Festival
of Pentecost
“The Spirit of Life”
Text: Ezekiel
37:1-14; Acts 2:22-36; John 7:37-39a
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
In
the Nicene Creed, which we will confess again immediately after this sermon, we
say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord and giver of life.” Did
you ever think about that statement, and what we are saying by it?
So
many people in our world today are searching for life. They want a full life, and so they fill their lives with all kinds of things,
and activities, and busy-ness. They want
a meaningful life, and so strive for
importance and significance, to make themselves feel needed. And they want a long life, and so look to medicine and technology and exercise to
prolong their days. . . . Yet in these and other ways, despite all of
our best efforts, life continues to frustrate and elude most people. Young, seemingly healthy people die. We find out that the world can go on without
us just fine. And people are working so
hard at living that they sometimes work and live themselves to death.
But
in the Nicene Creed, we confess where our source of life is; that there is only one source of
life; there is only one “Lord and giver of life.” The Spirit of God which hovered over the
waters at creation to create and give life is the One still giving life
today. And what the Holy Spirit makes
alive is truly alive; and apart from Him
there is no life. And the life that He
gives is full, and meaningful, and eternal.
The
problem is, that just as the Holy Spirit cannot be seen, so also the life that
He gives also often cannot be seen. In
fact, it is often hidden – hidden under what appears to be the very
opposite of life and good living.
Hidden under struggle; hidden
under pain; hidden even under death. . . .
But we tend to believe what we see, don’t we? And so we have a paradox here. For
what the world thinks is being alive and living, God calls dead; and what the world thinks is dead, God calls
alive.
And
so as we confess in the Nicene Creed, life, true life, is a matter of
faith. Something that we must believe,
despite what our eyes may tell us. “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and
giver of life.”
And
so that we might believe this, we heard this evening about God’s Spirit of
life, and His giving of life. First, from
the prophet Ezekiel – the valley of dry bones.
Dry bones are dead bones. Dead as
dead can be. And not only dead, but dead
a long time. . . . “Son of Man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel’s eyes may tell him no, but to God he
cannot say no, so he says, “O God, you know.” And yes, God does know. And so He tells Ezekiel to prophesy, to speak
the Word of God, to those bones. And at
God’s Word, they come together, they re-form, they are, should we say, born
again? . . . But no life.
Not yet. “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.” And so God sends His breath to these
bones. Breath – the same word translated
also as wind, and also as spirit. The same word used of God’s Spirit in Genesis
at creation. “The Lord and giver of life” gives life to these dry bones. And
what the world calls dead, God calls – and makes – alive.
And
then we heard from the Apostle Peter, his Pentecost sermon. A sermon about Jesus Christ, who was
crucified, dead and buried. Dead as dead
can be. Three days in the tomb. On Sunday, the women went to anoint a dead
body with spices. The disciples were making
plans to cope with this and move on. Can these bones live? . . . Peter
points to the Psalms of David for the answer, where God’s Word says that indeed,
not only can they, but they will!
And on Easter, they did! “This
[crucified, dead, and buried] Jesus God raised up,” Peter proclaims, “and
of that we are all witnesses.”
And then later, in his First Epistle, Peter explains this further: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Pt.
And
then we heard Jesus speaking to the crowd in the Holy Gospel – speaking at the
Feast of Tabernacles and promising “living water.” Now, you have to understand a little about
that Feast to understand what Jesus is saying here. For part of the Feast of Tabernacles was a
ceremony of drawing water. And with the
water drawing, the people would remember a number of things: they would remember the goodness of God in
sending rain; they would remember the
goodness of God in providing water for His people in the Exodus – even water
out of a rock! And then they also remembered
the promise of God to send His Holy Spirit to them, calling the Spirit “the water from the well of salvation.” (Is.
12:3)
. . . And so in that context it
is that Jesus stands up and proclaims, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me
and drink.” And there was no
other way to interpret what Jesus was saying:
He is the source of the water; He
is the source of the Holy Spirit; He is the
source of life; He is God. And out of His side “will flow rivers of living
water.” Not a little trickle,
but rivers. Enough for all, to give life to all, to give
His Spirit to all.
And
when Jesus is crucified, these words come true.
When Jesus bows His head in death, a soldier’s spear pierces His side,
and out of His side flowed water and blood. (John
19:34) And far more than just an extraordinary
physical occurrence – it is symbolic of how Christ now gives His Spirit, the
living water, to His Church; how we
receive the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection, His forgiveness and
new life. It is through His water and
blood that flow from His cross and which lead us back to His cross – the water
of His Baptism, the blood of His Supper.
And the One the world called
dead, has become the source of life for all who believe!
And
so now, in the Church, when we ask “Can these bones live?” we know that
they can! For here is the Spirit, the
living water, “the Lord and giver of
life,” given to all who thirst. To
all of us who are dry, dead bones.
To all in need of life.
+
And so here, newborn babies, who look
alive and innocent, but who in God’s eyes are born dead in trespasses and sins,
are raised from the dead and given new life by the Spirit, “the Lord and giver of life,” in Holy Baptism.
+
Here, us sinners, who may look alive
and successful, but who in God’s eyes are dead in sin, are raised from the dead
and given new life by the Spirit, “the
Lord and giver of life,” through God’s Word of absolution, or forgiveness.
+
Here we, who may look alright on the
outside, but who are dried up by the world, by persecution, by struggles, by
difficulties, by pain, by doubts and fears and worries, by unbelief and sorrow
– here we are given faith and strength and new life by the Spirit, “the Lord and giver of life,” in Holy
Communion, as we eat the body and drink the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
receiving all that He is and all that He has for us.
And
this is the life that you received, and continue to receive – when you
were baptized, when you hear the Word of God, when your sins are forgiven, when
the body and blood of Christ are placed into your mouth. For you receive the Spirit of life through
these means, and you live. For the life
that you need, that you seek, that you are thirsting for, is here given to
you. A full life, filled not with the things of this world, but filled
with Christ and His love. A meaningful life, given not just the
temporary significance of position or importance in this world, but given the
status and position of sons of God. And
a long life, not guaranteed to reach
a ripe old age on earth, but guaranteed to live for eternity in Heaven.
That
is the life that has been given to you, and is yours even now. Even if you don’t feel particularly alive; even if you don’t feel any different; even if
it seems that others are more “alive” than you.
Remember, what the world calls
dead, God calls alive. And you are
alive in Christ.
And
that is what we celebrate today, on this day of Pentecost. We celebrate not just the sending and giving
of the Holy Spirit as an historical event which took place some 2,000 years
ago. We celebrate that the Holy Spirit,
whom Christ has poured out upon His Church, is still in His Church, still
active, still giving life, still saving, still forgiving, still raising dry
bones, still quenching the thirst of all who are thirsting for life. Today, we celebrate that “the Lord and giver of life” has come to us and given us
life!
But
even as we celebrate, we know that this life is not just for us, but for
all. And how many today are walking
around as dry bones? Searching for
life; tired and frustrated; lifeless, hopeless? “Can those bones live?” We know that they can! And so Christ has put us here in this place,
as His Church, not only to receive but also to give His living water, to give
His Spirit through Word and Sacrament.
To reach out and proclaim to all the source of living water, the source
of life. That as we drink they too may
drink, and drinking they may thirst no more and may find the life we all so
desperately need – the life of Christ, given for them . . . for us . . . for
all.
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 in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.