On Bees and Flies: Reflections from Lausanne 4

 

Spirit Led Advocacy – John 14: 12-16

[This is taken from a sermon given recently at The Well Church - an audio file can be found here]

Recently at church I heard the Holy Spirit described as our Advocate. This intrigued me, as it came during a time of exploring what an advocacy role could look like in my ministry with SIM International.  

I started asking myself, what does it mean if the Holy Spirit is in us and the Holy Spirit is our advocate, how does that empower us to be someone who speaks up, stands up or uses our influence, or position to advocate for others?

When we talk about an advocate, most commonly we are talking about “someone who speaks up, stands up, or takes action on behalf of another person or group, especially those who are vulnerable, oppressed, or unable to speak for themselves. An advocate uses their voice, influence, or position to defend, support, and seek justice for others.”

I love this definition, and want to share my thoughts as I have explored the question: how does the Holy Spirit, our advocate, equip us to be an advocate for those around us? We’re going to look at a couple of scripture passages to help figure this out.

John 14: 12 -17

¹² “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!  ¹⁵ “If you love me, obey my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. 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.”

This word translated here as Advocate, is the Greek word Parakletos - appears only five times in the New Testament—four times in the Gospel of John and once in First John.

John 14:26 ^“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 15:26 “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.”

John 16:7 “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”

 

In these verses Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as his representative, the Spirit of truth, the teacher, the one who will remind you of all that Jesus has done.

Scholars recognise this word Parakletos is difficult to translate, especially into English, as there are multiple layers of meaning that English doesn’t capture.  It commonly means:

• ·       a legal advocate, or counsel for defence in a court, that person who stands in the gap and speaks up and pleads our case.
•          an intercessor, a person who intercedes—someone who stands in the gap, praying or acting on behalf of others.
• ·       a helper, counsellor, friend.
• ·       And a meaning I also like is that of comforter, the traditional definition of comforter as one who strengthens another.

This is the role of the Holy Spirit, to be our advocate, intercessor, helper, counsellor and strengthener. God’s presence with us and in us, guiding us and empowering us to continue the works of Jesus, as verse 12 reminds us, to do the same works Jesus did.

The other time parakletos is used in the New Testament is in 1 John 2:1

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”

Here Jesus described is our first and primary Paraclete, the first advocate, the one who pleads our case before the Father when we sin, who stands in the gap and speaks for us. The meaning here is quite specific: Jesus is the one who stands for up and speaks up on our behalf.

Scripture tells us that one of the roles that Jesus had was an advocate, not just before God in heaven, but here on earth as well.

In Luke 4:18-20 Jesus announces his reason for coming -

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, ¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t stop after announcing he is “bringing Good News to the poor”. He specifically says that his mission, his works (the same works we are told to also do), the reason why he has come, is not only to bring the good news, but also to proclaim justice.

When Jesus saying he has come to proclaim freedom for the oppressed, he is declaring one of his primary missions is to be an advocate – not just in heaven to our Father when we sin but to advocate publicly to change and transform the systems that oppress others. Throughout his ministry we see repeatedly Jesus standing up for those on the margins, and speaking up against systemic injustice.

Here's what I want to draw your attention to. Notice how Jesus announces his mission by stating “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  We see throughout Jesus’ ministry He didn’t do anything without the Spirit of God upon him.

In scripture we see many other examples of people who stood up, spoke up or acted to bring change and freedom to others, clearly led by the Spirit of God on them:

• ·       Moses advocated for freedom for the Israelites in Egypt. God’s spirit called him through the burning bush and empowered him to confront Pharaoh, demanding freedom for His people.
• ·       Esther showed great faith and obedience in being an advocate. She fasted, sought counsel, and used her position of privilege and influence to save her people. 
• ·       Nehemiah advocated for the restoration Jerusalem. He felt the Spirit’s leading to rebuild the city’s walls and defend the oppressed.
• ·       Paul was a passionate advocate for the inclusion of Gentiles, the persecuted church, and his own legal rights. He used his Roman citizenship, his prophetic gifts, and spiritual discernment to speak truth to power, defend the Gospel, and protect believers.

Scripture is full of examples like this, of the Holy Spirit enabling and empowering people to advocate. Spirit-led advocates listen for the Spirit’s prompting and pursue justice in ways that reflect Christ’s character: humble, bold, loving, and restorative. It is advocacy focused on tackling the systemic issues oppressing people, guided by the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, courage, and compassion; advocacy that aligns with God’s heart for justice and speaks his truth. It is advocacy that seeks transformation—both personal and systemic.

And this type of advocacy is lacking in our world today. There’s a lot of noise, a lot of protests… but not a lot of truth, wisdom and compassion. The voice of the Spirit is needed, but the thing is, we cannot truly advocate like this unless we know the Spirit.

John 14:17 “But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

You can’t be led by the Spirit if you don’t know him. And that only happens when you spend time, learning what his voice sounds like, learning to recognise the internal promptings the Spirit gives you, his truth, his voice, and growing a relationship of trust, faith and obedience so that you know when you stand up, you are standing up in response to the nudge of the Spirit inside you.

Scripture shows us we don’t have to be afraid of tackling systemic issues when we know the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to be afraid of saying the wrong thing or not being able to discern whats going on, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth –

John 14:17  ^“He is the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth.”

Scripture also shows us we don’t have to be fearful of engaging in advocacy because the Holy Spirit gives us boldness and courage to be able to advocate.

Acts 4  ^“31 After they prayed…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

Speaking up boldly is also something Jesus modelled for us to do.

Luke 4:18  “He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released…”

The thing about proclaiming is that it is not quiet and it’s not done privately. If you are proclaiming, announcing, or even preaching something you are not whispering to yourself in your bedroom. You are bold, strong, clear, public.  The Holy Spirit gives us this courage and the ability to speak clearly and boldly.

Even better than that, when we are led by the Spirit, He promises to give us the words to speak up with:

Exodus 4 God tells Moses “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Jeremiah 1   “I have put my words in your mouth.”

Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 12  “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

Matthew 10 he says  “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

I had this happen to me recently. I was attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York and at a presentation about the need for climate justice and gender equality. As the presentation went on, the more they talked about climate injustice and gender inequality, I felt a growing frustration inside me.  I felt they were not addressing the fact that climate injustice and gender inequality create situations where exploitation and trafficking occurs, and that you can’t address one without addressing them all.

And I heard the Holy Spirit say super clearly: “Speak.”  My first thought was “you’ve got to be joking; I’m not interrupting this talk.”  But at the end, again I heard the Spirit’s voice saying “SPEAK.”  I didn’t know what to say, but I felt a strong compulsion to speak. I was given the microphone, opened my mouth and heard myself give a passionate rant for several minutes about the need to be aware of the conditions that create exploitation and abuse, and for these issues to be addressed holistically. But these were not my words. I hadn’t planned it. When I sat down (to lots of applause), the well-dressed man seated beside me turned said “I’ve never, ever thought about exploitation happening with climate injustice and gender inequality before.” And he gave me his business card. He was the head of the UN Environmental Programmes. We ended up having conversation about the need for UN programmes in vulnerable communities and communities affected by climate change to be including trafficking prevention and protection training.

I’m learning these "random" opportunities to advocate only happen as we learn to know, recognise and obey the nudge of the holy spirit. I could have chosen to not stand up and speak up. but if I had not obeyed the leading of the Spirit, the opportunity to advocate to this influential gentleman would have passed.

I’m going to change tack now, because there’s another question I grapple with in all this, and it’s this:

• If Jesus is our advocate - standing up for us, speaking up for us, pleading our case- and he tells us in scripture to do what he did:  do the same works I have done, and even greater works, preaching good news, healing blind, freeing the oppressed
• And he knows that we might find this hard so he says clearly in scripture “I’m going to send you another advocate, to live in you and help you and give you strength, courage, boldness”… to empower us to be his witness and show us truth AND even give us his words to speak… My question is this:

Why do we shy away from engaging with systematic advocacy? Why are we, the church, not more engaged in advocacy?

I read Luke 4, Jesus’s mission to bring the good news and free the oppressed, and I take seriously that we are supposed to be doing the same works that Jesus did.  

I look at Jesus and how he lived – and in my Bible he’s not this gentle Jesus meek and mild. He’s Jesus who advocated for justice all the time. He stood up for the marginalised, he spoke up against unjust systems that oppressed people.  Why aren’t we?

When I read the bible, justice is everywhere. There are more than 2000 verses about justice; 93 scriptures specifically tell us to stand up and speak up for others.

Isaiah 1:17 “Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans.  Fight for the rights of widows”.

Proverbs 31:8-9 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; speak up for the poor and helpless,  and see that they get justice.”

Psalm 82:3-4 “Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.”

I honestly don’t get it. Because I see all this systemic injustice, horrific stuff going on in our world, and I’m not just talking human trafficking – I’m talking about the systematic things cause poverty, war, racial divisions in societies, gender based violence, hungry cold kids.

We should be the ones proclaiming with bold voices that speak truth and justice and compassion and the love of Christ. Yet we’re silent.

And I hear a lot reasons why. I’m going to give you 4.

1.   1. There’s a lot of fear, of saying or doing the wrong thing, of causing offence, of potential danger. But we’ve just heard how Holy Spirit gives us boldness, truth, words to speak, so there’s not real need for us to fear these things.

 If we’re really honest it’s probably more a fear of rejection, a fear of the cost of standing up and speaking up. Because advocacy does have a cost, as well as standing up, speaking up there is a giving up – your time, your money.. but it’s not an excuse. Advocacy is part of sacrificial discipleship.

              2. Another reason I often hear is “I’m not called into justice work", or "I’m not called to advocacy.” I beg to differ. We’re all called to do what Jesus did and that includes tackling systemic things that create injustice. I don’t think calling is the issue here, I think it’s more an issue of obedience.

  John 14:15  “If you love me, obey my commandments.”

It seems pretty straight forward. Jesus tells us to go and do what he did, and that includes setting captives free, and to free the oppressed. So if we’re not doing it, then I guess there’s an aspect of disobedience there too.

I like this quote I saw recently: “Advocacy doesn’t start big….it starts obedient.”

3.                   3. Another reason we shy away from engaging with systemic advocacy is because of an incomplete theology of justice. We understand justice to be about punishment for wrongs and bringing bad people to justice. But seeing justice as only this causes us to see advocacy as militant, aggressive, confrontational and dangerous. Sometimes it is, but spirit led advocacy isn’t.

In Scripture the most common word for justice is the Hebrew word miztpah, it means “restoring things to right relationships.” This relational, restorative aspect to justice and advocacy is unique to spirit led advocacy, and a powerful witness that we can all bring to our hurting world. We have just got to get our understanding of justice working properly.

4.                   4. And the last reason I often hear is that people simply feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the injustice in our world. It’s too big, it’s too much, the needs are so huge. Trying to change anything seems completely overwhelming; we don’t even know where to start or what to do.

One of my favourite quotes is from Mother Teresa “If I look at the many (the huge size of the problem), I will never act. But if I look at the one, I will.” And this is important for us all to remember. God never asks any of us to do everything, or to solve all injustice, or to advocate all the time for everything. He only asks us to do something, with what we have, with the time, talents, influence we have. It might not be much, but to the captives and to the oppressed? It’s something.

I want to close with some suggestions for starting to do spirit led advocacy.

1.                 1. Know the Holy Spirit. You can’t do the same works Jesus did, let alone even greater, if you are not spending time with God, learning his voice, his truth, and his heart for the lost, and the oppressed, getting filled with boldness, courage and strength on a daily basis.

2.                   2. Pray with purpose. Ask him to stir your heart for justice. Ask him to burden your heart with a cause, ask him what or who needs you to stand up or speak up for them. Pay attention to that internal nudge.

3.                   3. Support advocates - people and organisations involved in fighting systemic injustice. Support them with your finances, with prayer, with your time. Attend hikois or peaceful protests on issues the Spirit is leading you to advocate about.

4.                   4. Engage with government. Build relationships with your local councilors or your local MP. Visit and talk with them about whatever issue the Spirit is leading you to advocate for. Google parliamentary submissions and speak up on key issues addressing our nation, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words to write… and speak up.

But most importantly, don’t stay silent. Jesus has called us to do what He did, to stand up and speak out against the issues and injustices that oppress the vulnerable in our communities. Do so with the confidence and boldness that comes from knowing the leading of the Spirit and knowing he will give you the words to speak right when you need them.

Amen.