Text: John 16:12-15
"I
still have 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, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you
the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is
mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I
said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Theme: Trinity Sunday
Good morning. I am happy to share
with you the good news.
Katatapos lang po ng election and
we have a new leader and President. Did you vote for our new president? Do you
like our new leader? Aalis na si PNoy? Mas magaling ba ang papalit sa kanya?
Maitutuloy ba nya ang mga pagbabago o babalik tayo sa dati at lalong masisira?
Katatapos lang ng General Conference ng UMC. We have new leaders in our church
as well. In other churches, they have new pastors and deaconess, because we are
an itinerant church. There is a reason why we do that. Other leaders will leave
and go. People tell me, our strategy is not good. Who will take charge of the
position left by our previous leaders? Who will take the lead if the leaders
are gone? How will the Church survive? Who will help us in times of trouble? The
relationship between the leader and members will be broken. Who will pray for
us if we get sick? Who will heal us if we need spiritual healing? Who will
correct us? How are we going to be forgiven if we commit mistakes? How are we
going to be saved from our sins? You see, the problem becomes that people have
become dependent on the person who leads them. The church has become
pastor-driven or leader-driven. Kung ano lang yung sinabi ng pastor o ng lay
leader, yun na. Worst, they even worship the leader instead of God. Kaya kapag
nawala na yung leader, wala na rin silang magawa. I tell them, you have to read
the Bible and you have to understand our faith so that you will appreciate why
we are an itinerant church. Why are we not scared if we have new leaders or
even if people come and go?
Today is Trinity Sunday and I
found it very important for us to look into this very important doctrine in our
church even as we look into our church leadership concerns. Why do we celebrate
Trinity Sunday? We celebrate Trinity Sunday to commemorate the reality that we
believe in a Triune God, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. There is only
One God, but Three Persons with One essence. That is the mystery of God. It is
a mystery that the human mind cannot totally comprehend. Our words will never
be enough to describe this mystery about God. Some theologians have tried to
explain it like the three phases of water – steam, liquid and ice but they are
all water. Some theologians have tried to explain it like a guitar chord where
you press different strings but get only one chord. Other theologians have
tried to explain it like a soft drink, you drink in a bottle or you drink from
a can but all you get is the same Coke soft drink. It will never be enough how
we describe the trinity. But we must remember that there are three persons at
work here = God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, even though
they are three, they are of one essence for there is only one God. They are
together since the beginning of time. They are equal yet they can emphasize one
over the other. They work in unity. God the Father is working through the Son
Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see this in verse 14 and 15 when
Jesus said, “He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare
it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will
take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is also of the
Son and this he also shares with the Holy Spirit. They are of the same essence
as a Triune God.”
This is what we read this
morning. Jesus was about to go back to the Father. But Jesus will not be really
gone, he said, as the Holy Spirit will be with the disciples. God is still with
them.
LISTEN my dear brothers and
sisters. Jesus is leaving his disciples. They thought they are going to be
alone by themselves. Jesus is moving out. Who will lead them now? Who will help
them? Who will continue the work? This is the questions the disciples ask that
we continue to ask today. But Jesus already gave his answer. Jesus promised
that the Holy Spirit will be with us. That is Awesome.
The good news my dear Brothers
and Sisters, is that the same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to the disciples
is still here with us in the Church. The same Holy Spirit with the disciples is
with us. God is with us. Even if Jesus went back to the Father, God is still
with us through the Holy Spirit.
Now, what does it mean that the
Holy Spirit is with us? It does not mean that everything will be perfect. It
does not mean that there will not be any problems. We will experience
difficulty just as the disciples did. Jesus said in verses before that they
will do to you what they did to me. So the disciples will be persecuted. They
will have conflicts. They will encounter problems, the same things that we may
be experiencing today. But the reality that we have a triune God, the Holy
Spirit is with us therefore God is still with us.
The disciples looked up to Jesus
as their leader. They did only according to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus
helped them when they are in trouble; remember the storm in the sea. When they
have problems, they go to Jesus for troubleshooting. Remember the 5 loaves of
bread and 2 fishes. But when Jesus left, the disciples felt that they will not
have somebody to help them and guide them. But Jesus even said that it is to
their advantage that Jesus will leave because it makes room for the Spirit to fill
the space.
When a leader leaves, we allow
the Holy Spirit to move and use another one and fill the gathered body. A new
leader filled with the Holy Spirit will be able to guide us, while the entire
body will also be filled by the Holy Spirit to follow God’s direction. Ang tanong mga kapatid, are we filled by
the Holy Spirit? Did you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you or you rejected it dahil natatakot kayo? Bata pa kasi ako, hindi ko kasi alam yan, hindi
ko man napag aralan yan, ganito ganyan lang kasi ako. If you are led by the
Holy Spirit, you can do it.
I would like to share an
experience I had in one Sunday School in QC UMC. The Sunday School Teachers
there were big time lay leaders and veteran teachers. But one Sunday, they were
not available because all of them attended a church conference. Who will lead
the Sunday School? Or cancel na lang
muna? Andoon na kami lahat, but there was no Sunday School teacher. Nagtuturuan na sila kung sino ang maglead.
And then, out of nowhere, a young adult guy stood up and said he felt he was
led by the Holy Spirit to facilitate the Bible Study. So we started in prayer
and we read the passage and we had some discussions. It was a very lively and
dynamic Bible Study and we felt so blessed after that because we were led by
the Holy Spirit.
Filled by the Holy Spirit. I
would like to highlight THREE things what it means that the Holy Spirit is
working in us.
First, the spirit of Christ is in the church, even if someone leaves,
the spirit of Christ remains. This is an important understanding for us United
Methodist. God is in the church. God is residing in this church. People do not
own the church. Pastors do not own the church. The chairperson does not own the
church. Kaya nga, even if people live, God will still be present in the church.
God will use someboy else to be the instrument of the Holy Spirit. Somebody can
fill up that position and the spirit will ready to fill them up. I saw that
here in Spring of Life. Minsan, I was looking at the children because there were
so many of them. My kids asked if Kuya Marvin will teach them. But Marvin was
not available that day. I do not know if somebody else prepared a lesson for
the children, so I just told my kids to go at the back of the church, get the
Bible Story and wait for me. And then when I went at the back to teach them,
some of the youth are already leading the kids. I think sila Yana yun at sila Mark. Kahit wala yung assinged
makapagturo ng Sunday School, somebody else will take that lead with the
leading of the Holy Spirit. That is how powerful the Holy Spirit works in us.
Second, the spirit of truth resides not in a single person; it
resides in the gathered body. God is everywhere but God’s presence can be truly
felt in the gathering of the people. Kaya, never say that I can worship God in
my room or in my car or all by myself because God is in our midst if we gather.
So, please gather together as one body. Come to church or it will not be a
body. Jesus said, whenever two or three is gathered in my name, I am with them.
Dumarating si Hesus if we gather together. So gather as often as you can, in
Bible Studies, in Fellowships, even when you are eating. Do not eat all by
yourself. Call other people and then pray together. When you read the Bible,
gather together. And when you gather, feel the presence of God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit in your midst. Be filled by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Whenever you gather together, make sure you are all filled with
the Holy Spirit. Bakit? This leads us to #3..
Third, the leader of every gathered body is Jesus Christ, not the
person per se. The same is true in our church bodies. Our congregation is not
led by the lay leaders, the pastor, the church workers or any person per se.
Jesus is the leader of the congregation. The leadership position belongs to
Jesus. Say “OUR LEADER IS JESUS.” That is the reason why we United Methodist do
not get weary or troubled even if we have different pastors in our church.
Because we still have the same leader. That is also the reason that even if we
do not like the person in the position, we remain in the church because our
leader is the same. Our understanding of the Triune God, the Father, Son and
the Holy Spirit guides us in how we work as a church. It is very important in our
understanding that we see God as our leader and not the person in front of you.
That is why, do not criticize the person, that person represents Jesus. Instead,
recognize the presence of Jesus in that person. Respect that person just as you
would show respect to Jesus, even if you do not like the person or disagree
with his/her thoughts. We are but instruments of the Holy Spirit but remember,
we will not feel the presence of Holy Spirit if we do not allow the Holy Spirit
to be in us.
People come and go, but the
church will go on. People taking the leadership role may change but God is
still our leader. Jesus left, but the Holy Spirit led the church forward. The
gathered church will go on as long as the Holy Spirit is with them. God did not
leave. God is still there, still here. The same Holy Spirit that led the
disciples will lead the church forward. The same Holy Spirit during the
biblical times is here with us today. That is the good news my dear brothers
and sisters, that the Holy Spirit is with us today. God the Father is here with
us today, Jesus the Son is here with us today, the Holy Spirit is here with us
today – the Triune God is here with us today. Are you willing to be filled by
the Holy Spirit? Are you willing to be God’s instrument in the church? In the
name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
