Ready Or Not, Here I Come: Spirit and the World
John 16:5-15 May 31/Jun 1, 2003
Intro:
It is quite something to belong to a kingdom. It provides you with a sense of security, identity, belonging, and recognition. A good kingdom provides for its people – it protects them, acts in their interests, provides essential shared services, and even chooses to fight to secure and maintain their freedom. Although we may not think of Canada as a kingdom, I think Jean Chrétien does. I think perhaps he thinks of it as his kingdom, but let’s not get into that… But by belonging to the kingdom of Canada we are granted numerous rights and privileges, including freedom and security.
In a similar way, belonging to the spiritual Kingdom of God entails for us certain rights and privileges. But here is the key – the further we get from the center of the kingdom, the less we experience the benefits and influence.
Think about it in terms of the medieval city states. If you lived in the city, had a good king and saw the him and heard him speak and experienced him being good and gracious and generous, you would love him. But the further your farm was from the city, the less of an influence the kingdom had on you and on your life. You might occasionally hear about the king, but you wouldn’t know him or be able to really love him. Tax time becomes a burden given with great reluctance and resistance instead of a welcome participation in funding things that are essential to the whole kingdom.
Spiritually it works the same way. If we claim to be part of God’s Kingdom but live a great distance from our King, we experience the same thing: little influence. Little benefit. No sense of connection and love for the King. Giving (if done at all) is a burden and reluctant duty instead of a joyous expression of love and gratitude. And as a result we experience little of the power of the King.
Seek First:
Well, I’m tired of the church living a distance from the center of the Kingdom. Tired of being out in a rural setting feeling like the King is way off at a distance. Tired of feeling powerless and undefended and vulnerable and left out.
And so it is time to move. Time to get closer. Time to fully embrace the Kingdom.
Jesus said – don’t worry about anything. Nothing. Not food. Not clothing. Not security or illness or provisions. Do not worry about tomorrow – because you have a good King. He knows what you need. He will provide it.
And then He said this: “Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33). In Luke 17:21, Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is within you.”
Well I’m ready to seek first the Kingdom of God. I want that in my life and for my family. I want that for us as a church. I want that for our community – both immediate here in Laurier Heights but beyond that in the communities that you live in. I long to see the Kingdom of God in its entirety.
Because I know it is good. I’ve tasted it. I’ve glimpsed it. I’ve seen it in you individually as you heard God speak and responded to Him in obedience. I’ve seen it at times as we worship with enthusiasm even though life might be difficult – we choose to enter God’s presence and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. I’ve seen it in our church leaders as we have fasted and sought God, and heard Him say “It’s your heart I care about, not the mechanics of times and worship styles.” I see it in the unconditional love of my wife and my son. I’ve seen it as God speaks words of healing and comfort and correction and guidance. I’ve seen it in teens whose hearts break alongside the poor.
Now I’m not a pure idealist. I recognize that in this life we will not know the fullness of the Kingdom of God like we will after we die and enter His presence. But I’m also not going to let that stop me from being dissatisfied now, and I won’t let that stop me from seeking God’s Kingdom first, and trusting Him for everything else.
Hear my heart cry – it is that we know the presence and the Kingdom of God. That we choose to live as close to the center of the heart of God as we can – that we choose to proclaim Jesus as Lord and live by His word, in obedience and surrender to Him. That we choose to exhibit the greatness of this Kingdom, which is within us, to all those who are not yet citizens of this Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit:
It is the Holy Spirit that brings us into the center of the Kingdom of God. We have been studying the Holy Spirit over the past month – we looked at how the Spirit IS God, how He is at work all around us, and how He re-creates us and gives us life. Today I want to look at how the Holy Spirit works to bring us into the Kingdom of God. Let’s look at John 16:5-15 (NRSV).
Jesus’ leaving is “to our advantage”:
Jesus is comforting His disciples in this passage. He has already shared the last supper, Judas has left to betray Him, and they are either on their way to the garden of Gethsemane or maybe already there. And the very first thing that jumped out at me as I looked at these verses was the startling statement that Jesus makes in vs. 7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
We are a Christ-centered people. We believe in Jesus, we worship Him as our Lord, we exalt Him. Yet here Jesus says it is “to our advantage that He goes away,” so that He can send the Holy Spirit. That is a startling statement, but it makes sense when we think about it.
· As fully human, Jesus was limited in space and time. The Holy Spirit is now present everywhere simultaneously.
· Jesus concentrated His time and effort on a few people, relating to them man to man. The Spirit fills all who welcome him, and changes us from within.
· Jesus’ specific ministry of dying and rising again was beyond the comprehension of even His closest followers. By ascending to the Father, He leaves the Spirit free to testify to this miracle and impress the truth of it upon all.
I don’t know if you’ve ever longed for the physical presence of Jesus, but Jesus says this way is actually better. It is to our advantage that the Holy Spirit has been sent.
Three verbs:
There are three verbs that describe the work of the Holy Spirit in this passage. The first is in vs 8, which the NRSV translates as “prove the world wrong.” The second is in vs 13, “guide you into all the truth”, and the third in vs 14, “glorify me.” Let’s take them one at a time.
Glorify (vss. 14-15):
I want to start at the last and work backwards. The final thing that Jesus teaches us about the Spirit is that he will “glorify me”.
I want to start here because this is the heart of the kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom of God? It is the reign of Jesus – it is the state of humanity and all creation glorifying Jesus the Son. This is what Paul longs for when speaks God’s promise that “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).
And that is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at work creating the Kingdom of God, building it in and through people. To bring glory to the Son.
This is why it is so crucial for us to worship – in worship we give glory to our King. Let me take you back to the city-state analogy for a moment and ask this question: suppose the king of the city state invited all his subjects to gather. He gave them great gifts, in fact gave them life. And in response some yawned. Some came with an angry heart towards him. Some criticized the proceedings. Some didn’t even bother to come, feeling like it was just too much effort. Some took the gifts and trampled them on the ground. Some turned away when the king offered his hand in friendship. Some scoffed when invited to trade their filthy rags for royal robes, claiming the old ones were comfortable. How would the king feel? How would the king respond??
Vss. 14-15 tell us of the progression: the Father has given the Son everything, and the Spirit takes from the Son and gives to us. The Father is the source, we are the beneficiaries. We need to respond with worship enacted in obedience. How do we know what to obey? This brings us to the second verb:
Guide (vss. 12-13):
I remember Christmas, 1980, when I was 9. My mom, who was a secretary in a small 3-person company, got a Christmas bonus – a trip for her and my brother and me to Disneyland. Plane and hotel, all covered – and even some cash. Her boss was not a Christian, but wow did they have a spirit of generosity. Anyway, we got off the plane in Los Angeles, and immediately felt scared, overwhelmed, and more than a little lost. A single mom on her first trip outside Canada, second time on a plane, a 9yr old and a 12yr old… And there, right where we came through customs, was a man holding a sign that said, “Grants.” My mom joked as she walked past him, “That’s my name but I’m sure you aren’t looking for a mom and two kids.” “Wendy?” He asked. “Yup, it’s you I’m looking for. I’m here to guide you through the airport, help you find your motel, and make sure you have everything you need.”
Three Canadians feeling lost and overwhelmed in the middle of the LA airport, until the guide steps forward and says, “follow me. I’ll lead you.” He took us to find our luggage, then to the bus that would take us to Anaheim, and told us exactly where to get off.
Jesus acknowledges the difficulty of the situation, and that there are many things that don’t make sense to His disciples prior to the cross. And He knows that there are difficult times ahead – the part just before where we began reading was about persecution. So He reassures us: “It’s ok – the Spirit will guide you. He will lead you into the Truth.”
The promise is plain: Jesus continues to speak and to guide us – through the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you – are you listening? Are you listening to the voice of Jesus speaking to you through the Holy Spirit?
Allow me to be blunt: all that is wrong in our lives is a direct result of not listening to the voice of God – either us not listening or sometimes someone else not listening and hurting us. Hear me correctly – I said all that is “wrong,” not all that is “difficult” or “unpleasant” or “uncomfortable.” And let me clarify this, also – most often it is us not listening and not us being innocent bystanders hurt by someone else, but I acknowledge that isn’t always the case. So if that is true, that all that is wrong in our lives is a direct result of not listening to the voice of God, it makes it pretty clear to me that it is in our best interests to learn to listen! To follow the guiding into truth that is promised through the work of the Holy Spirit!!
“How” to listen could easily be an entire sermon series, but let me make it as simple as possible. First, ask. “Lord, speak to me.” Second, choose to live in the center of the Kingdom – choose to do all the things that define a citizen of God’s Kingdom, like reading His word and praying and worshiping and serving and helping others – especially the poor. The Spirit longs to guide, longs to “speak whatever He hears” from Jesus.
Do you see?? That is the Kingdom of God!! The King, intimately involved in enriching the lives of His subjects, whom He views not as servants or as people to be oppressed and manipulated, but as His very own children – loved and accepted and adopted. Speaking, restoring, empowering, healing, freeing, loving extravagantly!! That is the Kingdom of God!!! That is what God wants us to seek – first.
Proving the world wrong (vss. 8-11):
The last verb (which is actually the first in the passage) is variously translated. The NRSV translates it as “proves the world wrong.” NIV = “convict”. MSG = “expose”, which is actually quiet close to the original. My theological dictionary says the word means “to show people their sins and summon them to repentance.” The first verb talked about the Spirit’s relationship to Jesus, the second the Spirit’s relationship to believers, and this third talks about the Spirit’s relationship to the world.
The Spirit shows “the world” their sins and summons them to repentance. This is how He builds the Kingdom of God, by revealing the sin and bringing people to repentance. Jesus elaborates: the biggest sin, the root of all sin, is rejecting God – specifically here God the Son (vs. 9). He elaborates on the idea of righteousness, which is only found in Jesus and is demonstrated in His ascension – the Spirit convicts of any sense of self-righteousness as He reveals Jesus. He elaborates on judgment, declaring that the Spirit will convict the world and reveal the judgment that in Christ is already passed on the devil.
The Progression:
Here is the work of the Holy Spirit: first, to convict of sin. Then, to guide into all truth. All with the purpose of glorifying the Son.
J.I. Packer describes this work of the Spirit as a “floodlight” ministry. The purpose of a floodlight is to illuminate something else, not to draw attention to itself. That is how the Holy Spirit works – He shines into our lives to reveal sin, He shines on the path in front of us so we know which way to move, and above all He shines on Jesus.
Will you invite His light to shine on you? It’s warm, it’s good. It will bring you into the Kingdom of God, ever closer to the King Himself.
