Parents know they cannot leave their little children home alone. And Jesus knew his church could not be abandoned, left all on its own. An Advocate was necessary, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. Why? Being a human organization as well as body of Christ, the church is flawed, and from time to time congregations and members of them lose their way. As the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete keeps calling us back to clarity about the way of the Christ, for the sake of the well-being of our life and mission. Pentecost: many languages, yes, but the bottom line was truth telling.
During my term as bishop of the synod, I spent a lot of time dealing with the significant level of congregational discontent around the synod. At first this really offended me. What on earth is going on in this synod? I anguished over it, became discouraged. Then, after about a year and half in office, the Advocate whacked me alongside the head, so to speak, with the amazing insight that when trouble breaks out in a congregation, in spite of all the meanness and nastiness around that trouble, the trouble itself is a good thing! The Spirit is bringing forth truth!
Does this sound crazy? Well, since the Spirit, the Advocate, is the Spirit of Truth, then in times of congregational trouble, there is cause for rejoicing, because now the reality about their actual situation is beginning surface after perhaps years of secret power moves, weakened mission, and general failure to be the lively, compassionate community Christ’s body is called to be. Naturally when I shared this perspective with congregational leaders in the midst of the storming chaos, it was not exactly greeted with rejoicing, since in times of trouble, we just want someone come and make the trouble go away.
Facing reality, in depth, is tremendously difficult work Whether in our personal lives or in congregations, we never initially welcome the truth with open arms. Indeed, we resist it. Yet the Advocate stays with us, not to abuse us, but to bring us to life and health and purposeful well-being. We are neither abandoned nor are we just coddled in our denial, but rather helped to accept responsibility for ourselves, face reality, and endure the suffering truth-telling brings. When that happens, over time we discover we’ve been born into a new life! This is the joy and well-being the Advocate brings us to: the other side of truth, the common-union, burden-bearing, forgiving, welcoming, and rejoicing in Christ that spirituality that healthy congregations are about!
Pentecost continues! The Holy Spirit, the Advocate walks us through change, suffering, joy, and service to the gospel cause, in order to align us with God’s work, and to deepen our commit to the church’s mission, following the way of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we live, and move and have our being. And that’s the truth! Amen.
