The Spirit of Truth
John 15: 26-27; 16: 4b-15
Day of Pentecost
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the Day of Pentecost is the Gospel reading John 15 and 16. When Jesus stood before Pontus Pilate on the morning of Good Friday, He told the Governor that He had come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Pilate’s response was to ask, “What is truth?” It was a very cynical thing for Pilate to say. It sounds like something that would be said today. What is truth? We live in a time when finding out what is true is getting harder. The mainstream media seems to be more interested in presenting a certain political narrative than actually telling what is true. All around us are different ideologies, religions, and philosophies that make the claim of being truthful but are actually filled with falsehood. There are those who want to suppress the truth in order to exercise more power for themselves. People have a hard time believing there is truth. If truth is talked about it is often redefined. The masses today believe that truth is what you feel is right for you, and we are taught to create our own reality. We can understand Pilate’s cynicism to his question to Jesus, “What is truth?”
In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus tells His disciples that He will send the Holy Spirit to them. Notice what Jesus calls the Holy Spirit. He calls Him the Spirit of truth. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who comes into the world to speak the truth. It is a reminder that the truth comes from God. The promise that Jesus made to His disciples came to pass when the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection. Our reading from Acts describes what happened on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came in a rushing wind. His presence was seen in the tongues of fire. The Holy Spirit came and gave the apostles the ability to talk in different languages they never learned. The Holy Spirit came to reveal to all the truth. For He is the Spirit of truth.
The truth is a glorious thing. Yet, many of us fear the truth. We fear the truth when it comes to revealing something about us. We all know things about ourselves we don’t want to face. All of us have things to which we don’t like to admit. We eat too much, we’re poor housekeepers, we have poor study habits, we’re disorganized, we drink too much, we are bad at finances, we worry too often. There are certain things about us that we don’t want anyone to tell us about. We don’t always like hearing the truth.
That is exactly how King David in the Old Testament thought. You remember the Biblical account of David and Bathsheba. Giving in to his own lustful thoughts, David has an affair with Bathsheba. She becomes pregnant. David worries about his reputation and what people will think about him, not about the evil he’s committed. So, he has Uriah, her husband killed. Then David takes this grieving widow in as one of his wives. No one, David hopes, suspected anything. David may have been able to deceive the people, but he could not deceive God. God knows all things. God sends His prophet Nathan to David. Nathan appears before the king seeking advice. The problem, as Nathan tells it, is that a rich man with a large flock had a banquet to prepare for a guest. Instead of taking one of his many lambs for the feast, he snatches the single lamb of his poor neighbor. Upon hearing this David is enraged. He demands justice.
Full of indignation, David proclaims, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.” Here things take a dramatic turn. Looking the king in the eye, Nathan says, “You are the man!” (2 Sam 12:5,7). Nathan speaking prophetically, announces the ugly truth about David. The ugly truth is hard to swallow when it’s applied to us. David found it easy to deal in abstract justice, or justice as it applied to somebody else, something that didn’t touch him. David was so blind to the truth that he didn’t see himself in the description of the rich shepherd. But then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the words of the prophet cut through. He was the sinner. David knew the ugly truth. He knew it not merely because his ears heard it, but his heart heard it. He received the Word of the Lord and believed it. He understood it as God’s verdict. God’s Word led him to the truth from which he was hiding, that he committed adultery and murder and he tried to cover it up. David now stood before God a sinner. It is David who said these words in Psalm 51:3. “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” The Holy Spirit exposed David’s sin but He also brought him to repentance.
We can identify with David. We would prefer that the ugly reality of our sin remain hidden. Even from ourselves. We do all sorts of things to try and minimize our sins. We compare ourselves with the average unbelieving sinner so that we can consider ourselves better. We are critical of others so that we can feel superior. We downplay our own sins, and we elevate our good works.
But the Spirit of truth pierces our darkness and brings the hidden things to light. The Holy Spirit comes just as Jesus promised. “I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Spirit working through the Word, pierces our hearts and opens them to reality. We are sinners standing before a holy God.
The Holy Spirit has come to reveal the truth. But exposing our sins is not the only thing that the Holy Spirit does. He also comes to reveal the beautiful truth of the Gospel. This is something for which we can truly praise God. Remember what Jesus said in our reading. “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.” The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost to reveal the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Spirit delivers to us the righteousness that our Savor has won for us at the cross. Where the truth of the Law convicts us of our sins, the Gospel delvers to us the forgiveness of sins. What is true is that God is gracious to us. That is reality. God is true to His Word. We can celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirt without fear of the truth that He brings. He brings to us the truth about Jesus Christ. This Jesus died for you, rose for you, reigns for you, and prays for you. The Spirit of Truth continues to bear witness, that because of Christ’s redemption nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God. The Spirit causes us to believe the good news that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God did not reject David, and he does not reject us. God loves you and He loves me. God welcomes us into fellowship with Him. It is to this beautiful truth, this Gospel truth, that the Holy Spirit bears witness. On Pentecost Sunday, we rejoice at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Here is what Jesus says. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
The Holy Spirit gives faith so that we may receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation through the gifts of God’s Word and Sacraments. The Spirit gives to us this beautiful truth: Righteousness in exchange for guilt, forgiveness in exchange for shame, and life in exchange for death. The Helper has come. He has revealed the truth. The truth that brings us life. Amen.