June 8, 2025
An Advocate to Be With You Forever
John 14:8-17
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe[a] because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me[b] for anything, I will do it.
15 “If you love me, you will keep[c] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[d] to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be[e]in[f] you.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Today is Pentecost Sunday, and we focus on the Spirit. As Presbyterians, we often feel like we don’t know much about the Spirit. But I bet we know more than we think.
The Spirit, called the breath of God, hovered over the watery chaos at creation. At the baptism of Jesus, the Spirit descended on him like a dove as he came up from the water. Jesus breathed the Spirit on his disciples after the resurrection. On Pentecost, the Spirit descended on the disciples in a house while they were praying.
And I bet I can guess the images that come to our minds. A gentle dove descending. Fire dancing on the disciples’ heads. The color red. Wind rushing through the room. People speaking in different languages. These are the metaphors for the Spirit.
But there’s another image I bet we often miss, and it’s one I believe we really need. An Advocate.
We all know how it feels to have someone in our corner.
Maybe you were in trouble at school, your heart pounding, and you remember when you parent got involved to help.
Or you went out for a big job, and you needed a reference to help them believe in you and see your potential.
Or you faced a medical crisis and felt so alone until that one person showed up to help you keep track of the information and make decisions.
We know what it feels like to need an advocate.
One of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter series is an amazing advocate, Hermione Granger. The scene I most remember is in the first Harry Potter book and film. Harry and Ron are facing the logic puzzle with the potions and they’re completely overwhelmed.
And Hermione looks at Harry and says, “You’re a great wizard, Harry… and I’m good at remembering things, telling people things, helping them.”
Throughout the Harry Potter series, Hermione is that person: a helper and counselor and advocate. She was the friend who knew what they needed before they did. She remembered what they forgot. She never stopped believing in Harry even when he couldn’t believe in himself.
That gives us a picture of what Jesus promises us when Jesus talks about the Spirit in today’s passage from John 14. In this chapter of John, Jesus is having his last conversation with the disciples before the crucifixion.
The disciples are confused and frightened. They are about to lose the person who has been their guide and advocate, the person they have literally bet their lives on. And into this fear, Jesus speaks these words: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate.”
Let’s look carefully at what Jesus is really promising here
First, in verse 15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Now, that can be confusing because it sounds like we’re about earning God’s love through good behavior. But that’s not what Jesus is saying. No, we are in a relationship of grace that he has given us, a relationship where he loves us and in response we love him. Out of that relationship flows a natural way of life, where we follow his way, learn from his teaching, and keep his commandments. The glue that brings this relationship together, the glue that holds it together, is the Spirit – the Advocate.
Then verse 16: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate.” Notice how Trinitarian this is. The Father and the Son send the Spirit. The Spirit is another one, like Jesus. Jesus is leaving the scene, but he isn’t abandoning them. He’s extending his very presence through the Spirit.
The word he uses – “paraclete” – appears in scripture only in the writings of John. It’s a unique term is hard to translate well. In Latin, advocatus – an attorney. In 16th century England, Comforter. Today, Advocate. Ultimately, it means one who is called or sent alongside to help.
In a court of law, it’s an attorney who stands and pleads a case. In other areas of life, it’s a mentor, a coach, a teacher, a best friend. The Father and Son send the Spirit to be this Advocate to continue Jesus’ presence in his disciples and in the world.
And then verse 17: “This is the Spirit of truth.” The Spirit is not just a source of accurate information, but a divine and reliable presence we can count on. A presence and a person who will tell us and lead us into the truth.
Jesus says, “You know him” – present tense. The Spirit is already here, at work in us. We don’t wait for the Spirit. We attend to the Spirit.
Jesus says the Spirit “abides” – remains, dwells, lives with us constantly. Never leaves us. This Spirit is our Advocate to be with us forever.
So what does this Advocate do?
First, the Advocate helps us pray, especially when we can’t find the words. How often in your life, or mine, have we simply had no words to pray about grief, or fear, or loss, or confusion? Or we are speechless with happiness, those moments when all life seems to just come together?
How do you pray when you don’t have words? This the Spirit’s role: to translate your heart’s language to God. To take your heavy sighs, your tears, your silent smiles, and carry them directly to the heart of God. It is enough to say, “Spirit pray for me.” The Advocate helps us pray.
Second, the Advocate reminds us. Jesus says the Spirit “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.” Now, remind sounds a little boring and kind of like a nag. But this isn’t just about memory. It’s about bringing Jesus’ words to life in new situations. His stories, his teaching, his example.
The Christian faith is always opening new perspectives, letting light in on the great questions of life and the world: the Spirit reminds of Jesus’ word and fill them with life.
As our world and our common life is divided, the Spirit reminds us of our deepest faith values: we belong to God, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of creation, we are called to care for the poor, each person is made in God’s image, love is the most powerful force in the world.
The Advocate is the voice who makes Jesus “present tense” on the pages of our lives, in the pages of the news, in the decisions that affect us and shape our common future. The Advocate stirs up our memory.
Third, the Advocate continues Jesus’ work through the church, making the church Jesus’ presence in history. Not just in us individually, but in and through the Church. The Spirit stirs us up, gives us clarity and conviction, and sends us out.
As our Brief Statement of Faith of the PC(USA) says:
“In a broken and fearful world, the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.”
The Advocate doesn’t let us sit back and be comfortable but sends us out to follow Jesus as his people in the world.
We can point to the Advocate at work right here in our lives today. Today we are presenting Bibles to our 5th graders as they graduate from elementary Sunday school. Those pages will not just be the most ancient books the kids own, and they won’t be like every other book on the shelf.
The Advocate will make Scripture come alive for these kids, with fresh insights as they read and as they grow and change. They Advocate will speak through the stories and language of scripture to give answers to our deepest questions, and new questions to our worn-out answers.
Today we’re also baptizing Evan Teeters. The Spirit is God’s gift at baptism and will be Evan’s advocate through every season of life – his mentor, guide, coach, helper, friend – through his teenage years, through the twists and turns of life, reminding him always that he belongs to God, pointing back him to Jesus, placing him in the company of Christ’s church.
On Thursday of this week, Walter Brueggemann died. He was a titanic biblical scholar and theologian, working most of his career at Columbia Theological Seminary, the Presbyterian seminary in Atlanta.
He had an incisive view of how the living God speaks in the pages of scripture, and he spoke with a passion that made faith come alive for countless pastors, and through them for their congregation.
He wrote once, “The God of the gospel is the God who comes to us in our need and will not be turned away.” In other words, an Advocate to be with us forever.
The Spirit is One who is good at remembering things, at telling people things, and at helping them. She is able to lead us into truth, to stand with us, to pray for us, to remind us of who we are, to send us out to be Christ’s church in the world.
Thanks be to God for sending an Advocate to be with us forever.
Rev. Patrick W. T. Johnson, Ph.D.
First Presbyterian Church
Asheville, North Carolina