Day of Pentecost (C) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 14:17
Theme: The Work of the Spirit



Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the promised Holy Spirit was poured out on His disciples. Today marks our recognition of that event. God makes good on His promises. But the celebration of major church festivals always has liabilities. Pentecost is no exception. The danger is misrepresentation. It can appear that the Holy Spirit is only important on this one day of annual appreciation. That can lead to a diminished understanding of biblical truth, and therefore God’s presence and purpose in our lives. The Holy Spirit doesn’t hide Himself away during the Christmas and Easter seasons and suddenly pop out on the Day of Pentecost. Whenever and wherever God’s people are gathered around word and sacrament, the Holy Spirit is present.

St. Luke tells us today that the Holy Spirit appeared as “tongues of fire”1 resting on the apostles. The next demonstrable miracle was their immediate ability to speak in foreign languages in order to preach the Good News to the diverse crowd gathered in Jerusalem at the time. The purpose was conversion- an even more profound miracle. The Holy Spirit attends the proclamation of the gospel and through it transforms people’s hearts, minds, and wills. The Bible describes this work with words like repentance, and faith (among many others) and it is the Spirit’s ongoing work.

Therefore, our goal presently will be to consider the nature and consequence of the Spirit’s work of conversion. Conversion from unbelief to faith, from darkness to light, from a life that’s lived as an end in itself, to one that anticipates an eternal future, changes a person’s entire outlook. Repentance entails both contrition, a recognition of sin and acknowledgment of guilt, and, faith, trust that God, in Christ offers forgiveness, life, and salvation. The previously recalcitrant and self-serving will now desires to obey God’s holy will. Faith is never static. It is a living and active gift of the Spirit that is always seeking, always engaging, always struggling to understand the will of God and how to love the neighbour better.

In conversion, the Holy Spirit effects a much more profound transformation than that of a changed personality. Conversion doesn’t automatically change an introvert into an extrovert, a talkative person into a quiet person, or a pessimist into an optimist. A ‘morning person’ doesn’t suddenly struggle to get out of bed just because they’ve become a Christian. Rather, the focus of trust is radically altered. The unbelieving mindset is naturally geared towards finding assurance, comfort, encouragement, and hope in any number of worldly things. Typically, these include money, possessions, accomplishments, reputations, desirable relationships, and good health. In the time of need, doubt, fear, or danger help is sought in these things. God is ignored, kept at arm’s-length, or despised. His assistance might be explored only when things get dire.

The Holy Spirit alters the mindset of the believer. God is now the object of hope. He is the refuge when danger is near. He has power over all the fickle, the fallible, and the ephemeral ‘pillars’ of this life. Misplaced trust, that is, faith in anything or anyone but the living God, is idolatry. In the converted soul idolatry is replaced by devotion to the true God. Now, that being said, some of us might be wondering if we are truly or fully converted? After all, who among us doesn’t yield to the temptation of seeking our security in the stability that can come with ample money, strong relationships, good health, or glowing reputations?

Dear friends, the key is (and Satan is always seeking to blind us to this truth) recognizing that the struggle of faith is not eliminated simply because we’ve once heard God’s truth and believed His promises. What we’re talking about here is not rocket science. But it doesn’t mean it’s a simple matter or a foregone conclusion. We’re speaking here of real living- living in that dynamic tension of bearing the cross, that struggle between the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit working within us.

Conceptually it may seem straightforward, but in practice it’s a messy affair. It should be a simple thing not to sin, right? The examples are endless. It’s an easy thing conceptually for the person with lung cancer to not pick up that next cigarette. Yet it happens. It’s a straightforward matter intellectually for the person prone to gossip not to share the next salacious story. Yet it happens. The next drink is taken, the next pornographic webpage is viewed, the next affair is committed, the next lie is told, the next outburst of anger is directed at someone who shouldn’t be on the receiving end.

It’s not always that people are intending to harm others, but, seeking purpose and fulfillment in unrighteous pursuits reveals that we don’t trust God to meet our needs through the godly ways He has ordained. Maturing Christians aren’t freed from these struggles, we are transformed by them. So, it’s not an easy thing either, to keep believing. It requires the divine, miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. As long as we draw breath, we will need forgiveness.

You are here to receive the forgiveness of sins (the absolution in which the pastor as Christ’s servant publicly declares to you His pardon) not primarily because you know in your mind that it’s the proper thing to do. [I hope we agree cognitively that forgiveness is a valuable gift!] You’re here because of the very real struggle of your heart and your will and your mind
to truly resist temptation. You’re here because you really are a sinner who needs forgiveness, and so am I.

Valuing this truth is a mark of spiritual maturity. The maturing Christian has a greater and greater awareness of the gap. What gap are we talking about? The gap between our condition as sinners and God’s mercy. If on our Christian journey we have a growing sense that the forgiveness of sins is not as important as it once was, then we’re not maturing biblically, we’re gaining in self-righteousness. Movement towards Pharisaism is never the work of the Holy Spirit. And He never facilitates an increase in apathy. An attitude of spiritual self-sufficiency is not a mark of Christian maturity.

In a very frank critique of the spiritual apathy, ignorance, and/or self-righteousness of the believers to whom he was writing, the author of Hebrews said, “You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”2

The Holy Spirit leads us forward, but to go forward we have to keep going back. We come back again, and again to the well. That font is a modest piece of furniture, but it represents the means by which God first rescued you from Satan’s grasp. Repentance, confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness, is the exercise of your baptism. When you are doubting your ability to resist temptation, remember your baptism. His pledge to you is invincible.

Of course, God is so attentive He offers multiple means of offering His forgiveness, and therefore His life to us. The bread and wine you receive at this altar are not mere symbols of His love. They are His body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit wants to do nothing but direct you to Christ. That’s what He did on Pentecost. His mission is Christocentric. He points you again, and again, tirelessly, patiently, joyously to the One who suffered, was crucified, rose again and was received to the Father’s hand of power.

Before you drop off to sleep at night, let the promises of God be the last words that enter your ears. God is neither captive to our superstitions, nor distant from our true fears. Time and decay do not affect Him. He desires that we share in those blessings of immortality. One day we won’t open our eyes to the familiar setting of our bedrooms. We will open them in eternity. In either case, we are attended to by the Spirit and we are in the company of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are God’s children, then we are heirs- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”3 Thanks be to God!







+ In nomine Jesu +

Day of Pentecost
9 June 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Acts 2:2
2 Hebrews 5:12-14
3 Romans 8:16-17
4 Exodus 20:8
5 Luther’s Small Catechism
6 John 8:36
7 1 Corinthians 12:27