Communication is not easy.
When I have a thought, feeling, or message I want to convey to someone else, I first have to internally process it to the point where it’s coherent to me and I know what it is I actually want to say. Then, I have to wrap that up in some form of mutually understood expression – speech, text, sign language, braille, morse code, smoke signals – all of which have very deep insufficiencies. Then, when I attempt to communicate it, I have to find a way to make sure it carries the appropriate emotion and context so I’m not misunderstood. And that doesn’t even begin to outline the challenges faced on the listening side of the equation. The fact that any of us can accomplish this with any degree of effectiveness is truly miraculous.
So, pardon the pun, but I'm grateful beyond words that the Holy Spirit is a master communicator.
In John 16:12-15, after acknowledging his disciples were reaching a saturation point regarding all he wanted them to understand, Jesus said he’d be passing the baton to the Spirit who was coming to communicate three things in his absence. The Lord said to them, he will “guide you into all truth,” “tell you things to come,” and “glorify me.” And those phrases express a set of promises he was making not only to his original hearers but to all of us who’ve come after them.
The first of these describes the Spirit’s assignment to draw from the vast resources of what the Son possesses in his relationship with the Father to help us comprehend spiritual truth. That process clearly includes his role of interpreting and applying what has been embedded for us in the words of Scripture. And according to Jesus in this passage, we can count on the Spirit to reveal ALL of it. That means he will insure we have ALL the understanding we need to live as God intends. So, whenever we find ourselves puzzled or confused by something we’ve encountered in the Bible, we can confidently invite the one Jesus called the Spirit of truth to guide us to clarity just as he promised.
Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would tell us about what’s coming. But that doesn’t mean he intends to turn us into fortune-tellers. It means that as we develop careful habits of listening for the voice of the Spirit, we never need to fear the future. He will supply the awareness and sensitivity we need to avoid the obstacles ahead and be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that will present themselves.
Finally, the Lord said he is glorified when the Spirit gathers these riches of understanding and offers them to us. Everything he communicates will always honor Jesus. And that means the best way to build a life of worship is to learn to listen carefully to the Holy Spirit. All expressions of praise are ultimately sourced in the reverence that results from what he reveals to our souls.
So, let’s open that place in our hearts that holds the treasures deposited there by the one who communicates to us the words, will, and wonder of Jesus. And from there, let’s give full voice to the exaltation we long to communicate to him.