I Will Come to You

                                          John 14: 8-20

 

 

          Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit in that upper room in Jerusalem. The story appears in Acts 2. It is this amazing description of tongues of fire and a wind of Spirit that rushed into a closed room and literally invaded the bodies and minds of those gathered there. It was the day Jesus had promised his disciples, the day when everything for them became clear…the day when they became the gatekeepers of the gospel and the day when the world began to hear it in a way never heard before.

          So this day, I want us to look at the prequel. Let’s look at the words of Jesus to his disciples to get them ready for what was going to begin at Pentecost. We find that story in the 14^th chapter of John’s gospel.

          It is Holy Week, the week of the Passion. Jesus is filling up the disciples with everything he can tell them. Three years of ministry have come to a close and he is out of time. Reading John 13-17 is like reading this explosion of instruction, of caring, of information, as Jesus tries to prepare his little band for entrance into this new messianic community from which the church will be born and the world will be evangelized for Christ. The job could not be bigger. It simply defies description. But, says Jesus, “I will come to you.” He was leaving. What did he mean, “I will come to you?”

          Even before that, Phillip is asking for himself, for his fellow disciples, for everyone: Lord, show us the Father. Just please give us proof of the connection. Phillip meant well, as we all do, but he didn’t get it yet. He wasn’t the first to ask. Moses didn’t get it and asked for proof. He got the burning bush as a hint. Isaiah didn’t get it and asked for proof. He got a vision of God seated on his throne as a hint. Phillip didn’t need a hint. He got the whole enchilada.  He was looking at the face of God and couldn’t see him. In the profound mystery that is our Creator God, Jesus is both unified with the Father and completely unique to himself. So Jesus said to him, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Poor Phillip, I think I know exactly how he felt. He was looking right at God and couldn’t see him. How often has that happened to me and you?

          Then, Jesus makes the claim of claims. Maybe, just maybe, you can wrap your mind around the fact that Jesus is God, that God is Jesus, that each of them is their own unique being. Maybe you can begin to grasp that Jesus, the God-Man, lived and walked on this earth sinlessly, died for mankind, was resurrected and conquered death and sin. But now try this. Jesus said to Philip and the others: If you believe in me, you will do greater than I do. “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than those will he do.”

        How? How can that be? It almost sounds like blasphemy to say it, but it’s not at all. Jesus’ answer was pretty economical. He just said “because I am going to the Father.” What he meant was that he wasn’t giving up doing mighty acts or spreading his gospel. He was shifting his base and method of operation. Jesus was going to the Father where through the Holy Spirit, he would become the enabler. Jesus is still involved. But now, he tells his story through us, his children.

          Jesus foreshadowed the infusion of the Holy Spirit with his explanation of himself in God. Listen to what he said. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. To see me is to see the Father. In the same way, Jesus, having been glorified, was going to send the Holy Spirit to be in us. And it all started at Pentecost.

          Why didn’t Phillip and the others get it? They were not yet enabled. It wasn’t meant to be until Jesus went to heaven. In the seventh chapter of John’s gospel, John reminds us of that. He writes that “for as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” So even here in the Passion Week at the very end of Jesus’ ministry, the time is not yet mature for the disciples to see the big picture.

This is what Jesus meant when he said “I will come to you.” He meant exactly what he said, but it was to happen in a different form than what the disciples expected. He was talking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers. He was talking about empowerment of not just one, or twelve, or a hundred and twelve, but of each and every man, woman and child who become part of the body of Christ. He was talking about a movement, not an event, a way of life, not a season. Of course, the people of God can do greater than Jesus did. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit living inside us to do God’s will in every time and place.

Yes, it was a startling and incredible claim that Jesus made to his disciples, but it was a claim that has come true and continues to grow to this very day. We who allow the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within us, who are obedient to Jesus, can and do greater works over time than even he was able to do by himself. That is why he enlisted us. He lives and works within us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Think for a moment about what we mean when we say righteous. We who would follow Jesus seek righteousness. But what do we mean? How do we translate that? Put most simply—and accurately, righteous means right with God. Righteous mean being aligned with God. When you drive on a bumpy road or a road full of potholes or railroad crossings, you subject your vehicle to a lot of punishment. Sooner or later, no matter how good a vehicle is, it’s going to need alignment. You’re going to have to stop driving and get re-aligned or your just won’t be able to steer. And your tires will wear out much quicker.

I know you think I’m talking about cars and I am. But I could just as easily be talking about my walk with God. Life doles out a lot of punishment. Sooner or later, we just get out of line. We can’t steer very well and sometimes we feel like our wheels are about to come off. But Christians can get re-aligned just like cars and trucks. We have the Word, both living and written. We have the Scriptures. And we have the Holy Spirit. That’s what Jesus meant when he said “I will come to you.” John used the Greek word Paraclete here. One of its meanings is to walk alongside. That’s what the Holy Spirit does for us when we let him. He walks alongside us and gets us aligned…righteous.

          My son came in this week for a visit. He wanted to attend my seminary graduation. My oldest daughter also came in with her husband. That’s a big deal. Having two children home at the same time is about as good as it gets in our house these days, with the two others on other continents and islands. It must be a big deal, because my wife ran herself ragged for days cleaning and dusting and mopping and all the other things that go with getting a place ready for a big visit. You would think we were entertaining royalty with all the fuss that has been made.

          I know what my wife would say. We are entertaining royalty. Better than royalty. These are our children, the people we love most in this world. They deserve a cared for, loving home in which to make their rest.

          Thinking about that makes me anxious about the time and effort I have spent getting my heart, my physical house, in order. Am I ready for a guest, much less a permanent boarder? Is there a place in my heart, my being, for the Holy Spirit to spread out and make his rest? How often am I so restless, so disobedient, that I cannot see the God who lives within my own heart, who loves me more than I love myself?

          Jesus said to the disciples, and he says to us: “I will come to you… Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

In that day you will know. Do you know? Is your house in order?