The Day of Pentecost - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 

John 14:8-17, 25-27

Bryan Stevenson is a Harvard-educated lawyer. In law school, he learned all the essential knowledge a good lawyer should possess: the Constitution, legal precedents, and courtroom tactics. During his internship with the Southern Prisoners' Defense Committee in Georgia, he spent time with individuals on death row. It was here that he met Henry. Henry had been sentenced to death but had not had a lawyer assigned to represent him in his appeal.

Stevenson was nervous at first. Henry was one of his first clients. He was just a law student. He wasn’t a licensed attorney yet. However, when he met Henry, something unexpected occurred: their scheduled brief meeting turned into a three-hour conversation. They talked about life, family, faith, and injustice. Henry was grateful not because Stevenson had solved anything for him but because someone finally listened to him with dignity. At the end of the visit, guards put shackles on Henry and took him away. Stevenson was the first person, in two years, who Henry had spoken to who wasn’t a guard or another death row inmate.

          Today is the birthday of the church. It’s the moment the church was empowered, formed, and sent into the world by the Holy Spirit. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples gathered, and the Holy Spirit came upon them in the form of wind and fire. They were able to communicate across languages and cultural barriers. They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

          This is exactly what Jesus had promised them at the Last Supper. As Jesus was preparing the disciples for his death, resurrection, and ascension, he promised them of the coming of the Holy Spirit. He called the Spirit the Advocate, the Spirit of truth, and Helper.

          I’ve been intrigued by the word “advocate” this week. Jesus says that the Advocate will teach us everything and remind us of all that he has said. It’s a comforting thought to consider the Holy Spirit as our advocate. Merriam-Webster says an advocate is “One who supports or promotes the interests of a cause or group.”[1] This can be a good feeling, right? Jesus is leaving us with something that will support, protect, and defend us. Jesus is not leaving us alone.

          I met a man last week, Rob, who spoke to me about what it was to be an advocate and opened my eyes to what Jesus was telling the disciples and us. Rob is an Associate Coordinator for Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy. For weeks, Rob has been trying to get a meeting with Rev. Melanie and me. With Easter and vacations, we have not been able to schedule a meeting. Finally, I said I could meet with him this past Tuesday. We talked for an hour as he explained what his organization does in the community and what a “citizen advocate” is. A citizen advocate is “a valued citizen who is unpaid and independent of human services and creates a relationship with a person who is at risk of social exclusion: the citizen advocate chooses one or several of many ways to understand, respond to, and represent that person’s interests as if they were the advocate’s own, thus bringing the partner’s gifts and concerns into the circles of ordinary community life.”[2] They create personal relationships between two people – one with a disability and one who is deemed the advocate.

As he was telling me about their program, my mind wandered to Jesus’ words, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.” “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.” We have been given an Advocate, but we are also called to be advocates. The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, works in us and through us, informing and transforming us.

Through informing, the Spirit works in us to help us understand what we believe. The Spirit helps us to answer the question, “What do I know about God?” Information is important. We need to know the truth about God, scripture, and ourselves. We need to read, study, listen to podcasts, or whatever it takes for us to be learned and informed. We need to be present at church to hear sermons and attend Bible studies. We need to find ways to be more spiritually knowledgeable. But our lives as Christians do not end there. As you become more informed, you should then become transformed. This is where and how the Spirit works through us, and we begin to ask the questions, “Who am I becoming in Christ? Is what I believe shaping how I live?”

Dallas Willard explains this concept in his book, Renovation of the Heart. In his book, he emphasizes the importance of information. But if we stop there, if our information remains in our hearts without shaping our hearts, we enter a spiritual crisis. The information we have, our beliefs, should move us toward love, obedience, and Christlikeness. Knowledge alone is not enough. He writes, “What is truly profound about the human self is not what it can accomplish or think, but what it can become.”[3] The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, makes us new and helps us to act on what we know.

I told the group at the Wednesday healing service my meeting with Rob from Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy.  One member of the group shared her experience as an advocate in the program. At the end of her story, she said that being an advocate changed her life forever. It changed who she was.

Bryan Stevenson’s encounter with the man on death row changed his life forever. He went on to found the organization “Equal Justice Initiative,” fighting injustice and advocating for the wrongfully condemned. His legal knowledge didn’t disappear. Instead, it became a tool for love, mercy, and transformation. It moved from his head to his heart. Informing taught Bryan the law. Transforming started when he allowed what he knew to shape how he loved, served, and sacrificed.

Dallas Willard writes that we have to intentionally cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We do this in three ways. First, in our spiritual disciplines – things like silence, solitude, and study. Second, we need to slow down to listen and respond to what God is saying. Third, we must choose to act on what we know, even if only in small ways.

Jesus said, “He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t just teach us the truth but leads us into lives shaped by it. On this Pentecost, I invite you to move beyond simply learning about God and instead open yourselves to being reshaped by God from the inside out – from an informing Holy Spirit to a transforming Holy Spirit. We all have talents and gifts. How can you use what God has given you to make a difference. Is it teaching guitar lessons? Are you a great cook? Do you have a passion for the unsheltered? Are you an animal lover? We have been informed with the help of the Holy Spirit. God is calling us to be transformed and with the help of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to inform and transform others. Practice intentional habits that allow the Holy Spirit to form Christlike character in you. To not only be given an Advocate but to become an advocate, letting its presence transform how you think, feel, and act in the world.   Amen.

 

 

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[1] “Advocate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Accessed June 6, 2025. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocate.

[2] Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy. “Our Town: Our Time Booklet.” Accessed June 6, 2025. https://www.savannahcitizenadvocacy.org/our-town/

[3] Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ. 10th Anniversary ed. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2012.