Nothing But the Truth
(John 16: 12-15 & Romans 5: 1-5)
Upon meeting my clients, most of whom were being held in the county jail, one of the first things I would tell them is that they would never catch me in a lie because I would always tell them the truth no matter how bad it might be. You see, I was a court-appointed attorney practicing in East Texas in a county that prided itself upon being tough on crime. Code for “show no mercy.” And because the prosecutor’s office was so aggressive with a win-at-all-costs mentality, most defense attorneys didn’t like to go to trial so they would often hold the harsh truth back from their clients and often sugarcoated the facts, not wanting to upset their clients. And when it came time to be honest with them it often wouldn’t go well as trust hadn’t been built into the relationship. Because of this the attorneys that took court appointments had a bad reputation for not zealously fighting for their clients. As lawyers we were supposed to be counselors and advocates for our clients working with their best interests at heart. It was not uncommon for my clients to offer to pay me a little extra on the side if I could work harder on their case. They knew they were in serious trouble and just wanted someone who would be honest with them, who would tell them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. My being truthful from the beginning made it easier for them to make that difficult decision of whether to accept a plea bargain offer or proceed on to trial. More often than not, they would take the plea bargain offer because they were confident, I had done everything I could on their case, had been their advocate, and they believed I was, above all, truthful with them. Because of this practice, I never had a case reversed upon appeal for ineffective assistance of counsel.
And it’s the effectiveness of the counsel we receive from the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, that our scripture readings for today are based upon. In chapter 16 of John’s Gospel as Jesus prepares his disciples for what is to come, he says: I have much more to say to you, but you can’t handle it now. However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. Jesus is telling them that, in his absence, he will be sending them a counselor, an advocate who will speak for them on his behalf. This advocate, he tells them, won’t be speaking upon his own authority but will be taking his directions from Christ and will tell them what is coming. Jesus tells them that this Spirit will glorify him in all that he does and that when he speaks, he is speaking by and through his authority. What Jesus is telling them is that this companion he is sending them will be coming in the capacity of a truth-telling teacher who reveals what he hears, and bears witness to Jesus. The things that Jesus wants to say, and the disciples need to hear, will be communicated through the Spirit once Christ has been raised, and the Spirit has been given. The Spirit will guide them into all truth. This, I believe, is what Jesus meant when he said: Everything that the Father has is mine. That’s why I said that the Spirit takes what is mine and will proclaim it to you. In short, he is saying that if you hear it from the Spirit, it’s as if you are hearing it from me, and the counsel you are receiving will be effective if you follow it in any decisions you make in His name. This Spirit of Truth will tell them what is yet to come, the nature of the mission, the opposition they will face, and the final outcome of their efforts. For us, the Spirit will help us through patient practice, to discern what is right from what is wrong. He will be our advocate and counselor.
The Spirit of Truth is a powerful thing, and nobody knows that more than Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Before Paul became an apostle he was known as Saul, a devout and zealous Pharisee. He was so offended by this Jesus Revolution that he got permission to hunt down new Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ and bring them back to Jerusalem to face punishment for turning their backs upon the God of Abraham. It was on the road to Damascus that Saul was blinded by a bright light and then heard a voice that said to him: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Saul asked who it was that was speaking to him and the voice said: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. As instructed by Jesus, Ananias, a disciple, met with Saul and restored his sight saying: Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul spent time with the disciples and apostles who schooled him on the truth of Jesus Christ, the one sent by the God of Abraham, and the indwelling of the Spirit. The Spirit had changed Saul’s life, and he became the Apostle Paul who would bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, and he would do it at a cost.
This is why Paul says in his letter to the church in Rome that: Since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness combined with our faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells the believers in Rome that they, and us, now have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. This is not to say that we should go around boasting about being children of God, acting like we are better than everyone else, being an obnoxious braggart. That would be off-putting and certainly counter-productive. Paul is not saying that. What he is saying is that in the past we had nothing to boast about but now we can boast in the hope we have, in the problems we overcome, and in God. We should be so excited about this new life we have in Christ that it should be hard to contain ourselves as we joyfully tell everyone who will listen to what we have, to tell them so that they will want it also. I’m not bragging. I just want you to know what I have so you can experience it too. Paul is now taking pride in God’s character and achievements, in particular in the sacrificial death of Christ for sinners, even a sinner such as he was. He counts himself as one of the greatest sinners for what he did to the innocent followers of Jesus that he hunted down and imprisoned. He once was ashamed but now he is full of the pride that comes with being justified and sanctified. Paul is so excited he says that we can even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. He takes pride in his sufferings for Christ and wears them proudly as badges he has earned in service to his Lord and Savior. Regarding this newfound hope he says: This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. If the Holy Spirit can turn someone like Saul around, just think what He can do for us in our lives.
What God has done for us through our justification and what God does in us by our sanctification are together a part of God’s work of restoring the whole of creation back into a right relationship with God. Christ’s faithfulness first of all brings peace with God, a reconciliation with him ending any hostilities that may have existed between us, removing any sin that served as a block to our right relationship with him. A second implication is that we now stand in grace rather than fall under the just condemnation sin deserves. The justified can now boast in their troubles and tribulations knowing that the love of God surrounds and suffuses the sufferer by means of the Holy Spirit, which is why they can produce endurance and virtuous character. We can now enjoy the peace that comes from being made right with God, but we still face daily problems that often help us grow. This is the two-sided reality of the Christian life. On one hand, we are complete in Christ through our acceptance into the family of God, and on the other hand, we are growing in Christ as we become more like him in all we say and do in his service. If we remember these two sides of the Christian life, we will not grow discouraged as we face life’s temptations and problems. Instead, we will learn to depend upon the power available to us from Christ, who lives in us by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.
So, we rejoice in our sufferings not because we like the pain or deny its tragedy, but because we know God is using life’s difficulties and the attacks of the evil in this world to build our character. The problems that we run into will develop our perseverance, which in turn will strengthen our character, deepen our trust in God, and give us greater confidence about the future. All we have to do is remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving Father, how grateful we are that you love us so much that you are willing to share the truth with us, that you trust with your truth, and that it is your desire that we share your truth with all who will listen. Move us by your Spirit of Truth to seek out those opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others who so desperately need the truth in their lives. And may we live our lives both during the good times and the bad times in ways that glorify you. This we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Nothing But the Truth
Instead, we will learn to depend upon the power available to us from Christ who lives in us by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.