But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 (RSV)
What if the first couple of the Bible had entered into the following conversation? "My love, check out time from the Grand Eden Hotel is 11:00 tomorrow morning." "But honey, that's bad. How are we going to get the carpet cleaned and buy a new wardrobe on such short notice?" "No, Evie, that's good because we've been on vacation too long, and it's time we earned our keep." "I suppose you're right. There has to be a good world out there brimming with the possibilities of organic gardening, yard sales, and jazzercise."
What is the "good," that peaches-and-cream quality philosophers have punted around for centuries? What is a "good" child or even a "good" marriage? My wife, Rosalyn, and I agree that whatever it is, it can't be achieved overnight. It never comes easy. Although there can never be a perfect marriage, we can at least work for good ones. Eliminating the negative, pessimistic "me" helps clear the way.
Consider also our country. In recent years we have come to idolize our children and youth. We have even created an entire culture out of them, pushing for a "good life" with all its comforts and cushions. But here comes Absalom. Rebellion! By underlining in red their material "good," have they not questioned "the pursuit of happiness?" Perhaps they are seeing at face value Epicurus' point that "wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." What is "the good?" More importantly, what is the source of goodness?
Don't you hear the rumbling chariots of history? They tell us all too painfully that progress has not been carved out by our kind alone. His Word on this Pentecost Day challenges that question with an affirmative "yes." The Word converges upon us like water down a dry canyon. Here, Jesus pulls the plug and empties his jewels before us. He unleashes the promise of the Counselor. Remember, Jesus always selected his promises carefully. Never half-cocked, they always delivered.
He suggests not one, but many treasures, which will accompany the coming Counselor. There's the untouchable ... "truth." There's the not so welcomed "judgment." There's an informant in there somewhere who will tell us who the Father is. And yes, there's that "goodness" which keeps cropping up. The Spirit begets goodness; better said, only the Spirit hatches goodness ... period.
So that's our theme. It's not an ordinary six o'clock news clip but, as always, the Good News ... news about the Spirit who multiplies his bountiful goodness with us. Paul places "goodness" sixth on his checklist of spiritual fruits. (Galatians 5:22) In Romans he writes, "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose." (8:28) Loving God, then, becomes the fuse which ignites the goodness in us. We are not good in ourselves. We are only extensions of God's goodness. He brought us in from the cold - the whole lot of us. Apart from him we become entombed like the self-seeking goodness of the Pharisees. Jesus himself suggested, "Why call me good? Only God is good." (Matthew 19:17) With Jesus goodness is Godness. You'll hear that again.
For the present, the drama of God's goodness must be acted out in our limbs. His goodness in that lubricant which gets us moving toward human need. Jesus specialized in those difficult, radical needs no one else would touch ... street people ... lepers ... rip-off artists. He cared. He cared because his Good News became more then an antiseptic editorial. On our scene he cuts into our pain and aloneness. That is all the encouragement we need to deal with unexpected pain. Once the Soviet KGB raided a home conducting a service of worship. After counting the congregation, the officer in charge announced that seven would be arrested. "No," said one of the family members. "There are eight, not seven present." "Well, seven is all I find," replied the officer. "Who is the eighth?" "The Risen Christ," was the response.
Is God's goodness a one-way street, a one-shot deal? Look at it this way. It's like a star fish with a dismembered arm, it has the capacity to return. The goodness of God's Spirit keeps coming back. It's consistently moving in mysterious patterns. By the same token we must unveil our wings of faith and be swept into its updraft.
Trust is the word. That power within makes us movers and shakers. Years ago the following advertisement appeared in the Denver Post: "Wanted: Men and women possessing faith, hope and charity for lifetime work building a better world. Applicants must furnish own tools, including Golden Rules. For further details, apply at your nearest church."
The church has its share of warts. In spite of that, it serves forth a goodness that nothing else can match. God's goodness is vastly larger than our little planet in the upper end of the milky way galaxy. His radiating power comes to scatter our mists of discouragement. His hopeful goodness comes to redirect our potentials, to fire our gifts toward a common good. Believe that! God's goods are always on a roll.
Too frequently we associate Pentecost with God as Actor ... we as spectator. With or without us, his greatest show on earth will go on. Take heart because God has heart. He's in it with us. He identifies. He's involved. He's for our happiness. He wants us to be for our happiness, too. He wants us to find joy and fulfillment on that stage. Thomas Edison was correct when he said, "I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work."
Each of us seek a far better world cluttered with fewer ballistic missiles and slot machines. Goodness, along with truth and beauty, do not come by accident. Neither do they come ... SHAZAM ... overnight. There are risks in reaching. Jesus never promised a society of "free bubble up and rainbow stew." Quickly, he reminds us that as we take our lumps, his goodness will still be there. His goodness is always there, emptying itself out on us. We do not deserve it. But like the manna, it's always there at first light. Dare we ask the self-reflecting question in these days, "Will we be half as committed to serving his "goodness" as he is to meeting our daily needs?"