The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
Sunday
after Ascension Day, 2012
John 15:26 - 16:1 26
" But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear
witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
This past Thursday we celebrated one of the
major feasts of the Christian year, the Feast of the Ascension. Ascension marks the end of Christ’s time on
earth, or, or as one Biblical commentator puts it, the “capstone of his earthly
ministry.” It clearly identifies Christ
as Divine, as he is received up into glory in the sight of the disciples. As well it has fundamentally important
theological reasons for its pre-eminence, chief among those is Christ’s
physical ascension, taking his body (and Man’s nature) to heaven with him. It is my firmly held opinion that, if
Christians really understood the significance of Ascension, our churches would
be full. If they really understood that
Ascension actually defines their salvation, our churches would be full.
Today’s Gospel occurs very soon before that
amazing event, as we see Christ preparing His Disciples for His imminent
departure. He tells them: John 15:26 - 16:1 26
" But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear
witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
What is Christ talking about here? Who is this Helper? Why is His coming to us important and vital
to our life as Christians?
We will speak much more on this in about a week hence, as
celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, or as we Anglicans call it, Whitsunday. Today, suffice it to say that the coming of
the Holy Ghost is the fulfillment of that wonderful O.T. prophecy of Joel, as
the prophet tsays: Joel 2:28-29 " And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see
visions. 29 And also on My
menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in
those days.” This, as we shall read
about next week, is fulfilled in the marvelous event of Acts 2, when the Holy
Ghost fell on the company of men gathered in Jerusalem
That is one major reason why the Ascension is
so important to we Christians. Without
the Ascension, there would be no transcendent Holy Ghost to cheer, guide and
strengthen us. Remember that Christ said
in John 16:7: ”Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for
you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
But, we will have more on that later. Today we want to focus not so much on what
Christ said about the Holy Ghost, but why He said it. No doubt at this time, the Disciples would be
fairly confused. Not only does Jesus
give them a puzzling statement about some heavenly Comforter coming to them,
but then he follows it with some very negative words. First, He tells them that they shall be put
out of the synagogue. To a devout Jew, as these men were, this is a fearsome
statement. Being put out of the
synagogue was the same as being cut off from the covenant of Israel Temple
They are indeed strong and puzzling until Christ follows
up with this statement: John 16:3 "And these things they will do to you
because they have not known the Father nor Me.” Just as Christ mentioned that the World
hates Him because He is not of the World, so it will hate the Apostles for the
same reason. If they were worldly and
embraced the same values as the World, the World would love them. But, it is not to be so. We know that the
history of the early Church was founded on the blood of the martyrs. We know
that up until the time of Constantine the Great, Christianity was a despised,
persecuted sect that was accused of horrible crimes such as cannibalism, gross
sexual immorality, and treason. We know that it took great courage and faith to
be a Christian in the early days of the Church.
Thus, in the words of the old adage, “Forewarned is
forearmed”, Christ is telling His Disciples what is to come. In the words of St. Peter: (1 Peter
4:12-13): ”Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that
you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may
also be glad with exceeding joy.”
In the same vein, Christ is warning His disciples.
Yet, the glory of this passage is that the Apostles will
not be alone in their sufferings for Christ. They will have the Comforter, the
Helper, with whom they will be baptized “not many days hence.”[1]
They will be endued with power to bear witness to Christ.
Just as Jesus tells them that the Holy Ghost will bear
testimony to Him, so the Apostles will bear witness to Christ by the power of
the Holy Spirit. In short, they will receive power from on high. With this
power, they will change the world. Just
as the Holy Spirit made them changed men, so they will spread the life-giving
message of the Gospel to all the ends of the earth.
Thus, the message
of the Gospel is the same for us today.
We too can experience the life-changing effect of the Holy Spirit in our
lives. We too can and should reflect the
light of Christ to all we meet. We too,
when given the opportunity and occasion, should rejoice in sharing the Good
News of Jesus Christ. Churches grow by
attraction. People should see what we
Christians have and want it too. Our joy
should be so palpable, so evident, that it overflows into all areas of our
life. When this is apparent, it is
contagious, wonderfully so. We pray that
this is so. On the other hand, as one wit observed, “If you were on trial for
being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” It’s a fair question.
Remember, as we are instructed from the
Prayer Book, on the Last Day Christ shall call all from their graves and they
shall appear for judgment in their flesh. Those who have trusted in Christ for
their salvation will reign with Him in eternal glory. Those who rejected Christ in their lifetimes
on earth will also be rejected. For
those “obstinate enemies of Christ” there will indeed be “weeping and gnashing
of teeth.” I weep for the unredeemed, for those who know not Christ, for they
know not what they are going to lose forever.
Pray God that we can minister to some of them, to give them the Good
News of Salvation. Pray God that they will receive it.
Likewise, we who have trusted in Christ, will
hear those blessed words from Matthew 25:34 “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” We will ascend because
Christ ascended before us. We will be able to lead victorious lives because the
blessed Holy Spirit is among us, indwelling us, and empowering us.
Thus, we must take heart and be
encouraged. We are not alone, we are not
deceived, nor are we mistaken. We know
whom we follow and whom we have believed,. Armed with truth like that and the
power of the Holy Ghost, coming to the Disciples (and to us) on Pentecost, our
joy is magnificent, ebullient, and unquenchable.
Jesus
is promising that He will send us a Helper if He returns to Heaven. This is the
promise that Christ sealed for us in His Ascension. This is how he defined our salvation, for as
He is, so shall we be.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Sprit.
Amen.
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