The Day of Pentecost,
May 27th, Anno + Domini 2012
Trinity and St. John
Lutheran Churches, Sidney and Fairview, Montana
Acts 2
Pentecost, fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, is the day our Lord sent the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower the
Church. On Pentecost, God the Holy
Spirit came and dwelled in a new way with the infant Christian Church, enabling
and jumpstarting God’s Mission of proclaiming Christ to all nations. Miraculous signs, powerful preaching, 3,000
Baptisms, all these occurred on Pentecost, all works of the Holy Spirit. There is no Christian Church apart from the
Holy Spirit, and so today we rejoice in Him.
But who is the Holy Spirit?
And what does He do? How do we
know if we have the Holy Spirit? Do you
have the Spirit?
Look at you squirm.
Lutherans often do not know how to answer such questions. Ask us who is God, and we rightly respond the
one true God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Ask us about the Father or the Son, and we have
lots to say, from Creation to the Old Testament prophecies of Christ Jesus, to
the Father’s sending of His only-begotten Son, to be born, to live, to serve,
to teach, to suffer, to die, and to rise, all for our salvation. And we know that the Holy Spirit is involved
in these things, hovering over the face of the waters at the Creation, causing
the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary, descending
in the form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism, being given over by Jesus at His death
on the Cross, and breathed on out the disciples in the Upper Room, the night
after the Resurrection.
But ask us a question specifically about the Holy Spirit, or
especially about the Spirit dwelling in us, and we tend to stumble and mutter a
bit. Why do we do this? Well, in part, we hesitate to join in the
conversation about the Holy Spirit because so much of what we hear from other
churches seems crazy, things like rolling in the aisles, babbling
unintelligibly, people crowing to the rafters about a feeling in their heart which
they say proves the Spirit is in them. Miracles
claimed, healings and spectacular signs reported, all attributed to the Holy
Spirit. We don’t get it, but they seem
so sure, and we don’t want to offend, or look bad, so we say nothing.
This isn’t right.
There is no good reason that we shouldn’t be teaching the world clearly
and confidently about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. So today, we’ll use this peppy little
mariachi tune, hymn 502, as our guide to understanding and rejoicing in the
Spirit, as He has revealed Himself to be.
Hymn 502, verse 1.
The Holy Spirit came as a dove. Stephen Starke, an LCMS pastor in Bay City,
Michigan, wrote the English words to this originally Spanish hymn, starting us
off by referring to the Holy Spirit as the dove sent from heaven, which goes
well with our Pentecost Paraments and our bulletin cover, which feature a
descending dove. And this is a helpful
connection for understanding the Holy Spirit, because the one event where the
Holy Spirit is described appearing in the form of a dove is not Pentecost, but
rather the baptism of Jesus. However, at
Pentecost, 3,000 people were baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. So the Spirit as dove is a good place to
start our consideration, because it connects the Spirit, and us, to Jesus.
A dove first takes center stage in salvation history way
back in Genesis, again in a watery setting, as the Flood receded and Noah
released a dove to see if it was safe outside the ark. The first time, she returned to Noah, because
there was no place to land. Seven days
later Noah sent her out again, and again she returned, this time with an olive
branch in her beak, showing that things were growing, life was returning to the
earth. Seven days later she did not return
at all, telling Noah that it was safe to leave the ark. The flood had receded, mankind could return
in peace to the earth. The devastation
of the flood had ended, and a universal symbol of peace was created. Good news.
The deeper and eternal significance of the dove of peace is revealed
as Jesus stands in the River Jordan, being baptized by John, declared to be the
Son of God, coming to bring peace to the world.
The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove, and from heaven
the Father speaks: this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. The Holy Spirit is given to the sinless One
who was baptized for us sinners.
So the Holy Spirit, the dove sent from heaven, brings a
message of peace. But peace from
what? Of what war does this dove signal
the end? In this we discover the special
focus of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, for the dove came to declare the end of
warfare between mankind and God, between a world of fallen sinners and the one
Holy God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God desired peace with sinners, despite our continual rebellion against
Him. God desired peace with sinners, and
so the Son came and defeated sin in His own body, in His own death and
resurrection, reconciling us to the Father.
God desires peace with sinners, so the Holy Spirit comes to declare and
distribute the peace of God to all who hear and believe this remarkable good
news.
So now once again, the dwelling place of God can be with
men. No longer does the Holy, Holy, Holy
LORD have to have a special temple, a dwelling place set off with walls and
curtains, the Holy of Holies from which we sinners must be separated, for our
own protection. Now that Christ has
reconciled the world to the Father, the Holy Spirit comes and makes baptized
believers His temple, His dwelling place.
And where the Spirit is, there also is Christ and the Father.
Hymn 502, verse 2:
The Holy Spirit came in tongues of fire. Are you ready to sit still as a tongue of
fire descends on your head? Is there
anything more likely to make us flinch and duck than the thought of our hair
being caught on fire? Do not pass too
quickly over this miracle of flames at Pentecost. The fire of God is dangerous. Like a visible manifestation of God’s Holy
presence, God’s flames are not something we in our sinfulness can endure. Without some intervention by God, we will be
burned.
What fireproofs sinners against being burned by the Holy
Spirit’s flame? Water of course. Water, that is, which has been joined to the
Word, the Word of Christ, who has endured His baptism by fire on the Cross, in
order that all who are baptized and believe in His forgiveness can now safely
receive the flames of the Spirit. The
miraculous flames at Pentecost were a unique, onetime occurrence, but the promise
of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit, both given to you in your
Baptism, have the same God of Pentecost behind them. You need not long for spectacular signs like
tongues of fire or speaking in languages you never learned, for Paul tells us
that miraculous signs will pass away, but the seal of the Spirit lasts
forever. Marvel and rejoice that the
same Spirit who produced miracles on Pentecost has also sealed you in Baptismal
waters, and is still working, in you and
all believers, keeping faith alive and producing good works.
Hymn 502, verse 3:
The Holy Spirit came to lead us in a new life. But what about your walk? Perhaps you have felt convicted by your
Pentecostal friends, who seem to be very fired up for God, and who imply, or
maybe say outright, that if you really have the Spirit it will be obvious in
your life. Now, if you are convicted
because you know that there are good works God has put in front of you that you
have refused to do, good. If you are
convicted because you know you have failed to good works and chosen instead sinful
pastimes, thank God for your convicting Pentecostal friends. If you are convicted because you are
neglecting the Church into which the Spirit has called you, repent, and come to
God the Father, led by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, and He will pour
out His unction of blessing again. That
is He will pour out forgiveness on you again, as He did at your Baptism, as He
has done so many times since, by His Word and Sacrament.
Take it seriously every time you are brought to repentance
for a lack of fruit, a lack of good works in your life. Take it seriously, but do not throw out God’s
Word and God’s Way when you do. We are
to be concerned about good works; Jesus and all the Apostles certainly call us
to such concern. But so often when we
focus on good works, we forget how God works. Christians who get all fired up trying to do
good works often forget who we are, where true good works come from, and what
we need, most of all, every day.
The temptation is great for us to forget that humility and
dependence mark the way of the Baptized.
Yes, we need to be concerned for good works in our lives, but we must
also remember that we are and will continue to be sinners, until the end of our
earthly lives. And, the solution for sin
is not us trying harder, but rather the solution is always the forgiveness of
Christ. When you are convicted for
failing to produce good works, do not rush off to try harder, but rather
repent, and rush in to God, to be washed clean, so that He can once again do His
work in you, which is the only way you will ever produce true good works. It is quite humbling to acknowledge that our
path to heaven is built on the daily forgiveness of sins, but remember the One
who humbled Himself on the Cross to give this gift to you. This is His Way, the way on which the Spirit
leads us.
Hymn 502, verse 4:
The Holy Spirit came in a rushing wind. Wind, like water, and fire, can be a blessing
or a curse, bringing joy, like a warm spring breeze, or death, like a tornado. Like the holy presence of God, the Wind of
God can be destructive or life giving.
How do we know which way God’s wind blows for us? Where can we find out if the Wind of the
Spirit will breathe new life in us, or suck away what little air we have?
We learn of God’s wind from God’s Word, of course. And the connection between the Spirit and the
Word is the key point we should be ready to tell our friends and neighbors
about. At Pentecost, and on a few
occasions in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit worked spectacular miracles
through believers. Certainly He can
still work whatever spectacular miracles He wishes. But we don’t need to wait for spectacular
miracles, nor should we expect them. We
certainly should not try to somehow produce them as though our salvation
depended on it. Because we know where to
go to find the Spirit. We know where to
go to hear the Spirit. We know what His
tool for working is. He is the light
that enlightens the Scripture, indeed He is the One who inspired the writers to
record God’s eternal Word, and He is the One who works through the Word, preached,
read, sung and prayed.
Pastor Reinke in Williston has a great little call and
response to help us remember that the
place for Christians to find the Holy Spirit is in the Bible. It goes like this: I say Holy Spirit, you say Word of God. I say Word of God, you say Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, Word of God. Word of God, Holy Spirit.
We will do a great service to our friends and neighbors, our
families, and ourselves, if we can remember this connection, between the Word
of God and the Holy Spirit.
You have been given the Holy Spirit, in your Baptism. You still have the Holy Spirit, because you
believe. Even though your faith may
sometimes be weak, it is still a sign of the Spirit, because without the Holy
Spirit, your faith dies. So sit under
God’s Word and listen to the Spirit; hear again and again His message. The Spirit’s message is Christ for you. The Spirit comes to proclaim Jesus Christ,
crucified, resurrected and ascended on high, the One who takes away your sins,
and makes your way into God’s eternal joy,
in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.