Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps. 66:1-7, 16, 20; 1Peter 3:15-18; Jn. 14:15-21
The Advocate is the Spirit of Truth. It is him who comes to us and remains with us when we follow his commandments. Our act of faith is to follow his commandments with a spirit of trust which leads God to fulfill his promise to us. Who is in the driver’s seat, the Spirit of Truth that leads the way or are we still holding on tight to the wheel?
The Spirit of Truth is one that hears the cries out to God in good times and in bad, in joy and in sorrow, in love and worship and in surrender to love. The Spirit of Truth is faithful when we empty ourselves of our attachments and allow him to fill us with his truth in unity with his love. This is our conversion to the goodness of God. Still holding tight to the wheel?
The driverless vehicles are already on the road. Some are happy to allow technology to take over while they focus on their own self interests while riding from place to place. Others are fearful to let go of the wheel with the old adage “what can go wrong will go wrong”. Some don’t even like to use cruise control and let go of the gas pedal. Trusting technology is an act of faith to a lesser degree but it reveals to us something of our own level of trust in God. To say “I believe” in God does not reveal how far we have come to trust in God.
A sign that the Spirit of Truth is active in our lives is how we trust in God. We trust in God when we sanctify Christ in our hearts. Christ is our hope regardless of what is going on in our world. This hope is visible in the way we live our lives and the way we respond to the world not only with hope but with the peace of Christ that remains within us. The Lord’s greeting “peace be with you” is not just an opening invitation of peace but a sustaining peace that remains with us in the light of hope and in the darkness of evil, God’s will be done and will prevail.
The Spirit of Truth cannot be deceived. Recall the adage “you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”. Well, you can never fool the Spirit of Truth at any time and keep a conscience clear. When the Spirit of Truth resides in us then we can still try to deceive others by our passions but we cannot deceive ourselves and believe it. The truth that resides in us will not rest until we bring reconciliation with God and others. This is a blessing though some may consider it a curse, the moral conscience to do right. A moral conscience comes from God’s law of serving a greater good.
Keeping his commandments gets tested not only from within but also from without by a world that does not know him and lives not by a Spirit justified by God’s truth but by the spirit of self-justification. The spirit of self-justification follows the principle that “it’s all about me”. Because it is all about me then if you disagree with me, you are the enemy that must be “cancelled” or eliminated.
That is the lesson seen in the crucified Christ and the experience we live with in a culture of cancellation and death. If they could crucify Christ who walked doing what is good and spoke of Godly truth then we can see how easily the world can finds ways to silence, cancel, and if needed destroy a person for the act of practicing their faith in the public square. The Spirit if Truth is not bound by the walls or limited to personal beliefs. It is a Spirit of freedom to be lived, to be shared and to even be proclaimed.
1st Peter in his letter calls us to testify to God’s power in us when we “suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God.” The “if” reminds us not all suffering is the will of God when evil remains in this world. The will of God comes in suffering from keeping his commandments. These works represent his truth coming the “Spirit of Truth” as our Advocate when we respond with “gentleness and reverence, keeping our conscience clear”. This is our hope and our challenge calling upon the Advocate in our struggles when faced with adversity. Let us let God be our driver and we will arrive at our destination in good hands.
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