19
May 2013
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
The
Feast of Pentecost Vienna, VA
“Our
Babel Undone”
Text:
John 14:23-31; Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
We
are living in a very spiritual world. Yes, there are a small minority of people
who claim to be atheist, but the large majority of people believe in God, or
gods, or at least some kind of supreme being; in some kind of life after death,
either here or in another world; and that there are things that happen in this
world that cannot be seen and cannot be explained by science or the laws of
nature.
Now,
just that description alone reveals that while we are living in a very
spiritual world, it is a very confused
spirituality. There are many opinions, many claims of truth. Because the
spiritual is different than the physical. It cannot be seen, it cannot be
touched. For that reason, some say it is not real, or it is not important. But
others will say it is real and very important because though I cannot
see it or touch it, I can feel
it.
And
so the truth for many, when it comes to things spiritual, is what they feel in
their heart. This is what folks mean when they say things like: “I’m spiritual
but not religious.” Or, “That may be true for you but not for me.” But if the
basis of truth, the foundation of spirituality, is what you feel in your heart,
then there are as many truths and as many spiritualities as there are people in
the world. And what is believed, therefore, cannot be criticized or corrected.
There are no standards, no right or wrong, if what is true is what I feel.
This
confused spirituality, I would suggest, is the end result of God’s scattering
of the people who were building the Tower of Babel. For though God stopped the
building of the Tower by confusing the languages of the people, the people did
not stop building - they just stopped building with bricks, and they stopped
building together. People are now
building lots of individual towers, their own spiritual paths to God. People
are still trying to make names for themselves that will live forever. But
people are confused, scattered. Many want to be spiritual, but don’t quite know
how. Many want to forge their own way, but don’t quite know where to go.
So
you could say that the spirituality of the world today is quite a Babel. Lots
of voices, lots of advice, lots of truths, that is all very confused and
confusing.
But
what if the spiritual was not like that? What if the spiritual could be seen, could be touched? What if we didn’t have to make our own way to
God, but God would come down to us? What if what is true isn’t what I feel,
what comes from me, but a word that comes from outside of me and is given to
me? That would be a game-changer, wouldn’t it? And that game-changer was named Jesus. True God become true man.
The spiritual become physical. God come to us that we may be with Him. To cut
through the confusion and give us the truth. To cut through our death and give
us life. To bring together the scattered by His Word.
The
spiritual made physical. This is what we need because we are not only physical
or only spiritual beings - we are both. And uniquely so. Animals are physical
but not spiritual and angels are spiritual but not physical, but men and women
are both. And even though we sometimes act like animals and some want to be
angels, that is not who we are. We are men and women uniquely created in the
image and likeness of God. Uniquely created with that glory and honor and
majesty as the crowning achievement of God’s good creation. But sadly it’s a
crown, a glory, an honor, and a majesty thrown away in sin. When our first
parents tried to be what they were not, and so became what they did not want to
be. A situation not so unlike what happened at Babel.
But
it was not only because of sin that the spiritual is made physical for us. Even
before that, beginning with the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil, the spiritual is made physical for us. Life and death given
through the physical, through touching, through eating. And then through
circumcision and the sacrifices and eating of the Tabernacle and the Temple -
life and death are attached to the physical.
And
then, of course, God Himself became flesh in the mystery of the incarnation. He
came into our world not only to show us the way, but to BE the way, the truth,
and the life (John
14:6). To defeat the death that had overcome us, and
give us the life we had lost. To teach us the truth about both what can be seen
and what cannot be seen. And to give us what we do not have and cannot get for
ourselves - peace with God in the forgiveness of our sins.
And
having accomplished that through His life, His death, and His resurrection, and
having ascended into heaven (to prepare a place for us), He sends us what we
are celebrating this day - the gift of His Holy Spirit. For while we are living
in a very spiritual world, not all spirits are good and holy. Many are evil and
demonic and working to mislead us and deceive us into false belief, despair,
and other great shame and vice (Expl.
to the Sixth Petition, Small Catechism).
Only the Holy Spirit is given to make us holy. That we have the spirituality we
were created to have and be. And so we prayed for this earlier. We prayed: Come,
Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of
Your love (Introit
Antiphon).
But wait a second, Pastor!
Fill
the hearts . . . fire of Your love . . . don’t those
words direct us to our hearts and feelings where you said before all this
confused spirituality comes from? . .
. Well, no - though I admit it may sound
like it. For still today, the spiritual is connected to the physical. That
didn’t change from the Old Testament to the New, from the Temple to the Church,
once Jesus came. For on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was connected to
and came in the physical - fire and wind, and today He comes in the physical -
water and words. Same Spirit. And He
comes not to point us inward, to our hearts, to judge our spirituality
by what we feel, but to point us outside of ourselves; to point us to Jesus; to
point us to His cross and to point us to where Jesus comes now for us in the
spiritual made physical - in His Word and in His Sacraments. And so the Holy
Spirit comes to us and turns us - from Babel to the cross, from ourselves to
God, from inward to outward, from what I think and feel to the truth of God’s
Word. To rely on our Saviour and what He has done, and not on me and
what I can do.
That’s
the Holy Spirit’s job, and so what Pentecost is really all about. It’s not
really about cool tongues of fire and fishermen being able to speak in foreign
languages - this day is about the Holy Spirit being our Helper, our Comforter,
by pointing us to Jesus. By pointing us to the spiritual made physical; to the
Word of the Word made flesh! - who says: I put my Spirit here for you, my
forgiveness here for you, my life here for you. I achieved it, I accomplished
it all on the cross - but I put it here
for you. The spiritual made physical, so that you don’t have to wonder where it
is, but you can see it, touch it, taste it, receive it.
And
so are Jesus’ words fulfilled. For He said: If anyone loves me, he will keep
my word. “Keep” there doesn’t just mean to obey (as it is sometimes
translated). It is a much bigger word than that. It means to guard, to
treasure, to keep as of great importance. For through that very Word the Holy
Spirit comes to us and connects us to Jesus, our Saviour. And connected to Jesus
you are children of the Father and at home with Him. Connected to Jesus you
have the peace of the forgiveness of your sins, and the peace of knowing that
death is not the end for you. A peace the world cannot give. A peace that your
heart cannot give. But a peace that Jesus can and does give. To you.
And
so Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to reverse our Babel. To cut through all the
spiritual clutter and confusion of this world and be our Helper, our Comforter.
That we know the truth that sets us free (John 8:32).
That, as you will hear once again this day after receiving the spiritual made
physical, the Body and Blood of our Lord and His forgiveness, life, and
salvation, that you depart in peace. Both depart this altar and go out into
the world in peace, and depart this
world - whenever that may be - in peace. For just as Jesus said to His
disciples: Rise, let us go from here, so He will speak those same words to
you, when you die and when you rise, to be with Him forever.
But
until then, we have a whole lot of living to do, in a world that is not always
easy to live in. Where sin tramples us and our sin tramples others. Where
troubles challenge us, situations change, and worries and doubts can overwhelm.
And we need a God who’s not just out there, spiritually, somewhere, and who I hope
sees me and I hope knows what I’m
going through and I hope helps,
though I really don’t know if any of that’s the case. We need a God who’s not
just a cheerleader, or waiting for us at the finish line, or a coach yelling at
us to keep going. We need a God who’s here to help; who’s here to forgive,
who’s here to save. Who knows need, who knows sadness, who knows temptation,
who knows death, who knows the clutter and confusion of life in this world.
And
we have such a God. Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit coming to you and
pointing you to that God - to Jesus on the cross and pointing to the empty
grave and saying: peace. Pentecost
is about the Holy Spirit coming to you and pointing you to that God - Jesus in
the font and on the altar and saying: peace.
Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit coming to you and pointing to that God - the
Jesus who came for you and says to you: I
got it. Your sin? I got it. Your life? I got it. Your need? I got it. The
God you need is the God you have. Here. A flesh and blood Saviour, for flesh
and blood you. So go and live. Not in sin, but in Him. The spiritual made
physical in you, for His Spirit lives in you.
In
the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now
the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds
through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.