Advocates

John 14:25-27 (NIV)
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus tells us that we have an Advocated here on earth, The Holy Spirit, here to remind of what Jesus taught. The Holy Spirit always speaks on our behalf to the Father and Son. An advocate speaks favorably of those represented, which gives us a confidence, a peace, so we might not be troubled or afraid.

 

 

The African-American preacher E. V. Hill told the following story about a positive encounter with a white Christian leader. Hill writes:

As a freshman at Prairie View College, a part of the Texas A&M system, I was actively involved in the Baptist Student Union. [Our denomination's annual convention] for blacks, held in Nashville, Tennessee, was a highlight of the year. Much to my pleasure, I was one of two students selected to go. White students had raised the money. That was okay with me, as I viewed it as an act of pity on their part … or at best a chance to ease their guilty conscience. But then real trouble began!

The trip through the South was by car—three whites and two [blacks] traveling together. I had no idea how we'd eat or how we'd sleep. So great was my anxiety and hatred over how the trip might turn out that I almost backed out entirely …. In all my experience I had never seen a white man stand up for a black man and never felt I would.

But then Dr. Howard, the director of our trip and a white man spoke up. "We'll be traveling together," he said. "If there isn't a place where all of us can eat—none of us will eat. If there's not a place all of us can sleep—none of us will sleep."

That was all he said, but it was enough! For the first time in my life I had met a white man who was Christian enough to take a stand with a Christian black man. [William Cannon, editor, Seven Black Preachers Tell: What Jesus Means to Me (Broadman Press, 1971), pp. 99-100]

Dr. Howard was an advocate for these young men letting them know he personally was going to ensure they would have a place to eat and a place to sleep. He was letting them know they would stand together as one wherever they went.

In heaven we have an advocate – Jesus Christ who speaks on our behalf. In our daily lives we have The Holy Spirit as an advocate reminding us of what God promised and speaking to both God and Christ for us. Just as Dr. Howard did we need to be an advocate for each other.

Prayer: Lord I am thankful we have advocates who stand up for us. Lord thank you for being our advocate. Lord we thank you for the advocate we have in the Holy Spirit who guides us and takes up for our faults. Lord let us love like You that we may be advocates for others. In Jesus name, Amen.