Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: May 2, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝
The Gospel of John, chapter 16 is full of comfort for fearful disciples on the verge of a transition. Jesus had been with His twelve followers for about three years. He had spoken about His death and that He would rise from the dead, but each time He brought it up, the disciples didn’t understand. Jesus was aware of that. Before He would go to the Father, the Son of God clothed in human flesh would first have to go to the cross. “But I will come again, and your sorrow will turn to joy.”
And joyful the disciples were in the few weeks that followed the first Easter Day. The Lord encouraged them more and more each time He appeared. Then another transition will come. Jesus will ascend to the Father. The Son, still clothed with human flesh, but now risen from the dead and glorified, will from that moment onward sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Where is the right hand of God? The right hand of God is everywhere, for the power and strength of God is everywhere, and Jesus is One with the Father. That is not what is turning the joyful disciples back to fear and sorrow.
They have fear and sorrow because they will not see Jesus any longer. A transition is soon to happen. Their Teacher will depart. They will be alone. They will have to face the raging evil of this world without His help. How can He leave us now? We’re finally starting to get it when He teaches us these things! Now He’s going to leave? We can’t do this without Jesus.
The disciples are right about one thing. They can’t do this without Jesus. They are sinners. They cannot deceive themselves by thinking that they are free from the weaknesses that hinder their service to God. They need forgiveness, a release from the weight of their sins. The Ten Commandments reveal that they have disobeyed God in their thoughts, words and actions. They need the blood of Jesus, His life that He gave for them on the cross, to give them their life, to give them their strength in this time of transition and for the rest of their future. They think that on the day when Jesus ascends to the Father, that’s when they will lose everything that Jesus gave them. In John chapter 16, Jesus comforts these fearful disciples that instead, they will gain even more help than when He was with them the past three years.
Jesus promised His disciples, and He promises you as well, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The name that Jesus gives the Holy Spirit is the Greek word Paraclete, which means Helper, Comforter, Cheerer, Exhorter. The Holy Spirit is One with Jesus and with the Father, and together they are the Holy Trinity. We will not see Jesus, but He will still be with us. His peace, His comfort and His joy will not depart from us, His Church.
The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus’ promise to be with us will always come true. When Jesus goes away to the right hand of the Father, He’s not leaving you, dear disciple. Instead, He’s drawing nearer to you than you will ever know. It is to your advantage that Jesus goes away and sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and in this way, Jesus will be with you always, even to the end of the age.
And Jesus Himself tells you what the Holy Spirit does: He will convict. At first, ‘convict’ doesn’t sound like much help. Convict sounds like bad news for us sinners. But Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict. In order to convict, He will need to examine evidence and then render a verdict. Upon whom? Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world.
He will convict the world of three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment, and this only when the words of God, as preserved and written down without error in the Bible, when these words are proclaimed in the mouth of God’s called servants for the whole world to hear. That’s where these disciples come in, and every pastor from their time onward who will preach the Word of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. The disciples will not be alone; rather, the Holy Spirit will do His work of convicting the world through the Word of Jesus they will preach.
First, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. He reminds the world of sin not because you can do anything about it. The world needs to be told: what you value as good and right is actually an abomination to God. O World, what is fair and equitable and loving in your eyes is actually evil, twisted and shameful. No two ways about it. We shake our heads at the perversions that are running out of control all around us. In fact, the Holy Spirit reminds us, we need to rid ourselves of this very evil that also lurks inside us, not just out there.
Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit speaks the Law to you to make you realize you have broken it and that for your punishment you are to be separated from heaven forever. The Holy Spirit must accuse you to death from God’s Law. Because you have not kept the Commandments perfectly, because you have offended God with your thoughts, words and actions, the Holy Spirit must accuse you of your sin against His Holy Word, but it doesn’t end there.
Secondly, He convicts of righteousness. The Holy Spirit announces the judge’s verdict—but, contrary to what your mind would expect—the verdict upon you is innocent. This is not because God changed His mind or decided to overlook your death sentence. No! It’s because your death sentence has already been served in your place. Righteousness is defined as absolute perfection in God’s sight—it’s something you did not have and only Jesus had. The righteousness of Jesus came in two forms: He led a perfect life and followed each and every commandment completely, and He suffered the full punishment even though He didn’t deserve any of it. Both of those produce an overwhelming benefit that the Bible calls righteousness. And the Father credits that righteousness, that perfection of Jesus, to your eternal account and the dividends, namely forgiveness and life together with God, are yours as His gift. The world will of course reject this gift of righteousness and constantly oppose the Gospel and the Church, in one way or another. Yet we fear not, because we have Jesus our Savior and His promised Helper, the Holy Spirit.
Finally, there’s the conviction of judgment. The devil, the ruler of this world, stands judged, says Jesus. He has been robbed of all his power over you, and he has no future except weeping and gnashing teeth. If one should refuse God’s gift of free forgiveness and hope instead to do enough good deeds to save oneself, then the judgment is hell. But for you who believe in Christ and hold fast to Him, the judgment is Heaven, resurrection of the body, life everlasting. And the Holy Spirit speaks of these three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment, when He proclaims to you Jesus, only Jesus.
This Jesus He brings right to you and places Him into your ears. The Holy Spirit takes the Body and Blood of Christ that was shed long ago and far away and feeds Him to you in your own mouth. And this Holy Spirit that convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, He brings your prayers before the Father. Because you are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and because Jesus has ascended to the Father’s right hand, God hears your prayer in any situation, in any trouble, doubt, or blessing that you may experience.
By the Power of the Holy Spirit, you hear Jesus spoken, out of the perfect Word of God, and into your ears today, and you hold fast to Christ your bridegroom. Your heart is fixed where true joys are found. For He has cleansed you and made you His beautiful bride, without spot or wrinkle. Through all your life’s transitions and changes, He made His constant vow to you that He will not forsake you—and to seal that vow, He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit. And His greatest promise to lead you to eternal life forever in union with God will come to fulfillment thanks to, you guessed it, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit. Sing for joy to the Lord! Your sorrow has been removed with forgiveness. You will never be alone. Jesus will return in visible form for you soon. Until that day, He has given you the Helper, the Holy Spirit. May you be and reman full of His comfort.
In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Readings:
Is. 12:1–6 with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation
Psalm 66:1–8 They went through the river on foot
James 1:16–21 every perfect gift is from above
John 16:5–15 He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment