Saturday, May 26, 2012

God's Spirit and finger pointing

Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?'  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned (John 16:5-11).

When you’re a little kid and Mom and Dad are being tough on you, where do you go for a hug and words of encouragement?  Probably you run to Grandma or Grandpa, or maybe a favorite aunt or uncle.  No one likes to be worked hard or be disciplined when they’ve done something wrong; at such times, we look for someone who will be nice to us.

Of course, children don’t understand that there were times when Grandpa and Grandma also had to be strict.  When you love someone, you can’t always be the nice guy.  Children don’t always listen to good advice; sometimes stern measures are necessary to get the point across and make it stick.  This kind of teaching can result in tears or anger, but it may be the only way to shape that child into a better person.  Scripture says, No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).  Parents, teachers, bosses, pastors and policemen—from time to time, each of them is compelled by loving concern to say and do things that make other people upset or unhappy.  When a parent causes tears, the child runs to Grandma.  When a teacher causes frustration, the teen complains to Dad.  When the boss hands out a bad performance appraisal, the employee goes job hunting.  When the policeman issues a citation, the driver calls some friends for moral support.  When the pastor says something that sounds too harsh, the parishioner joins another church.  When someone makes your life uncomfortable, you want to find another person who loves you just the way you are.

We treat God this way too.  Some think of God the Father as a crotchety old man in heaven, who’s always mad that we are messing up His lawn.  Jesus is thought of as our friend who gets His Father to settle down and forgive us.  Others picture God the Father as a kindly Granddad.  In the Old Testament He used to get angry a lot, punishing all sorts of people with plagues, wars and terrible curses; but these days He’s mellowed out—since He punished Jesus for every one of our sins, all the anger He felt about sin is gone.  And some people think of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Peace, who only gives us wonderful gifts like inner strength, peace and love. 

When we think of God in these ways, we do Him a grave disservice.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God—they share the same passions and priorities.  God the Father hates sin; so does His Son and the Holy Spirit.  God the Father loves us—Jesus and the Spirit feel the same way.  God the Father wants us to love Him whole-heartedly and to turn our backs on sin; Jesus and the Spirit strongly agree.  Grandpa and Grandma value good behavior just as much as your parents do; the same agreement exists between Father, Son and Spirit.

I bring this up because in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus paints a rather frightening image of the Holy Spirit.  Usually when we think of the Spirit, we think of the many nice things He’s responsible for: causing the Bible to be written, giving us faith, and helping us to be patient, kind and generous.  But like any loving parent, teacher or boss, the Spirit also calls us on our bad behavior.  Listen to Jesus’ words: he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.  Pointing the finger of Law—this is not the way we usually think of God’s Spirit working in our lives.

Convict—that’s a pretty strong word.  We’re not talking about the Spirit as a motivational speaker, urging us to achieve our highest potential.  We’re not talking about the Spirit as a doctor, who diagnoses a problem and recommends treatment to make us feel better.  We’re talking about the Spirit as a lawyer, who presents an open-and-shut case against us in the court of God’s Law.  Prosecuted by the Spirit, we are convicted on three counts—in regard to sin, in regard to righteousness, and in regard to judgment.

The first count the Spirit brings has to do with sin.  There are many kinds of sin, but none are worse than the one which Jesus singles out—men do not believe in me.  In Hebrews chapter 11, we read the following words: without faith it is impossible to please God.  This is because we are all sinners by nature and inclination.  Sin is what we know and what we’re used to.  God is sinless; as such, He is completely alien to us.  We cannot understand Him or share His priorities.  The only way out of this impossible situation was for God to send His Son into the world and fix the problem of sin.  He did this by obeying God’s Laws perfectly in every way, offering God the perfect life that was expected of us.  Then Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, sparing us from the judgment that we had coming. 

Jesus has dealt with sin, but His achievement does us no good if we don’t believe in Him.  Imagine that you are deeply in debt.  A stranger comes up to you and offers to pay off everything you owe.  He writes a personal check for the full amount and places it in your hand.  But you’re not sure you like the looks of this fellow—who is he, and what might he want in return?  Does he even have the money to make this check good, or is it all just a scam?  If you don’t have faith in the stranger, you won’t accept his check and your debt remains. 

So it is with Jesus.  He offers to pay off your debt of sin.  He asks for nothing in return except your loyalty and your love.  But if you don’t have faith, you won’t accept His offer and your debt of sin remains.  Without faith in Jesus, we stand convicted as sinners.

The second count the Spirit brings has to do with righteousness.  Righteousness describes how we relate to God, and how He relates to us.  Parents and educators teach us that good behavior is rewarded.  You get smiles, hugs and words of praise for working hard and being nice.  Companies promote the best employees and give them special perks.  It seems only natural that we could also earn God’s favor by working really hard at obeying His laws.  But there are two problems with this line of thought.  First, no one is capable of obeying God’s laws perfectly; Scripture says all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23).  Second, people who think this way become easy victims of pride; they think that God owes them something for all their hard work, even though Scripture says that God opposes the proud but gives undeserved love to the humble (James 4:6).

The Bible makes it clear that we cannot achieve righteousness on our own—a God-pleasing relationship with the Almighty has its origins in heaven and has nothing to do with our efforts to be holy.  Paul writes, in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from beginning to end…This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans chapter one).  This is one of the reasons why Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven; now that He has returned to the Father, He has been given authority to dispense God’s righteousness to us.  People who think they can earn God’s favor on their own merits, do nothing but snub Jesus and all that He went through on our behalf.

The third count the Spirit brings has to do with God’s judgment on Satan.  The devil is called the prince of this world; he has earned this title because more people follow Satan than follow Christ.  Of course, most people don’t realize that they honor the devil with their lives.  Satan’s followers include men of integrity and women who love their children.  The devil leads people who are patriots, dedicated public servants, and supporters of charity.  How can I say that Satan has so many outstanding citizens in his corner?  Because anyone who does not follow Christ is a helpless pawn of the devil.  Without Jesus’ influence, they accept Satan’s lies as truth.  His lies include statements like these:  “It doesn’t matter what you believe.”  “You are nothing but an evolved ape.”  “Family is about loving relationships, so there’s nothing wrong with gay and lesbian marriage.”  “If a person doesn’t have quality of life, there is no reason for them to go on living.”  “If you’re not getting what you need from marriage, file for divorce.”  “If it feels good, do it.”  “Religion is for people who can’t think for themselves.”  These are just some of the lies that Satan tells his followers.  He uses such lies to encourage behavior that is selfish, irresponsible, addictive, wasteful, and destructive.  Without Jesus’ words of wisdom to reveal falsehood for what it is, these lies can seem like the indisputable truth.

But the prince of this world has been condemned.  When Jesus died on the cross, He completed a life that avoided each and every temptation to do wrong.  When Jesus died on the cross, He robbed Satan of followers by releasing us from the sin that leads to hell.  When Jesus died, He walked right through Satan’s front door and announced His victory over sin, death, and the devil’s power.  Then Jesus rose from the dead, proving that God’s power trumps anything Satan can do.  Those who follow Jesus will find everlasting life and happiness.  Those who follow the devil will only share his punishment. 

Harsh stuff.  No one likes to be told they’re guilty of doing wrong, yet that’s exactly what God’s Spirit does when He points the convicting finger at each and every one of us.  But the Spirit does not convict us out of malice or spite.  The Spirit of God is not a cold-hearted prosecutor intent on getting the death penalty.  God’s Holy Spirit is a life-giving Spirit.  He was present at the creation of the world.  He descended on Jesus like a dove and stayed with Him as the Lord worked out our salvation.  The Spirit came to the apostles on Pentecost, giving them a gift of words so that they could share the life-saving message of Jesus with people from every nation.  The Spirit comes through baptism, and He speaks to you through God’s word every time you read or hear it.  The Holy Spirit wants you to live—live forever in paradise with God. 

For that reason, the Spirit of Life calls you on your sins.  He points out your failures like a loving parent, not to make you feel bad but to bring you to your knees in prayer, asking for God’s mercy offered through Christ.  When the Spirit convicts you, His hope is that you will take responsibility for your sin, let go of your pride, and ask for help in resisting the devil’s temptations.  In response, God’s Spirit is happy to bless you with all sorts of spiritual gifts—growing faith, toughness in the face of hardship, and the ability to look at every situation in a positive way.  Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit loves you, and He’ll do whatever it takes to end your love of sin. 

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