We Need An Advocate

Acts 4:1-12

John 16:1-15

When I was in about the sixth grade my mother and I attended the trial of a man charged with armed robbery. We had been told by a friend that this particular case would be interesting because the defendant had chosen to represent himself in the proceedings. The man was eventually found guilty, supporting the adage that anyone who acts as his or her own lawyer has a fool for a client.

Our reading from Acts this morning describes the events that take place when Peter and John are brought before the elders and priests of Israel. The disciples are there to explain what they have been saying and doing in the temple. The writer of Acts tells us that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and began to address the gathered leaders (Acts 4:8). It might have appeared that Peter was representing the disciples himself, but in fact he was being guided by God’s Spirit in what he said. Jesus alludes to such in our reading from John’s gospel today. “…It is to your advantage that I go 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” (John 16:7). The early church did receive the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, and it was by this presence that Peter was emboldened and enabled to speak. In other words, Peter had the best council in the room.

We, too, should allow for God to work in and through us. When we are faced with a challenge to our faith, or questioned about what we believe, or overwhelmed by doubt and fear the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is with us providing us guidance and council. We need not depend on ourselves or on what we can prove because we, too, will have the best council possible.

Prayer: Lord, may your Holy Spirit guide us throughout our lives that we may live as your people without fear or hesitation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Getting Our Bearings Straight

Isaiah 30:18-26

John 14:15-31

In 1973 singer/songwriter David Essex asked the musical question, “Where do we go from here?/Which is the way that’s clear?” These may have been the questions on the minds of the disciples in the days following the resurrection. Living in a world as challenging as ours, they might be our questions as well. Where DO we go from here as people of faith? IS there a way that’s clear?

Our readings today provide two appropriate answers. Isaiah looks ahead to a time of grace and says, “…when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21). John’s gospel adds these words from Jesus, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Okay, so maybe the answers here are more to the question “how do we go?” than “where do we go?” But they offer the hope that in the days to come God’s people will receive guidance, direction, encouragement, and reminders of what they have been taught.

I think of a GPS device talking to a driver. “Turn left in 200 yards.” Or a coach yelling instructions from the sideline. “Move to the right!” By the grace of God we, too, have an Advocate offering us direction, a voice calling us back from our wayward paths. “Where do we go from here/which is the way that’s clear?” We follow what we know about God in Jesus Christ by the voice of the Holy Spirit. It’s the only true path we have.

Prayer: Lord, guide us by your Spirit that we may walk the path you offer to us. Amen.