Pentecost 2013 (John 14:8-17, 25-27)
“The Holy Spirit will teach you
everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
Revelation
is an inside job.
Moses, the
prophets and apostles observed that there is more than adequate data in nature
for a rational mind to discern the reality of God. Moses, the prophets and the
apostles also observe that most people most of the time (including themselves)
fail to perceive the Real Presence of God.
There is an
old saying: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. As with
horses and water so with human beings and the Real Presence of God. No matter
how much evidence God provides for us we still find ways to ignore the obvious.
By our own
reason we cannot prove God’s existence. The atheists have the edge in the
debates over God’s existence. They have the edge because they set the
parameters of the debate. They also have the edge because the shared experience
of all human beings is willful separation from the divine.
External
evidence is subverted by the internal distortions of separation, sin and
mortality. To put it bluntly: we see what we want to see. And, we hear what we
want to hear.
Atheists and
theists alike share the misconception that there is an objective reality only expressed
and only discerned by the five senses of sight, scent, taste, touch and
hearing. They miss the point the Biblical writers make. The point is twofold.
Point one is
that under ideal circumstances people do have the capability of discerning God
in the material world through the five senses.
Point two is
that most people most of the time cannot and will not accept the reality of God
that comes to them through their five senses. The reason for this is the choice
our species made to separate from God.
Separation
produces distortion. In a state of separation we cannot and will not recognize
the obvious. We reject and repudiate the very pattern of Creation.
Revelation
emerges in the context of relationship. It is God himself who initiates the
relationship.
God revealed
himself to Moses and the Prophets as he invited them into a relationship with
himself. The invitation to relationship is universal and unconditional. The
record of scripture is that few people value the relationship enough to
cultivate the relationship.
Jesus
understands this completely. The co-eternal Son
of the eternal Father became a human being in part so he could
demonstrate to us that he not only understands what it is like to be human but
that he himself experienced what it means to be human.
Jesus knows
we are lost. He experienced that terrible condition in the personal
relationships he grew up in. His family, neighbors, friends all revealed to him
the pain of separation, the distortions of sin, and the fear of mortality.
Jesus also felt the pain, distortion and fear first hand as he died on the
cross.
Whatever
sadness or suffering or pleasure or joy you experience you can trust that Jesus
experienced it on the cross as he absorbed human sin. As he absorbed human sin
he experienced human sin. And, he transformed human sin.
Having
accomplished transformation of separation back into unification Jesus now
offers that unification to us as a gift. This is called by theologians :
justification. We receive the grace of justification in the waters of baptism.
This is the new life that Jesus gives us. It is eternal because Jesus as the
Beloved Son of the Father is eternal.
Justification
is a one time event in history and a one time event in our lives. The second
phase of grace is sanctifying grace. Our heavenly Father infuses the gift of a
new way of living into our souls by sending the Holy Spirit to live in our
souls.
The Holy
Spirit facilitates the new personal relationship we have with the Father
through the Son.
The Holy
Spirit helps us to transform our thoughts, emotions and will. It is as we
mature in sanctifying grace that we achieve clarity of thought, purity of heart
and singleness of will. The process itself makes possible the revelation.
The Bible is
a closed book apart from the relationship. The Holy Spirit encourages us to
read the Bible. As we make a real choice to follow the leading of the Holy
Spirit He becomes our teacher. He directs us to study the Bible. He helps us to
select the proper commentaries and dictionaries to understand the Bible. And,
he inspires us to memorize the Bible.
The
relationship releases the revelation from the power of separation.
Resistance
to revelation is a consequence of separation. The Holy Spirit will help us to
perceive our own personal resistance. The awareness of resistance is the first
step to transforming the resistance.
Where do you
resist the Real Presence of Jesus?
For some the
distortion is primarily intellectual. An intellect lost in separation creates
powerful images to block revelation. The Holy Spirit leads such an intellect
into a personal experience of Jesus in order to dissolve those images and
replace those images. The Holy Spirit never argues in the context of
intellectual pride. He offers us a new way of thinking that is grounded in
authentic and personal experience.
Some of us
are lost in the distortions of our emotions. The Holy Spirit brings these
feelings into conscious awareness in the context of Jesus’ universal
unconditional love. Fear, frustration,
anger, anxiety and hatred are all distortions of peace and joy. The Holy Spirit
will remind us of the healing presence and power of Jesus to transform those
emotions.
Many of us
are lost in our individual will to power. The individual will to power is that
voice of the Adamic nature, the false self, that approaches life, other people
and God from the demand: I want what I want and I want it now.
As our
teacher and as the holder of the memory of who Jesus is, the Holy Spirit
designs a unique program and process of sanctifying grace to identify and
transform the individual will to power as we choose to express it.
The primary
tools that the Holy Spirit uses in sanctifying grace are: the Bible, the sacraments,
the church, other people.
Jesus just
didn’t leave us with a book and tell us: here. Study this. Do what it says and
you will be fine.
Jesus just
didn’t leave us with a religious institution and say: here. Join this
organization. Follow the rules and you will be fine.
Jesus sent
the third person of the eternal Trinity to live in our souls. The Holy Spirit
constantly infuses sanctifying grace to teach us the truth and to remind us
that the very principle of truth is Jesus himself.
Revelation
emerges in the context of relationship. The Holy Spirit sets us free to grow
into the personal relationship the Eternal Father offers us through the
co-eternal Son, Jesus Christ.
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