Side by side with God
The first of today’s readings takes us to Athens, where the Apostle Paul was concerned that the city was full of idols. Like other ancient civilizations, the Greeks attributed elements and forces in the observable world to higher powers and therefore had a vast array of gods and goddesses. By devoting a statue to each God, the people thought that their gods would be pleased with them and show them their favour. And to make sure they had all bases covered, the Athenians erected an idol to the ‘Unknown God.’
An altar to an unknown God—is that really any different to 21st century Australia? Modern multicultural society has brought with it rapid change to this country, which began as an English colony with Christian foundations. Since the second world war Christianity is just one of many religions including Buddhism, Islam, and various New Age spiritualities. At the same time the church is rarely seen as relevant; its ministry having been outsourced to secular organisations. In fact social commentators now no longer refer to Western society being in a Postmodern era, but a post-Christian era. Some of the statistics of this survey might surprise us who have been church attenders each week all our lives:
- Less than half of Australians identify as Christian.
- Of those, 15% attend church once a month
- 7% identify as actively practising the Christian faith
- 9% identify with other religions,
- 14% say they are spiritual but not religious
- 32% have no religious affiliation. This was just .5% 100 years ago.
- When people were surveyed as to why they do not identify with any religion, the main reasons were:
- Prefer a scientific, evidence-based approach (49%)
- Religion is a crutch for the weak (18%)
- Religion is outdated and traditional (14%)[1]
For so many people, God is unknown. Can you imagine what life would be like if we didn’t know God personally? What consistent moral standard would there be? What certainty would we have for this life, and life in the next? How would we have true peace? Who would bless, guide, comfort and help us?
In the natural human condition we were born with, God is unknown to everyone. Although most of us have grown up in the church, there was once a time that God was unknown to us also. We were once all spiritually dead, unable to see him or know him (Ephesians 4:17-18).
We see that when Paul spoke in Athens. When he debated with the philosophers, some of them asked: “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods” (that is, gods that are foreign to them; not known by them). They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took Paul and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
Paul explained that unlike the idols in their temples, the One true God cannot be contained in a statue or image, or even a temple. He is bigger than the universe: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
What if God remained unknown to the people he has made?
Since human beings are incapable of knowing God in our natural state, we need God to first reveal himself to us. God wants us to know him which is why he came down from heaven in the Person of Christ to make himself known to the world. He enlightens people through his word to reveal himself to those who would otherwise not know him.
God does not want himself to remain unknown to his world. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus
says to his disciples: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another paracletos who will be with you forever.”
There isn’t really any one particular English word that can adequately capture what the original word parakletoV means. It is something like ‘one called to the side of’. Some translate as ‘Counsellor’, which is fitting, as the Holy Spirit counsels us by leading us into all truth; leading us to know and treasure Jesus’ commands.
The word can also mean ‘Comforter’ as the Holy Spirit comforts us with the truth of God’s immeasurable love and lavish grace for us too.
And the word can also mean ‘Advocate’, as the Holy Spirit prays for us, speaks in support of us and defends us. As he stands beside us as our Advocate, he defends us from the accusations of the law, others, and Satan himself who accuses God’s people day and night before the Lord (Revelation 12:10).
The Holy Spirit is our Counsellor, Comforter and Advocate—the Third Person of the Triune God, living within us, walking by our side and ministering to us and for us.
There has never been a more vulnerable time for the church than when Jesus first told his disciples that he was going away, because he was going to the Cross to die, and the time was soon coming when the world would not see him. This small group of disciples lived in the midst of very real threat to followers of Jesus. They were not large in number. They didn’t have the hindsight of the New Testament. They didn’t have administration resources, funding and mission programs of a national church body behind them. But what they did have was more than enough. They had Jesus and the Holy Spirit whom he would send to them, to continue to build God’s church until this day.
Jesus promised them: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another counsellor who will be with you forever: the Spirit of Truth whom the world is not able to receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him because he is beside you and will dwell within you.”
The world is not able to receive or know the Holy Spirit. But Jesus’ disciples will know him. He will be with them, and be in them.
The Holy Spirit will be their other Paraclete―their other advocate, counsellor and comforter. The other one called to be by their side. The first is Jesus himself: “I am not sending you away as orphans. I am coming to you.”
He will be with them after his resurrection. He will be with them when he reveals himself to them through the breaking of bread. He will be with them as he comes to stand with them and proclaim his peace to them while they gather in a locked room. He will be with them as he eats breakfast with them on the shore. He will be with them, and they will not just know about him, but they will know him—really know him. They will see him…not just with their eyes but with their hearts and minds as he is with them.
Today, Mothers’ Day, is a day of happiness and thanksgiving for many people, but not everyone, who grieve the death of loved ones, or who grieve not having a loving mother-child relationship. Even the most loving mother cannot be with us at all times and help us in all needs.
But we have been created by God who is everywhere present by his Spirit, as the Psalmist says:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 13:7-14a)
God’s Spirit is not just everywhere present in a general sense, but present to you personally. The world is not able to receive the Spirit of Truth because it neither sees him nor knows him. But Jesus promised the disciples that he and the Holy Spirit would walk with them. They would guide them, comfort them, lead them, minister to them. Just as Christ and the Holy Spirit were by the side of these disciples, so also they are for you.
A loving mother is a glimpse of the magnitude of God’s love, help and comfort God has for us. God is always with you, always by your side, defending you, comforting you, and giving you wise counsel through the words of Christ. He is with you at every moment. No matter what you are going through right now, no matter what anxieties trouble you or burdens you carry, no matter how far away God might seem to you, he is right by your side. He is not like idols of gold, or silver, or stone. He is alive and gives life. And he does not live in temples made by human hands—you are his temple. The risen Jesus says to you today: “…you know him because he is beside you and will dwell within you”.
Your Father in heaven has sent the Holy Spirit to your side to be your Counsellor, guiding you into all truth so that you treasure the words of Christ. He has sent the Holy Spirit to be your helper, your guide, to walk with you and stand by you and empty every accusation against you of its condemning power.
We don’t’ see Jesus with our eyes now, so the work of the Holy Spirit is to create faith in us to trust in Christ who we cannot see, and to remain faithful to him until the end. Then one day we will see Jesus. Jesus gives you his word. He says: “You will see me.” On that day, after God wipes away every tear from your eyes, you will no longer need his comfort. On that day, after the crown of righteousness is placed on your head, you will no longer need his advocacy. On that day, all the counsel the Holy Spirit has given you will be fulfilled in the seeing with your own eyes our Lord Jesus, the Way the Truth and the life. And together with the angels and all the other saints, you will share in his glory forever. Amen.
Pastor Tim Ebbs
St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Glenelg
Sixth Sunday of Easter, 2026
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
“God’s Spirit is not just everywhere present in a general sense, but present to you personally.”
- When do you most feel aware of God’s presence in your life?
- When do you feel most alone—and what do these scriptures say into that feeling?
- What fears or anxieties is God calling you to give over to him?
- What does Psalm 139 teach about God being present even in dark or difficult places?
- How does God’s constant presence give you hope in the midst of trials?
- How does being “fully known” affect your identity and self-worth?
- What does God knowing you before birth say about your value and purpose?
- Do you live as if God is with you in everyday moments—or only in crises?
- What practical steps can you take to grow in intimacy with God?
[1] Survey was sourced from https://lumensor.weebly.com/religion-in-australia-post-1945.html last accessed May 8, 2026 7:48am
