Who Is the Holy Spirit
John 14:15-20, 25-26
When you think about it, we as Christians understand and relate more to God the Father and Jesus the Son than we do the Holy Spirit? Even when we said the Apostles’ Creed today, we give one life to God with several descriptors attached “God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” and then gives six lines to Jesus, and just one short phrase to the Holy Spirit. When I was a kid we used the title ‘Holy Ghost’ instead of Holy Spirit, which only lends to the third person of the Trinity as an ill-defined, mysterious entity. The Holy Spirit is the least understood part of God and yet it is that which is most available and active in our lives today. We really can call the Holy Spirit “The Forgotten God.” In this series, we’re going to look at the Holy Spirit, who it is, why we need it and the role it plays in our spiritual journey and lives.
There are several things we learn about the Holy Spirit today. First, the Holy Spirit is the same as God and Jesus. Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate…” That word “Another” in Greek literally means, “Just like the first.” So what Jesus is sending us is not something which is different from Him, but rather another advocate who is just like Him and just like the Father. They are one and the same but with different roles. I think there are two great mysteries in the Christian faith: the fact that Jesus was both fully divine and fully human and the second is the Trinity, God, the Father, Jesus the Savior and the Holy Spirit. To better understand, let’s use the analogy of water. God is like water in that God shows himself in 3 different ways like water has three different forms: liquid, ice, and steam. Each has different qualities and characteristics and thus can have different functions but the composition is still H2O. God is like liquid water, the source of all life. Jesus is ice, solid, like the hymn says, “the rock upon which I stand.” And the Holy Spirit is like steam from which we get power. Though the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all three distinct persons and have different functions, each equally is part of God and the same substance or being. This is how Jesus can relate to God and the Holy Spirit and how he keeps his promise to us regarding the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Second, the Spirit is absolutely essential to continuing Jesus’ mission. You can’t follow God and live for Jesus apart from the Holy Spirit. You can’t do the things of Jesus without the power of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. In fact, before you do anything for Jesus, you’d better make sure you have the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit in you and what you do. That’s why Jesus told the disciples, “Don’t leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift that my Father promised which you’ve heard me speak about. In a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Before the disciples could begin to fulfill Jesus’ mission, they first needed the power of guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Without it, they were doomed to fail. What Jesus is teaching us is this: Desire and commitment isn’t enough. To continue the mission and ministry of Jesus, we need more. We need supernatural guidance and power. Anyone in recovery understands the concept of a higher power. All of us have to come to depend upon a power higher than ourselves if we are going to do the work of Jesus. This is why Jesus is able to say that you and I will do even greater things than him. Jesus knows that if the disciples are to continue Jesus’ mission then they are going to need the power and guidance of God that He has experienced in his own life with God. Whether we realize it or not, we’re in a battle, a cosmic battle between good and evil. There are forces greater than us and if we are going to succeed, then we need a power greater than us.
With the Holy Spirit, there’s enough power in this room to change the world ten times over, if only the Church claimed it. Can you imagine the difference we could make and what we would have to offer others? When Peter and John were going to the temple to pray one day, they encountered a lame man begging at the door asking for money. Peter and John had no money to give, but gave what they had: the power and healing in the name of Jesus. And so they said to him, “Get up and walk.” This same power Peter and John had is available to us today. When the Church lays claim to this, there’s no telling what we can do. We’ll be able to love with God’s love. We’ll be able to forgive with God’s forgiveness. We’ll be able to transform hearts and lives. Can you imagine what can happen in our communities and world? This is why the Holy Spirit is so important and how we live the God life in the world.
Third, the Holy Spirit is God with us and in us. In other words, you are not alone. You are not alone in life or in the journey of faith. One can well imagine the disciple’s great feelings of loss, first in Jesus’ death and then in his ascension back to heaven. The disciples had spent almost every moment of the last three years with Jesus, living and travelling with him, being taught and mentored by him, watching him perform miracles and participating in ministry with Jesus. You know folks, let’s just be honest, seeing is believing. I really think the disciples had it so much easier because they heard Jesus’ voice as he taught and they saw Jesus perform miracles. They saw his first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding reception. But then they saw even greater things than that. They saw and helped in the feeding of 5,000 men and their families with just a couple of fish and pieces of bread. They saw him heal the unhealable. But the ultimate miracle was raising Lazarus from the dead. Seeing is believing. If I could go back to any time in history, that is where I would want to go back to see Jesus, hear his voice and experience his miracles firsthand. Talk about discerning life direction! When Jesus said, “Follow me,” you could see exactly where he was going. You could hear his audible voice and follow his physical presence. There was no chance of confusing it with my own will or inner voices.
The disciple’s proximity to Jesus provided comfort and security, particularly when they’re doing things outside your comfort zone and beyond your capabilities. In those circumstances, you need something or someone to rely on and that was Jesus. But now that Jesus is gone, they need another. This is why Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to be with the disciples. In the reality of his absence, Jesus says, “On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father and you’re in me and I am in you.” You’re not alone, God is with you and God is in you! This is the closest relationship possible with God you can have. This isn’t 6 degrees of separation but zero degrees of separation. When Jesus was physically present in the room, a person was in the presence of God. This is why so many people travelled to be near him, why they pushed through the crowd to touch him and why they even tore the roof of a house so they could get close to him. Now, because of the Holy Spirit anywhere I go, Jesus is not only with me but in me. It’s why the Apostle Paul says, “do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.”
Fourth, the Spirit teaches us. Probably the greatest deception in the church today is this: we feel that we have everything we need in what Jesus taught 2,000 years ago in this book, the Bible. Why did Jesus not say I’m going to leave you a book with my teachings when he left? One reason is that the moment you write it down, then you have an excuse to forget it. Even having a Bible doesn’t guarantee you will know it. Studies have found that the average household has 2.3 Bibles in their house. I’m still looking for that .3 Bible in my house. This past week, I walked into my office and saw a large book in my mailbox. When I went to see what it was, the title was, “The Message of the Koran.” At first, I thought someone was sending me a message that I’m in the wrong business. But then I saw that it was sent by the Muslim American Relations Committee, obviously as PR to religious leaders to increase understanding of Islam. I took the book back to my office and placed it on the side table next to my couch. And there is stayed all week, nary a cover or page turned. And that’s the way the Bible is in many of our houses. I had a head scratching event every time I walked into the Conference room of a previous church I served. A church member kept her Bible there. When I asked why, she said, “She didn't want to forget to bring her Bible to church every Sunday.” And I thought, “But what about the Bible in your life the other 6 days and 23 hours. And that’s the way it often is in our lives, we may have the Bible but we never read the Bible.
Dan Hotchkiss notes in his book, “Governance and Ministry,” that after WW II more Bibles were bought than any other time in history making it a perennial best seller. But interestingly enough, at the same time Biblical literacy started to decrease dramatically. Today, we’re at a time when we have the greatest Biblical illiteracy in the church in its history. Simply having the truth is not sufficient to live the truth. Even if you know what’s right that’s no guarantee you will do right. So Jesus says, I’m going to send another advocate, the Holy Spirit who “will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said you.” This book is important because it’s the words of Jesus. But this is the menu, it’s not the dinner. This tells us what’s available to us in life with Jesus. So often I hear people say the Bible is hard to read or they don’t understand it. And so they give up before they ever really get into it. The other lesson receiving the Koran taught me was that this was a book which is foreign to me. It comes from a different land and a different culture and then you look at the size and weight of the the book and it can be a little daunting. The Bible is known and comfortable for me. The Koran not so much. But that’s the way many of us feel about the Bible.
This isn’t just a book of sayings and stories from 2000 years ago. It’s the living Word of God and when we read it, we can hear God’s voice for our lives and he can teach us about ourselves and His will for our life. If you’ve stopped learning then you’ve stopped growing and that’s the beginning of death. The Holy Spirit teaches us, speaks to us and gives us wisdom for today. This is what it means to have a living relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Fifth, the Holy Spirit is our advocate. The Greek word for advocate is ‘paraclete’ which means teacher, counselor; Advisor, or guide. The word ‘paraclete’ came out of the Romans court system. A paraclete was the public defender who represents and looks out for the well being of others. So many people believe God is an angry judge just waiting to come down hard on you and condemn you. But God is not the judge accusing you of your sins. God is your advocate. He’s in your corner. God has your back. God the Father is the one who steps in for and acts in your defense against the forces of evil that would claim you and chain you. God is not my accuser, but my advocate and protector. In times of weakness, he strengthens me. Romans 8:26 When I’m lost, he guides me and puts me on the right path. In times of doubt, he reassures me. In times of worry, he gives me a peace that passes all understanding. The Scriptures tell us that Holy Spirit even intercedes for us and prays for us.
On the day of Pentecost, to receive the Holy Spirit, the disciples had to surrender everything. Here’s the real question: to live in the fullness of God’s Spirit, be filled, led and empowered by Him, are you really willing to surrender everything to Him? That’s scary for some people because that means you’ve got to give up control. If we’re honest, we want to maintain some control because who knows what God may ask me to do. God may ask me to do something totally crazy like move to Africa. Too many of us want to add God to our life rather than make God our life. You cannot add God’s Spirit to everything else in your life. There’s not enough room. God won’t possess what you’re not willing to invest. I better repeat that one: God will not possess what you’re not willing to invest. When we are willing to give up everything and empty ourselves, making our bodies available to the residence of God’s Spirit, then we will receive his presence and his power to live for Him and fulfill His purposes in the world. That’s when you really begin to live and you’ll experience what Jesus called abundant life. You lose your life, and then you’ll find real life. Amen.
