08 Jun Sermon – Sunday, June 8, 2025
When referring to the Holy Spirit of God, Ephesians 4:30 states that it is by the HS “whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
God pours out the Spirit on all flesh and yet, this Spirit of truth, the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But Jesus explains, “You know him, because he abides with you and will be in you. Earlier In John 14:8, Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (A statement that suggests the exclusivity of access to God the Father through Jesus the Son.) Then Jesus says, “If you had known me, you would have known the Father also.”
Beginning a statement with the words, “If you had,” isn’t the same as beginning one with, “If only you had.” With the former, there’s hope, with the latter, a sense of regret. “If you had,” just tells you the price upfront so you can imagine yourself obtaining it or. Such as in the old days, “If you had two dimes and a nickel,” you could purchase an ice cream cone, candy or a soda, or likewise nowadays, where two or more dollars are needed. I’ll never forget being told during a children’s sermon where I tried to make something sound expensive, that five dollars really wasn’t that much, lol.
Lest the would-be customer in the form of Jesus’ disciple gets discouraged over not possessing what’s needed in order to know him and the Father, Jesus offers this reassuring statement of fact. “From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Don’t worry, kid. I’m going to make this thing possible. If you don’t have the coins saved up or in your pocket and mom or dad won’t give them to you, I’ve made sure that you’ll have a way to buy the ice cream, candy or soda pop, full firsthand knowledge of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
But elsewhere Jesus reminds readers that ,”The world neither sees nor knows God’s Holy Spirit.” God pours out his Spirit on all flesh, but the world neither sees nor knows it. Jesus’ disciples do because Jesus tells them that the Spirit abides with them and in them. How is this possible?
I mean, sure, Jesus’ disciples received the Holy Spirit as it descended upon each of them at Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Jesus’ resurrection during what we call the season of Easter. A fiery tongue rested on each of them fulfilling an earlier prophecy by Joel. Sons and daughters, old and young, enslaved and free, men and women shall all have the Spirit poured upon them.
They had already experienced the baptism of repentance where water conveyed being washed clean from sin and of being born anew as a child of God. In this same way, we baptize in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We use water to convey this action performed by God. Then we anoint baptismal candidates with holy oil blessed by a bishop to convey receipt of God’s Holy Spirit.
Like when you make a purchase at a gas station or self-checkout counter and are asked, “Would you like a receipt? Yes or No? ” Or conversely, “How would you like your receipt? By email, in print, by text or some other form of digital copy?” During the sacrament of baptism, your receipt comes in the form of anointing with holy oil, the gifting of a newly lit candle, and when I get around to it, a baptismal certificate.
At the very least, your receipt takes up a designated line in the big red registration book where your name, date and place of birth is noted along with the place your baptism takes place. Also recorded are the full names of your parents and the acting minister. Acting on God’s behalf, water and the word of God are used as both effective means and symbolic demonstrations of how God pours out his Spirit.
As the acting minister anoints the forehead with holy oil marking the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the baptismal candidate is sealed unto the day of redemption, that great and glorious day when all God’s children will call upon his name, be saved and begin eternal life.
But for some, even those who recognize Jesus as Lord, there is uncertainty, even confusion. The disciple Philip can’t convince himself that he’s seen the Father by seeing Jesus. Even though he recognizes Jesus as Lord, Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
Philip suffers from the core of humanity’s dilemma. Always wanting more. More than what we already have, whatever we haven’t acquired yet or done, whatever hasn’t yet satisfied us to the full extent, that thing that hasn’t yet been realized or wanting more of what we realized was good when we sampled it. If it weren’t for the fact that human beings always want more, there would be no world economy. There would be no trade to place tariffs upon, no goods or services offered to be repeatedly sold or bought.
Jesus answers by saying, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” The key phrase is, “I have been with you all this time.” All this time, a sufficient amount of time, quite a while now, long enough for you to come to know me. How can it be that you still do not know me or realize that whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Jesus is in disbelief. How can the Father not be recognized in him or remain unseen to those who have already spent so much time being with Jesus?
How can Jesus seem like just another man or ordinary person when he is not? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” This is a hard concept for humans to grasp. That would be like expecting the mother of Simone Biles to perform the same gymnastic feats her daughter does, right?
Of the TIME 100 most influential people in 2025, none of their parents are recognized as equal to them. If Snoop Dogg’s dad showed up to host the gala instead of him or if the tables and chairs set up to honor the inductees were filled by family members rather than themselves that won’t make for a broadcast worthy event, would it? In our minds, outstanding human beings and supreme beings are singularly recognizable.
No matter how much the children of Hollywood actors, singers and entertainers wish to rise to the fame of their famous fathers or mothers, they almost never do. But Jesus says, “Listen to my words, I do not speak on my own, but by the Father who dwells in me. Look at my works; it is the Father in me who performs them. We really are one and the same.”
“In fact, very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” That’s unbelievable, isn’t it? And Jesus says, “ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
On a recent episode of Call the Midwife, Sister Julienne asks the new novitiate, Sister Catherine, what she makes of this verse. Sister Catherine pauses then rightly replies that this truth is a claim not to be used selfishly, but to give glory to God. Then Sister Julienne nods approvingly.
Jesus is full of big claims in this passage, claims of deity which demands that loving him means keeping his commandments. Only God can command. “Jesus will ask the Father and the Father will give [humanity] another Advocate, to be with you forever.” Jesus will ask for the Father to send another advocate like himself, and it will be given, and that Advocate will be with us forever, without a doubt.
What more could we ask for? We are given the Spirit of truth to know as this Spirit abides with us and lives in us. The world which cannot receive it, because it neither sees nor knows the Spirit, might come to recognize the Spirit through us. Wouldn’t that be neat if what we say and do, our words and actions would reveal the Spirit at work in us in the same way that God the Father was revealed in the words and actions of Jesus?
We couldn’t expect for the world to see or say so, if Jesus’ own disciples couldn’t see or say so, but we could always hope, as Jesus did. The best hope is found in the fact that Jesus himself promised that his Father would send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is his name to teach us everything, to remind us of all that Jesus said.
Most importantly, Jesus left us with peace, his own peace, given to us in a way unlike anything the world can give. “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid,” Jesus says.
To paraphrase Isaiah 26:3, “One whose mind stays on God because of trust in him will be kept in perfect peace.” God will keep you in perfect peace. The Holy Spirit will help your mind stay focused and to trust in all that has been said and done on your behalf. Let us pray.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, help us to see and to know, to believe and to trust, to receive what you pour upon us, to recognize your holy triune presence, your peace and comfort. Unburden our hearts, satisfy our desires such that we appreciate what is and those who are already in our midst, abiding within our spheres of this precious realm called life. In your holy name we pray, Amen.