3rd Sunday after Pentecost

June 25, 2006
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Mark 4:35-41


TEACHER, DON’T YOU CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?


A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Dear storm-tossed children of God; who really knows the pressures and threats you face? Who actually understands the daily struggles of your vocation, the unique strain of your responsibilities? Who truly realizes the sometimes overwhelming expectations and deep disappointments that threaten to swamp your life? Who in fact appreciates that there are times when your heart cries out akin to the cry of the disciples – JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE, fellow Christians, don’t you see – doesn’t anybody get it enough to help?

An article in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal (Sat., June 24, 2006, p. 7A) was titled, Americans lack confidants. Its assertion was that Americans are far more socially isolated today than just two decades ago. One fourth of Americans say they have not one person with whom they can discuss personal troubles. This is double the number from 20 years ago. Possible causes for the fragmentation of close ties were noted as increasing work hours, the influence of the internet, and sitting in front of a TV. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone. In the fifteen years that I have been your pastor more social causes are believed present for the generalized cry, “doesn’t anybody care’?

This was also a prominent dry during the prolonged economic storm called the Great Depression. One Christian man lost his job in those years, exhausted his savings, and then lost his house. He was disheartened, dependent on others, and sure that things could not possibly be worse. But tragically they got much worse. The sudden death of his wife subsequently intensified the anguish of this penniless, unemployed man. He questioned everything. His faith in Jesus Christ was fading.

One day he went to one of the few work sites in the neighborhood and watched stonecutters working on a church building. One of the men was skillfully chiseling a triangular piece of rock. Not seeing the spot where it would fit, the onlooker asked, “Where are you going to put that piece?” The worker pointed to the top of the building near the spire. “See that opening…? I’m shaping it down here so that it will fit up there.”

In light of the Scriptures, that thought helped this man in his stormy and sorrowful life - “Shaping it down here so that it will fit up there.” It is a thought similar to the Psalm, “It was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71) It the opposite of the thought expressed by the disciples in their storm-tossed boat, JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

Dear Christian friends, when confronted with a storm, with intense suffering or overwhelming disappointment our first thought is not always, “Thank You heavenly Father, for I know that you are at work to shape my life.” More in tune with our natural inclination would be the cry, JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

The young adult may ache over time alone and the loneliness it brings. A weekend alone may seem like two months. There are pressures to seek companionship by going with the crowd, even if the crowd isn’t going with Jesus. It may seem as if life is passing one by while others are grabbing for and gaining the good stuff. In school, in the work place, in unsettled times of transition the anxious thought can be there, JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

On the other hand, the young mother may ache over no time alone. She is depended upon from the moment she wakes up to the moment she falls asleep. There are meals to prepare and dishes to do and messes to clean up. There are quarrels to mediate, phone calls to make and appointments to keep. There are husband’s needs and school activities and so many, many expectations. Rather than aching over uncommitted, alone time, she may crave just a few hours to be alone. Others don’t seem to sense the wind and waves crashing in and the nagging thought can be there, JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE – doesn’t anyone care?

The parents of older children have their own storms to weather. The safety you were able to provide little children in those hectic earlier years has run its course. The influences of worldly philosophies and temporary pleasures and seductive spiritualities beckon young adults to follow. There are lots of cool people to follow. Others who have made or are making bad decisions chasing freedom and fulfillment somehow seem wiser and freer and more fulfilled than dull old parents. You pray for them and try to help them. You know how life-determining their present actions can be, here on earth and eternally. You wish you could change the wind and waves that threaten them that they might not even recognize. You might long to go back to when they were little and do a few things differently. The lack of control can be overwhelming and the accusing thought can be there, JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

Or take the older person whose eyesight is dimming, whose step is shortening, whose activity is declining, whose daily pill count is mounting, whose friends are growing fewer and fewer and whose independence is threatened. The question can be there, Jesus, don’t you see what’s happening; don’t you see the winds and waves beating into this weathered old boat? I think I’m sinking! JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

Or take the host of other storms that come in this passing life. There are emotional storms and physical storms and medical storms, storms so fierce that there seems no place of refuge or safety. All across the spectrum of the years, in almost every circumstance of life, it may seem at times as if we alone are keeping things afloat and as if we are about to sink.

And like the disciples, these storms may come even as we’re doing what Jesus tells us to do. It was, after all, Christ who had told them to travel across the lake. When evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” It was His voice they were obeying as the storm swept in.

The word translated as windstorm in our text is an old word for a cyclonic-type storm, a tempest of fierce and raging waves. Evening had come before they began, so darkness was upon them. They had no life preservers, no Coast Guard. In the dark with the boat already filling with water they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Fellow-Redeemed, the action of the disciples demonstrates two sinful tendencies in our selves. First there is the tendency to take Jesus along for the ride, thinking we’ve got things managed quite well. Sometimes we would prefer it if He would sleep and let us run the show. When the sailing is smooth, daily prayer and weekly worship are easily taken for granted. Secondly, there is the tendency to blame Jesus when the ride gets out of control. The disciples words of accusation came from their fearful hearts and our hearts are no strangers to fear and worry.

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Beloved this text is what one of our Pentecost banners pictures. What a marvelous scriptural scene it is! A weary Jesus is stronger than the mighty winds. Awakened from sleep, greeted with a question of human rebuke, he rebuked the wind. To the sea, He literally said, “put a muzzle on it and keep it on”. And there was a great calm! Filled with great fear the disciples said to one another, “Who is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

Who is this? Who is this Jesus? That’s the right question for us storm tossed sinners. Remember God’s question to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” It was Christ who asked that question. It was Christ who laid that foundation (John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1). It was also Christ who asked Job, “Who shut in the sea with doors…and prescribed limits for it…and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther…here shall your proud waves be stayed.” It was Christ, God the Son, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit never slumbers never sleeps. But now He is asleep on a cushion in the stern of a boat, weary just like us.

That’s what makes the question of the disciples and of our anxious hearts so tragic! “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” The very reason He partook of our flesh and blood was to keep us from perishing. When the Son of God said to the waves “Be muzzled,” He was only doing what He had done from eternity. But even nature bowing to its Maker did not work faith in the disciples. “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” He asked.

Beloved, there is ultimately only one storm-stilling that works faith in Him. It was a tempest so severe that the one whose voice stilled this storm, Himself asked the question “Don’t you care?” It was phrased a bit differently and asked of God the Father, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” FATHER, DON’T YOU CARE? Don’t you see I am innocent? Don’t you feel my pain? My hands and feet are torn through! I cannot breathe! Where are you in this damning darkness? I am about to sink into death and the grave. Winds of punishment and waves of wrath are crashing over me. FATHER, DON’T YOU CARE?

You see, Jesus understands that question. When our heart cries out from loneliness or illness or disappointment, when our heart cries out from dark depression or even the storm of approaching death, JESUS, DON’T’ YOU CARE, Jesus understands that question. His own cry on the cross shouts back, “Yes, I care”. I care so much that the storm of God’s wrath has broken out against me and will never beat down on you! There will be some rough weather in this world, some violent storms. As the Vacation Bible School students studied this past week, you will have to carry a cross for following Jesus’ words. But finally, all the restless storms of this life will subside and there will be a great calm. Be assured that I love you and that I am at work shaping your life down here and that it will fit perfectly up there.

Concerning the rough weather we may encounter in the boat with Jesus consider Paul’s words to the Church at Corinth. “Now is the day of Salvation,” He wrote. Yet in the service of the ministry he lists afflictions, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger. Not a smooth ride for God’s great missionary Paul in this Day of Salvation.

Concerning the rough weather we may encounter in the boat with Christ, consider also the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. On this very date, June 25, 1530 the Lutherans were asked to give an account of their teaching to Emperor Charles V. Luther stood excommunicated by the Pope and under his death sentence. Because the threats against his life were so real and immediate, he couldn’t attend the diet at Augsburg in person. Those who confessed the scriptural faith Luther was restoring put their livelihood and their land and their loved ones and their very lives on the line.

In that stormy, threatening time, Dr. Christian Beyer, a layman, read the 28 articles summarizing the Lutheran Confession to the Emperor in German. He read it so loudly and distinctly that those gathered outside in the courtyard of the palace could hear every word. “It is taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin or righteousness before God by our own merits, works or satisfaction, but that we receive forgiveness of sin become righteous before God by grace for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.”

What a storm-stilling confession! What a storm-stilling Lord who suffered for us! Anyone who trusts in Him will not be put to shame. He who says to the sea, “This far you may come and no farther,” is among you to say the same thing about the guilt of your sin and the accusations of Satan. “Here is where the accusing, damning power of sin halts – in the sacrifice of my body and blood”. It may come no farther.

He will soon say the same thing to all the storms of your life. In His eternal presence there will be a great calm and peace at the last. Jesus who slept on the cushion in the boat has also slept the sleep of death in the garden tomb. The waves of death appeared to have sunk Him. But you know the rest of the story. It was His care for you that took Him down to the grave. On Easter morning and on this morning He comes to his Church with this word, “Peace be with you.” And there was and is between God and man, a great calm. In His eternal presence there will be a great calm and peace at the last.

In the meantime God grant you courage in the present storms you face. There are no easy answers to many of the struggles and sufferings of life. But Jesus bids you to trust in Him. He is not along just for the ride. He is along to see you safely to the other shore. He is present with you today to shape your life down here so that it will fit perfectly up there.

In the meantime, God also grant us compassion for others in this fragmented world of troubled and isolated people. In our families, in our neighborhoods, in our places of work, in our circle of friends, God grant us to bear witness to the hope that we have with gentleness and respect. God grant us ears that hear, love that invites, generosity that gives, kindness that helps, and faith that prays for our neighbors. We’re all in the same boat in this cursed world, and the boat of the world is sinking. But you are gathered in the nave of another boat, a baptismal boat, Christ’s Church. The boat that He captains will never sink. He has promised that not even the gates of hell will prevail against it. In Jesus’ Name - Amen.

2nd Sunday After Pentecost

June 18-19, 2006
Vicar Michael Monterastelli
Text: Mark 4:26-34, Ezek. 17:22-24, 2 Cor. 5:1-17

“With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own disciples He explained everything.”
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Dear fellow Christian disciples,

Consider the kingdom of God. Is it like an Egyptian pyramid or a mighty mountain? Is it like a noble cedar, an ornate tent, or a magnificent temple? Is the kingdom of God like the Roman empire or like the world’s only superpower, the United States of America? According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is NOT like any of these temporary, earthly things.

[Jesus]… said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

To the untrained eye, the seeds may not appear to be very impressive. By themselves seeds don’t do much except lie there. They need the nourishment and stable foundation which the soil provides. In the first parable for today, the man does NOT add anything to the soil. The man gives the seed to the soil. He scatters it.

All by itself, the soil produces the grain. The rich, moist soil needs no help from the man. The soil produces the grain just fine, just as God intended. In this way, we begin to recognize the Kingdom of God that grows from the rich, moist, Gospel-laden Word of God.

Just as the soil produces grain, so also all by Himself the Word of God produces Christians. Just as the man in the parable adds nothing to the mystery of this God-given growth, so also do we add nothing to God’s Word when it comes to salvation in Jesus Christ. As Martin Luther exhorts fathers or the head of each household to teach in a simple way to his household, the Holy Spirit calls you by the Gospel. He enlightens you with His gifts. He sanctifies and keeps you in the true faith (Luther’s explanation to the 3rd article of the Creed).

He produces that faith, where and when it pleases God, in those who hear the Gospel (Augsburg Confession V).

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

The seed, then, could be like the unbeliever who must be brought to hear the Word of God to be converted and made into a Christian full of repentance and faith.

As for the man, well the man could be like a pastor but more likely he’s like a layperson or anyone in the priesthood of all believers. The man could be you, or rather Christ working through you. The man brings the seed where it needs to be, so it can die and come to life (1 Corinthians 15:36). The seed is converted by the soil to produce the harvest of mature, ripe grain. The pastor and especially the laypeople bring unbelievers to the rich, moist, Gospel-laden soil of God’s Word. This soil is found in the Church of Jesus Christ.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

Of course, God is present everywhere, all the time. He’s present in the constructive and destructive forces of nature. But in His Word, and nowhere else, God promises to come and save you forever. We need the full kernel of repentance and faith in Jesus. He has earned for us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation from hell. We need what He gives to us and we receive it where He gives it to us. We need Jesus. We need Him who promises to come and save us through His Word.

In this way, the soil of God’s Word provides the nourishment and the foundation we seeds must have so we can die and come to life in Him. Through all the troubles we experience in this world it’s good to remember that:

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

To the untrained eye, it may not be very impressive to see men, women, and infants being sprinkled with or dunked in water combined with words spoken by a man in a white robe. But by this simple act of God through His manly instrument, you know that you and your fellow worshippers were made subjects of the Kingdom of God.

To the untrained eye, the empty pews in the Divine Service and the empty chairs in Bible Study might be a discouraging sign. To the untrained eye, the uncommon music may not be very attractive. The images of a dead man hanging on the walls may be offensive.

To the unforgiving eye, you and I look like poor, miserable sinners. We appear too lazy to do the work that we ought to be doing to help bring other seeds to hear the Word of God. And if we don’t appear lazy, we appear too busy or self absorbed with what (we like to think) are more important things. Some kingdom!

If this is God’s kingdom, then send me somewhere else. Send me: where everybody knows everyone’s name and cares enough to share each others’ burdens; where people are eager to hear and study God’s Word together; where they are eager to eat and drink the Lord’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

God’s kingdom sure doesn’t look like we want it to. There is no certainty that the work we do will be fruitful in the way we want it to be. There’s too much work to do anyway, so why bother?

Simply because, God’s Word reminds us that:

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

The Kingdom of God is a mystery. In the parable of the scattered seeds, Jesus does not explain the mystery of His kingdom. It’s not the sort of mystery that can be precisely explained with anything God has created on earth. It is a heavenly mystery. It can only be believed. But Jesus does offer comfort and hope by telling us how this mystery ends. The seed that’s been sown will produce a crop. And when the soil has ripened the grain, the harvest will come. It might not come according to our timing, but the harvest will come. Then, the grain will be gathered into the Lord’s barn, and there will be a harvest festival bigger than there ever was!

The Lord of the harvest is in control. There is no need to worry. Jesus died for all so that we who live no longer live for ourselves but for him who for your sake died and was raised. So as we live, Christians work to bring others to hear His Word and receive His rich, Gospel-laden gifts.
God’s kingdom will come. But does that mean his kingdom is now absent? Is the promise of God’s kingdom only a future hope, with no present comfort or shelter for us? By no means!

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

After comparing the kingdom of God to a patient man whose scattered seed grows mysteriously from the ground, our Lord used another earthly image to throw along side and compare the kingdom of God. He chose something miniscule but with a lot of hidden potential. He chose a teeny tiny mustard seed.

Again [Jesus] said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Likewise, while we believe the kingdom of God is among us, it remains hidden. It is a mysterious kingdom. Jesus’ followers were confused. They had been waiting a long time for the promised Messiah. Finally, there were signs that He had come! The blind were being made to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk! And this man from Nazareth taught with authority like no other.
But, somehow, the pieces didn’t all seem to fit. Rome still had Israel under its thumb. The corrupt house of Herod still cast a dark shadow over their land. And the One to whom they were looking for deliverance was in no hurry to take up a crown or raise an army. If Jesus was the Father’s beloved Son, why wasn’t He doing more to glorify Himself and His people?

To top it all off, this man was associating with all the wrong people. He ate with sinners! Formerly unfair tax collectors and former women of ill repute were among his most faithful followers. They could have gone back to their old ways at anytime. It just didn’t seem to fit. It just didn’t seem like the best way to build a kingdom.

On the one hand, Jesus was clearly no ordinary man. On the other hand, His kingdom sure wasn’t what people normally think the kingdom of God should look like. But, then again:

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

Jesus knew what they were thinking—and he knows our thoughts as well. He knows that our fallen, sinful minds just can’t wrap themselves around the mystery of His kingdom. So Jesus told His disciples many such stories. Then He privately explained to His disciples what they meant.

And He forgave their sins.

As our Lord reminds us through His prophet Ezekiel and Gospel writer Mark, the Lord provides a safe place to rest and dwell while we live on this sin scorched earth. On the mountain height of Israel, on mount Calvary, He has planted the tender twig of His Son. By dieing a low & humble death, the Seed of the first Woman has become a noble cedar. As His dead body hung from the tree of the cross, His body was drained of blood and water. The green tree of life was dried up. And from the dry tree, God has caused His branches to produce fruit through the waters of Holy Baptism and through the Flesh and Blood of His Supper.

Even now, birds are resting in the branches and enjoying the shade. Even now, we find comfort and shelter in God’s kingdom. The kingdom of God is not only a promise for the future—it is a present reality! In the good news that our sins are forgiven on account of Christ, we have real rest and peace that passes all understanding. In our Lord’s Holy Supper, we are lovingly fed and given sure protection from the enemies that attack us. In Christ, we find peace and shelter in God’s kingdom.

Yet this is a kingdom that is visible only to the eyes of faith. Though it’s understandable that we might wish God’s kingdom would look more glorious, more radiant, and more majestic, that is not what we should expect in this life. That isn’t what the kingdom of God is like.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

As we heard from Ezekiel, this is a kingdom where low trees are brought high and high trees are made low — where God’s own Son is glorified by suffering and dieing for sins not His own. Buried in the rocky soil of a tomb, the Seed of the Woman has died and become the first born of the dead. Your Lord and Savior lives.

His is the kind of kingdom where the first shall be last and the last shall be first: a kingdom where poor, miserable sinners are welcomed with open arms and are served by the King at His table.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MUCH GREATER THAN MEETS THE EYE.

It’s not the kind of kingdom we ever would have imagined. But it’s exactly the kind of kingdom we need. And, by the grace of God, it is the kingdom in which you dwell because Jesus was lifted up on the lowly tree of the cross.

So the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and said: “All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

In +Jesus’ Name. Amen

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through + Christ Jesus.

[Adapted from sermon notes by the Rev. Aaron A. Stinnett, PhD, pastor, Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Polson, Montana, and Zion Lutheran Church, St. Ignatius, Montana, published in the Concordia Pulpit Resource, Volume 16, Part 3, Series B, June 11, 2006—September 10, 2006.]

Holy Trinity

June 11, 2006
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: John 3:1-17/Acts 2:33


IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; (Dear John, on the day of your confirmation) grace and peace to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

A pastor was once asked what the most difficult part of his ministry was. Without hesitating he answered that it was standing before the congregation each Sunday and saying, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” In the introduction to our book I note that it is no accident that the liturgy leads the pastor to begin the Divine Service, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and not, “We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In the invocation we are not telling ourselves what we are about to do. In the invocation we are not simply reminding ourselves who the one true God is. Rather, in the invocation, we are calling directly on the Holy Trinity Himself with trust that He comes into our midst as He has promised. The pastor is led to invoke His presence, saying – “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The people are led to say, “Amen”, that is, “yes it is certain, the one true God, the one who put His Name upon us in Holy Baptism is present here, now to bless us. “Amen”.

How difficult can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed, for we earth bound mortals do not posses the proper fear of His holy Name or the perfect trust in His holy Name or the whole-hearted love for His holy Name that we should. We are to fear and love in trust in Him above all things, with our whole heart. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God of hosts” (that is, the LORD of heavenly armies). “Woe is me!” sinful Isaiah said in His presence. Yet we sinners can be quite apathetic to His Name and His presence. No one knows His mind (Rom. 11:34). Before Him the nations are a drop in the bucket (IS. 40:15-17). We cannot tell God who He is, He tells us! He is the potter we are the clay. Yet the human heart continually tries to mold God into its own image as if we were the potter and God were the clay.

How difficult can it be to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed for as the Athanasian Creed leads us to confess, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is only one God. And concerning the one eternal kingdom of this one God, the revelation is equally scandalous. Only those born again enter it.

Nicodemus was an honest, well-intentioned, friendly Pharisee who admired Jesus as a teacher. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” But Jesus slammed the door on Nicodemus’ view of God and of Himself. Ignoring Nicodemus’ positive regard for Him as a religious teacher Jesus swept away what Nicodemus and the Pharisees stood for. We should be clear, that they stood for the best of what people see in one another; respectability, leadership, broadmindedness, a desire to see some good in this new teacher (even to recognize him as being from God in some sense).

Jesus isn’t from God in some sense, however. Jesus is God. He responded to Nicodemus by setting forth a requirement that was not open for debate. You must be born again! “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Oh what a miracle God gives as we are knit together in our mother’s womb. Miracle up miracle takes place there that could not possibly be accidental as the myth of evolution teaches. If just one of those knitting together miracles failed to happen, it would mean the end of the human race. But Jesus points to an even greater miracle. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” How difficult is it to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” It is impossible, without the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.

“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Indeed he was! Confused and deficient Nicodemus was a leader of the people. Yet, God’s requirement for a new mind and a new heart appeared foolish to his considerable intellect and his sincere religious feeling. The Holy Trinity’s stipulation that He must be born from above was foreign to his understanding and teaching. There was blindness about the kingdom of God not only among the people, but also among the supposedly enlightened teachers of the people.

And so it is in our day. While 70% or so of those asked say they believe there is a god, the nature and the name of that god or gods is up for grabs. The idols of the human heart range from a nameless fear to placate, to the trees or stars of nature to commune with, to crystals or angels or inner feelings to meditate on, to a sweet, fairy-tale grandfather figure who delights in indulging our every desire.

Wise respected Nicodemus, in the strength of his own spiritual insights, was confused and deficient. In fact, he was totally blind. Apart from Christ, that blindness is shared by every secular and every religious teacher in this cursed and passing world. It is also shared by those who follow such teachers.

“In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” How difficult can it be to say and to mean that beautiful Name? Impossible, except as a gift of the Holy Spirit! Apart from the miracle of new birth by the Holy Spirit, no human heart understands the magnitude of its sin or the marvel of the forgiveness given by God who is holy, holy, holy.

Only Christ can reveal it! Reveal it He does! He spoke to Nicodemus of heavenly things! He spoke of that which He had seen. He is the Son of Man who came down from heaven. The heart of what He revealed to Nicodemus is this; the Father gave His Son to give us life by water and the Spirit. This is the wondrous truth of the Holy Trinity! God the Father does not want us dying sinners to perish eternally. God the Son does not want to condemn us. God the Holy Spirit does not want us to remain dead in our sins. Why? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity does not want to take anything away from us. He rather wants to show us our total poverty and give everything He has to us. The Father bestows Himself and His gifts through His Son. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” The Son is brought to us only by the loving action of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Christians, this is why we confess from the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith… This is also why we ask those confirmed to learn by heart these treasures. How hard can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”? “No one can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 12:3).
Do you see the radical, revolutionary nature of the faith God has given you? Do you see the peculiar, mysterious nature of the faith God has given you? So drastic is baptism that Jesus calls it being born again. It is a second birth. A person doesn’t become a Christian. Rather, God makes that person a Christian. As Jesus spoke about life and death, God and man, He included water with His words? The Holy Trinity may be above our thoughts as high as the heavens are above the earth, but the means that the Holy Trinity uses are as earthy as water and word, bread and wine. Jesus makes His church holy, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:26). He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:3-5).

It is no accident that Jesus commanded all nations to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is no accident that you were baptized into His holy Name, John, nearly eleven years ago. It is rather a miracle! And so it is a miracle for all of us so washed by His gracious command! As the angel took the burning coal from the altar and said to Isaiah, “Behold this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for,” so you have been touched by water from the altar of His sacrifice, that is the altar of the cross. John your lips are also about to receive the body and blood once for all offered on that altar. As Christ so touches you, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” His being lifted up is the gift of the Father. He was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Nicodemus saw first hand the bloody sacrifice God made to give him new birth. With his own hands he handled and anointed the corpse of the crucified one and wrapped it with spices in strips of linen (John 19:39).

But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him (Acts 2:24). Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” But everyone who is born of the Spirit is gifted with that rebirth by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. By God’s gracious plan and purpose you have been born from above. By God’s gracious will the Holy Spirit has breathed new life into you.

It was this simple treasure that Dr. Luther sought to keep before his eyes by beginning his morning and evening prayers with the invocation and the sign of the cross. He was simply remembering that the Father gave His Son to give Him life by water and the Spirit. Such is also the love of the Holy Trinity for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Ordination of Jon Olson

June 4, 2006
The Day of Pentecost


DEAR HEARERS OF THE WORD
IT IS A MIRACULOUS DAY OF SPEAKING AND HEARING!

Dear members of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Candidate Olson and Emily, fellow pastors, brothers and sisters in Christ, and most pointedly, Dear Hearers of the Word. Back in the 1890s my Grandfather was sent as a missionary from what now includes your district (Minnesota South) to the area of Alcester, S. Dak (Just south and west of Sioux Falls). About a decade ago, I preached the 100th anniversary of his ordination there. When someone translated a few sermons he preached in German, I became aware of how he often addressed the congregation: “Dear Hearers of the Word”. On this Day of Pentecost, on this Day of Ordination and Installation of a new pastor at Our Saviour, take that address for all its worth – because its worth a lot – “Dear Hearers of the Word.”

Pentecost is a miracle of speaking and hearing! Fifty days after the resurrection, it was originally a feast of first fruits of the wheat harvest. The rabbis had also made it into a celebration of God’s giving the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. When the Holy Spirit came down in rich measure He did not major in marvels of nature or displays of physical phenomenon. He majored in words about the Word made flesh. The other wonders (the tongues of fire, the mighty rushing wind) called attention to this miracle of speaking and hearing.

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (languages) as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The international audience that was present asked in astonishment, “How is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Dear Hearers of the Word You would have heard in English from those who normally spoke in Aramaic or Greek or Hebrew.

Sometimes it is necessary to restate the obvious. An obvious truth that needs restating in our day is this: the profusion of languages in the world is not a good thing. Every so often one hears the multiplicity of languages described as a richness of evolution. It is not richness, however, but poverty due to human sin. And man did not evolve he was created in the image of God. The language God gave at creation was shared by all human beings until Babel. “Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.”

On the Day of Pentecost that confusion was temporarily set aside. Everyone in Jerusalem heard the Spirit-given words about Christ in their own language? The miracle of speaking and hearing that occurred centered on God’s accusing law and God’s forgiving Gospel. With painful and pointed sharpness, Peter said, “You put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross (Acts 2:23). Those who came to celebrate the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai were cut down by the law on the Day of Pentecost. “You put Him (that is the Messiah/the Saviour) to death”. God knows how vital it is that we recognize our sin, our own, grievous, damnable sin.

Dear Hearers of the Word – Your sin and mine also put Him to death on the cross. The heart of sin is unbelief. We want to take God off the throne and put ourselves on - everyday. And so we worry and whine and wish for other things. We seek to build our own towers of Babel, towers of pride or pleasure or profit or self-protection or self-promotion; towers of misplaced priorities or misguided spirituality. Why is it that from our youth any of us would withhold our first fruit proportionate gifts for the spread of the Gospel? Why is it, try as we might, that we cannot tame our tongues?

The planners of the tower of Babel didn’t have anything over on the people in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. The planners of the tower of Babel don’t have anything over on you or me or the people of Pipestone in 2006. “You put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross”. That’s what our self-centered tower building does. God knows how vital it is that we recognize our sin, our own, grievous, damnable sin.

On Pentecost, God provided the miracle of speaking and hearing that tears down self-made towers that can never reach heaven. On Pentecost, God poured out the Holy Spirit to teach the Apostles all things, bringing to their remembrance all that Jesus said and did (John 14: 15). Dear Hearers of the Word, Pentecost is a miracle that is still going on today. Pentecost is all about words – words the Holy Spirit brings us from the tongue of Jesus, which words He received from the Father. The Holy Trinity is united in this miracle of words that bring us the Word made flesh, to save us from sin and death and hell.

These words are so vital, they determine whether we love God or not. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” Love as God defines it is not a matter of how we feel. Rather, true love lives from the words of Jesus Christ.

Not only the singular “word”, is used here, but the plural “words”. Words are the means by which the Holy Spirit brings Jesus to us. Jesus and His words go together. Refusal to cherish Jesus’ words is a rejection of the Father and a rejection of the Holy Spirit. In the battle for our souls, the tool the Holy Spirit uses is words, God’s words. That’s what the risen Christ sent out the Apostles to deliver. That’s what the risen and ascended Christ calls pastors to hand over to His people today. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the speaking of Christ (Rom. 10:17).

Dear Hearers of the Word, God gives you a pastor today whom he wants you to listen to. You are to pray for Him. You are to encourage Him. You are to share all good things with him in monetary support. You are to respect him for the work God calls him to in your midst. But most of all, you are to listen to the Word of God he proclaims to you. That’s why God gives him to you today. You are not to try to build your pastor into a tower of you own choosing. The first two offices in Luther’s Table of Duties in the Small Catechism are wonderful helps to us in this regard.

Candidate Olson, you are not to try to make the office of the public ministry into a tower of your own choosing. You are not to lord it over His sheep in this place. You are not to dream up a master plan for this congregation and use the people as stepping stones in an effort to achieve it. You are to love God’s people by giving attention to the Word and Sacrament of the true Master and rejoice in the blessings it brings and suffer through the crosses it brings. And it will bring both.

You are not to offer God’s people here one of the contemporary models of Jesus separated from His words. There are plenty of such models to choose from in pop-Christianity. There is the practical Jesus who is politically correct, who guarantees statistical success and social approval. There is the Americanized Jesus who feels equally at home in church, synagogue, or mosque and who accepts every prayer to any god. There is the spiritual Jesus who will help you tap the divine potential within yourself or get in touch with the spiritual forces of nature or Eastern meditation. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Jesus here, Jesus there! That Jesus, this Jesus! There are plenty of Jesus models to choose from. You and I and our synod are not immune from these temptations. The pressure is on to find a Jesus who fits our tower building plans. The one Jesus that is not particularly popular today nor in any age is the Jesus of true doctrine, the one who says, “whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” That’s also why the loving scriptural practice of Closed Communion is not well understood in our day. It is not a statement that we are better than someone else on some scale of religious goodness. It is rather the loving statement that we are in the same boat as everyone else, dying sinners in a dying world, and that our only hope is the presence and words of Jesus.

You see, the true Jesus always goes together with His words. It is no accident that St. Paul bids young pastor Timothy, “pay close attention to yourself and the doctrine; persevere in these things: for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (I Tim. 4:16). It is no accident that the rite of ordination and installation requires Candidate Olson to promise faithfulness to the Scriptures and to the Lutheran Confessions. Eternal salvation is tied to the Word and the words that are preached from this pulpit.

You see the miracle of Pentecost is still going on today, a miracle of speaking and hearing, a miracle of words grounded in the Word made flesh. Christ’s pastor in this place is to preach the law so clearly that it will crush towers of self-righteousness and statistical sainthood and guide hearts to believe what the liturgy leads them to confess, “I, a poor miserable sinner”.

If they don’t hear the truth from you, where will they hear it? The evening news won’t tell us lest we switch channels. Political candidates won’t tell us, lest we vote for another. Educational institutions are too busy defending a religion that teaches these beautiful people are descended from flat worms. Pop-Christianity is too busy pointing out sin in society to major on sin in here (in our hearts). But Christ shed His blood to save real sinners, not pretend sinners. If they don’t hear the truth, the uncomfortable, accusing truth from you, where under God’s heaven will they hear it?

And yet, the message of our rebellious, tower building hearts is not the ultimate message of the miracle of Pentecost. If the law of God predominates from this pulpit than the pastor preaching needs to repent. The Holy Spirit never plays nice with our sin. But having nailed us, having put us to death, the Holy Spirit never fails to proclaim another life-giving Word. The ultimate message that everyone heard in their own language on that day centered on the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won on the cross. The ultimate message that everyone heard on Pentecost led to Holy Baptism, and to steadfast devotion to the Apostolic Word and the Breaking of the Bread (The Lord’s Supper). We need no new Pentecost for the first Pentecost is still upon us wherever Jesus is present to teach us and to feed us.

Dear Christians, Dear Hearers of the Word – hear this. He who hung the earth in space was hung on a cross – for you. He who fastened the universe in place was fastened to a tree of death – for you. O love beyond our knowing! O Grace beyond all measure! Do you see the beauty and richness of the very name of your congregation, Our Saviour? Not my personal buddy Jesus or my tower building Jesus, but Our Saviour! Not primarily Jesus my example or my leader, but the beating heart of all God’s love and work, Jesus, Our Saviour!

The real Jesus is the Son of God, true God and true Man! At creation, He said “let there be light” – and there was light. Yet at His incarnation, the Light of the World was knit together in the darkness of His virgin mother’s womb. At His crucifixion The Light of the World was laid in the darkness of death and the grave. O love beyond our knowing! O Grace beyond all measure! Our Saviour! This is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and gave His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, our grievous, damnable sins.

That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” His peace doesn’t automatically come with a happy marriage or with enough income to pay the bills or with retirement and relaxation. And whoever said that relaxation necessarily comes with retirement. In fact, His peace can be present when all these things are absent. The truth is that His peace can’t be pursued or procured by us in any way. His peace is a gift!

“Not as the world gives do I give to you”. His peace is a gift that is more than a vague feeling of peace. His peace is more than the fragile peace between peoples and within our own hearts. Whether earthly peace is sought through written treaties or with ceremonies employing pipestone peace pipes it is always temporary and under attack. Peace is threatened by the confusion of languages and the differences in cultures. Peace is threatened by our sinful tower building desires. Peace is threatened by the moral free fall of our culture of death and the dishonoring of God’s gift of marriage. True peace is threatened by the modern church so willing to set aside doctrine to be at peace with our decaying culture. Peace is threatened by our own fearful and restless and troubled hearts.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” The peace Jesus promised here is an objective peace purchased by the blood of His cross. It is peace in the heart of God toward you for Jesus’ sake. Beloved, God is at perfect peace with you in Christ, Our Saviour. No matter how much turmoil may buffet your life, no matter how unsettled your heart may feel, in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, God is at peace with you. If you think some sin of the past is too great for His forgiveness – not so. Jesus and His words go together and it was He who said from the cross, “It is finished!” Your sins are not greater than the death of the Holy Son of God. God is at perfect peace with you in Christ, Our Saviour.

That’s why He baptized you into the death of Christ. That’s why the first words the risen Christ spoke to His fearful, hiding disciples were “Peace be with you”, words of Holy Absolution. Dear Hearers of the Word, did you know that Dr. Martin Luther considered these words spoken in the Divine Service the one and most worthy preparation for the Lord’s Supper. Luther said the pastor should say the words “The peace of the Lord be with you always” facing the people. This is, he said, “a public absolution of the sins of the communicants, the true voice of the gospel announcing the remission of sins, and therefore the one and most worthy preparation for the Lord’s Table if faith holds to these words as coming from the mouth of Christ himself.” (LW 53: 28)

Dear Christians, that’s why nothing in all the world even comes close to the importance of gathering together in the Lord’s presence to receive His gifts each week. The Divine Service is the center of life because the living Christ comes into our midst to teach us and to feed us. He comes into our midst to give us peace – peace nothing in the world can give. “My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”

His gift of peace comes in water and word and bread and wine in which He Himself is present. That’s what He calls pastors to serve His dear people. His gift of peace provides eternal pleasures beyond the Valley of the Shadow of death. You have His word on that, and Jesus and His words always go together.

Those who have died in the faith in the five decades of this congregation’s life do not miss anything in this valley of sorrow. While you miss your loved ones, they receive fullness of pleasure at God’s right hand. They are part of the company of heaven lauding and honoring Christ even as He comes into our midst to serve us His holy body and His holy blood. Their salvation, just like yours, depended on the work and the words of Jesus. Jesus and His words always go together – that’s why you can be sure of their eternal peace in Him.

Dear members of Our Saviour, dear Jon, as you begin your life together as pastor and congregation the Holy Spirit bless you with His ongoing miracle of speaking and hearing. The Holy Spirit bless you with humble witness and invitation to others to receive Christ’s peace- bestowing gifts in Word and Sacrament in this place and to spread them far beyond.

Dear Hearers of the Word “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus is here in your midst and He is Your peace, In His Name, Amen.

Pentecost

June 4, 2006
Text: John 15:26-16:11, Acts 2:1-36
Rev. Eric Skovgaard


THE "SHY" PERSON OF THE TRINITY


There is so much flipping over of things on Pentecost – so many reversals:

· think Tower of Babel – hearing sermons in their own languages
· Ezekiel tells us that dead bones have the breath of life breathed into them. Sounds like creation all over again, and yet it’s also our spiritual condition. Our souls are dry bones until God breathes the Gospel into them.
· The religious authorities at that time thought they had defeated Jesus and his movement. They had the disciples hiding, but now 50 days later the HS comes and empowers them/transforms them from timid followers to proclaimers.

Pentecost details include the fact that this was an established feast observing 3 things:
The gathering in of the fall harvest, thanks to God for his providence in the wilderness wanderings, and a looking forward to the great, eschatological day of the Lord. Also, the water ceremony, with water drawn from the spring of Gihon and marched back to the temple where it is poured out near the altar. Done each day during the feast of booths. The people would sing Isaiah 12:3 as the water is drawn: “with joy you will draw water from the well of salvation.” On the 7th day the procession circles the altar 7 times before the pouring out. The feast has just been completed when Jesus in John 7 identifies himself as the well of salvation!

In Acts Peter’s sermon deliveries a powerful Law/Gospel punch. Peter preaches the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He preaches to the dry, spiritual bones of his Jewish brethren. They repent and are baptized, and then they devote themselves to the teachings of the apostles and to worship.

So, what is the work of the Holy Spirit? How do you know when the Spirit is at work? Some folks say, you know for sure when you speak in tongues, or when you get the gift of prophecy, or when you get the gift of miraculous healing.

The Day of Pentecost was an amazing day. To see this great outpouring of the Spirit upon the apostles, to hear the rushing wind. To be there! That must have been something to experience. Churches sometimes try to recreate that day by demanding that we exhibit the same manifestations of the Spirit before we can be called Christian.

What do we make of this, though? There’s a part of us that also wants that “highlander” experience. We want to see the Spirit work in such a visible manner with power and glory. This is a natural, normal desire, I think. We want the flashes of lightning and the rumble of the earthquake to show the world that we too have the Spirit alive and well among us.
There’s a catch, though. This was 2000 years ago and God nowhere promises to recreate that day on the same scale again. That great day of Pentecost, just like the Cross and Easter Sunday, are real, historical days, but we’re removed from them by 2000 years. So, how do we get connected with those events, with the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross, with the power of the resurrection, with the glory of Pentecost? Since we weren’t alive then, how do we get connected?

Enter the HS. Luther’s explanation to the 3rd Article of the Creed. “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him, but the HS has called me by the Gospel.” Called me by the Gospel. The work of the HS is to connect me with Jesus, with the blood of Jesus, with the Resurrection, with the Day of Pentecost. The HS is at work calling me by that word of God in Christ.

Suddenly we begin to understand why the HS might be called the “shy” person of the Trinity. He doesn’t draw attention to himself. The HS is only concerned with getting people connected to Jesus. We see this illustrated in our readings today. Acts 2 begins with the mighty wind and the tongues of fire resting on the heads of the apostles. The apostles begin to speak in the languages of all those present in Jerusalem for the feast of booths, in order that everyone present is able to hear and understand the message. And what was that message? Peter stands up and preaches Christ and him crucified, using OT verses to show how Jesus fulfilled the promises of the OT. Filled with the Spirit, Peter and the apostles proclaim Christ!

At the end of his sermon Peter tells them, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” That’s his message. That’s what the HS lead him to say. The HS rested on Peter’s head and the other apostles with a purpose – not to focus on how cool it was to speak in tongues, but to proclaim the crucified Jesus. The HS does not give the tongues in order to draw attention to Himself but to focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The HS didn’t want anyone to miss that message. We’re reminded of St. Paul’s words in Corinthians that “no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the HS.” To confess with your lips and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and Christ requires the indwelling of the HS.

Once the crowd hears the sermon, “they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘brothers, what shall we do?’” They were convicted of their sin. The HS was at work in Peter’s sermon, bringing people to repentance. Which is exactly Jesus says in John 15 & 16 the Spirit will do. The HS is at work bringing ‘god-fearing’ people (that’s what they’re called) to repentance. All of which is a perfect seque into our Gospel reading from John. Jesus says, “unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” Jesus promises to send the HS to convict sinners of their guilt! The Counselor is not so much the holy enabler or the holy affirmer as the holy convicter, in the mind of Jesus.

If you’ve ever felt the bite of your own sin and your guilt before God, then know that the HS is at work in you! In fact, rejoice in the fact that you know you’re a sinner, because you can only know that by the HS.

But this is not the only work of the HS. Again Luther’s explanation to the 3rd article of the Creed, “I believe that ….. in this Christian Church He (the HS) daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.” The HS is at work forgiving us! Removing our sins as far as the East is from the West. And when the HS is at work forgiving us, we are forgiven!

Be sure to read Psalm 51 again sometime soon and reflect on how the voice of faith speaks through David to each of us, convicting us of sin and even more so convicting us of the forgiveness and newness of life that is found in Jesus Christ alone. Do these words sound familiar: “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore onto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit.” Faith is created by the HS when he convicts us of sin and assures us of forgiveness. And David, a man after God’s own heart, bears witness to the reality of guilt and assurance in the life of faith.

This is pretty powerful stuff! It deserves to be delivered in a powerful way! Surely something so wonderful as the forgiveness of sins and the breathing of life into dry bones should come on a lightning bolt or in an earthquake? But no, the “shy” person of the Trinity, the HS, comes to us in seemingly weak, fragile ways. He comes to us in a handful of water connected to the Word of God; He comes to us in bread and wine connected to the very Body and Blood of Christ; He comes to us in the perhaps weak, faltering words of a pastor who proclaims the absolution; He comes when we share the Good News of forgiveness with those around us in our daily lives; He comes to us when we sit quietly and meditate on the Word of God.

The HS is very much alive and well among us, but he has chosen to come to us in ways that will not draw attention to himself. He desires only that you and I come into contact with the incarnate, crucified, and risen Jesus Christ. He is not satisfied until everyone is convicted of his need for a savior and that he find that savior in Jesus, our Lord. And Jesus promises this very thing in our Gospel reading: “When the Counselor comes …. He will testify about me!” That’s what the “shy” person of the Trinity is all about – bearing witness to and incorporating people into Jesus.

So, when we find ourselves convicted of sin and assured of forgiveness in Jesus, when we realize that Jesus came in order to find and save sinners like us, then we know that the HS is at work in us. And he is consistently at work in those places where He promises to be – in the Word of God in all of its wonder-ful forms. Amen.