“The day of Pentecost and every day for the Church since has been a gift of God” Pentecost 2023

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28. May 2023

Trinity 7

Acts 2:1-4, 41-42, 46-47

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The day of Pentecost and every day for the Christian Church since has been a gift of God. Everything needed for faith and life is a gift from your gracious God. The Holy Spirit gives faith. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the gift of the Father in giving up His only-begotten Son to die to save you from sin, death, and the devil’s captivity. The office of the Holy Ministry, this Christian congregation, the sinners-made-saints sitting next to you, and all the opportunities for neighborly love are gifts to you. 

As gifts, they are yours, independent of you and even despite you. You don’t get to tell God how to be God for you. You don’t get to tell God the Spirit what gifts He gives, how He gives them, or what they’re for. He showers His gifts on you, filling your hands and overflowing into your whole life. Faith says, “Amen!” and receives not doubting but firmly believing. The Word that Jesus speaks and the Spirit delivers defines what is and what is not, frames reality and your worldview, sets boundaries of what is outside and not good, and puts you right where, when, and for what was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

If God the Father did not give His Son for you, you’d never receive the Son for forgiveness, life, and salvation. If the Son did not send His Spirit, you’d never know Jesus as the Father’s gift nor the good gift of the Word of the Son. Without the Spirit’s breath on you, you’d be outside of the only Word that can save you, without a congregation to receive all the gifts that Jesus attached His Word to, and without friends to share your confession and receive your love. The Holy Spirit is at work to bring you and keep you in the fellowship of the Father and Son today and always.

As the Word of Law and Gospel, faith, Baptism, Supper, Absolution, church, and even good works are all gifts to and for you, you’re set free—all the burdens of believing or deciding or planning or choosing. If you try to grab hold of faith as your own work, it will always devolve into idolatry. If you redefine what it means to be a faithful Christian, you’ll necessarily have to remake God in your image. If you try to make the church go in the direction you want, the Way will no longer be by Jesus but by the way of sin and death. Secular sciences of marketing, demographics, and economics may have some utility in parish administration. But they cannot determine who is given to be Christian, where and on whom the Spirit breathes faith, and whom God gives us to love. It’s all gifts received with open hands.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ called you—the mighty sound of the Spirit. The Spirit brings you into this Christian congregation and gives you a pastor to speak the good news into your ears. The Spirit enlightens you with the gifts of Holy Baptism, Holy Supper, and Holy Absolution. The Spirit works faith in your heart and sets free your conscience in the forgiveness purchased and won for you in Jesus’ suffering and death. The Spirit keeps you with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. The Spirit returns you to the Church to receive, believe, and remain steadfast. And in this Christian church, the Spirit gives you to love and serve your neighbor without compulsion, obligation, or fear, but in love, mercy, patience, kindness, gentleness, and steadfastness.

Thus, both the Scriptures and our Confession in the Creed exclude any notion that you can be a Christian without the Christian church. Our Confession on the Third Article says this: “I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ. This group is called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with many different gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. I am also a part and member of this same group, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods it possesses. I am brought to it and incorporated into it by the Holy Spirit through having heard and continuing to hear God’s Word, which is the beginning of entering it. In the past, before we had attained to this, we were altogether of the devil, knowing nothing about God and about Christ. So, until the Last Day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation or Christendom. Through this congregation He brings us to Christ and He teaches and preaches to us the Word. By the Word He works and promotes sanctification, causing this congregation daily to grow and to become strong in the faith and its fruit, which He produces. We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution and through all kinds of comforting promises from the entire Gospel… Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. So even though we have sins, the ‹grace of the› Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us. For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but ‹continuous, uninterrupted› forgiveness of sin. This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another. But outside of this Christian Church, where the Gospel is not found, there is no forgiveness, as also there can be no holiness” (LC, III, 51-56).

So look around. Who’s sitting next to you or across the aisle? Who do you see? Those are your brothers and sisters whom God the Spirit has given you to love today. Look around. Who do you not see? Those are brothers and sisters who need God’s Word. Call, text, email, or better yet, stop by their home, incarnationally, in flesh and blood. Preach the Gospel of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. God-willing, the Spirit will restore them to the Christian congregation to remember their baptism, receive the Word of Jesus, and be forgiven in His body and blood. It is God’s pleasure to restore many into His household again. His gifts, established and given by the Spirit, keep you with Jesus Christ today and always. 

The day of Pentecost and every day for the Christian Church since has been a gift of God. Everything needed for faith and life is a gift from your gracious God. The Holy Spirit gives faith. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the gift of the Father in giving up His only-begotten Son to die to save you from sin, death, and the devil’s captivity. The office of the Holy Ministry, this Christian congregation, the sinners-made-saints sitting next to you, and all the opportunities for neighborly love are gifts to you.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School – Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin