I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead your hearts are filled with sadness because I have said these things to you. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment— concerning sin because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
John 16:4b-11
At Bible study this week, we were discussing John 14, and we spent quite a bit of time in conversation about the Holy Spirit, the Person who is called the “Paracletos” in transliterated Greek, a word which literally means, “alongside.” Our English translated bibles use words like, Comforter or Advocate, but pretty much any footnote will tell you that translating the Greek word, paracletos, into English is a huge challenge because there’s not a true equal in the English language.
One of the ladies at Bible study shared a commentary that I really appreciated and took to heart. Basically, it said that a helpful way to think of the role of the Holy Spirit is to contrast His role to the role of the enemy, the “accuser of the brethren.” The enemy is the one who accuses us and who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is the One who is on our side (if we are followers of Christ), as our Advocate, our Guide, our Teacher . . .This description resonated in my mind because it is an image I can wrap my imagination around, and it really blessed me. It has been on my mind ever since.
Several years ago, early on a Saturday morning, I stepped out on to my front porch to breathe in the morning when I heard an alarming sound I couldn’t at first identify. It turned out that sound was a large, old, oak tree, releasing its hold on the earth and falling directly onto the corner of our house where our bedroom is – and where my husband was still sleeping. Miraculously, the trunk of the mighty oak broke off, and the full impact of the tree was greatly lessened, possibly saving my husband’s life. When examining the tree, we could imagine that an angel had been there and put up his arm to break the fall of the tree trunk, breaking it so that the heaviest part of the tree was diverted to landing place not quite on our house. Some of the tree did fall on the house, heavy branches piercing all the way through the bedroom ceiling, starkly pointing out the great mercy we had received that morning.
The image we imagined of possibly and angel breaking the impact of that tree with his arm, comes to mind when I think of our Paracletos, our Alongside, helping to neutralize the efforts of the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. But I also imagine something else, like the personal guide of a dignitary, giving instruction on the path to follow next, what appointments are coming up that day, or what attire is appropriate for the evening’s events. I imagine Batman’s Alfred, and I imagine the coach who works tirelessly to train, teach, and inspire a team of athletes to success. But of course . . . when we are describing the Holy Spirit, He is so much more!
Elizabeth Eliott is famous for her life instructions to “do the next right thing.” In her talks, she describes (and I am paraphrasing abundantly) how doing the Lord’s will may be washing socks or doing the dishes or traveling to the jungle of a people who don’t know Jesus. But in her description, none of those things is less God’s will than another. Slicing onions can be exactly what God has called you to do in this moment. And you should do it to His glory, Elizabeth teaches.
One day this week, I found myself, after bowing my head and heart to the Lord in my morning prayer time, feeling like I wasn’t doing much of a job of praying. I’m not sure exactly what that means, now that I’m writing it, but I felt apologetic to God – because He can see all the places my mind wanders – that I wasn’t staying on track with the things I thought I should be praying about. While I was still attempting to pray, an important detail I hadn’t thought of came to my mind. It was just the thought that I should make sure to bring an HDMI cord to a meeting I would have at work that morning. What struck me was that I was pretty sure that thought didn’t come from me.
And I was reminded of our discussion about the Paracletos, the one who is supporting, instructing, and guiding us as we seek to follow Jesus. Had the Holy Spirit reminded me to get a cord?
Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth . . .
John 14:16-17a
It’s easy to separate our lives into “the spiritual stuff” and all the other stuff we have to do as part of living, imagining that somehow we’re on our own when it comes to the onion slicing, potato peeling, and 9-5 work week type of stuff. And that Jesus’ promise that the Holy spirit would be with us forever, only applies to church and prayer time.
I didn’t end up needing an HDMI cord that morning, but there was the potential that I would need it, and my stress level was greatly reduced by having the cord in hand – as silly as that might sound. But that obscure instruction in my morning prayer communicated something much bigger to my heart, which is that the Paracletos means to instruct us on all the parts of our lives, not just the ones that are obviously spiritual. . . which is exactly what His word tells us.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything . . .
John 14:25
