Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-21

Have you ever lost a loved one and wished so much that they were there with you? Wished that you could just see them once more or touch them once more or even smell their perfume and cream on their skin once more? When you are grieving the loss of a person whop has been dear to you, the tears well up at the most unexpected times. I don't know why but just this last week I have been missing my Mum so much.

I have longed to see her amongst the people I pass in the street; I have got her last pieces of clothes that I kept, out of the wardrobe just to try to smell the wonderful smell of her; I have longed just to give her a hug and I have longed beyond all belief to have a chat with her because I long for her to tell me it's all going to be alright.

It doesn't matter how compassionate Elaine is, and believe you me, she really is, the yearning is still there. Then just yesterday, God showed me that she is still here within me - the way I speak; the way I hug; the things I say and do - sometimes I can almost feel that it is her and not me - not that I would ever compare myself to my Mother - she was one in a million!

Then I got to thinking how the disciples must have felt when Jesus died. There was no-one to talk to anymore; no-one to give them a hug when they needed it; no-one to encourage their efforts to follow Him; no-one explaining things when they didn't understand; no-one drawing them together and moving them on; no-one protecting them.

If you live and travel with someone for three years, you must get to know them pretty well. And if you love them dearly as really close friends love one another, then to see them taken away from you is a real shock. They must have been grieving moment by moment: looking for Him in the crowds (especially when they heard He had risen from the dead); longing for a chat with Him; longing to hear Him teach the people again; longing to see His smile.

Yet it was as they began to realise that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead that they began to realise He was still with them. He had taught them so well that they found they often did things the way He would have done, or they spoke the words that He would have spoken, or they prayed the way He would have prayed. But how on earth could this be?

The answer is simple and is given in the passage we read today: Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be a friend and advocate (speaking to God on behalf of Christ's followers as Jesus had done) for all His followers who were and who would ever be. In the Greek New Testament, the word that Jesus uses is Paracletos. In Jewish tradition, the word was used for angels, prophets and the just, as advocates before the court of God.

It has actually got several meanings: it is seen as one who helps in a law court; it can mean one who consoles; a witness; a friend; an encourager; a counsellor who is naturally dependent on Jesus who is the Truth by His own admission in John 14:6 (I am the Way, the Truth, the Life.) It seems that if the Holy Spirit is all these, then the Holy Spirit is our pal - our pal the Paraclete!

Let's just get this clear: Jesus is saying then that even though He is now dead, He can actually be with us all the time: wherever we are and whatever we are doing, Jesus is there. So if that's the case, we, as Christians, can be like Jesus and do the things that Jesus did and say the sort of things that Jesus said every day of our lives? The answer to that is yes, providing we invite Jesus into our lives to be in charge and providing we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us every day and be our helper and guide at all times.

That means that if we give the Holy Spirit permission to fill us completely day by day, then we should be able to do all the things that Jesus did and more! No, don't be ridiculous, we're mere humans Jesus was God, it's different! Yet Jesus said in John 14:12 that "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing - they will do even greater things than these."

What do we think drew people to Jesus? Yes it was His compassion; His great stories; His forthright speaking with the authorities; His sense of humour; His ability to get alongside people of all types: women, lepers, doubters, tax collectors, homeless, rejected and those dying, but above all I think it was His miracles. If we knew that some guy was going to be in Brighton every day healing the sick and making the disabled well, we'd probably go and listen to Him as well! Much more likely than if He was a good speaker.

The fact that He cured people who were dying or who could never afford any type of medical help; the fact that He fed 5,000 on a hill side after a hot afternoon's teaching; the fact that He sometimes made the blind see and deaf hear; the fact that He could tell the storms how to behave; the fact that He knew where the fish were in Lake Galilee in the middle of the day; the fact that He even raised some people from the dead: these are reason enough for people to want to see Him. And let's remember that Jesus said "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing - they will do even greater things than these."

That is scary! That means each of us has access to the power of the Hol Spirit which is Jesus Himself within us and that means we should be able to do what Jesus did and more!? Of course as ever, God won't force these gifts on us unless we ask for them with an open heart and a willingness to allow God to change us.

I think one of the saddest things is that we can have been Christians for years and still not know how to access the power, cleansing, love and gifts that the Spirit brings. Sometimes that's because we have never been shown, but I believe that more often than not, it's because we battle to be in control of our own lives and we panic when we think that we might have to let go of that and allow something that we can't tangibly see, that's the Holy Spirit, take over and lead us in new things and new ways.

Sometimes I think it may be too because we are afraid the Holy Spirit will ask us to do something embarrassing like pray for another person - and worse still, what if nothing happens - we'll feel right dorks! Maybe the Holy Spirit will even lead us to speak in tongues or prophesy and how awful will that be because then we might be getting emotional and as wonderful British stiff upper lip people, we just don't do that do we? Especially if we've seen it all before years ago and it got out of hand and was badly led - we can't possibly let the Holy Spirit do anything that makes us feel uncomfortable can we?

The thing is that anything new can make us feel uncomfortable. New shoes very often have to be broken in before they feel like we have always worn them - it's the same with the Holy Spirit. We have to get used to what it brings on a regular basis before we can feel really comfortable and then the fear goes. But if all this is on offer from God, would we be stupid enough to say "no thanks?"

Some people believe that we receive the Holy Spirit when we are christened, baptised or become Christians but you know that's just the start. There is so much more. It's more than just having it in our lives, it's about being completely and utterly filled at every moment of every day. We can as Christians keep the Holy Spirit at arm's length but this seems such a waste. We can keep the Holy Spirit in a box refusing to let the Holy Spirit work properly. It's a bit like buying a car, parking it outside your home and looking at it every day saying how wonderful it is but never knowing how much it can help or the pleasure it can bring because you never actually drive it anywhere.

I think that it's time to stop saying to God, "I'm sorry but that's not the way I am" or "I can't cope with all that New Testament nonsense". What about what God wants - what are we so afraid of? Do we really think that God would want to bless us with something that was going to frighten us silly?

Some people say "but we like reflective services" or "we prefer structured liturgy". And? Are you telling me the Holy Spirit can't work in these situations because I believe that the Holy Spirit can work anywhere that we give the Holy Spirit space to work. The only problem with too much structure is that we can end up telling the Holy Sprit how and when to move and I'm afraid that doesn't work. So even with structure, we have to be willing to push it aside at times and see what happens.

What is the Holy Spirit actually leading us to do in this church? Are we going to move into that realm together or are some of us going to run a mile without even giving God a chance? Are we going to insist that the Holy Spirit only comes out to play when we ask and we are in control, or are we going to earnestly desire to see God's Spirit move in new and wonderful ways that we could never have imagined?

Surely as Christians we want to be as Christ-like as we can? Surely we want this every day of the week not just Sundays? We cannot be the people that God has truly called us to be, people moving in the power of the Holy Spirit, unless we give ourselves over to what God wants, and God wants us to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit so that we can cope each day of the week; so that we can face the difficulties with Jesus beside us; so that we can react in the way Jesus would have done; so that we can pray for people and God meets their needs as well as ours; so that miracles do happen in our lives and we categorically know that the HS has moved in a powerful way and we don't just say "how spooky was that?" or "oh well, that was just a co-incidence."

Let's get real: I know there are people here tonight who are hungry for God - hungry to understand what all this is Holy Spirit stuff is about. Well I believe that God is telling us to do something about it. We could sit here for another 3 years and go along in the same routine - putting off the opportunity to let the Holy Spirit in for once and for all. Let me ask this: why? Why would we want to delay such immense love, peace, joy, kindness, prayer power and faith?

You may say firstly I'm afraid and secondly I'm very happy with the way things are thank you very much and thirdly I don't want to lose control! Firstly the Holy Spirit is nothing to be scared of: the early disciples proved that, secondly how can we be happy with the way things are if they could be thousands of times better and more nutritious with the Holy Spirit on board leading the way, and thirdly the Holy Spirit can only move in our lives as much as we let it so at any time if people think they are losing control they can the Holy Spirit's work at a moment's notice, but from experience, I've never met anyone who felt like that once they knew the anointing of the Holy Spirit in all its fullness.

If we want to move on and grow spiritually, we need the Holy Spirit to lead us. The Holy Spirit promises to be beside us - to be our friend and guide - the Paraclete is our pal forever and a day if we allow the Holy Spirit in. The question is will we?