The Day of Pentecost
(C)
June 9, 2019
Text: Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31
The
Feast of Pentecost: 50 days after Easter Sunday, 50 days after the resurrection
of our Lord, 10 days after the ascension of our Lord into heaven to sit at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty and rule all things according to His will
and for our good. Jesus promised this
day would come. He told His disciples to
wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of His Father, the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit, which would take place mere days after our Lord’s ascension (Acts
1:4-5). Pentecost is the fulfillment of
this Promise. All the disciples were
gathered together in one place, when suddenly there was the sound of a mighty,
rushing wind (the word for “wind,” incidentally, also means spirit and breath
in Greek), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues as of fire rested upon each
one of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And they began to preach. In fact, they began to preach in languages
previously unknown to them (that is the gift of tongues… not gibberish no one
can understand, but known human languages previously unknown to the
speaker). They began to preach to all
who were present that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead. He died to make atonement for our sins. And now He lives. And He reigns. And He has sent His Spirit upon His
disciples, to make of them one Body of Christ, one holy, Christian, and
apostolic Church.
Originally
the Feast of Pentecost was an Old Testament Feast, one of the three great
feasts in which every Jewish male was required to appear at the Temple in
Jerusalem. Sometimes called the Feast of
Weeks, Pentecost was a harvest festival celebrated 50 days (Pentecost=50) after
the Passover. The Jews would bring the first
and best of their sheaves to wave before the LORD, acknowledging that He gives
seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
He gives us each day our daily bread.
He is the Giver of every good gift.
Pentecost was a Feast of Thanksgiving.
It
was also traditionally celebrated as the Day on which God gave the Ten
Commandments to Moses. For man does not
live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God
(Matt. 4:4). And whether this is, in
fact, the day God gave the Ten Commandments, note the relationship between
harvest (bread) and the Word. Just as
God gives a harvest of wheat to sustain our body, so He gives a harvest of His
Word to sustain our spirit. And note how
this is fulfilled in an even greater way in the New Testament. God pours His Holy Spirit on His Church and
fills the hearts of the faithful, kindling in them the fire of His love. And they preach. The Spirit comes through the Word. He feeds us on the Word. He attaches Himself to nothing less than the
Word of our Father. And by that Word He
points us ever and always to the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, to bring
us to Jesus, to give us Jesus, to make the death and resurrection of Jesus our
death and eternal life.
That
is what Jesus says in our Holy Gospel: “the
Helper,” the Paraclete, the Comforter or Advocate, literally “the One
called to your side” in the day of trouble… “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he
will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to
you” (John 14:26; ESV). In other
words, the Holy Spirit puts you in Jesus and keeps you in Jesus by teaching you
and reminding you. He keeps you in the
Word. This is what we mean when we
confess in 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.”[1] Note very carefully, you cannot choose to
believe in Jesus. Faith is the work of
the Holy Spirit. And He does this work
in such a way that you can always know it is Him and not some rogue evil
spirit. The Holy Spirit attaches Himself
to particular means. We call them the means of grace. They are the Words of God recorded in Holy
Scripture and preached. They are the
Words of God attached to water in the cleansing bath of Holy Baptism, attached
to the Office of the Ministry in Holy Absolution, attached to bread and wine in
Holy Communion, which by that Word is the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. There, in the divinely appointed
means, where the Word is, you can always find the Holy Spirit doing His thing. You know exactly where to find Him. You can always find God for you, in the
Word. He has tied Himself there for
you. The Word, the Word, the Word. Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word. By the Word our Lord is by our side, upon the
plain, with His good gifts and Spirit.
Spirit, wind, and breath: All the same word in Greek. The Spirit no longer comes in a mighty,
rushing wind, but in the breath of preaching.
By the Word, He breathes Himself into you, O Adam, O man of dust. He breathes into you the breath of life. He spirits into you the Spirit of life.
That
is what the Spirit does for you in Holy Baptism. Born anew in that moment, you became sons of
God, believers in Jesus Christ. And just
as when you were born and took your first breath, and now you continue to
breathe for the rest of your life, so it is with the new birth in the
Spirit. You take your first breath at
Baptism, but the Spirit continues to breathe Himself into you by His Word
proclaimed and read and ingested in the Supper of Jesus’ Body and Blood. You cannot live without breath. You cannot live without God’s Word.
And
there is a danger here. It is difficult
to stop breathing air, though you can
do it. You can suffocate yourself, and of course, we all stop breathing at
some point, and that is an indication that death has occurred. But it is very easy to stop breathing God’s
Word. “I don’t have time to go to Church
today. I’ll get there next week. Or the week after that. I have important things to do today, and
there is no other time I could possibly do them. And why should I attend Bible study? It’s always the same old thing. I’ve heard it all before. I know it by now.” Now, we all know instinctually that we don’t
have the luxury of putting off breathing
until some more convenient time. We do
it constantly, habitually, even unconsciously, because if we stop, we’ll
die. And it’s the same thing, over and
over and over. We’ve done it
before. But we do it again. Breath after breath. 12-20 times per minute on average. Somehow we never get bored of it. We panic when we have trouble with it. Do you get the point? Repent.
And get to Church. Every
week. Breathe deeply of the Word.
The
Spirit attaches Himself to the Word. By
the Word, the Spirit breathes Himself into us, giving us saving faith in
Jesus. By the Word, God declares our
sins forgiven for the sake of Jesus. By
the Word, God declares us His own beloved children. And we live by the Word. It is our breath. It is our life. Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word. Jesus says, “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” (John 14:23). To keep the Word of Jesus means more than
simply to obey it. It means to hear it,
read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it.
It means to be devoted to it, to love it and cherish it and like St.
Mary, to treasure it up in your heart.
Like a love letter from your beloved that you treasure up and read again
and again, that you ponder and savor and learn by heart. When you love Jesus, that is what His Word is
to you.
Many
congregations, including our own, traditionally celebrate the rite of
Confirmation on the Day of Pentecost.
This is one of those off years where we’re between groups. We had a group of 5 last year, and God
willing, we’ll have a group of 5 next year, but no group this year. So it goes.
But think about what the confirmands promise at their Confirmation. (You five who will be confirmed next year,
listen up to this, because this is what you’ll say before God and His people
next Pentecost. And all of you who have
made these vows already, listen carefully, too, because your vows are still in
effect…). The confirmands, of course,
promise to keep God’s Word faithfully, to love it and cherish it, to hear it
faithfully and receive it in their mouths in the Supper. And then (and this is quite profound
considering many of these confirmands are mere children), they promise to die
for their confession of that Word, if necessary. This is pretty heady stuff we ask sometimes
even fourth or fifth graders to promise, to solemnly swear before God and this
congregation. And we know as they say it
they will face all the same temptations the rest of us do: To sleep in on
Sunday, to get to God’s Word another time, another place, but not now. And they will sometimes give in to their lazy
flesh. They will often fail. Just like you. Just like me.
But that is why God sends the Paraclete, the Spirit, to call us back to
His Word, to breathe anew into us the breath of life, the breath of faith, to
teach us and remind us of all the things Jesus has said to us. We can only make children promise these
things because we know it is with them as it is with us: It is the Spirit who
will keep them. By the Word. And He will keep you. It is His work, by grace. Just breathe.
Just receive. Just live in the
Spirit-wrought life bestowed upon you freely in Jesus Christ.
And
what is the result? “Peace I leave with you,” says Jesus; “my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let
them be afraid” (v. 27). In this
world there is much to be troubled about.
But in Jesus you have peace.
Just take a deep breath. Breathe in the Word. You have nothing to fear. The Spirit gives you faith in Jesus, who is
your peace. He keeps you steadfast in
His Word. And He who began this good
work in you will bring it to completion at the Day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). In the Name of the Father, and of the Son
(+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
Amen.
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