Sermon 5/17/20: In Defense of Hope (Pr. Ben Adams)
Pr. Ben Adams
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 17, 2020
In Defense of Hope
We are just two weeks away from Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled day of our church year that marks the end of our Easter season. Pentecost is an important liturgical day in our church calendar especially for Lutherans, since it gives us a chance to really dig into an often-overlooked member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
But I think it’s a disservice to the Trinity and to our own theology if we only spotlight the Holy Spirit one day a year. So that is why today we are going to do a deep dive into our Gospel reading from John to try and make some meaning of this often-mysterious member of the Trinity.
But before we just jump into what Jesus says about the spirit, let’s break down some ways that the Spirit is often portrayed and experienced. We might often imagine the spirit to be like wind or fire, or as a dove. Experiences with the spirit are often described as moments when our hearts and bodies experience strange warmth, our hair stands up with excitement, or we might even speak in tongues. Some Pentecostal and charismatic Christians even describe being “slain by the spirit” which is a form of prostration where people fall to the floor while experiencing religious ecstasy.
Now if you’re like me, these kind of no doubt experiences with the Holy Spirit are rare if ever. And even when I do have experiences that might fit under the umbrella of Holy Spirit encounters, I question the heck out of them. Like there was that one time when I was in Utah with my Brother and we felt the absolute rush of being alive after hiking Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, but was that the Holy Spirit or just adrenaline?
Or that one time when I was protesting the Fraternal Order of Police for their brazen defense of the racist tactics and actions of their officers. After the Police arrested those of us doing the civil disobedience, we sat in the police van together singing freedom songs. I felt a deep connection to my fellow protesters like never before. Was that an experience of the Holy Spirit?
And let me tell you, my spiritual skepticism knows no bounds, I even question my own experience of being ordained. Like when the clergy laid their hands on me and prayed over me, I know I felt something, but even then, can I be sure that it was the Holy Spirit?
I don’t know, maybe I just need to open up more, loosen up my hinges. Or maybe I just need a renewed concept for the Holy Spirit. I know we’re all about being open to the mystery here at Holy Trinity, but a more certain conception of the Holy Spirit can’t hurt, especially in this uncertain time. And this week Jesus gives us a conception to think about the Spirit’s presence in our lives.
Jesus says to his disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”
Advocate is what Jesus calls the Spirit the Father will give us, and this word in the original Greek is paraclete, meaning “one who is called alongside.” Interestingly this word paraclete, would have also been a title for a first-century Greco-Roman defense lawyer.
Now that is an image for the Holy Spirit that I can start to comprehend. Like my ever-present council through every trial, the Holy Spirit is by our side defending us. And lately, I can only credit the Holy Spirit for defending me against despair and protecting the hope I am barely hanging onto in these uncertain times. Maybe the only proof that I can produce of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life is the fact that I still have hope. It might be hanging on by a thread, but that thread will not be severed because the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, my defender will protect it.
In our reading from First Peter today we are called to, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” That task often seems like an impossibility to me, especially with gentleness and reverence, yet the fact that I can say to you today with confidence that I have hope is all I need to know that the Holy Spirit, the Advocate is with me and with us all.
These times of pandemic can just about convince us that we are alone, isolated, abandoned. And even though Jesus promises his disciples AKA, us, that we will not be left orphaned, it’s easy to internalize our socially distant experience as the permanent condition of our lives. The first disciples made a radical statement to the world when they claimed their discipleship to Jesus even after he had been crucified. The challenge remains the same for us today, how do we still claim our identity when it seems like the markers of our identity have been lost? How do we still claim to be followers of Christ when it's hard to discern the risen Christ in the world? How can we still claim our communal identity as Holy Trinity Lutheran Church even when our church doors are shut? How can we claim hope and make our gentle and reverent defense of it when we feel hopeless?
That is when the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, our sure defense in every trial makes their presence known with us. It might not always be a speaking in tongues, slain in the spirit kind of experience, but the fact that you have shown up here today, or that you continue to show up for your friends, family, and community in other ways is a testament to the hope you have that we are not orphaned or abandoned. We are in this together, and the Holy Spirit is our Defender, our Advocate when we feel defeated, defenseless.
More often than not, we need someone, something to speak on our behalf, and because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life and in the life of our community, speaking up for us when we can’t, our lives and our witness is an accounting for the hope in us. And we can account for this hope with gentleness and reverence, not with violence or by dehumanizing those who would attempt to challenge or disparage our hope, but gracefully, with all of the grace that we have experienced through God in Christ.
Jesus’ exchange with his disciples about the Holy Spirit in our Gospel today is during what is called the farewell discourse in John. Jesus is preparing his disciples for a future, that will be radically different from the present. In a similar way as we experience this COVID-19 pandemic, we too must be prepared for a future that will be radically different. There’s no going back to the way things were, things will never be the same, but that doesn’t mean things will be worse. In many ways we have an opportunity to make things better, and by contributing to a better future for all people and not just some, we can be the change that creates a more hopeful future. With the Holy Spirit as our ever present advocate and defense, we can confidently and faithfully step into this future together with hope.
When it comes to confidence in knowing and trusting my particular experiences with the Holy Spirit, I may never get over my spiritual skepticism, but as long as I have even a semblance of hope, I can testify to the Holy Spirit's unceasing presence in my life, defending me, advocating for me, speaking on my behalf when I can’t. And the same goes for our community. In the midst of the death, suffering, and challenges that we face in this COVID-19 Pandemic, our community together with our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is and will be a testament to the hope we have in Christ.
In just a moment we will sing our hymn of the day, which is titled, “God, we’ve known such grief and anger.” And I am thankful for hymns that hold together the grief and the hope, and that together we can proclaim lines like this, “You comfort the grieving, and bless those who mourn, may we trust in you, believing out of chaos hope is born.” With the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, our defender by our side, these words will not just be sung by us, but lived out by us, and ultimately this hope proclaimed and lived out will be lived into by all. Amen
