Armed with the testimony of the Spirit and apostles

Sermon for Exaudi – Sunday after the Ascension

1 Peter 4:7-11  +  John 15:26-16:4

Today is that odd Sunday between Ascension Day last Thursday and Pentecost next Sunday, a sort of in-between time, not really Easter, not yet anything else. Just imagine how strange that in-between time was for the eleven apostles. Jesus ascended on Thursday. He told them they had to wait in Jerusalem for “not many days,” but they didn’t know exactly how many “not many” would be. (As we know, it turned out to be 10 days). They weren’t idle during that time. Acts tells us that the eleven stayed in that famous upper room in Jerusalem, praying. The faithful women, and Jesus’ mother and brothers were also there. About 120 disciples were left in Jerusalem at that time (hardly the multitudes that once followed Jesus), and they also gathered with the eleven during those in-between days. Matthias was also chosen at that time to replace Judas, so that there would still be 12 apostles, 12 witnesses who could fulfill the office or the ministry Jesus had given them of testifying before the world about Him and about His resurrection.

We hear Jesus talking about that testimony in today’s Gospel, again from Maundy Thursday evening, speaking about the apostles’ testimony, and how the world would react to their testimony, which is what would make the testimony of the Holy Spirit, also mentioned by Jesus in today’s Gospel, that much more important.

First Jesus speaks about the testimony of the Spirit. But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. Again, the titles of the Holy Spirit are important. “Comforter” or Encourager or Counselor. He will give you comfort and courage, encouragement and counsel. Also, “Spirit of truth,” that is, the Spirit who guides you to know and to believe and to stand on the truth with courage. Jesus promises to send this Comforter, this Spirit of truth, to His apostles after He has gone to the Father.

This verse is also where we get some of the Trinitarian language of our creeds. The Spirit “proceeds from the Father.” That’s the image we’re given of the relationship between the person of the Father and the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit proceeds. He goes forth from the Father, not entirely unlike the breath that goes forth from a man, except that the Breath of God is alive, is a person, is able to testify. But Jesus, as the ruler at the Father’s right hand, is the one who sends the Spirit from the Father, and so the Spirit is also said (at least in our Western churches) to proceed from the Son. Just as the Spirit once brought Jesus to the world as the Holy Spirit overshadowed the virgin Mary, so now, after the work of Christ is done in the world, He promises to send the Spirit.

He will testify about Me, Jesus says. The Spirit is called by Jesus as a witness, to give testimony about Jesus. A witness tells what he has seen or heard firsthand. So the Spirit tells what He has seen and knows about Jesus. He testifies. His first testimony was given in the words of the Old Testament, given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That testimony about God, about Christ in particular, is written so that anyone and everyone can hear it. But in this New Testament era, the Spirit does his testifying also in the hearts of those to whom He is given. St. Paul writes in Romans 8, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

The Spirit’s reveals facts; He revealed to the apostles, and to us through the apostles, the truth about who Jesus is—not just the man they had come to know over three years, but the very Son of God whose origins are from eternity and who now reigns at God’s right hand. The Spirit’s testimony also enlightens as He continually gives the gift of faith, convincing the apostles, and now us, that Jesus is trustworthy, that we should flee to Him for refuge in the judgment, and that we will find safety in His wounded hands and side. The Spirit’s testimony also enlightens as He gives God’s children wisdom and patience and comfort and courage, making us certain that Jesus is who He says He is, has done what the Bible says He has done, and will do for all who believe in Him what He has said He will do, namely, forgive us our sins, prepare a place for us in heaven, and guard and guide us through this world until we reach that place.

The Spirit will testify about Me, Jesus promised, but you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. Notice, these words are clearly spoken, not to you and me directly, but to the eleven apostles who were “with Jesus from the beginning.” Even when they chose Matthias to replace Judas, they narrowed down their choice to just two men who had been with them from the beginning. The apostles were specially chosen to give their firsthand witness of what they had seen and heard from Christ, from His teachings and His miracles to His death and resurrection. They were eyewitnesses. Nothing less would do to form the foundation of Christ’s Church, which is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.

We talked on Thursday evening about the content of their witness, which centered on Jesus and this simple promise which they heard directly from Jesus’ lips: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. They were to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.

But Jesus told them ahead of time how it would go for the witnesses. They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming, when whoever kills you will think he is doing God a service. The Jews, the ones who should have been the first to welcome their own Messiah, would instead be the first to reject and to persecute the witnesses sent by the Messiah, and they would do it “in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” They would do it thinking that they were worshiping the God of Israel. That’s a sobering thought. It reminds us that sincerity in one’s faith isn’t a virtue in and of itself. With great sincerity of faith the Jews persecuted the apostles and the early church, just as with great sincerity of faith the Muslims would do the same centuries later, just as with great sincerity of faith the Roman Church would persecute the Christians who separated from the pope at the time of the Reformation, just as with great sincerity of faith people still attack Christians to this very day, thinking they’re serving God, or at least thinking they’re doing what is right. But the result for those being attacked and condemned and even killed is the same.

Why? Why do they do this? And these things they will do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. The god who is worshiped by the Jews who reject Jesus as the Christ, the god who is worshiped by Muslims, the god who is worshiped by those who would excommunicate or kill the true preachers of Christ—that god is not God the Father, or Jesus His Son, no matter what they claim. They show by their rejection of the witnesses that they haven’t known the true God. As Jesus said to His apostles on another occasion, He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.

Still, the testimony of the apostles was not silenced, even by their deaths. It was believed by many and spread throughout the world, so that their own written testimony has come down to us in the New Testament, and the proof of their testimony still stands in the little flock, in the remnant that holds to it throughout the world.

Now, armed with the testimony of the Spirit and of the apostles, you Christians have your own testimony to give in the world. You have seen Christ’s baptism applied to yourself and to others. You have the read the primary source of Holy Scripture and you have it to cite and to share. You have the Holy Spirit’s own testimony with your spirit that, yes, you are a child of God, because you not only acknowledge your sins and unworthiness before God, but you also know Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and from death.

Armed with the testimony of the Spirit and of the apostles, live each day as Christians, as witnesses in the world according to your vocations. Your church membership is part of your witness. Your attendance at church is part of it, too. Your words and deeds in your home and in society give a testimony to the world. Make sure it’s the testimony you want to give, the testimony God wants you to give. You can’t change the witness given by others. You can’t do anything about it when other people tarnish the name of Christ. And you can’t get rid of the world’s darkness. All you can do is be a little light, shining where you are. And I promise you, no matter how the devil rages, no matter how the world gnashes its teeth, no one can put out that light. And somehow, according to the design of the One who reigns at the right hand of God, the combined light of the testimony of all the tiny little lights shining throughout the world, will be enough to sustain and to build His Church until He comes again, so that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Amen.