Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
In the Gospel today, we hear “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
The Spirit has an intimate connection with the Father and the Son. Because all three, as we will pray in the collect later, are one in unity.
So the Holy Spirit, as it dwells in us, is really communicating what God as one in Trinity is trying to tell us. Which is an incredible gift in our lives.
And it certainly makes everything easier. Because all we have to do is listen to what the Spirit is telling us. But it also means we have a hard task in front of us. Because we have to listen to what the Spirit is telling us.
But I will say that developing this ear, the ear for the Spirit, is an important and life-giving task. And I can say so from my own experience.
Before I began seminary, I moved out to Helena, Montana to work as an intern at St. Peter’s Cathedral. My mentor had just been installed as the dean at the Cathedral and wanted to have some help in her ministry. The church could not afford to bring on another priest at the time, but they could afford to have me.
During my time out there, I had many opportunities to remove myself from everything around me. Which granted is not terribly hard to do in Montana! The state is only big in its size, not in the population of people out there. But aside from hikes and long car rides in the middle of nowhere, I was able to take retreats too.
One of these retreats was in Colorado at the Sacred Heart Retreat Center. This came at a time when I was trying to build up my relationship with God. Specifically with Jesus Christ as part of the Trinity.
To build up this relationship, I worked on developing my own listening to the Spirit. And for me, long walks often help with that. Fortunately, Sacred Heart has the benefit of having a lot of land to walk around. So when I would go for a walk, I would try to listen to what the Spirit was saying inside me. And I would use that sense to figure out where to go next on whatever path I was on.
Over the years I developed this sense more and more in all aspects of my life. Eventually it got to the point where God became my travelling companion many times. Which has been particularly helpful on the many travels I have made alone.
And that is why it is so important for us to develop an ear for what the Spirit is
saying to us. To allow the Spirit to “guide us into all the truth.” Because God is
seeking to be one with us, just as the persons of God as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit are so close they are really one being. He is seeking to be in relationship
with us.
And that is something we see throughout this passage in John, beyond what we just read today. This passage, spread throughout several chapters, marks the final talk Jesus gives to his disciples before his crucifixion. And when He first tells the disciples He will send them the “spirit of Truth”, He says to them “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” And Jesus also says that “I do not call you servants any longer..., but I have called you friends.”
And that is something we see throughout this passage in John, beyond what we just read today. This passage, spread throughout several chapters, marks the final talk Jesus gives to his disciples before his crucifixion. And when He first tells the disciples He will send them the “spirit of Truth”, He says to them “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” And Jesus also says that “I do not call you servants any longer..., but I have called you friends.”
God wants a deep and abiding relationship with us. One where He dwells with
us. One where we do not have to fear God, but can call ourselves friends with the
Lord Most High.
And one of the most important things in any relationship is conversation. Not just talking without hearing anything back, but a deep conversation that involves sharing our troubles and listening to what the other has to say.
Allowing the Spirit to guide us into truth means becoming close in relation to God. And that means listening to what He has to say to us.
That means taking the time to listen. And sometimes the best way to do that is to remove ourselves from the distractions of our lives. To remove all other voices until the only one we hear is God’s.
And one of the most important things in any relationship is conversation. Not just talking without hearing anything back, but a deep conversation that involves sharing our troubles and listening to what the other has to say.
Allowing the Spirit to guide us into truth means becoming close in relation to God. And that means listening to what He has to say to us.
That means taking the time to listen. And sometimes the best way to do that is to remove ourselves from the distractions of our lives. To remove all other voices until the only one we hear is God’s.
Truly listening to God can be very time consuming. But it is well worth it in the
end. Because it is life giving. After all, we are committing to becoming closer
with the God who loved us so much He was willing to die on the cross so that we
could rise to new glory with Him.
God is calling us to a deeper relationship with Him. And all relationships take time and work. But in the end, this is a relationship worth having. This is a relationship worth taking that time to be quiet and still. To be removed from distractions. To remove ourselves from all other voices but the one that will guide us into truth and salvation.
God is calling us to a deeper relationship with Him. And all relationships take time and work. But in the end, this is a relationship worth having. This is a relationship worth taking that time to be quiet and still. To be removed from distractions. To remove ourselves from all other voices but the one that will guide us into truth and salvation.