Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
Why, one might ask, would we preach from John when Luke’s dazzling Acts 2 account of the Spirit poured out is on the lectionary menu? We can preach from John without setting Acts aside. A celebrative presentation of Acts 2:1-21 is fitting every Pentecost Sunday. Overlapping readings of this text in different languages by lay readers seated all over the sanctuary, each rising to begin, one after another, can evoke the glorious cacophony of Pentecost proclamation. Yet, the Gospel reading, (John 15:26-27; 16:4-15) supplies what Luke lacks: an epoch-spanning vision of the Spirit’s active role in the missio Dei, not only in and with Christian congregations, but out in the wider world as well.
We’ve heard Jesus speak in ch 14 of the “Spirit of Truth . . .another Advocate to be with you forever.” Today’s reading adds specificity: the Spirit will testify on Christ’s behalf, along with the Church (15:26-27). The Spirit will guide Jesus’ disciples, supplying generously the wisdom of divine Father and Son. Further, the Spirit will expose the falsehoods of the “world” (vv9-11). Rather than simply list and describe these functions, a more engaging approach is to help our listeners identify with the context in which Jesus delivers these promises. Jesus’ raising of Lazarus has triggered implacable hostility against Jesus among the Temple leadership. The disciples sense it, bitter and dangerous. Now Jesus says he must leave them, intensifying their apprehension. His disciples reel with confusion and grief.
Some of us have experienced such foreboding–a point in time when we began to hear the tearing of the fabric of our taken-for-granted lives: a job lost, a dreaded diagnosis confirmed, a sudden tragic death. A profound shift in national life, or the unraveling of a relationship. We, like the disciples that night, shudder in the first icy whispers of the cold wind of irreversible change. It is in such an atmosphere that Jesus promises his followers the coming of the divine Advocate (14:15, 15:26, 16:4-7). Jesus must go away; but he is not leaving them alone. The Spirit will mediate to them all they need to know or remember (14:26, 16:13-15) in the face of opposition (16:1-4). Significantly, the pronoun “you” throughout this text is plural. The Spirit is no one’s private possession. Guidance will come in and through the community, each bound to all the others in love and sacrificial service. Together, they will bear witness to their Lord, and the Spirit will confirm their witness (15:26).
The Spirit also has a mission in the wider world (vv 9-11). There, says Jesus, the Spirit will expose what is truly “sin”—the stubborn resistance of the world’s systems of power to God’s embracing, inclusive love enacted in Jesus. The Spirit will expose false righteousness—scrupulous, self-congratulatory piety that refuses to bend down in compassion and turns a blind eye to injustice. The Spirit will confront the world’s arrogant judgment of “others” they have dismissed as impure and unworthy.
The specific Pentecost news one preaches depends on a congregation’s present experience. For some, this Pentecost Sunday may be the day to reflect with the congregation on the Spirit’s mission beyond their walls. Where is the Spirit stirring in the wider community, revealing hard truths about needed change? Other congregations need to hear of the Advocate and Comforter who draws
alongside them in anxiety or grief. Still others will be helped by a fresh vision of church leadership anchored in practices of deliberate, communal listening for the Spirit’s guidance. All can take heart: Jesus’ promise that evening still holds: God’s Spirit is present and active, accompanying us still.
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