Easter 7 + Exaudi

Text: John 15:26-16:4

Today's Gospel began with Jesus saying, “But when the Helper comes…."

What do you imagine when you hear the word “helper?”

An extra pair of hands around the yard? The way the children assist in picking up around the house. Maybe someone who can tutor you on homework.

Here is one of those situations where something is lost in translation from Greek to English.

Another translation Luther liked was “When the Comforter comes.”

I like this translation a lot, but it still misses the Greek.

Defining the word “Comfort” today is pretty subjective.

A more literal and fitting translation would be “when the Paraclete comes…."

Yet, none of you speak this way, do you?

I’m sure some of you are wondering just what a Paraclete is in the first place!

A Paraclete means that Jesus sends you an advocate to defend and protect you. He is to be “the legal advisor of the accused or defendant, who takes on, to defend the accused, [or] get things in order.” (Martin Luther)

So why would you or any other Christian require a Paraclete? Why do you need someone to defend you and get things in order?

Because Jesus says a little later in the Gospel today,

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

You require the Paraclete, an advocate, and helper because the hour of persecution is at hand.

When you look at things like this, the coming of the Holy Spirit is really good for you and the Church on earth.

Why?

Because it is your faith in Jesus that will lead the world around you to hate and scorn you.

But Jesus wants you to be defended from the world and He wants to keep you from falling away from the faith in Him as so many do.

Interestingly, here, the word in Greek for “falling away” is σκανδαλίζω, or in English, scandalize.

So, how does this world scandalize you and cause you to fall away from faith?

Well, in today’s Gospel, Jesus first says, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Jesus is going to send His disciples the “Helper” or “Paraclete” so they can continue to know Jesus, persevere in the faith, and keep things in order.

What is that order?

Hear the Word of God regularly, confess your sin, receive the Lord’s Supper, and be strengthened in the faith.

This order is also where the Holy Spirit comes to you and bears witness to Christ Jesus and your heavenly Father.

But you do not face the same persecution of the disciples who would be martyred for Christ, do you?

However, in what ways does this world and the people around you, the people you see day in and day out, scandalize or lead you to fall away from faith in Christ?

What about your family? Are you seen as a traditionalist who is out of touch with the world? Are family visits hard as your church attendance is pitted against their lack of it? Is it easier to stay home and away from God’s Word out of fear of making them uncomfortable?

Or your friends? Has your faith become the butt of their jokes? Creating an uneasy feeling that silences your faith not only in front of them but also as you depart the doors of this church.

Or what about your heritage, your children, and your grandchildren? Has the world of school and sports encroached on your family's attendance at Church and the Divine Service? Has faith in Christ been demoted? 

What actually kills any of you is not death itself because you who have been baptized into Christ have already died and been raised to new life. No, what actually kills you is a lack of faith in Jesus Christ.

For this reason, the devil and the world around you are too eager to lead you away from Jesus Christ. To turn your ears and silence the voice of the Holy Spirit.

But why does the world do this?

Jesus says, “Because they have not known the Father, nor me.”

But again, Jesus and His Father do not leave you or forsake you; instead, Jesus says,

“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.”

The Holy Spirit comes to do one thing: to make you holy as He points and brings you to Jesus and Jesus to you.

“But how does [the Holy Spirit] accomplish this?” (Large Catechism)

Luther wrote in the Large Catechism,

The Holy Spirit accomplishes this By the Christian Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

But then Luther goes on with this wonderfully fitting answer and image on this Mother’s Day as he said,

For in the first place, the Spirit has His own congregation in the world, which is the mother that conceives and bears every Christian through God’s Word [Galatians 4:26]. Through the Word He reveals and preaches, He illumines and enkindles hearts, so that they understand, accept, cling to, and persevere in the Word. [1 Corinthians 2:12][1]

Isn’t this great?

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Church on earth is the mother that conceives and brings you to new life through God’s Word.

And who is this Word?

It’s Jesus!

Who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

And no one knows the Father or the Son, nor receives the faith needed, unless the Holy Spirit abides with them, pointing them to their Savior.

This is why we all need the Paraclete, the Helper, the Holy Spirit—to have an advocate, one who puts our lives in order.

Among the many distractions and people who threaten to cause us to stumble, we need to be continually pointed to Jesus, who is not only the world’s redeemer but also our redeemer.

But a point needs to be made here: we also need to pray for those who have caused us to stumble in faith. We need to pray for those who once were with us but have now fallen away from the Christian faith. 

And it’s a prayer that neither those who were once in our presence nor us would put off the Holy Spirit eternally but return and be connected to our Mother. In this church, the Holy Spirit continues to grant all of us God’s Word to forgive, illuminate, and enkindle faith within our hearts so that we and all the faithful in Christ never fall away or become scandalized by the world of daily life eternally, but rather, receive the eternal peace and comfort the Holy Spirit wishes to give because He abides with you. +INJ+ 

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI

[1] McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (pp. 403–404). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.