Here's the sermon I shared at
St Mary's Runwell this morning:
Matryoshka dolls, also known as Russian nesting dolls, are hand-painted wooden dolls that stack inside each other, with smaller figures nested in progressively larger ones. The number of dolls typically ranges from three to ten, but can reach 50 or more. Words with multiple meanings are a bit like matryoshka dolls, as there's always something more to discover. Like the many beautiful facets of a diamond, there's always something more to admire or appreciate.
The word Jesus uses to speak of the Holy Spirit in today’s Gospel reading is like that (
John 14.8-18). He describes the
Holy Spirit as an advocate, a term derived from the Greek word "Paraklētos", which means "one who comes alongside to help". “This word appears five times in the New Testament: once in 1 John, where it refers to Jesus as the advocate before the Father on the behalf of sinners (1 Jn. 2:1), and four times in the Gospel of John, referring to the Holy Spirit.”
Paraklētos or advocate signifies the Holy Spirit's role as a divine helper, teacher, comforter, intercessor, and counsellor who works to guide and empower believers. Each of these names or different translations is like a new facet bringing added depth to our understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, the Holy Spirit is the “one called alongside of” us to aid, exhort, and encourage. He is, remarked the Jesuit priest and poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, one “who stirs up, urges forward, who calls on … what a trumpet is to a soldier, that a Paraclete is to the soul…”
As our Divine Helper and Teacher, the Holy Spirit assists us by teaching us about God and illuminating our understanding of the Scriptures. In John 14.28 we read “But the Paraklētos, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Through his
teaching, we become aware of who God is, who we are, and what God is calling us to be.
As our
Comforter, the Holy Spirit provides counsel and encouragement, especially during difficult times. Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth … You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” “resides within those who have been baptized; he is, as the Creed states, the “giver of life.” The life he gives is the divine life of God, who is perfect love—an eternal exchange of divine love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “Whoever loves me,” Jesus told his disciples, “will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Filled with the Trinitarian life, we are made temples of the Holy Spirit.”
As
Intercessor, the Holy Spirit intercedes on behalf of believers, praying for them according to God's will. “Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a season when you just weren’t sure how to pray? Possibly a season of trial when you weren’t even sure how to articulate what was on your heart? Isn’t it a relief to know that the Holy Spirit helps us in the midst of these seasons by interceding on our behalf and making sense of our messy prayers? Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes in prayer for us. He aligns our requests with the will of God and transforms our minds to begin thinking and praying in accordance with God’s plan and character.”
The Greek word was used in legal settings to refer to an attorney making a defence in court on behalf of someone accused. As our
Defence Attorney, the Holy Spirit defends us against the accusations of the devil and reminds us of our identity as God's children. The Holy Spirit strengthens those who belong to Christ, standing beside them in support as they battle temptation, endure the trials of this world, and rebut the accusations of the devil, “the accuser” (Rev. 12:10). ()
Perhaps most significant of all, is Paraklētos as
Counsellor. We all know what a Counsellor does in our society but in the New Testament we get a different sense of the word. What does ‘counsellor’ mean here? It means ‘one called alongside.’ The Holy Spirit comes alongside us to replace Jesus, who previously came alongside us to be with us.
This gets to the heart of the wonder of the Incarnation. In coming to earth, taking on human flesh, and living an ordinary (if not poverty-stricken) life, Jesus came alongside us to be with us. Some people talk as if God is remote but, in Jesus, God came to be with us in all the mess and the confusion of everyday living.
The Holy Spirit comes as Counsellor to be with us and to replace the Counsellor who is leaving, namely Jesus. That is one of the reasons why it is significant that the Bible uses the word Paraklētos for both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
“
Pentecost is therefore to be seen as the moment when the personal presence of Jesus with the disciples is translated into the personal power of Jesus in the disciples; because Pentecost signals the mode and means by which [Jesus] is putting his new authority into operation … The disciples, filled with the Spirit, begin the work of Jesus’ sovereign and saving rule over the world, whose Lord he now is, by their shared common life, their works of healing, their proclamation of him as Lord and King, and their bold witness against the authorities who try to stop them. And that just about sums up the whole book [of Acts], all the way to when Paul arrives in Rome and announces God as King and Jesus as Lord right under Caesar’s nose, openly and unhindered. So Pentecost is about the powerful presence of Jesus with his people; about the implementation of Jesus’ healing, saving rule through his people; and thirdly about the anticipation, in and through that work, of the final day when heaven and earth shall be one.”
The Holy Spirit is our paracletos. Our ‘comforter’ or ‘helper’ (providing whatever is needed to fulfil God’s plan), ‘advocate’ (one who will speak up for us), and ‘intercessor’ (one who will pray and mediate between us and God). The Holy Spirit can be all of these things for us. Jesus has sent the Spirit to us and so we can ask for his comfort and help in our need, for his advocacy with God when we need to repent, and for the Spirit to give us the words to pray to God when we don’t know what to say. Jesus knew that life would be tough for the disciples after he returned to the Father, so he provided for them at their point of need and does the same for us too.
The Spirit is Jesus with us and in us forever, as well as the one who continues to reveal Jesus to us. As the disciples found after Pentecost, when we have the Spirit of Jesus in us and reminding us of all that Jesus did and said, we are increasingly able to live as Jesus did. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
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