First Sunday after Ascension, 2002
John 15:26-16:4

Elephant Island is a small deserted place located near the Antarctic. Craggy cliffs rise up out of a vast watery wasteland. Below the rocky cliffs lie a couple tiny beaches. Such is Elephant Island and Ernest Shakleton's crew became stranded there in 1914. A few weeks later six of the 29 castaways departed the island in search of help. The small skiff had now been gone for more than four months. The other 23 remained in the middle of nowhere waiting for rescue. At first the 23 had plenty of seal meat to eat, but that soon ran out and they turned to wandering the rocks searching for small crustaceans. To supplement their diet of little crabs they dug up the rotten seal bones they had buried months before and consumed them too. It was a process of slow starvation; they would not last forever. The long, cold days dragged on.

Finally they saw a ship on the horizon. They were overjoyed. It was a Chilean vessel called the Yelcho . Shakleton was at the helm. Once aboard, the castaways were ready to eat anything. They feasted on meat, bread, and cheese; they drank champagne long into the night. What a stark contrast from Elephant Island! Just as the castaways' food consumption increased after the arrival of the rescue ship, so the operation of the Holy Spirit increased after Pentecost.

Jesus taught His disciples: "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." How do we reconcile this sending of the Holy Spirit with the fact that the Spirit was already present in the Old Testament and ministry of Jesus? The Spirit was present at the creation hovering over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2); He came upon Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel of old; He descended like a dove upon the Lord at His baptism; moreover, Jesus told Nicodemus that it was the Holy Spirit that caused people to be born again into new life. So if the Holy Spirit was already operating in the planet, what do we make of this new arrival after our Lord's ascension into heaven? The contrast seems to lie in a dramatic increase in the Holy Spirit's activity and potency on earth. Yes, the Spirit was already functioning, but in a very limited form compared to what God set in motion at Pentecost.

The difference is that of a pool to a flood, a cooking fire to a wildfire, a zephyr to a tornado. Water, wind, fire and breath are all symbols of the Holy Spirit. The expanded capacity of the Spirit after the ascension is the truth that Jesus is promising. On this Sunday after ascension we want to delve into the question of the Spirit's current role in the Church.

Notice the name Jesus gives to the Spirit. My New King James Version designates Him the "Helper." The Authorized Version took up the term coined by John Wycliffe and called him the "Comforter," and that has become a very common title. A lot of modern commentators insist that His name should be the "Advocate." And some argue that we should stick as close as possible to the original Greek parakletos or "Paraclete." Why this confusion in what to call the Holy Spirit? It is mainly due to the lack of a good word in English to capture the complete meaning of the Greek.

Bilingual people will tell you this happens in translation. Every language has words that cannot be precisely carried over into another language. The German word Gemutlichkeit is a case in point. German speakers claim that they cannot find a big enough English equivalent for gemutlichkeit . It means bliss, joviality, love of the good life, among other things.

Take another example. The Spanish word for "girlfriend" is novia ; and novio means "boyfriend." Yet, that is only one part the meaning. English speakers can get into hot water if they are ignorant of the entire definition of the word. At 24 years of age I was spending my first year in South America. Though not ready for marriage I did enjoy fellowship with Paraguayan Christian girls. (Back in those days I was pretty gullible. I actually believed in the myth of platonic relationships between young men and women.) I had made the acquaintance of an attractive, Christian, Paraguayan young lady. One day she asked me if I would be her novio . I naively said "yes," thinking that I would be a casual boyfriend, no strings attached kind of thing. Was I ever mistaken! Yes, the word novio does mean "boyfriend," but it also means "fiancé" and even "groom." In my mind this senorita was no more than a casual novia , a friend who was a girl; in the mind of the Paraguayans, and in her mind, she was my fiancée. I was shocked when people of the village started asking me the date of the wedding, how many kids we were going to have, and whether I got along with my future in-laws. Which all goes to prove that some words in one language have wide and wealthy definitions that do not easily translate into other languages.

So how should we understand the word "Paraclete"? "Comforter" is the most common translation. John Wycliffe put it in His English translation of 1380. However, Wycliffe was not using it in the modern sense of one who tenderly consoles a person in sorrow. Today the term "comforter" evokes a mother holding a toddler who just fell down and skinned her knee. That is a legitimate definition of the word Paraclete, but it is the most rare occurrence.

Wycliffe's "Comforter" was quite different. He took it literally from the Latin. Comforter was derived from the Latin fortis , which means "brave" and cum which means "with"; "comforter" thus meant one who comes with us or along side us and puts courage into us, one who enables us to be brave, one who empowers us to cope with the struggles and battles of life. Perhaps "Encourager" would best describe this function of the Paraclete. Encourager nicely agrees with the ancient use of parakletos . In ancient Greece the historian Aeschylus described a naval battle in which the sailors cheered [ parakalein ] each other during a skirmish. Likewise, Polybius speaks of a Military General putting courage [ parakletos ] into his dejected troops before they faced a battle against desperate odds.

What else can the word parakletos mean? It can mean "advocate." Most people who go to court need an advocate in their cause. When the Jews in Alexandria were treated badly they looked for a parakletos , or advocate, to plead their cause with the Roman Emperor. First John 2:1 uses the term parakletos for Jesus. "If any man sin, we have an advocate, [ parakletos ] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins." Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. As our atoning sacrifice He acts as our defense attorney before God the Father. Jesus is saying a similar thing about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit defends us in our trials against Satan; He is our defender and friend in time of need.

Comforter, Encourager, Advocate: combining these three meanings we come up with a rich and varied portrait for parakletos : a mother comforting her hurt baby, the attorney defending his client before the judge, the military general encouraging his troops in the heat of battle. These are all the ways in which the Paraclete assists the Church during the period between Pentecost and Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. Let's not neglect these gracious gifts to us. When weary, depressed and miserable we can lean upon the Spirit-Comforter. When downtrodden and condemned by our own sin and the Devil we need an advocate. When faced with grinding affliction and bloody battle we need courage and encouragement.

What an excellent strategy! Jesus ascended into Heaven and sent the Paraclete! Why is that such a good plan? Wouldn't it have been better if the incarnate Lord Jesus had remained on earth? Wouldn't the Church be stronger with her Savior bodily present? Wouldn't the Bride of Christ be more successful in baptizing the nations if the Bridegroom were present? No, not really. Think of it. Jesus walking among us in the flesh could only be at one place at a time comforting, defending and encouraging. On the other hand, ascended into heaven, the presence of the Paraclete whom He sent fills every place in each continent of the world wherever two or three are assembled in His name. During His ministry, the Incarnate Christ was limited to one place on earth. Seated at His Father's right hand the Holy Spirit lifts the Church into the heavenlies to feast with the King at His banquet table. Raised up by the Spirit to the ascended King, we eat a meal. Through the power and working of the Paraclete we partake of the life changing divinity and glorified humanity of the Lord in the consecrated bread and wine. Hence, the world transforming power of Christ is conveyed to a million souls simultaneously wherever the Church celebrates the sacrament of Holy Communion and faithfully preaches the Word of God. How marvelous the Lord's ascension into Heaven and the Paraclete's activity in the Church Militant!

Church history bears out the wisdom of this arrangement. Do you remember how timid, fearful, and unfaithful the disciples were before Christ's ascension? They were a mess. After Christ ascended into heaven and sent His Paraclete on the day of Pentecost, the faith of the disciples became a new thing altogether. The growth of their knowledge, and faith, and hope, and zeal, and courage, was so extraordinary, that they were twice the men of faith they were before. They did far more for Christ when He was absent, than they had ever done while He was present.

[For some of this material I am indebted to the insights provided me in the books and commentaries of J.C. Ryle, William Barclay, Charles Dods, George Vanderlip, James Boice, Gary Burge, Leslie Newbigin, F.N. Peloubet, and Luis Bermejo.]

We should probably comment on the filioque clause. Filioque is a Latin word, and the source of a long-standing schism in the Church. Jesus told the apostles: "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." The Lord states a couple things: "I will send you the Holy Spirit from the Father." Yet the Spirit Jesus sends, "proceeds from the Father." Would it be accurate to say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son? Would such a rendering overplay the Son and dim the role of the Spirit? Or would it bring about the right balance in the work of the Persons of the Trinity in the Church? These are deep issues. The Western and Eastern Churches have been divided for centuries over this question. The Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches of the West have argued that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. That clause "and the Son" in the Latin Nicene Creed comes out to be filioque . The Eastern Orthodox Church has always rejected the filioque clause. For them the Nicene Creed declares that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, but not the Son. Consequently, this issue concerning "the procession of the Spirit" severed the Eastern and Western Churches in the year 1054, and they remain sadly divided to the present. A discussion of the pros and cons of the filioque clause is too long and technical for today's sermon, nonetheless it is an important theological matter that we ought to be aware of.

Moving on to John chapter sixteen. [Reading John 16:1-4.]

Jesus is painting a grim picture for His disciples. He warns them of some unpleasant realities after He goes up. Jesus predicts that they would probably experience excommunication, suffering and death. By extension this threat applies to Christians in most missionary lands. Jesus never toned down the demands of the Christian life. If this is the case, why do modern evangelistic presentations focus almost exclusively on the security and advantages of being a Christian, and leave out the dangers and disadvantages of the Christian walk? The Lord Jesus was clear about the cost. He told the disciples that they would suffer severely. No doubt, Christian regeneration is an incalculable spiritual gain with eternal blessing and security, but those benefits are not guaranteed in this life. The weaker the Church becomes in a given land, the stronger the opposition and the more imminent the threat of persecution and death. In terms of family ties, job connections, social standing, and legal acceptance Christianity can be disastrous. To convert to Christ in some cultures means ostracism, rejection, and persecution. Christian baptism is tantamount to a death certificate in a few Moslem countries. How would anyone convert to Christ under such circumstances? Wouldn't it help to sugarcoat the Gospel? The answer is no if we are going to follow the example of Jesus. He spelled out to people in a frank and loving fashion the costs of Christian faithfulness; He warned them of tribulation, suffering and murder. We do well to follow His model. Maybe the Church would reap better results from her evangelism if she did.

Why does God allow the Church to go through persecution? His purpose is our growth in holiness. Let's never forget that God allows us to go through affliction in order to sanctify us. The Bible teaches that suffering is a means of grace, drawing us closer to Christ.

On this Sunday after Ascension we should be clear as to where the Holy Spirit dwells and operates. The Paraclete serves us most powerfully in the Church's Word and Sacrament. Moreover the Paraclete dwells in your heart comforting you, encouraging and defending you in all trials. Come now to the Holy Supper and thank God for the Paraclete; He is the sanctifier of the people of God.

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