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.
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.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
6/05/2006
