John 16:5-15; James 1:16-21; Isaiah 12:1-6
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is but one will, God’s will, and His will alone is good. Your enemy, however, has but one goal: that you would not acknowledge, believe, or follow God’s will, but instead recognize another will, your own, or his, in place of God’s. And if you look at the world today, you may be tempted to think he is winning, or has already won.
For what passes as the highest good in our time is tolerance, yet even that word has been reshaped. It once meant to bear with, to endure patiently, which is in keeping with God’s will. But now it has come to mean something else entirely: to accept, to affirm, even to bless as true and good whatever anyone wills. And so, if you hold to God’s will, if you confess that His Word alone is truth, you are no longer considered tolerant. You are seen as narrow, unloving, even dangerous. To walk according to God’s Word is to reject the claims of every other will, every competing “truth,” every false god. And that will not go unnoticed by the world, or by your enemy.
Last week, you heard our Lord say that you will weep and lament while the world rejoices. He was not exaggerating. But He also promised that your sorrow will turn into joy, a joy that no one can take from you. And so, lest you grow too comfortable in this world, too at home in this flesh, He has gone away. He has ascended to the right hand of the Father. And though you may think it would be easier if He were still visibly here, easier to believe, easier to endure, He says otherwise. He says it is to your advantage that He has gone away, so that He may send you the Helper, the Holy Spirit. And what does the Holy Spirit do? Jesus tells you: He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
That word “convict” is important. It is a courtroom word. To convict is not merely to accuse, but to present evidence, to establish the truth, to render a verdict. A man may protest his innocence all he likes, but when the verdict is given, the truth stands. So it is with the Holy Spirit. He does not ask the world for its opinion. He does not negotiate with human wisdom. He speaks God’s verdict. He convinces and declares what is true, whether the world believes it or not.
Dear Christian, this is why you must not make peace with the world. You cannot simply drift along with what it approves or rejects. But take comfort, this is precisely how the Holy Spirit helps you. Through the Word of God, through the Law and the Gospel, through the preaching, through the Sacraments, He preserves you in the true faith. He anchors you in what is real, even when everything around you seems persuasive, reasonable, and good according to human thinking. You experience this often in your conscience. Something doesn’t sit right. Something in you resists what the world calls good. That is not your imagination, that is the Holy Spirit at work, exposing the lie.
He convicts the world concerning sin, showing that the root problem is unbelief. The world’s path may look attractive, even sensible, but it is a path away from God. And to follow God’s Word will make you uncomfortable in that world. It will cost you. Your own flesh will resist. Your own reason will argue back. Your enemy will use both to try to turn you aside, calling evil good and good evil. That is why St. James warns you: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” If you are not rooted in that truth, if you neglect the Word, withdraw from the fellowship of the Church, abandon prayer, then you will not remain neutral. You will find yourself guided only by your own thoughts and the voice of the enemy. And that path does not end well.
The Holy Spirit also convicts the world concerning righteousness. The world has its own version of righteousness, good works, outward virtue, a kind of superficial peace that avoids conflict at all costs. “Peace, peace,” it says, even where there is no peace. But this, too, is a lie. True righteousness is found in one place only: in Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and ascended. The world stands judged as guilty. All have sinned. And yet, in Christ, the Father has declared sinners righteous, not because of their works, but because of His Son. His sacrifice is the full atonement for the sins of the world. There is no other righteousness that avails before God. And so the Holy Spirit calls sinners to repentance, to turn away from themselves and to trust in Christ alone.
Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Satan’s accusations have no standing against those who are in Christ. Yes, the Law condemns sin, but Christ has fulfilled the Law. Yes, the devil accuses, but Christ has answered for you. You are forgiven. You are declared righteous. And that verdict cannot be overturned. Therefore, while you must not make peace with the world, neither are you called to conquer it by force. You are not here to impose Christianity through power or coercion. That is not the way of Christ.
You are called instead to be leaven, salt, and light. It is through your life, your love for God’s Word, your obedience to it, your love for your neighbor, that the Holy Spirit works. As God’s love is poured into you through Christ, it overflows in acts of mercy, compassion, patience, and truth. And through these, the Spirit opens ears, softens hearts, and brings the dead to life.
So again, St. James exhorts you: be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Put away wickedness. Receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. In other words, live what you confess. If you would have others love the Word, then love the Word. If you would have others honor God’s gifts, marriage, life, truth, then honor them yourself. If you would have others understand true peace and true tolerance, then live in humility, patience, and selflessness, not affirming falsehood, but bearing with others in love. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little salt seasons the whole dish. And where there is light, darkness cannot remain.
Yes, it is to your advantage that Jesus has gone away. For He has sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith. He forgives you all your sins. And on the Last Day, He will raise you and all the dead, and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
Jesus told His disciples that there was more they could not yet bear. But at Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out, and they began to understand. The Word of God opened to them in its fullness, and they could not keep silent.
And how does that same understanding come to you? Through living in this world, but not of it. Through suffering. Through temptation. Through endurance. Through being tested, even mocked or rejected. In all of this, the Holy Spirit is at work, shaping you, refining you, conforming you to the image of Christ. He is drawing your will into alignment with God’s will, teaching you to love what He commands and to desire what He promises. So that, amid all the shifting changes of this world, your heart may be fixed where true joy is found.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
