The Spirit of Truth

 The Spirit of Truth

John 16:12-15[1]

Sharing our faith is something that can be difficult for most of us. In fact, I would say that the vast majority of Christians in this country never say a word about their faith outside a church building. There are a variety of reasons for this. We don’t much like to talk about our faith in public. In fact, I think we’d prefer to do just about anything other than having to talk about our faith in public. For many of us, our convictions are something very personal to us, and we hold them dear. For others, it just seems like there’s so much about our faith that we don’t understand. And for that reason we don’t think we’re capable of talking about our faith.

But sharing our faith is something essential. All of us learned faith in Jesus because of someone who talked to us about him. It may not have happened in a “public” place. For most of us it probably happened either in church or at home or both. But sharing our faith remains the primary means of passing it along from one person to another. More than that, as we saw last week, the “truth” that Jesus has brought us is the truth of a relationship with God whereby we experience God’s love and we put into practice God’s ways and purposes in this world in our daily lives. In order to do that, many of us may feel like we need to know more about that “truth.”

Our lesson from John’s Gospel for today addresses this problem. As we’ve seen already, in this section of the Gospel Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure. But they are confused. They cannot fathom the idea that the Messiah would abandon them. In response, Jesus promises to send them “an Advocate” from the Father (Jn 15:26). The word “Advocate” here could also be translated “Comforter,” “Counselor,” “Helper,” or “Friend.” I think the main point is that the one Jesus was sending to them would be with them in the same way that he had been with them. Of course, he’s referring to the Spirit of God, the one who makes our relationship with God “real” for us, and the one who makes Jesus’ presence real in our lives.

Jesus calls this helper “the Spirit of Truth.” As such, he says that “the Spirit of truth” will guide the disciples “into all truth” (Jn 16:13). That would consist of “teaching” them “everything,” and “reminding” them “of all I have said to you.” Jesus goes on to say that the “helper” will “glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:14). It would seem, then, that the role of the “helper” is not only to enable them to remember Jesus’ teachings, and beyond that to understand Jesus’ teachings. It would seem that the role of the “helper” was to give them further “truth” that they had not yet received. I think we find that “further truth” in the books of the NT, none of which were written when Jesus lived.

But the “Spirit of Truth” has another role in our lesson for today. I think it’s important for us to see that the main work of the Spirit would be to enable Jesus’ disciples to “testify” to him. In our lesson for today, Jesus promises that the Spirit would testify to him, and that would enable his disciples to testify also (Jn 15:26-27). That follows a pattern in John’s Gospel: just as Jesus did the work God sent him to do, so they would also do the work Jesus sent them to do (Jn. 14:12). Just as Jesus taught what God had given him to teach, so the Spirit would continue to teach them, and in turn they would teach others (Jn. 16:13).[2] They would discover the “truth” as they put into practice the things Jesus taught them in their daily lives.[3]

So the “helper,” or the “Spirit of Truth” would not only lead them into “all truth.” The Spirit would also lead them into all the truth they would need to carry out their work of testifying to Jesus and to the new life they had through him. That’s what the Spirit does in our lives: the Spirit brings the word of Scripture to life so that it calls forth our faith and service to others in love. The Spirit works in our lives constantly to shape us into the image of Christ, producing the “fruit” of character traits that resemble Jesus’ own character. The Spirit empowers every aspect of our lives as Christians, everything we do both individually and together as the Body of Christ. The Spirit teaches us, equips us with gifts, calls us, and perhaps most importantly, pushes us out of our comfortable ruts so that we will indeed “testify” to Jesus and the new life he has given us.

On this day we commemorate the first Pentecost of the early church. Before that day, the first Christians typically gathered behind locked doors out of fear of being caught and arrested. But when the Spirit came upon them, they seemed to lose their fear and became bold witnesses to Jesus Christ. This is precisely what Jesus says the Spirit would do for the disciples in our lesson from John’s Gospel for today. Jesus promises that the Spirit would testify to him, and that would enable them to testify as well. That’s how sharing your faith works. It’s not something any of us can do alone. Even the Apostles affirm time and again in the NT that the only way they were able to do the amazing things they did was because the Spirit of God empowered them to do so. The same is true for us. We can only share our faith as the “Spirit of Truth” “glorifies” Jesus in and through our lives. We can share our faith as the Spirit reminds us, guides us, teaches us, and empowers us to put our faith into practice in our daily lives.

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[1] © 2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 5/23/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] cf. Eugene Peterson, “The Story Behind the Story: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15,” Journal for Preachers 26 (no. 4 Pentecost) 2003:6-7.

[3] Cf. Gail R. O’Day, “Gospel of John,” New Interpreters Bible IX:749.

God's Truth

 God’s Truth

John 17:1-24[1]

Long ago, the prophet who spoke in the book of Isaiah said, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public square, and uprightness cannot enter” (Isa 59:14). Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with the fact that “truth stumbles in the public square.” The lines between facts and opinions have become so blurred in our day that many good people fall under the influence of all kinds of “conspiracy theories.” This plays out in politics, in religion, and in family life. It seems that there’s no aspect of our lives that hasn’t been affected by this problem. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the falsehoods that prevail in our society lead to confusion and turmoil.

Part of the problem is that we all seem to have become much more rigid about what we call “Truth.” We hold fast to our own convictions, regardless of whether they may fly in the face of the facts. This can be a particular temptation for those of us in the church. We may assume not only that our understanding of “Truth” is correct, but also that we have God on our side. The problem with this approach is that when we’re not willing to admit that we may not know the “Truth,” we not only close ourselves off from any chance of learning, we also throw up walls that divide “us” from “them.”

Our lesson from John’s Gospel for today addresses some of these issues. In this section of the Gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the fact that he would be leaving them soon. Not only is he “pulling out all the stops” in his effort to communicate his message to them. He’s also tying up all the previous hints and clues in John’s Gospel that he had been dropping all along about his purpose and his mission. In our lesson for today, Jesus uses the opportunity to pray for the disciples that they would indeed understand and follow the truth he had sought to teach them.

One of the most important themes in this Gospel is that the “Truth” Jesus taught his disciples is a unique kind of truth. It is not the truth of science or mathematics, where formulas and equations all add up. It is not the truth of philosophy seeking to come up with a rational answer to just about every question one could think. Nor is it the “truth” of of insisting that my opinion is “right” and if you disagree with me your opinion is “wrong.” Rather, the “Truth” that Jesus came to bring is the truth of a relationship with God whereby we experience God’s love and we embrace God’s ways and purposes in this world.

I think we see this reflected in our Gospel lesson today in several ways. First, the “Truth” that Jesus taught his disciples was something that Jesus had received from his Father. We see this in an interesting interplay between the “Name” and the “Word” and the “Truth” Jesus says that God had given him. The point of this is, as Jesus says, “Now they know that everything you have given me is from you” (Jn. 17:7). The fact that everything Jesus did and taught had come from his Father reflects the relationship between Jesus and the Father. It was such a close relationship that Jesus could say that he was doing only what the Father wanted him to do.

At the same time, the theme is expanded here to include the disciples in that relationship. Interestingly, just as the Father had given Jesus the “Name” and the “Word” and the “Truth, so Jesus says that the disciples were those whom the Father had given him. The reason why Jesus had taught them the “Truth” he had received from the Father was so that the disciples could share the joy of his relationship with God. Jesus said it this way: “I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.” (Jn. 17:13). The truth Jesus spoke was the kind of truth that was intended to draw the disciples into the same relationship with the Father that he enjoyed.

But there was more to it than that. The truth that Jesus taught his disciples was the kind of truth that would not leave them where they were. It would change them, and it would change them through and through. Jesus said that the ultimate purpose of this truth was that they may be “sanctified in the truth” (Jn. 17:17, 19). In the Bible, sanctification is one of those theological words that means to set something or someone apart for God’s purposes. I like the way the CEV puts it: “let this truth make them completely yours” (John 17:17 CEV). The kind of truth Jesus brought was intended to make those who followed it into people who belong completely to God.

When we receive and embrace the truth Jesus taught, we are changed so that we become people who belong to God and to God’s truth through and through. We enter into a relationship with God, that both brings us joy and makes a claim on our lives. That may not answer the problem of “Truth” in our world at large. The turmoil in our society is due in part to the fact that the people who lead us are driven by their own egos. Even though that turmoil is frightening, we have the assurance that no matter what may happen in the world, our lives are always in God’s hands. “Truth” may “stumble” in the “public square” today, but we can trust that God’s truth will prevail—if not now, then finally. And God’s truth prevails now in our lives when we embrace it to such an extent that it defines how we live. God’s truth is about a relationship, and when we embrace that truth in Jesus Christ, we are changed into people who put God’s truth into practice. Perhaps that’s the place to begin trying to solve to the problem of “Truth” in our world.

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[1] © 2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 5/16/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Staying Connected

Staying Connected

John 15:9-17[1]

Love always leaves its mark on us.[2] It just goes with the territory. No matter whom or what we may love, it leaves its mark. Whether it’s grandparents or parents, brothers or sisters, children or grand­children, friends or neighbors, our love for them changes our lives. We do all kinds of things for those we love that we might not do otherwise. Of course, we don’t practice our love perfectly. Fortunately, we don’t have to practice love perfectly for it to make a difference. Even our fallible love has a way of defining the character of our lives. More than that, it often dictates how we spend our time in the routines of the day. Love always leaves its mark on us.

Last week we saw that Jesus used the metaphor of a vine and branches to portray our relationship with him. Like branches on a grapevine, we  will “bear much fruit” as we “abide” in him. I must confess that I’ve always found this language confusing. How do we in this day and age abide in Jesus who lived so long ago? We believe that the Risen Lord is constantly present in all of our lives. And we believe that we can still have a relationship with him. Last week we talked about “abiding” in Jesus in terms of remaining “connected” to him. But again, I think it can be a mystery to us just exactly how we’re supposed to do this. The question lingers in our minds, “How do I stay connected to Jesus?”

Most of the answers to this question throughout the ages have focused on spiritual practices. We stay connected to Jesus through prayer. Or we stay connected to him by regularly reading the Bible. Some have gone deeper and viewed this as a mystical relationship, involving some kind of contemplation or meditation. While all of these practices can be helpful to us, I must confess that I have always felt that there was something missing. It all just seemed too detached from the way we actually live our daily lives. And I think staying connected to Jesus is meant to be something that leaves its mark on how we live our lives every day.

I would say that our lesson for today actually provides us with a very practical, down-to-earth kind of answer to this question. We stay connected to Jesus by following his example in our daily living. That may sound too “easy” but in practice it’s not! I think it starts with our relationship with God. Jesus says: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my command­ments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (Jn 15:9-10). Now, the language of John’s Gospel can come across as kind of convoluted at times, but I think what Jesus is saying is that everything he did was motivated by God’s love. Because he knew God’s love, he devoted his entire life to carrying out what God wanted him to do. I think that’s where it starts for us as well. We can commit our lives to following Jesus’ example because we also know God’s love for us.

The next step is to figure out what it looks like to follow Jesus’ example in our daily lives. Again, Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” That seems straightforward enough. If we want to stay connected to Jesus, we will obey his command to love others.[3] But there’s more to it here. Jesus says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13). That’s the way Jesus loved us; and if we stay connected to Jesus it will mean that we love others by laying down our lives for them. That’s how love works—when we know that we are loved, we demonstrate it in our daily lives by sharing that love with others.

I think Jesus is talking about transforming our whole relationship with God. In one way, Jesus sums up all that it means to stay connected to him in terms of being his “friends.” I think it’s important to notice that he’s not talking about his being our friend, but rather he’s talking about what it looks like for us to be his friends. Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). Jesus made us his friends by laying down his life for us. And we stay connected to him by doing the same thing: we make others our friends by laying down our lives for them.[4] That might not change the way they relate to us, but it will most definitely change the way we relate to them.[5]

I think Jesus’ point here is that if we decide we’re going to live our lives by staying connected to him, then his love will leave its mark on our lives. When we truly experience the love of Jesus it will work its way into every aspect of life. And that means that we will practice the same kind of love he showed us toward one another, and beyond that toward all people. We’re not talking about how we feel towards others.[6] Staying connected to Jesus is about a commitment to follow his example by loving others enough to lay down our lives for them.[7]

To me, this is the point of John 15: Jesus is calling us all to respond to the love we have received by sharing that love with others. I’ll be the first one to admit this is a tall order. I think we have to acknowledge that none of us will be able to do this perfectly. But this call is perhaps one of the most challenging ones in the Bible. It’s not something you can do “in your spare time.” It will require us to devote much more of our time and energy if we determine to “stay connected” to Jesus by going out and becoming “friends” with those around us and laying down our lives for them.

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[1]© 2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 5/9/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves, 121, “to love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”

[3] Cf. the Heidelberg Catechism of 1562, which defines loving your neighbor as yourself in terms of being “patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful and friendly” to all, even your enemies (cf. The Book of Confession, 2016, p. 65)!

[4] See especially Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 114-121, where he construes the Christian life based on the  “friendship” which Jesus models and we are called to emulate.

[5] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, Ethics of Hope, 202: “We are not the enemies of our enemies; we are ‘the children of our Father in heaven’, ... . If we do not react to enmity with enmity, we creatively make it possible for our enemies to turn away from their enmity and to enter into the life we share.”

[6] Cf. Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu, Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference, 25: “Perfect love is not an emotion; it is not how we feel. It is what we do. Perfect love is action that is not wrapped up in self-regard, and it has no concern with deserving. Instead, perfect love is love poured out. It is self-offering made out of the joy of giving. It requires no prompting. It seeks no response and no reward.”

[7] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life, 255: Love means combining, “respect for the other person’s freedom” to be an individual “with deep affection for him or her as a person.”

Connected to Jesus

 Connected to Jesus

John 15:1-8[1]

One of the amazing facets of human language is the way we use metaphors. They help our feeble words reflect the richness of life. They add color to what could otherwise be a drab world. They use simple word pictures to express our sometimes-complicated experiences. Like “putting the cart before the horse.” All you have to do is say it and it speaks for itself. You get the point without anyone having to explain it. It is this simplicity of metaphors—the fact that they need no explanation—that makes them so useful in language. They not only give us a means to express our experiences in life, but they also help us make sense of them.

One of the challenges with metaphors is that their simplicity can keep us from seeing the subtle nuances and even the very real complexity of our experiences. A metaphor like “putting the cart before the horse” is meaningful to us because it clearly depicts one aspect of taking action: following steps in their proper order. Of course, there is more to taking action than this. And the temptation with a metaphor is to push it too far. We might turn the image into a discussion of choosing the right horse to pull the cart. Or we might get caught up in the details of what makes a cart suitable to be pulled by a horse. But when we do that, we’re missing the point of the metaphor.

There is something of this dynamic with language going on in our Gospel lesson for today. Jesus uses a beautiful image to describe what it means to follow him in discipleship. He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5). Those of us who have experience with gardening understand the main point of the metaphor: branches “bear fruit” because they draw vital energy and nutrients from the vine. And so Jesus uses this metaphor to help his disciples understand something very important: it is their connection to him that enables them to live a life of faithful discipleship. That is the point of this metaphor.

But Jesus sort of “complicates” the metaphor by alluding to another aspect of tending a vine: “pruning.” In order for the branches to have the best possible yield, you have to “clean” the vine of the branches from last years’ crop. You strip off the old branches that have already borne fruit in order to make way for a new harvest in the coming year. In the case of some plants, you also have to keep an eye out for “sucker” branches that “waste” the vital energy needed for it to produce the best possible fruit. This kind of “pruning” is an important part of horticulture, whether you’re talking about tending vines or tending garden plants.

The problem comes up here with the fact that Jesus is talking not about plants, but about people! He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches”! And in the process of presenting this metaphor, he speaks about “pruning” the vine by removing branches that don’t bear fruit, gathering them up, and burning them in “the fire” (Jn 15:2, 6). I think we can miss the point here if we’re not careful. It’s very easy to read this passage and come away with questions or doubts about whether you’re a branch that bears fruit or a branch that gets lopped off and withers. Unfortunately, I think for many people who read this passage, that is what they come away with: worrying whether they are a “fruitful” branch or not.

But I don’t think that Jesus was using this metaphor of the vine and the branches to create doubt. In the original setting, Jesus was preparing his disciples for his imminent departure. He would be “lifted up” on the cross and as a result he would return to the Father. He spent a great deal of time in these chapters of John’s Gospel helping them understand how they were going to carry on after he was no longer physically present with them. And here he emphasizes that they will “bear fruit” as his disciples because they will remain connected to him through his words and through the Spirit whom he would give them. He says it this way: “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit” (Jn 15:5). His point is that, even though he will not be present with them physically, they will be able to carry on in fruitful discipleship because they are still be connected to him.

But Jesus also says, “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (Jn. 15:4). I think here Jesus is simply stating the other side of the same point. Just as branches that are no longer connected to the vine cannot bear fruit, so also we cannot be fruitful disciples if we are not connected to Jesus. But again, I would insist that Jesus’ point is not to impose the fear that we might not be connected to him. Rather, his point is to assure us that we will be able to do all that we are called to do precisely because we remain connected to him.

Part of the problem with this passage is that too often people turn it into a statement about salvation (or the lack thereof). That’s not the point. In the original setting, Jesus was encouraging disciples who were already concerned about his talk of returning to the Father. I believe he is assuring all of us that even though he may not be with us physically, we will have all the resources we need to carry on with the Father’s work. Like lush branches on a grapevine, we will “bear much fruit” because the life of Jesus, and the love of God, and the power of the Spirit will be working through us. And all of this happens because of the relationship we have with him; we bear fruit because we remain connected to Jesus.

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[1] ©2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 5/2/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.