular people then. No great pedigrees of power or presence. They were about to be infused with the “Ultimate Power Drink” of Jesus the Christ. Scripture tells us that they were an odd bunch in fact. Fishermen, zealots, soldiers. This group actually became the first church that day. We are linked to them though generations and generations of believers and followers. They were also writers, teachers, serving others, giving of themselves and their time and talents to bring Jesus’ teachings to others. My guess is they would have been Habitat men and women building someone else’s home. They were Caring Visitors and providers of hospitality for the homeless, welcoming others into their midst.  Their one connection to God was through Jesus, and they were there the day Jesus breathed on them the presence of the Holy Spirit, to guide them in Jesus’ absence. Like them, we have received the Advocate from Jesus that has but one task in our lives: To make Jesus present to us in every breath, make us partners in His work, whether we are conscious of it or not.  Jerry Smith, a Capuchin friar who runs two soup kitchens serving 2,000 in Detroit, says “There's fire in the ashes and good things happening everywhere. There are reserves of life and strength in us that we never imagine are there until we absolutely need them."

In John’s Gospel, Jesus promised the disciples an Advocate, which he would send on from the Father.  The Spirit of Truth would testify to all that Jesus said and did on Earth. The disciples followed Jesus and had banked their lives on Him. They were worried.  In some three years or so, they became the keepers of the keys to the Kingdom. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if they all ran away and kept all the secrets of Jesus to themselves? Where would Christianity be today? I guess the answer to that is “God only knows.”

The other question we need to ask and discuss is what would happen to the church – our church – the broader church and all the congregations around the world, if there was no presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches? That’s a difficult question to address, isn’t it?

I guess we would stay alive for awhile. We would be a closely knit friendship / supper club, being welcoming and supportive to others. The psalmist says, “Do not take away your Holy Spirit Lord,” which is what makes us vibrant present-day friends of Jesus, rather than history students trying to get dates and facts straight that fade from us after the test. We’d be fine for awhile, and then there would be one of those experiences where we look at one another and say, “well, what do we do now?”

Because of the uniqueness of each of us, our sense and experience of the Holy Spirit is different. Few of us can define the Spirit of Truth within us, yet we all know it’s there. Forgive me, we can define the Spirit within us, but the proof is in our actions and our hearts and prayers. How extraordinary of our Gracious God to infuse us with the wind of life that only we can know is there. If you are a sailor, you know you are moving by an invisible power. If you are walking one of our great Cape Cod beaches or running into or with the wind, you know it’s there – but how do we grab hold of the wind, the Spirit of Truth? Just the other night, when Governor Patrick was out here on the green, we talked about wind farms, harnessing the wind to sustain our lives and our planet. As we stood in front of our church, with the bells sounding at 7pm – man, I really wanted to offer an invitation to experience the wind of the Spirit here at Dennis Union in that conversation. In some level of self control, I did not. But, I sure thought about the remarkable connection to the sustaining power of our faith. Let’s resolve to be a wind farm for Christ here at Dennis Union.  Not just capturing the wind, but turning it into energy for the world.

The presence of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples when they needed it most.  The Truth of the Spirit came to them unexpectedly. Maybe your experience of the Holy Spirit came early for you; maybe it arrived later in your life. Maybe you’re still waiting.  Part of what we are called to do here is be ready to respond, to live into the gift of the Spirit of Truth. Our confirmands are on the road, in their personal journey and with us as companions.  They won’t likely see the spirit of truth materially. Like the sails of a ship, the wind comes along and fills the hearts of our kids and transforms them with a sense of purpose and meaning, even if they haven’t figured it out yet. But the Advocate is with them and all of us, with every breath we take.

Think of the times in your life when you’ve had these moments of awareness, when you feel the power, beauty, and awesome truth of Jesus’ presence. Maybe it was during Communion, or a baptism, or just a simple prayer. Maybe it was in a quiet moment with a friend.  Maybe you were at the bedside of a loved one. The connection was real. Thank God we get the message. We can chart our life’s journey with these signposts of experience, can’t we? Sometimes we forget these messages of the Spirit of Truth in our lives. But even when we slip away for a bit, Jesus never leaves us to ourselves for long.

The scripture leads us to see that the Advocate does the work, transforming us not into just servants or partners of Christ, but icons, portals through whom Jesus’ Presence, power, and work are seen in the world. The power that fell upon the followers of Jesus that Pentecost is still in us, with us, and among us whether we know it or not. God’s gift of the Spirit remains in us today, now, as the Advocate, Counselor, comfort, and help to channel us to be God’s Truth. This is our church’s continuing hope as we face challenges, disagreements, and a skeptical world that seems to thrive on the power of the individual to deny everything but the power of us alone. So it is up to us to live in the Spirit of Truth.  How do we step forward with the power of Pentecost alive inside of us?

A little boy was outside playing and noticed the fireflies in the dusk.  “Dad, he asked, what makes fireflies glow?” Dad passed on the question, suggesting the boy ask his teacher. The boy ran off to do his own research. He swatted the fireflies and finally caught one between his hands. When he opened his hands, he realized he’d squished it, but the firefly was still glowing in his palms. Amazed, he ran back into the house to show his find to his father. “Dad, Dad, I know the answer.  I know what makes the fireflies shine.  What is it, son?” asked his father.  “It’s the stuff on the inside that makes them shine,” showing his palms. The same thing is true of followers of Jesus Christ. What is it that gives us that glow?  It’s the stuff on the inside, the sense of the Spirit of Truth.