Sermons and talks
Sermon by Eric Sutcliffe
Easter 6 at St Lawrence Church at Morning Worship
Rdgs Acts 16.9-15; Rev. 21.10, 21.10-22.5; Jn. 14.23-29
Prayer: Heavenly Father may your word be our rule, your Spirit our Teacher, and your glory our intent; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Introduction What Christ did on the cross and the raising of our Lord on Easter day continues to be the centre of our praise today and during the coming weeks until we arrive at Whit Sunday, the day Pentecost. So we are in the Easter season – a period that lasts 50 days. Michael Perham, our Bishop, puts it this way: “Easter.. is the oldest period of celebration and its seven weeks are a sustained high point in the Christian year which no other time, not even the twelve days of Christmas, can match…” So our readings from the Word of God today continue the theme of Easter, as does our liturgy and prayers.
The passage from John’s gospel today strictly predates Easter, for it tells of the teaching of Jesus just before His arrest and trial. But it has the Easter message there, because Jesus is looking ahead to what was going to happen.
I want to pick out three words that Jesus says. They are: in verse 26 ‘teach’; in verse 27 ‘peace’ and in verse 29 the word ‘believe’. Each of these three words is part of a promise.
1. The first word and the first promise: Teach. When I came to lead the Trinity 1 service in June last year, I asked the question ‘what did Jesus tell His disciples about the Holy Spirit?’ We noted five teaching points (I’m not going to test you on them now!). But one of them is of particular relevance today because it centres on our first word: ‘Teach’.
In verse 26, of the Gospel reading, the Lord says: ‘the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.’ (14.26)
We see that Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit using the Greek word ‘parakletos’ which translates as Advocate or Counsellor. For ‘parakletos’ means ‘one called alongside to help’; which is what a counsellor or advocate does. Some writers have called the Holy Spirit the Divine Barrister!
This Holy Spirit that Jesus promises would be their Teacher; He would remind them of what Jesus had taught and help them to see its significance. The time Jesus had with His disciples was all too short, and He knew they had much to learn. The Holy Spirit, their new Teacher, could take a lifetime, their lifetime, to help them understand God’s way.
For three years the disciples had walked each day with our Lord; they had listened to His words, been challenged to think through the implications of His teaching. Now He was going to leave them. But the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor, would apply this teaching to their hearts: He would remind them of all Jesus had said. Moreover ‘when the Counsellor comes – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the father- He will testify about (Jesus)’ (15.26). So the Holy Spirit is to begin His work by pointing to Jesus, turning minds and hearts to Christ’s work on the cross, and to His most wonderful resurrection.
The Holy Spirit takes over the task begun by Jesus of teaching us. Notice I say ‘us’; for what the Lord promised to his disciples, He promises to us too. Our first word is ‘Teach’, and the promise is that the Holy Spirit will teach us – just as if Jesus Himself was there by our side.
2. So to our second word: Peace.
The idea of peace does not simply occur in the New Testament: it is there in the OT too. For example in the book of Numbers we have those wonderful verses: ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace’.
The child, about whom Isaiah prophesised, was to be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace’.
At the birth of Jesus the heavenly host sang praises to God, saying ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests’.
And before Jesus goes to His crucifixion He says to his disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.’ (That is from our passage today, verse 27)
What is this peace? The Hebrew ‘Shalom’ means more than stopping enmity: it means ‘completeness’, ‘well-being’. The equivalent Greek word means ‘peace’, ‘unity’, ‘concord’. One commentator puts it like this: it is a ‘tranquillity of mind which comes with assurance of being reconciled with God and under His care.’
This is the peace that Jesus promises His disciples; that He promises to us.
3. Our third word is Believe.
Did you notice as we heard our two lessons – one from John and the other from Acts – did you notice the change of mood? In the gospel we have the disciples in the upper room confused, needing reassurance. In the coming hours the confusion would change to fear, doubt and despair. Judas would betray; Peter would hide; Thomas would doubt. Then there is the fear of the other disciples. The locked doors on the evening of the first day tell all. And though they meet the Lord and are overjoyed, a week later the doors are locked again! Doubt and fear are met and overcome by Christ. However the final chapter of John’s gospel shows us that this band of uncertain disciples needed more than an uplift of spirit, they needed a real change of heart, a new sense of direction, a new purpose.
As we read the early part of Acts we see just that new sense of confidence: confidence in the face of persecution, rejoicing when persecuted, boldness in preaching the gospel – telling the good news of Jesus the Christ. Let’s be clear about what is happening. They were increasingly preaching to the people the message of Easter. They may get arrested and put in jail, there are moments when it looks as if the apostles will be put to death. But we read: ‘Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ’ (Acts 5.42). So there had been a massive change. It is a change we can justifiably claim as the clearest evidence for the resurrection. It isn’t long before Paul himself is changed and begins to take a leading role.
Doubt and fear replaced by boldness and confidence. So what is going on?
It is the third promise: they have really started to believe. They understand what has happened, they believe in the risen Lord. The Holy Spirit is working in them; the peace that Jesus promised is in their hearts; and believing in the resurrected Christ makes them different.
These are the promises Christ makes to us.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
