Pentecost John 16:5-11
June 4, 2017
You’re on a sinking ship and you know it. You can hear water rushing into the hull. You can see the boat listing to one side. Nobody else seems to notice. As you head toward the lifeboat you cry out,“The ship is sinking! Come with me!Here’s the lifeboat!”Instead they go the opposite direction. How to you convince them that they are wrong?
Very soon Jesus’ disciples would find themselves in that very situation. The world is a sinking ship and everyone waswalking away from the lifeboat – running away from the only One who could rescue them from perishing in hell – and the disciples knew it. They had spent the better part of three years with Jesus. They’d witnessed his entire ministry. They knew he was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.Up to this point,if they ever wanted to show people where the Savior was, they could just point to Jesus. And Jesus would speak for himself.
But very soon that would all change. Everything Jesus was about to do – his death, resurrection, and ascension –the very reason why he had come – the very things we needed him to do to save us all from drowning in sin – soonhis saving work would be done, andJesus would disappear from the world scene and leave all the evidence behind. No one would see him again until he returned on Judgment Day. Until then, he would no longer speak for himself. He would speakthrough his disciples, giving them the very words he wanted them to say.
If no one could see Jesus, how would they convince the world about him? Theycould talk about Jesus’ perfect life. They could tell about Jesus’ many miracles and share his parables and many of the lessons he taught. They could retell their eyewitness accounts of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.But no matter how much they knew, no matter how well they said it, no matter how sincere they were, how far would that go inconvincing the world that Jesus was the way to heaven, the truth, and the life? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if Jesus just stayed here on earth? Wouldn’t that be convincing?
But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it is for your good that I am going away.” What could possibly be better than having Jesus stay with them? Jesus explained, “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus was telling them that the task of convincing the world that he is the Savior was not on their shoulders. The Holy Spirit would come and help them. Through the message he gave them the Holy Spirit would convict – convince –the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment. As long as they were alive to proclaim the message about Jesus the Holy Spirit would be speaking though them. Then before their work on earth was done he would choose some of them to write it down for others to read and learn and proclaim. He wouldn’t rely on their foggy memories, but the Holy Spirit would call to their minds the things Jesus said and did. What they wrote would be the very words of God – “living and active, sharper than any two edged sword…” Through that Word, both spoken and written, the Holy Spirit would convict – convince – the world that they need a Savior and that they have a Savior. And that is what he is still doing through disciples like you and me today.
1. Use us to convince the world about sin
What does the world know about sin? Through Paul’s letter to the Romans the Holy Spirit tells us that everyone is born with a basic knowledge of right and wrong. He says,“Gentiles (i.e. unbelievers) show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences bearing witness.” We call this “natural law.” Our conscience acts like a judge as it compares the things we think, say, and do with what God has given us to know in our hearts. When we’re wrong, our conscience tells us “you’re guilty.”
So we can feel sin working in our lives. We can also seethe evidence of sin in the world. Newspapers and news programs are filled with the bad news of sins effects. People do the most horrific things to one another. Children grow up to be experts in disobedience and defiance. Hospitals and funeral homes do a booming business because of the effects of sin. It’s all plain to everyone. But we learn to live with the headlines, avoid funeral homes, defend our children’s disobedience (“kids will be kids”) and shrug off our guilt feelings because, after all, no one is perfect. People even joke about it.
The world needs to be convinced that sin is much worse than they think. It isn’t just a minor flaw in character or something that can be tamed with behavior modification. Sin is powerful, poisonous, and deadly! Every sin condemns us and puts us directly under the just wrath of almighty God.“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”And that’s exactly why Godsent us a Savior. When we tell people about sin and tell them about Jesus, we’re telling them what the Holy Spirit has convinced us of: that sin is worse than we can even begin to imagine andwe desperately need Jesus to take our sins away. The Holy Spirit uses us to convince the world that Jesus took our place under God’s wrath. He paid for every sin when he died on the cross. The ship is sinking, and Jesus is the lifeboat.
2. Use us to convince the world about righteousness
The world hasmuch to learn about sin, and it has just as much to learn about righteousness. Going back to our conscience, we all know deep down inside that there are things we should not be doingand there also are things we should be doing. For example, we know that we should be decent citizens and obey the laws. We should take care of our families and show mercy to those who are in need. The world applauds such things and we earn respect from others when we do them. It makes us feel good when we do right. We call this “civic righteousness.”
But there’s a big difference between what man calls righteousness and what God callsrighteousness. Man’s idea of righteousness means doing something to convince others that we are good people, or at least better than we really are. God’s idea of righteousness is to actuallybe good, in fact, perfect inside and out. The Pharisees were the most faithful, hard-working, respected civic leaders and church members of their day, yet Jesus called them “Whitewashed tombs….On the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”He later told his disciples, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
No matter what the world may say, righteousness is not something you make on your own. It isn’t determined by popular opinion. You are either right before God or you’re not. So when we tell people what God expects ofeveryone, including us, the Holy Spirit convinces them that we don’t have in in us to make ourselves right with God. What makes us right with God isin Jesus. “We are justified” – declared righteous, not guilty of sin – “freely by his grace through the redemption that cam by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” As we tell the truth about Jesus, the Holy Spirit convinces sinners that the Savior returned to heaven because he had done everything to make us righteous before God. “There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
3. Use us to convince the world about judgment
As we said before, sin has consequences. Every cut, bruise, cough, toothache, and wrinkle reminds us of our mortality. The wages of sin is finally death, and it’s plain to see that everyone is dying to leave this world. There’s something terribly unnatural about death, but the most unsettling, frightening thing about it is wondering what comes after death.
As strange as it sounds, God is actually showing mercy to us by allowing us to see and feel sin’s consequences. In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul explains, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against al the godlessness and wickedness of men.” Through all the fears, tears, heartache and panic that sin brings into the world,God is calling everyone to flee from the coming wrath. But if the unbelieving world is wrong about sin and righteousness, they will be wrong about facing God’s judgment, too. An unending eternity under God’s judgment, where “there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” and where “they will be tormented forever and ever” is too horrifying to think about, so people pretend that it just won’t happen. A popular song from the 60’s summed up how the world thinks: “I’ll say there ain’t no heaven and I’ll pray there ain’t no hell, but I’ll never know by living only by dying will tell.” But death will be too late.
As we share his Word the Holy Spirit works to convince people that if you are not following Jesus to eternal life, then you are following the devil to eternal punishment. Then he uses us to tellthem that Jesus “came to destroy the devil’s work” and that “the prince of this world now stands condemned.”Heaven, not hell, is the future for everyone who believes in Jesus.
If you were on a sinking ship you just might be able to convince others that they are running the wrong waybut it is impossible for us to convince anyone how much they need Jesus. But it isn’t impossible for God!Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his church at Pentecost and used them to convince thousands of people by the power of his Word. And he still sends the Holy Spirit to do the same today. He has convinced us about our need for Jesus through the truth of his Word, and nowhe uses us to convince others through the words he’s given us. And that is why we are here. Amen.