Sometimes what’s best for us isn’t really apparent in the middle of our journey. It’s only later we discover that an event, though difficult at the time, actually turned out to be the best thing for us. As the old country song says “They hindsight 20/20…”
This coming Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit onto His Church. Today, we still live in the afterglow of the Feast of the Ascension, and we live in that tension between the Promise and the Fulfillment. And this tension is necessary if we are to mature into faithful believers and followers of Christ. There IS NO SHORTCUT! So, stop looking for one!
In our Gospel Lesson today, our Lord Jesus is revealing to His disciples, and to us, the power of passing through rather than the eternally debilitating desire to always be rescued! In John 16:2-13 the Lord tells His disciples that there will come a time when those who persecute and even kill His disciples will think they are doing God’s will! Hold on a second, is this what I signed up for?
But Jesus goes on to reveal to His disciples that there is a Counselor Who is coming to accomplish three specific ministries through His Church and these necessary ministries make the Lord’s going “away” an advantage to His disciples and to us who are also called to be His disciples. Look at the three ministries the Holy Spirit will accomplish in and through His Church:
The Counselor (ὁ παράκλητος, the One called along side to help) “will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…” (John 16:8) And these three ministries of the Holy Spirit in His Church are for three specific reasons.
The Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin (not rule-breaking but impoverished spiritual illness) because no connection with the Incarnate Christ leads to death and the Holy Spirit will, through His Church, cause people to realize that their disconnection from God is causing their spiritual sickness AND they don’t have to stay sick!
Concerning righteousness because the one Incarnate Christ is now ascending to His Father’s side and He is, through the coming of the Holy Spirit, multiply His Presence throughout the world in the people of His Church!
And finally concerning judgement because the Holy Spirit will make it crystal clear through His Church that the kingdom of darkness can’t hold a candle to the Kingdom of Christ! The defeat of death is total and irreversible! And this victory is extended to everyone everywhere! And it is the consistent and faithful witness of His Church to His victory over death that proves the Lord’s victory to every generation.
The Church, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, will be Christ all over the world. Advantage, Body of Christ!
Today, you were given the Holy Spirit at your Chrismation after your baptism by the Church, and through the authority that Christ gives His Body because of the coming of the Holy Spirit. You possess the potential to participate in this three-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world, and you, in fact, are called to do so. To not participate with the Holy Spirit in this three-fold ministry is to say “no thank you” to the advantage Christ has given His Church at Pentecost! But, if you are willing to see all the temporary hardships you face filled with the sure knowledge that they can and will all work to make you more like Christ, then you are empowered to be such a witness for the victory of the Kingdom of God that your life will shine Light on everyone around you!
And all it takes is your willingness to embrace what you already have! Ready for an eternal adventure? Great! Let’s get to it then!
