Pastor Chris Royce
Sermon Text: John 14:25-27
Sunday May 23, 2021
Have you ever received a going-away present? Have you ever given one?
To state the obvious, a going-away present is what you give or receive when one chapter is about to close and another one is about to begin. You leave one job for another, or you’re retiring after many years of good service. You’re about to move to a completely new location. You’re parting ways with someone and it’s unclear when the next time you two will cross paths. So when this happens, you give or receive a going-away present.
I think going-away presents come in 4 different shapes and sizes – gifts that are valuable, gifts that are sentimental, words as a gift and time as a gift. You might receive a valuable going away present – a gold watch on the day you retire. A pension, I suppose, is also a very valuable other-type of going-away present, if you think about it. Before the 18 year old goes away to college, Mom and Dad gift him a new laptop for school. Gifts of value are one thing to give or receive. Then, there are sentimental gifts. When I was thinking of personal going-away presents, this stood out to me. As part of my pastor school training, two years ago I briefly served a church in Madison, Wisconsin. So one of my office church coworkers gifted me this neat plate, of the town skyline – cool little memento. Dollar value, not that much. Sentimental value? Plenty. Another important going away present might come in the form of words. When your high school friends put pen to page of your yearbook – those words might still warm your heart decades later. You probably have received farewell cards before that are so beautifully written that they rank among your most prized possessions. And then a final form of a going away present is a gift of time. “Before you leave, let me take you out to lunch. Let’s play one more round of golf, my treat. Let’s have a bonfire at my place.” Presence is sometimes the best present. What all goes into a going-away present? I think it’s one of these four things. I’m sure that you’ve given or received one of these things before when a departure was on the horizon.
This is how we say goodbye to one another.
In John 14, Jesus is in the process of saying goodbye to his closest cohort. John, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 all takes place on that first Maundy Thursday – Jesus is teaching some of the final lessons to his disciples. What was the table talk like on that first Maundy Thursday? Here you go. John has given us rich detail. 24 hours later, Jesus would be dead. But also, 43 days later – Jesus would be gone, ascended into heaven, his earthly ministry complete. So after all that Jesus and his disciples had endured together, here we are. It’s just about time to say goodbye. And Jesus has a gift to give them. That gift is the Holy Spirit. That gift is what we’re going to focus on this morning. Because this gift wasn’t just for the 11 men in that upper room. It’s Christ’s present for you and me, too.
If you’ve been a part of our church for some time – you’re probably well familiar with what we believe, that we worship Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we don’t worship three separate Gods, we worship one God and LORD over all. If you’re fairly new to all of this – we worship one GOD – we believe that there’s only one true God ruling over the world. But we also believe that our God is three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. They did teach us math at the Seminary – 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. Now, I think that of these three – the Holy Spirit often gets the short end of the stick. Do you find it a challenge to picture what a Holy Spirit does? Wouldn’t you agree – It’s easy for me to relate to God the Father’s unconditional love for his children because we have experienced or seen unconditional parental love in action. It’s easy for me to relate to Jesus our brother and friend because we have brothers, we have friends. But picturing a “spirit” in action can be a challenge. Also, when was the last time you started your prayer with “Dear Holy Spirit”? Dear God, Dear Jesus, Come Lord Jesus be our guest…those are far more common. And look, I’m just as much at fault here too. Go back and watch all of my Sunday prayers, I’m not sure I’ve ever started one with “Dear Holy Spirit…” We want to better understand and appreciate what the Holy Spirit does for us, because the Spirit blesses us in countless ways. Jesus helps us to understand the Holy Spirits work.
He says that this gift, the Holy Spirit will be their Advocate as they go through life. You hear this word in everyday life. He’s an advocate for equality, she’s an advocate for human rights, so on and so on. If you’re an advocate, it means that you strongly support something. Well, as Jesus prepares to depart, he promises that they will never be alone. Even though Jesus will physically depart from them, they will still have the power of God in their corner. The Holy Spirit would come and support them in the disciples in their continued ministry. When the disciples would be called to speak, the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say. As they traveled to new locations, the Holy Spirit would bless their gospel proclamation and give direction to their travels. The Holy Spirit would give them boldness and courage in all their tasks. A Savior departs for heaven, but an Advocate, a supporter, a counselor – the Holy Spirit – appears to bless them. That’s Christ’s going-away present to them.
But wait, there’s more to this – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. It’s no secret that Jesus was the great Teacher of the disciples and crowds. From his sermon on the Mount to the timeless parables he told to everything in between, the disciples were given a grand portrait of what God is like – taught to them by Jesus, Son of God himself. Well, who would continue to teach them now? The Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus would reside now in heaven – the apostles would continue to grow in knowledge, conviction, and confidence in the Word of Christ – the Holy Spirit would be their light in this dark world. And the Holy Spirit would work in them to bring the truth of God to others. The reason we have the Bible that we have today, the book we meditate on, chew on, cherish – is because of the Holy Spirit. Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit taught them, and now today God teaches us through their writings.
And the Holy Spirit would be their reminder of Jesus everywhere they go. When I talked earlier about going-away presents – especially if you give or receive a sentimental gift it’s because you want to remember the past. Like how a picture of you and your colleagues helps you remember your days at the office. Jesus wants to give them a gift that will constantly remind them of him. That’s what the Holy Spirit would do for them. God would now take residence not beside them in flesh and bone, but inside of them – in their hearts
This amazing gift Jesus promises to his disciples – if you roll up and combine all of this together – it would bring them peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. They would have peace in uncertainty – because the Holy Spirit would still be their guide and reminder of heavenly love . They would have peace as they face opposition – because the Holy Spirit would equip them for the task and support them. They would have peace in anything and everything because the Spirit would remind them that they are precious and loved by God. This is Christ’s going-away present for the disciples. Do you see the irony in all of this? Since Jesus is about to leave, his gift to them is the neverending presence and power of God at work inside of them. That’s a far better gift than any ceramic plate or gift card or round of golf, if you ask me.
And this gift isn’t just for them. The Holy Spirit is alive in you. The reason you are here this morning isn’t because “it’s Sunday, it’s what we do”. The real reason you are here this morning is because the Holy Spirit created faith in your heart when it was otherwise dead. The Holy Spirit gave you the gift of faith and you’re here because you want to grow in the knowledge and truth of Jesus. The reason you’ve stayed a Christian for so long – credit to the Holy Spirit as well. This is a hard world and difficult life to stay connected to Christ all this time – yet the Spirit has done just that for you. The Holy Spirit sanctifies you. We talked about that word more in detail last week, what it means to be sanctified. The reason you live your life more according to Christ and less like the masses is because of the HS. The reason you want to life your life more according to Christ and less like the masses is because the Holy Spirit is alive in you. Whenever a Bible verse soothes your heart, you sigh relief and crack a modest smile – that’s the Holy Spirit reminding you of everything Jesus has said. As we celebrate Pentecost today we want to re-appreciate all that the Spirit does for us – and it’s no short list. Because of all of this, you have peace with God. We have it now, and we’ll dwell in it forever.
Christ’s going-away present to you and me. He’s honest with us up-front. He says I do not give to you as the world gives. Maybe that’s why we don’t always appreciate this gift from heaven. When we give gifts, they’re things that we can see, touch, feel, go back and appreciate over and over again. Do you ever wish that Christ would give us different gifts? Like, Jesus if you really want to give me a gift you can pick up the other line of the phone when I pray to you and if you could immediately let me know what you’re thinking about mom’s health or my tension-filled marriage or my rebellious kids, that’d be helpful. Jesus, if you really wanted to give me a gift – can’t you bail me out of this situation I’ve gotten myself into? Jesus, if you really wanted to give me a gift – show me proof of what heaven and hell are like – that would help me to continue on this path. Have you ever felt this way before about gifts from God? I know I have. We like instant replies, tangible objects. But Christ doesn’t give gifts to us as the world gives.
He does it so much better. Our gifts we give or receive are temporary. You go out to a final meal with someone, the meal will end, you’ll pay the tab and leave. A nice card will get lost in the move, yearbooks will sit forgotten on shelves, gift cards will be spent, gifted objects might be thrown away or donated eventually, the farewell party will end and everyone will go home. But this gift lasts! Just a couple verses earlier in John 14, Jesus says And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion. He will be your navigator in life at 70 just as he was at 7. He will be your strength on the journey of life – whether your life journey is just beginning or as its winding down. Our gifts don’t last. His does.
And the Holy Spirit is plenty visible in our generation too. Not as flames above our heads. But when your kids or grandkids tell you what they learned at Sunday School today, when you join together in the Common Table Prayer or when you tell someone “I’ll pray for you,, when you read a few verses in private before bed, when you give time or talents to your neighbor, when you hug a hurting brother or sister in the faith – that is visible, tangible evidence of a heart made alive by grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God in us, God working through us to bless others.
May this gift of heaven give you the same thing it gave to the disciples: Peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Amen
