15 May 2005 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
The
Festival of Pentecost
Jesu Juva
“The Comforting Work of the
Spirit”
Text: John 16:5-11
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Today is the great Festival of Pentecost. The fiftieth day after Easter, when the
promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit, was fulfilled. That fact is beyond dispute within the Holy Christian
Church. Which is significant because
there seems to be very little that is beyond dispute in the Christian Church
these days!
But while the existence and the presence
of the Holy Spirit is believed by all who can truly be called Christian, the work
of the Holy Spirit – what the Holy Spirit is for and what He does
– is a matter of dispute. Entire denominations have been built around their
particular understanding of the purpose and work of the Holy Spirit, and even
within denominations – including our own – there are groups whose desire it is
to focus more on the work of the Holy
Spirit, and what He is doing in the church in these modern times. And most of that focus tends to be heavily
weighted on individual gifts and abilities and experiences. Or what the Holy Spirit is doing to me.
And so it is good for us today that the Word of God
we heard from
So what does this mean?
Well first, we heard that the Holy Spirit convicts
the world concerning sin. Now,
when Jesus told us that He would send the Holy Spirit, He called Him the Helper, or the Comforter (John
For every time you sin, you are following not the
true God, but another god. A god of your
own making. And so when you let your thoughts
and desires determine your action instead of God’s Word and desire, you are
your own god. When you allow money to
shape your life instead of God, that is your god. When you look to your job or what you do to
give you value, that is your god. When
you look for happiness in the things you own, they are your gods. If there is
someone if your life you think you could not live without, he (or she) is your
god. Or in other words, anything or
anyone we rely on or look to for what we need – that is a god. And we must admit, we have many. And if you doubt that, just consider – what
happens when the things of this world and life are taken away from us? If you lose all your money, if you get cut
off from your family, if you lose your job or have your possessions
stolen. How we then fret and complain,
worry and whimper! Why? Because
we’ve lost our gods, that’s why.
We’ve lost what we were relying on, and looking to for our comfort and
needs.
And so the Spirit convicts us of this sin of
ours. He enables us to see that these
gods are really no gods at all. That
they are only mirages of comfort – that we chase after, but which then
disappear and do not deliver what we see or think! . . .
And so the Holy Comforter begins His comfort by leading us to confession
and repentance. For there is only One
who can deliver what we need. Only One
who can truly comfort, and that is Christ.
You have more than enough God in the one, true God. He is strong.
He is faithful. He has given you
His promise. He is all that you need. And so to comfort us, the Holy Spirit convicts us of
sin.
But once He does that, the Holy Spirit doesn’t leave
us there – condemned by our sin, condemned by the Law! That is just the first step. Next He convicts us concerning righteousness,
because Jesus has gone to the Father and we will see Him no longer. Now, the word “convict” is used there again
for continuity, but that word can also be translated as “convince,” or “bring
to light.” And so after the Holy
Spirit “brings to light” our sin, He then “brings to light” our righteousness –
not that we have any right-ness within ourselves! But the righteousness that is ours in Jesus
Christ. First He directs our eyes to
honestly look at ourselves, and then He directs our eyes to see Jesus. Not our physical eyes – for we can see Him no
longer! He directs our eyes of faith – that
we may know and believe all that He has done for us. All that He has done in coming and taking our
place. His birth for us. His perfect life for us.
His death for us. His resurrection for us. His ascension for us.
Or in other words, once the Holy Spirit makes us see
the filth of our sin that is splattered all over us, and that lives in us, He
then removes that sin from
us. The
work of the Holy Spirit is to give forgiveness. To give the forgiveness won for you in the
death and resurrection of your Saviour.
And so He washes you clean in the water of Holy Baptism. He strips you of your filthy, stinkin’, sinful rags, and dresses you in the white robe of
Jesus’ perfect obedience and righteousness.
He takes your hard, stony, other-god-lovin’
heart, and gives you a new heart, a new life, that you might be a new
creation. And He joins you to your
Saviour. He joins you to Jesus, and so
closely that when the Father looks at us, He sees not us and our sin, but the
perfection and love of His Son. And the
Father tenderly calls us His children, and we respond, Our Father, who art in heaven.
We sinners and enemies of God are adopted and taken into the very family
of God! Not through anything that we can
do, but purely by grace – by what God does for us. And what a comfort that is! And the Holy Comforter wants us to be so
comforted. And so that we may have this comfort,
the Holy Spirit convicts us of
righteousness.
And then the Spirit begins His third task. Once He has led us to repentance, and then once
He has shown us the forgiveness of sin that is ours in Christ, He then convicts
concerning judgment, for the ruler of this world is judged. And here also is the sweet comfort of the
Comforter, to convince our hearts that no matter what we see happening in this
world, no matter the struggle or the pain in your life, that the ruler, or
prince, of this world – the devil – has been utterly defeated. And nothing, no amount of hellish effort, can
ever change the fact that upon Satan’s neck rests the foot of our risen,
ascended, and victorious Saviour Jesus Christ!
Satan can kick and scream and threaten and tempt and make all the ruckus
he can in our lives – but He does so as a crushed foe. Crushed by the cross. He has lost.
The judgment has already been rendered and the verdict passed. Jesus descended into hell, into the devil’s
own house, to proclaim His victory and strip the foe of his power! And so let Satan send your way whatever He
will – He is powerless over you, and nothing can change that – ever. For in Christ, you are victorious over Satan
also! And it is important that you know
that. We don’t want to belittle Satan
and his work, but neither do we want to give him more credit than he’s
due! And so to comfort us, the Holy
Spirit convicts of judgment.
And that, according to the Word of our Saviour, is
the work of the Holy Spirit. And it is all that we need! Or to put it in other words and summarize it
a little differently, the work of the Spirit is – in all things – to lead us to Christ. And that is also the bottom line that we
heard at the end of the second reading today from the book of Acts. For after the Holy Spirit had been poured out
upon the Church, the believers did not revel in the gifts that had been given
to them. That was not their focus. Rather, Peter stood up to preach. For this outpouring of the Holy Spirit had
one purpose, that
everyone who calls upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved. And that is what the Holy Spirit desires –
that all call upon the Name of the LORD, the Name that Jesus revealed to
us in the flesh. To call on the Name of
Jesus – in repentance and faith – and be saved.
That is the work of the Holy Spirit, without whom not one of us
would be saved.
And so if you are looking for evidence of the work
of the Holy Spirit in your life, you will not find it in any extraordinary
gifts, or feelings, or experiences. But
you will find it here, as in Christ’s Church you call on the Name of the
LORD. For are you convicted of your
sin? It
is the work of the Holy Spirit in you.
Do you see in Christ your life and forgiveness? It is
the work of the Holy Spirit. Are you
here seeking forgiveness and the food of immortality, the very body and blood
of your Saviour? It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
His work of testifying to Christ.
Drawing you to Christ. Setting
the eyes of your heart and mind on Christ.
That is His work. It is He
who brought you to this Church. It is He
that keeps you in this Church. And it is
He who will finally take you from this Church on earth, the Church
Militant, to the Church Triumphant in Heaven.
So as we celebrate the Festival of Pentecost, this
is what we celebrate! Not just an
historical event, but the Lord’s work now . . . His work in us, and in His Church, and in the world
today. His work of forgiveness, life,
and salvation. His work which not only
makes a difference in our lives here and now, but which will continue for
eternity. So come, Holy Spirit, fill the
hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia! (Introit
Antiphon for Pentecost)
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.