The Helper

 John 16:5-15

"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.  And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you."

Sermon for Cantate 5/03/26

The Helper

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

One of television's most interesting devices is what we call a flashback.  In the middle of the story you can jump back to an earlier episode and explain the meaning of the present situation.  That is not a new idea.  The lectionary has been doing it for thousands of years.  Our Gospel lesson is something akin to a flashback.  It takes us from after the resurrection and on the way to Pentecost back to just before the crucifixion so Jesus can explain what is coming up in very near future, in terms of our Gospel lectionary progression.  As we approach the celebration of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the official start of the Christian Church, Jesus tells us that He is going to give His Spirit, whom He calls "the Helper", and describes His work and the meaning of the gift.  Our theme, this morning, is "The Helper".

Contrary to the ordinary expectations of men and women, Jesus explains that His departure from His disciples is actually a good thing.  They will gain much more than they will lose.  It was hard to see that from a human perspective.  All they could imagine is that their master is going to be going away.  Jesus explained that He will send the Helper to them, which will be a great advantage and blessing.  If you read these words casually, you might not find the blessings Jesus is speaking of.  You need to read them carefully, and apply the words to the situation.

For example, Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit – the Helper – will be making everything work.  Jesus says that He, when He comes, will accomplish all the things Jesus names.  What isn't so obvious is that Jesus is talking about the work He is leaving His disciples to do.  The Spirit is the One who will make it happen.  That is how He is "the Helper".  He makes whatever they are doing effective and accomplishes the mission Jesus sets before them.

And what is that Mission?  "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment."  That is the Mission.  The first thing we see is that the scope of the mission is the entire world, and that is what the Helper will enable them to reach – the world.  What the disciples are charged with is a mission to the entire world, and every man, woman, and child in the world is included in their message.  The Spirit will convict the world, that is, the Spirit will work faith and give the message power.

First, He will convict the world of sin.  Jesus then went on to say that the world will be convicted of unbelief: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.  That is the chief sin, not to believe in Jesus.  All other sins flow out of the failure to believe that Jesus is God and to trust in Him.  Now that Jesus has paid the cost of sin, the only thing that stands to convict anyone is unbelief.  And we all stand convicted of unbelief before Christ.  Aside from the aid of the Spirit, not even Christians would believe.  Our natural state is unbelief.

The history of the church demonstrates this truth.  Time after time, the church wanders from the simple and pure Gospel.  We would expect the world around us to reject Christ and the faith, and they do, but the most aggressive attacks come from within the church.  There are those who simply cannot accept the incarnation.  ‘God could not do that, or if He could, He would not!'  They reject the atonement.  ‘It is too little,' or ‘it is too much,' or ‘it is too violent,' or ‘it is unreasonable to demand the bloody death of His Son for the sins of others.' Over and over, so-called teachers have led the way to unbelief and irreligion, showing how clearly all men are convicted of the sin of unbelief prior to the work of the Helper.

The world has no appreciation for the reality of this sin.  It is all the same to the world if you believe in God or not – or which deity you choose.  The world is worried about those "sins" that mess up their dealings - murder, or adultery, or theft.  They don't always condemn or punish those evils, but they feel them and see them.  This sin, unbelief, they do not feel or see or care about.  They do not know that this sin is the foundation and food for the evil of the world.  This is the sin in which a man says "I am God".  "I come first."  "Whatever I want at whatever price, I claim it!"  And we all stand convicted.

Then the Helper convicts the world of righteousness.  That is the proper work of the Spirit, proclaiming the Gospel through the agency of the messengers sent by Christ, and bringing men to faith.   But the righteousness of which the world is to be convicted is not its own, worked by the hands of men.  It is that alien righteousness of the grace of God, imputing Christ's complete righteousness to men that believe.  You can hear this in the way Jesus describes it: and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me.  Now who would describe righteousness like this?  Only Jesus.  

He describes it this way because it is not our righteousness but His that He speaks about.  It is the only righteousness that avails before God for salvation, but it is totally His work and not ours.  It must be accounted to us and given to us – and it is.  That is the work of the Spirit.  Luther often said that this is the reason the Holy Spirit is called Holy, because He makes us holy.  These words show us clearly that Christ is not speaking here of outward, secular righteousness, which is important and necessary for this life, which Moses or judges and philosophers teach in their books, and which man has the ability to practice.  This righteousness is of an entirely different sort - it is the sort of righteousness for which God looks, the righteousness of the heart and soul, cleansed of sins and humble before God.

This is why the world hates this righteousness - this Gospel - because it is not something they can accomplish or establish or even sense and feel.  There is no personal credit or glory in it.  It is all Christ.  That is why He speaks about the world being convicted because He goes to the Father.  The world has no use for it if it is not serving their felt needs or egos.  This righteousness, however, is completely concealed, not only from the world but also from the saints.  It is not a thought, a word, or a work or a feeling in ourselves, as the preachers fantasize about grace when they teach that it is something poured into our hearts – or something that we sense.  No, it is entirely outside and above us; it is Christ's going to the Father, that is, His suffering, resurrection, and ascension.  Christ placed this righteousness outside the sphere of our senses; we cannot see and feel it. The only way it can be grasped is by clinging to the Word preached about Him, which tells us that He Himself is our Righteousness.  Even for believers, it is received only by faith, and perceived only by hearing the Word of it, and that with the aid – the conviction – of the Helper.

Finally, the Helper will convict the world concerning Judgment.  Jesus said, and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.  We naturally think of earthly judgment, laws broken, crimes committed, and guilt established and punished.  But Jesus is speaking here of the work of the Helper which places all human righteousness in the scales of justice and condemns all of it.  Here we are presented with the work of the church in preaching and teaching the truth, both Law and Gospel, rightly divided.  We proclaim the freedom of the Gospel from the regulations of the law, and this silences and condemns the "ruler of this world", the devil, with all of his guilt-mongering and fear. 

The devil is the father of lies, and so any false doctrine stands judged by the clear preaching of the Word of God.  It is not important to this convicting work of the Helper that the world around us recognize that judgment today.  It will recognize it and confess it as true and correct in the end, but today it is enough that we know that it is true.  The Helper convicts the world by contradicting the wisdom and judgment of the world with the forgiveness of sins and by changing the hearts of men.  The world looks at the outside and makes its judgment.  God bestows His grace, and changes the spirit of men and women with a new righteousness which is true and pure and saves you.  The world judges falsely and condemns and persecutes the people of God, and so it is judged in turn, and condemned along with its evil ruler.

All the while, we stand by watching as the Helper does all of these things.  We hear the Words of the Absolution, and believe by the power of the Spirit, and we are forgiven.  We hear the Words of Institution, and believe by the power of the Spirit, and we receive holy food.  We are not idle, for we are the messengers sent to preach, but the work and its success belongs to the Spirit.  He takes what Christ has earned, and pours it out on us in Word and Sacrament.  As Jesus said in our text, "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you."  He brings all glory to the Father by glorifying Christ in everything so that we know and believe, and are comforted here, and are rescued for eternity.

Our Gospel for Cantate Sunday prepares us to celebrate Pentecost, and to find the true blessing of Christ's Ascension.  Christ needed to go away from us to the Father in order to send the Spirit to help us, and teach us this divine understanding of sin, and righteousness, and to know that the judgment has come already, on Good Friday, when the ruler of this world was judged, and our sins were punished, and we were redeemed and set free from death into everlasting life.  The Helper had to do it because, by ourselves, we could not believe.  We need help, and so He sent us the Helper.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)