Pentecost Sunday 5/27/2007 John 14:8-17; 25-27 Title: Fire, Wind, and Tongues
Pentecost Sunday
5/27/2007
John 14:8-17; 25-27
Title: Fire, Wind, and Tongues
Last Sunday we found out that as long as the Christian community focuses on what it can do to achieve unity, we will never have true unity. I say that because the only thing that can unify us is by God bringing us into oneness with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We can pass as many rules as we want in the Voter’s meetings and Synod conventions. We can have a common hymnal, and worship service, but as long as we continue to focus on what we have to do as Christians we will never have unity. We will never have unity in the Christian community until we literally stop what we are doing, confess our sinfulness, our complete inability to come to God, and then kneel, and listen to God’s Words to us.
Our Gospel text on Pentecost Sunday continues to stress that unity is only found by believing, that is trusting, in Jesus Christ since he and the Father are one. The disciples never got that until Pentecost, that day so long ago, when the Holy Spirit came in something like the wind, fire, and tongues.
We hear Philip say in verse 8, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” It will be enough for us, one would hope so! Philip is asking the same thing that people of all ages has asked, “Show me God and I will believe.”
What might Phillip have had in mind when he asked Jesus to show them the Father? And while we are at it what do we have in mind when we, as we who so often hesitate to do Jesus’ work in this place, ask the same thing, “Show me something spectacular, and then I will know you are truly God and I will trust in you. I will do what you have asked. I will Lord, I promise you, just show me your glory.”
We are not alone in that request, for Elijah, just to pick out just one of many that the Bible records for us, asked God to show him his glory and God said that might not be such a good idea, so he came to him as a whisper.
There in is the problem because just like Philip, when we ask that question we show that we have not fully realized that at the center of Jesus' identity is his relation to the Father, a relation of such intimacy that Jesus can say in verse 9 that anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
It helps to understand that at the time it was understood that when a messenger was sent by, say a king, that the messenger would be recognized and treated the same way as the one that sent him. That explains the concept, but what Jesus is describing goes way beyond that type of understanding.
For when Jesus speaks in verse 10 of a mutual indwelling: I am in the Father, and . . . the Father is in me, he does not simply represent the Father, he is him. Such complete union means that Jesus' words and deeds are the Father’s words and deeds.
Notice that Jesus does not say, however, that he is the Father. Throughout ministry Jesus maintains a careful distinction between his oneness with God and his distinctness from him.
When Jesus says that “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” he is not talking about just physical sight, or intellectual sight, for just as there are those today who do not accept Jesus as their Savior there were those in Jesus day who saw him physically and intellectually and still did not accept him.
The seeing that Jesus is talking about is the sight that we have through the faith that the Holy Spirit has given each of us. The faith I am speaking of here is believing that when we hear Jesus’ words we know that they are the Father’s words. Until we grasp this aspect of Jesus' identity we cannot really fully understand anything else about him.
What really caught my eye in the Gospel lesson is verse 12. With Jesus about to depart he is telling his disciples that anyone, that includes us, will, by faith even do greater things than Jesus had done.
What are these greater things of which Jesus speaks? Some think he is referring to spectacular miracles, but what would top the raising of Lazarus or Jesus’ own resurrection?
Let’s see if we can tell from the text what Jesus is talking about. As we go through the verses we read that whatever they ask in his name he will do. That is a much misunderstood verse, for people think that means that as long as you believe in Jesus you will receive whatever it is your heart desires.
Those that believe that way have not paid any attention to the last part of the verse where he says that he will answer the prayer so that the Father will be glorified in the Son. What that tells us is that you will receive what you pray for, if in receiving it, it will glorify God.
In verse 16 we read that Jesus is telling his disciples that he is sending a helper that will be there until the end of time. I am not really fond of the word helper, unless you think of the Holy Spirit being the helper of Jesus and the Father, for without the help of the Holy Spirit we can not come to faith.
That type of helper will work, for the Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus, thereby leading us into all truth and convicting the world for their rejection of Jesus. This theme of bearing witness is part of the larger motif of a legal trial that runs through the Gospel: Jesus reveals the Father, which brings about the world's judgment, and the world in turn condemns Jesus who carries our guilt.
In verse 15 we see that the Holy Spirit, like the Son, comes from the Father as an answer to Jesus’ request. Do you see the unity there? The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one, so when we are one with Jesus we are one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I praise God for the unity of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit for without that unity we could not live our lives knowing that the punishment we all deserve has been taken care of.
I praise God the Father for creating and sustaining the world as we know it. I praise our God Jesus for coming to this earth as one of us, who lived a perfect sinless life, and then willingly and freely taking the punishment from God the Father that we all deserve.
I praise God the Holy Spirit for enabling us to come to faith, for without him we could not come to faith, or stay in the faith. We are stuck in our natural sinfulness and as the Bible tells us do not want to be near God, but the Holy Spirit comes to us and gives saving faith.
So on this Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we have come together to be one. That sound that seemed like a mighty wind, those flames and tongues are our guarantee that we are not alone.
And in all this we find what it is that we can do that is greater than Jesus. Jesus while he was on this earth was a physical being tied to one place and time in history. With the sending of the Holy Spirit from Jesus and the Father we are able to reach more people than Jesus could. Christians, living, breathing, caring Christians continue to carry the good news of Jesus to the unbelieving world. We in our unity are doing greater things than Jesus just as he promised we would. Amen.
5/27/2007
John 14:8-17; 25-27
Title: Fire, Wind, and Tongues
Last Sunday we found out that as long as the Christian community focuses on what it can do to achieve unity, we will never have true unity. I say that because the only thing that can unify us is by God bringing us into oneness with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We can pass as many rules as we want in the Voter’s meetings and Synod conventions. We can have a common hymnal, and worship service, but as long as we continue to focus on what we have to do as Christians we will never have unity. We will never have unity in the Christian community until we literally stop what we are doing, confess our sinfulness, our complete inability to come to God, and then kneel, and listen to God’s Words to us.
Our Gospel text on Pentecost Sunday continues to stress that unity is only found by believing, that is trusting, in Jesus Christ since he and the Father are one. The disciples never got that until Pentecost, that day so long ago, when the Holy Spirit came in something like the wind, fire, and tongues.
We hear Philip say in verse 8, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” It will be enough for us, one would hope so! Philip is asking the same thing that people of all ages has asked, “Show me God and I will believe.”
What might Phillip have had in mind when he asked Jesus to show them the Father? And while we are at it what do we have in mind when we, as we who so often hesitate to do Jesus’ work in this place, ask the same thing, “Show me something spectacular, and then I will know you are truly God and I will trust in you. I will do what you have asked. I will Lord, I promise you, just show me your glory.”
We are not alone in that request, for Elijah, just to pick out just one of many that the Bible records for us, asked God to show him his glory and God said that might not be such a good idea, so he came to him as a whisper.
There in is the problem because just like Philip, when we ask that question we show that we have not fully realized that at the center of Jesus' identity is his relation to the Father, a relation of such intimacy that Jesus can say in verse 9 that anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
It helps to understand that at the time it was understood that when a messenger was sent by, say a king, that the messenger would be recognized and treated the same way as the one that sent him. That explains the concept, but what Jesus is describing goes way beyond that type of understanding.
For when Jesus speaks in verse 10 of a mutual indwelling: I am in the Father, and . . . the Father is in me, he does not simply represent the Father, he is him. Such complete union means that Jesus' words and deeds are the Father’s words and deeds.
Notice that Jesus does not say, however, that he is the Father. Throughout ministry Jesus maintains a careful distinction between his oneness with God and his distinctness from him.
When Jesus says that “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” he is not talking about just physical sight, or intellectual sight, for just as there are those today who do not accept Jesus as their Savior there were those in Jesus day who saw him physically and intellectually and still did not accept him.
The seeing that Jesus is talking about is the sight that we have through the faith that the Holy Spirit has given each of us. The faith I am speaking of here is believing that when we hear Jesus’ words we know that they are the Father’s words. Until we grasp this aspect of Jesus' identity we cannot really fully understand anything else about him.
What really caught my eye in the Gospel lesson is verse 12. With Jesus about to depart he is telling his disciples that anyone, that includes us, will, by faith even do greater things than Jesus had done.
What are these greater things of which Jesus speaks? Some think he is referring to spectacular miracles, but what would top the raising of Lazarus or Jesus’ own resurrection?
Let’s see if we can tell from the text what Jesus is talking about. As we go through the verses we read that whatever they ask in his name he will do. That is a much misunderstood verse, for people think that means that as long as you believe in Jesus you will receive whatever it is your heart desires.
Those that believe that way have not paid any attention to the last part of the verse where he says that he will answer the prayer so that the Father will be glorified in the Son. What that tells us is that you will receive what you pray for, if in receiving it, it will glorify God.
In verse 16 we read that Jesus is telling his disciples that he is sending a helper that will be there until the end of time. I am not really fond of the word helper, unless you think of the Holy Spirit being the helper of Jesus and the Father, for without the help of the Holy Spirit we can not come to faith.
That type of helper will work, for the Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus, thereby leading us into all truth and convicting the world for their rejection of Jesus. This theme of bearing witness is part of the larger motif of a legal trial that runs through the Gospel: Jesus reveals the Father, which brings about the world's judgment, and the world in turn condemns Jesus who carries our guilt.
In verse 15 we see that the Holy Spirit, like the Son, comes from the Father as an answer to Jesus’ request. Do you see the unity there? The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one, so when we are one with Jesus we are one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I praise God for the unity of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit for without that unity we could not live our lives knowing that the punishment we all deserve has been taken care of.
I praise God the Father for creating and sustaining the world as we know it. I praise our God Jesus for coming to this earth as one of us, who lived a perfect sinless life, and then willingly and freely taking the punishment from God the Father that we all deserve.
I praise God the Holy Spirit for enabling us to come to faith, for without him we could not come to faith, or stay in the faith. We are stuck in our natural sinfulness and as the Bible tells us do not want to be near God, but the Holy Spirit comes to us and gives saving faith.
So on this Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we have come together to be one. That sound that seemed like a mighty wind, those flames and tongues are our guarantee that we are not alone.
And in all this we find what it is that we can do that is greater than Jesus. Jesus while he was on this earth was a physical being tied to one place and time in history. With the sending of the Holy Spirit from Jesus and the Father we are able to reach more people than Jesus could. Christians, living, breathing, caring Christians continue to carry the good news of Jesus to the unbelieving world. We in our unity are doing greater things than Jesus just as he promised we would. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 4:13 PM
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