Promises! Promises!

6th Sunday of Easter, 5/25/14
John 14:15-21


Promises! Promises!
I. Jesus promises to send you the Holy Spirit.
II. Jesus promises to be with you.


“I mean it. I promise I’ll have this done by the end of the day.”

“I promise I will do this for you if you’ll do this for me.”

“I promise I will be there on time.”

“I will always love you. I promise.”

Whether we actually use the word “promise” or not, we make promises more often than we probably realize. Just giving someone our word that we will do something is a promise. What remains to be seen is whether or not we’ll deliver.

And that’s significant for us personally. If given the opportunity, we’d probably describe ourselves as reliable. We like to think that others would think so as well. After all, being deemed unreliable brings with it a host of negative situations. Admitting that we’re unreliable isn’t an easy thing to do. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone do that. And yet we know who they are.

Promises! Promises!

Today’s sermon text is filled with them. The only verse of our text that doesn’t contain one is the very first verse. After that, Jesus stacks one promise on top of another. Jesus stacks one promise on top of another.
Because Jesus is the one making the promises, we can be absolutely certain that he will keep his word. We can be absolutely certain that we will receive what he promises to give us.
And what gifts he gives! There are no better, no greater, no more important gifts in all the world. Promises! Promises! Let’s see what they are and what they mean for us as Jesus shares his word with us this morning.

Part I.

There are certain events which lend themselves to the giving of gifts. Christmas is undoubtedly the largest gift-giving event on the calendar. Birthdays and anniversaries rank high as well. At this time of year we give graduation and wedding gifts. One of the lesser gift-giving events is when we arrive home after an extended period away. And, right below that, is the giving of a gift right before we go away. We do so saying something like, “Here. It’s a gift. I want you to have this before I leave so that you’ll remember how much you mean to me.”

We give gifts when we leave. So does Jesus.

Jesus spoke these words to his disciples on the night before his death, the night when he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Recall what a solemn night that was. Jesus poured out his heart to his disciples. He reminded them of what would happen to him, as much as the disciples didn’t want to hear it. He told his disciples what would happen to them, as much as they declared it wouldn’t. They would never leave him. Peter boldly asserted that he was ready to die with Jesus.

You see, the disciples wanted things to continue just as they had been for the past three years. They wanted to continue following Jesus, listening to him preach and witnessing his miracles until that day when he would set up a grand nation of the Jews.

But that day would never come. Instead, Jesus wanted his disciples to know that nothing about their relationship with him would be the same from that night on. In a matter of hours Jesus would allow himself to be arrested, tried in several courts, and condemned to death by crucifixion. They wouldn’t understand why all this happened to him. And then he would rise from the dead and spend the next 40 days appearing to them and to others to assure them that he indeed was alive and now was living in a state of eternal glory.

And then he would leave them. How those words must have hurt his disciples! Like a punch to the gut, there was this aching feeling inside them. They had hoped to live and rule with Jesus here on this earth. They had even argued that very night about the positions they would rightly receive in that kingdom. He was leaving them?! Unthinkable!

But he would send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” They already had the Holy Spirit. But Jesus promised to give them the Holy Spirit in a special way. We know that he fulfilled this promise 10 days after his ascension into heaven, on the day of Pentecost.

Did you notice the special word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit? He called him the Counselor. The Greek word is Paraclete. It was used as the name of a person who stood beside you and gave you his help, his comfort, his guidance. Think about it. That’s exactly what the disciples needed. In less than two months they would begin transforming the world with the message of Jesus, crucified and risen. They not only would be threatened with death, it’s highly likely that all but one of them would be put to death for proclaiming the saving message of Jesus. They would need divine help, divine comfort, divine guidance. And Jesus gave it to them in the person and work of the Counselor, the Holy Spirit.

Promises! Promises! Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit.

So, Jesus is visibly going away and he promised to give them gifts. And of all the gifts he could have given them—power, protection, success as they work in his kingdom—he promises to give them the Holy Spirit. And you and I rightly agree that’s just what they needed. You and I rightly agree that’s all that they needed.

What would you like Jesus to give you? A little relief? A little more compensation for your efforts? At least a smile and a nod from Jesus recognizing that you try your best to live like a child of God? A little more comfort? A solution or two for the problems you’re facing? Our list could go on and on. And what does Jesus do? He promises to send you the Holy Spirit. There’s no better gift that he could give us. There’s no gift more necessary and needed—because the Holy Spirit brings with him all the gifts we need for this life and the life to come. Forgiveness for our sins of doubt and discontent. Forgiveness for our blatant and open violations of God’s holy will. The Holy Spirit replaces our guilt with the innocence of Christ. To weary Christians staggering from day to day in this sinful world the Holy Spirit brings the assurance of eternal glory at your Savior’s side. As your Counselor he brings you daily comfort, help and guidance. Promises! Promises! Jesus promises to send you the Holy Spirit.

Part II.

There are situations in which having one is great, but having two is even better. You think of eyes, ears, hands and legs. Having one of my favorite things to eat is wonderful; having two of them is even better.

On this night in our text Jesus promised to send his disciples the Holy Spirit because he was leaving them. Actually, Jesus wasn’t truly leaving them. It’s true that he ascended visibly into heaven. But listen to what he promised them, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus would come to them. You might be saying to yourself, “Yes he would. On the Last Day.” But Jesus isn’t referring to his return on the Last Day with these words.

Jesus wanted his disciples to know that even though he would visibly ascend into heaven, he wouldn’t leave them. They would have the Holy Spirit but they would still have him. He would still be with them but not like he was with them on this night. On this night, Jesus was still in his state of humiliation—that period of his life in which he didn’t make full use of his divine power and glory. He still hadn’t completed his work of redemption, but in a few hours he would proclaim, “It is finished!” And once he rose from the dead, Jesus would be with them in an entirely different way.

He would be with them forever in his state of exaltation. That began with his rising from the dead and continues forever. In his exaltation he would rule over all things for the good of his church. In his exaltation Jesus would surely be with them always even to the end of the age.

Listen to him describe the fullness of his presence with his believers, “You will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Theologians call this the mystical union. Our God is not far off in the heavens. He’s not hiding from us. He actually lives within us. We don’t have to go find Jesus. He’s always with us wherever we go.

And he brings with him daily grace and power. We need the assurance every day that we are children of God, that we are acceptable to Jesus, that our sins have not banished us from Jesus forever. Every day Jesus gives us his grace—his undeserved favor in our forgiveness and our eternal life. Along with his grace, he brings us his power to sustain us in whatever we might face that day. That grace and power come to us through his word and sacrament. In word and sacrament Jesus unites us to himself. He promises it!

Promises! Promises! Jesus promises to be with you!

Jesus promises to be with you. But if he keeps that promise, then he sees and knows when I’m at my sinful worst. He knows even my sinful thoughts and desires. Not a pretty thought, is it? But don’t forget the context in which Jesus made this promise. It was to comfort, not threaten, his disciples. It’s all gospel—all good news. He knows how much we need his forgiveness. That’s why he’s with us. That’s why he comes to us in word and sacrament. And with his presence we receive his power to live as his children. Promises! Promises! He promises you his Holy Spirit. He promises you his presence. Be certain of both! Amen.