Sermon - Pentecost 2022 - John 14:23-31

Peter Preaching at Pentecost, Benjamin West, 1738-1820

It’s a tragicomedy when Christian parents hide their children’s inheritance in a bible, reminding their children on their deathbed to read their bible, only for the children to never find the inheritance since they never read their bible. The children search frantically for their inheritance, yet the treasure is hidden right there in plain sight, if only they’d take the time to open the scriptures and read.

Thus is God, our true treasure, hidden in plain sight. The question leading up to Jesus’ answer in the Gospel reading asks: “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus replies: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to Him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words.” God hides Himself in His Word, available for all to hear and read and believe. God hides in plain sight so as to make Himself manifest to the faithful, and hidden from the world.

That God desires all people to hear, believe, and be saved is made abundantly clear when He sent the Holy Spirit into His church. The work of the Holy Spirit is to “teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” We saw the Holy Spirit at work in very tangible ways at the beginning of the book of Acts. “Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

God sent the apostles to preach the good news of salvation to all the world, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles! God’s Word transcends that which separates us culturally, linguistically, economically, and nationally, so as to draw all people to Himself and make Himself manifest to anyone who will hear and believe the mighty works of God. Just as Jesus was crucified for the forgiveness of all peoples, so does Jesus spread His Word abroad to all peoples.

It is to our great advantage that God makes Himself manifest to us through His Word by the work of the Spirit. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” The manifestation of God and the impartation of the Spirit takes away our fear and gives us ascendent peace.

This world is always filled with fear and never has peace. The news is almost exclusively bad news. It’s not just that fear sells and is very profitable, it’s that there really isn’t much good news in the world. Sin permeates this creation and so anything newsworthy is tainted by sin. The more we try to distance ourselves from bad things and increase our comfort, the more we have to fear and the less peace we have because we then fear losing those things that give us so much comfort and ease. The wealthier you are, the more you have to lose. So this world is always filled with fear and troubled hearts.

But the Lord takes away fear and gives peace. The Spirit, who is eternal and immortal, loves us and lives within us. God makes His home with us. All other things are temporary and fast fleeting, the ruler of this world deals in momentary pleasures, but God is everlasting and is building a home for us which shall never fall. The inheritance and treasure which Christ has won for us by His sacrifice on the cross is the only thing that endures. Neverending life with the eternal God is the one stable thing in existence. So when God manifests Himself to us He rids us of fear and calms our troubled hearts with ascendent peace. 

The gateway to this peace which the world cannot give is straightforward and plain as day. It’s right there in the words of God. God’s Word is easily understandable with a basic comprehension of language. A child can read it. You don’t have to be some genius to figure it out. You don’t have to spend a lifetime in meditation and traveling the world to find hidden truths. It’s all right here for anyone to read, hear, and believe. 

Nevertheless, just because it’s plain to read the scriptures and understand them, doesn’t mean that it’s easy to believe and keep the Word of God. Jesus tells us “if anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word.” God reveals Himself to us not only when His Word is heard, but particularly when we keep His Word. So what does it mean to keep His Word? 

Keep is a rich word. When something is kept it’s preserved and guarded, it’s kept intact, it’s attended to carefully and cared for. When we keep a covenant or a promise that we make, it means that we do what we said we would. When we keep a treasure, it means that we guard and preserve it from harm. When we keep someone else’s words it means that we remember what they say and attend to their instructions.

So it is when we keep God’s Word. Like a treasure, we guard and preserve it from misuse and destruction, we keep it close to our hearts and keep it with us at all times. Like a covenant or promise from God we are careful to do according to its instructions. To keep the word of God means to remember it, live according to it, and guard it from error. To keep the Word of God means to have faith and trust in God above all things. It’s an impossible task alone, and so it is only by the help of the Holy Spirit that we are able to keep the Word of God.

Thus the hymn of the day which we just sang is a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus has already sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, it’s our fervent plea that the Spirit would continue to work in us and strengthen our faith. Listen again to some of the petitions we made in the hymn: “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord… in holy faith Your church unite… Come, holy Light, guide divine… teach us to know our God aright… from every error keep us free; let none but Christ our Master be… Come, holy fire, comfort true, grant us the will Your work to do…let trials turn us not aside… and to our weakness strength impart that bravely here we may contend.”

What a wonderful and powerful prayer! Since we desire God to be made manifest to us, we therefore wish to keep His Word by the help of the Holy Spirit. If we ever doubt the strength of the Spirit to keep us in the faith, let us be reminded how the Spirit descended upon the apostles. He came from heaven like a mighty rushing wind and as tongues of fire resting on each one of them. 

We all know the strength of the wind, we’ve been reminded of its power regularly this very windy Spring. The Spirit, although invisible like the wind, has the power to move us and change our hearts. The wind can power a home with a wind turbine, it can draw water from a well or mill grain, it can push a boat along the sea; so the Spirit has the power to move us from sloth and apathy to action and joy! The Spirit turns a lousy sinner into a righteous Christian! 

We also know the boldness and zeal of fire. With but a small spark or even just its heat, a fire can spread and grow rapidly, devouring everything in its path. Put to good use, fire can warm a cold house or lighten our darkness or cook a meal. So it is with the Spirit. The Spirit devours our cold and fearful hearts and makes us bold and fills us with zeal! The Spirit consumes the darkness of sin which veils us and gives us sight through the scriptures.

So the Spirit of God comes to you like rushing wind and rests upon you like fiery tongues. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” These are dark, cold, and listless days in which the church appears to be small and elderly, steeped in old traditions and unpopular teachings. But what is hidden from the world has been revealed to you dear Christians! The Spirit of God rests upon you! He gives you boldness and zeal, joy and gladness! “The Spirit of the Lord fills the world. The righteous shall be glad… God shall arise, His enemies shall be scattered… The Lord gives the word; behold, He sends out His voice, His mighty voice. Awesome is God from His sanctuary; the God of Israel - He is the One who gives power and strength to His people.”

The wisdom of the almighty God has been revealed to you, dear Christians. Don’t be ashamed of God’s Word or your faith in Him. The riches which the crazed world seeks after is yours already in Christ. What is hidden from the world has been revealed to you. The crucified Christ has risen from the grave and gives life to His people. A few weak Christians are neither few nor weak, since our strength is in the Lord who gives us comfort and peace. His voice, which the world mocks and ridicules, is our life and our joy, our peace, which has been hidden from the world and revealed to us who keep His Word.