Pastor Timo’s sermon,
April 27, 2008
6th
Sunday of Easter 4/27/08
Translated by Katja Kupari
John
14:15-21
In two
weeks we will be celebrating Pentecost. Celebration of the
descent of the Holy Spirit and the founding of the Christian
church. In today’s gospel Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, the
Advocate who will ”be with you forever”
Quite a
few promises in the world only last for a moment; the stores’
best sales are only on for a limited time. And many of us have,
at least occasionally, also promised too much and respectively
been disappointed with promises that were not kept by others.
Not many
people have the courage to promise that something will last now
and forever, and even if they did, the promise would not
necessarily survive closer examination or trial by fire. This is
where, since we’re talking about keeping promises, all the local
sports fans also hope that the initial good faith promises of a
certain group of investors from Oklahoma, that professional
basketball would stay in Seattle, would turn out to be unfounded
and that the city would get to keep its team here.
Unlike
many unfounded and short-term promises, Jesus’ promise of the
Holy Spirit has always held true. Christians have 2,000 years of
collective experience of it. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit was
given to the disciples and it changed the course of their lives
monumentally. The timid and fearful disciples were turned into
courageous witnesses of the resurrection by the Holy Spirit, to
preach the gospel all over the world, even if it meant risking
their lives. The consequences of that what happened during the
times of the first congregation were even more dramatic;
churches have been founded on all continents of the world and
the gospel of Jesus is heard and alive in millions of parishes
to this day. On a personal level Christians have been able to
experience peace and joy given by God and what it means to be
forgiven and how God can lead us through even hard times in
miraculous ways. In retrospect, the accuracy of Jesus’ promise
is powerful and voluminous.
Promises
often come with conditions, though. And Jesus was no exception.
What? – someone might ask – aren’t God’s promises unconditional
and completely independent of us. Yes and no. A couple of years
ago a Finnish pastor touched upon this topic by writing a
sensational book ”Everybody is admitted into Heaven”. The title
of the book expressed his view of religion in a nutshell. There
is enough grace for everyone; you don’t need to believe in
Jesus, let alone the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t matter which church
or religion you belong or don’t belong to, for there is room for
atheists too in Heaven. It doesn’t matter if you are a murderer
or if you have repented for your sins. Well, the name of the
book should rather have been ”Everybody has to go to Heaven”,
because according to the author people’s acknowledgements or
attitudes are not even asked.
Unfortunately neither Jesus, nor the Christian church He
started, has ever taught that it would be that simple. Jesus
says: "I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(John 14.6)
It has
been a challenge for Christianity throughout the years then, to
remain true to its founder and the affirmation, and avoid two
opposing heresies; one that states that God’s grace and
salvation can be attained without the Christ and without
believing in Him, and the other that says that people can save
themselves by doing good deeds.
Therefore, the answer is; God’s grace is unconditional. Jesus
Christ, who was crucified and resurrected, did what is
impossible for men by atoning for our sins and errors and by
giving us life everlasting. This act of grace and promise by God
cannot be broken or augmented by man. But the trick of an
unconditional grace is that it only comes through Christ,
through believing in Him. And this is where men can make another
choice and choose heresy. But it is God’s will that everybody
would be saved and accept Christ. That is why God’s grace and
promises remain valid for everyone, like Paul writes:
“Therefore,
the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may
be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who
are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of
Abraham.” (Romans 4:16)
The
promise of the Holy Spirit is true. He is with us forever
through faith in Christ. And the Spirit is not with us just
passively, but He constantly counsels and assures that we belong
to God and are His beloved children. When our conscience and
guilt are weighing us down, the Spirit counsels us to have faith
and to trust in the forgiveness of sins. When we need advice,
encouragement and solace, the Holy Spirit prays for us and works
in us giving us will and achievement.
In
today’s gospel Jesus promises everyone a very personal chance to
have a relationship with God: "He
who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him
and show myself to him." (John 14:21)
Therefore, God wants to be with us, so close that we understand
His will and learn to trust that He wants to lead us and take
care of us all through our lives. The young people being
confirmed today can safely build their lives on and turn to this
following promise by Jesus: ” I am
with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew
28:20) And all of us can also turn to the same promise over and
over again – The Holy Spirit, the Counselor, is with us forever.
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