The Gospel Lesson from the 14^th chapter of John says that Jesus is sending an Advocate that will teach us everything and remind you of all that he said. It would be wonderful to finally be able to completely discern truth from falsehood. To know everything and not forget would be for me a state of paradise. Not knowing the truth and forgetting what we know can, on the other hand, get us in a lot of trouble.

I can’t tell you how often I have said to myself: “Self why did I do that?” or “I should have known better.” Why do we do stupid things and even more importantly why would we ever act contrary to what we believe? I think if everyone acted according to what they believed to be correct the world would be nearly perfect. So why do we act contrary to what we believe or why do we do stupid things?

Plato gives a great answer in Book Seven of the Republic. There he records his teacher Socrates as saying: “There are three reasons for a person to act contrary to their beliefs. You are coerced by force, you forget or lose track of what you believe in or you are beguiled or talked out of what you believe in. I completely agree with Socrates. I often say to myself what am I doing and why am I doing this or that because I have lost my way or forgot what my goal was. I can also be tricked out of what I believe in by a clever argument or hope of a cheap or easy gain.

The Advocate who is sent to us by Jesus stands next to us constantly reminding us of what we believe and where our goals lie. It speaks the truth so that we can’t be tricked into following another way. I define the truth as the living presence of the risen lord in our life together as his people. The advocate gives us strength to maintain our integrity even under the pressure of mental and physical threats. That is the story of the first martyrs of the Christian Church which were held in the highest esteem.

I think that it is impossible to know and live the truth on our own. We need the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing, Jesus Christ the Lord. He is our constant counselor and cheer leader, always on our side always helping us to live according to our God given rather than our sinful nature.

John’s gospel tells us that when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, that he drew all humanity to himself. The cross of Jesus brought about a sweeping change in history. The last words spoken from the cross: “It is accomplished”, points at this fulfillment. It says: “Now the sentence is being passed on this world. The prince of this world is to be overthrown. And when I am lifted up I will draw all to myself.”

Jesus’ death on the cross identifies and demystifies the demonic powers of all religions and governments and replaces them with the peace that Jesus gives. This is a glacial process; the Advocate, who proceeds from the father and the son, will accomplish this process throughout all of history. What was begun on the cross is the continuing work of the Advocate. The prince of this world the figure known as the satan, holds the world together by dividing us into groups against ourselves that fear and hate each other. We are never more one than we are when we stand together over against something. Some victim must always be found to perpetuate this system. The classic house divided against itself.

From the cross the Advocate identifies and removes the grip of the Father of Lies, the satan, on humanity. He removes the veil of lies and mythology and instead shows us the way the truth and the life. The Advocate is gradually leading humanity toward truth.

The Advocate is always for us and is always positive, he brings us good news. The good news is that we will be drawn together so that we can stand for something rather than defining ourselves over against what we don’t like. If we are against rather than for, we allow our enemies to tell us who we are rather than our being defined by what we believe. So Socrates was right, there are reasons why we would live contrary to what we believe: the threat of violence the beguiling of Satan and the just plain laziness of forgetting what we believe.

Jesus has come to stop that foolishness, he has come to offer perfect peace to us so that our hearts are not troubled. So that we can be for others. Since we have an Advocate that is always for us we can remember everything and be reminded of all that Jesus said and did and then we can go and try to do likewise.

Do you ever act contrary to what you believe?

Why is it important to have someone that is always on your side and in your favor and what do we call that someone?

How does the spirit of the Father and His Son Jesus help and guide us as we live our lives?