“I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
John 14:25-26 NLT
One thing that gets worse with age is our memories. Memory loss is gradual and it affects some people more than others. As we get older we forget people’s names, for example, but then remember them after a few minutes or later in the day. We can also forget appointments so we mitigate the effects by putting in place a system of reminders. Other people put their faith in “to do” lists, with phone or tablet apps or a paper and pencil providing the means. As many a preacher will know, asking a congregation about what he or she preached on the previous week can be demoralising, although many skilled orators will limit the amount of information and will use repetition to help audience retention. Buzz words and techniques such as catchy and related titles and sub-titles will also assist a congregation’s recall capacity.
Jesus told His disciples that when He returns to His Heavenly home, He will send His representative, the Holy Spirit, who will have two main functions, teaching and reminding. I wonder what those early disciples were expecting? A physical presence sitting on their shoulders and whispering in their ears? Today we could perhaps imagine an “Alexa” or a “Siri” performing in the same way; after all smart phones seem to be ubiquitous. But the Holy Spirit was and is nothing like any man-made aid. Instead He is a gift from God, given to us through His grace and mercy and to fulfil the John 14:26 promise made by Jesus.
Another feature of the Holy Spirit is that non-believers do not have any knowledge of His presence at all. In John 14:17, Jesus said, “ … The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you“. Not for the world are the benefits of believing in Jesus – the Holy Spirit is a special Person who comes to live within us to teach us all about the way to our ultimate spiritual home and to remind us of all the things that Jesus taught about. The first disciples had received three years or so of teaching from Jesus, teaching that was both by word, such as the parables favoured by the Master Preacher, but also through the day to day experiences, as they followed their Lord and God. It was, to them, all life-changing “stuff” but probably difficult to make sense of at the time.
We pilgrims have the benefits of the written down words of the New Testament, but before we think that we don’t therefore need an aide-memoire, the teaching contained in the Scripture has to be applied to our daily lives. The Holy Spirit does favour an academic exercise or philosophical debate. We read in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is life changing and transformational. We transition from being a world-follower to being a God-follower and there is literally a “world” of a difference. Someone I know feels very inadequate because they cannot remember Scripture very well, but the amazing thing is that they find what they need in the recesses of their mind when an opportunity arises and requires it. Watching the Holy Spirit at work in another believer is a thing of joy. The Holy Spirit, a teaching aid and a memory aid. What an amazing God we serve and follow!
Dear Father God. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, allowing Your presence to be with us for ever. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 