4 June 2017 St. Athanasius Lutheran
Church
The Feast of Pentecost
Vienna, VA
The Confirmation of Jonathan Skura
Farewell and Godspeed to Neely and Martha Owen
“Amen!”
Text:
Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39; Numbers 11:24-30; Romans 10:10
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God
our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
And it shall come to pass
that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That is what today, the
Day of Pentecost, is all about. For, as Jonathan has learned in his catechism
instruction, that is what the Holy Spirit is all about. His job is to point us
to Christ. His job is to connect us to Christ. His job is to give us Christ. If
you want to see signs and evidence of the Holy Spirit
today, do not look for tongues of fire, mighty rushing winds, speaking in
tongues, or other spectacular or unusual things. Look for this: those
calling upon the name of the Lord. Where that is being done, there is the
Holy Spirit. There the Holy Spirit has worked and is working still.
And calling upon the name
of the Lord is far greater than those other things. For while spectacular and
unusual signs might be cool, they cannot save. But this we can say for certain:
that
everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Jonathan will make that
confession in a few moments now. And we will rejoice. But we will not
rejoice that Jonathan is doing such a great thing, but rather in what the Holy
Spirit has done in him. We will rejoice that Jonathan has come to know that he
is a far greater sinner than he ever imagined! But that he has come to know
this, too: that he has a far greater Saviour than he
ever imagined as well. A Saviour
who baptized him and made him his own. A Saviour who absolves him. A Saviour who feeds him with His own Body and Blood.
The Holy Spirit has pointed Jonathan to Jesus and said: Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Who takes away your sin, Jonathan. And today, Jonathan
really will say just this: Amen. Truth.
So today we don’t rejoice
that Jonathan has memorized all his catechism: he hasn’t. And we don’t
rejoice that he knows all he needs to know: he doesn’t. We rejoice that
he has learned to say amen. Truth. That he is
baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. That he is a poor, miserable sinner. Amen. That I
forgive you all your sins is Jesus absolving him. Amen. This is
the Word of the Lord. Amen. This is My Body. Amen. This is My
Blood. Amen. Truth. All this is the Holy Spirit
giving you Jesus. Amen. Truth. Gift received.
And so true is this, so
sure is Jonathan’s amen, that he will stake his life on it. Twice,
in fact, he’ll say that - that he would rather suffer even death than fall away
from this truth. But he’ll say this, too: by the grace of God. That is, by
the gift of God. That is, by the Holy Spirit. Jonathan cannot make
that promise on the basis of the strength of his own faith, will power, or
determination. If so, he will fail when the insults are hurled his way. He will
fail when the threats come his way. He will fail if, one day, the cold steel of
an Isis knife is held against his throat. He can only say that because the Holy
Spirit has shown him and given him the one who is more powerful than death. The one who broke the power of death and the grave in His
resurrection. Because the Holy Spirit gives him Jesus.
He doesn’t have to cling to his life in this world because the Holy Spirit has
given him a life this world cannot take away. Because Jesus is clinging to
him! And to that Jonathan says, as we say: amen.
And
thus confirmation. Learning to say amen.
The Holy Spirit working amen in you. To confirm
with your mouth: this is the truth. For as was sung in the Gradual,
words from the apostle Paul: With the heart one believes and is
justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Even when that confession ends your earthly life. For you
confess the one who is more powerful than death and the grave. And whenever
that happens, it is a reason to rejoice.
And it is the reason we
rejoice on this day of Pentecost. For the reason the Holy Spirit was poured out
on the Church was not just to do cool and unusual signs, but for Peter
and the eleven to do what they did: to stand up and preach Jesus. To stand up and point to Jesus as the Lord through whom comes
salvation. That the Lord who worked in the Old Testament has now worked
through the cross. That the Lord who made promises in the Old Testament has now
fulfilled them in Jesus. That what Moses had wished for and Joel had prophesied
has now happened. It is finished. And that all those people who had
gathered in Jerusalem that day, from every nation under heaven
and speaking all those different languages, might believe and confess and say amen.
Truth. Jesus is Lord. For this gift is for all.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And that’s also why we’re
rejoicing as we bid Farewell and Godspeed to Neely and
Martha today. For Neely desires to stand up with Peter
and the eleven and preach Jesus as a pastor.
—————
Now, before I go on here,
I have to tell you that Neely and Martha aren’t here
today. We were planning on bidding them Farewell and Godspeed as this was going
to be their last Sunday with us before leaving for the Seminary. But God had
other plans. Instead of us bidding farewell to them, they bid farewell to
Martha’s mother, who passed away yesterday. So we’ll keep them in our thoughts
and prayers . . .
—————
So Neely
and Martha will leave this week for the Seminary, as Neely desires to stand up
with Peter and the eleven and preach Jesus as a pastor. But you don’t have to
be a pastor to proclaim Jesus. All Christians do that. You do that
whenever you speak Jesus at home, at school, at work, to your neighbors and
friends, or wherever you are. But Neely desires to do
this also now as a called and ordained servant of the Word. For
the Holy Spirit now to use him in this new way. That through the Word
preached and taught, to young and old, many more might say amen. Truth. Jesus is Lord.
So while we will miss him
and Martha, we rejoice also that the living water that has been
poured into their hearts by Jesus will also continue to flow out of their
hearts to others. For the Holy Spirit poured out upon you in Holy Baptism (Titus
3), satisfying your thirst for forgiveness and life, works not just in
you but also through you for others. For this river of living water is
no small trickle, but rather more like a tidal wave, working to drown the Old
Adam in you and raising to life a new man, a new woman, to live before God
in righteousness and purity forever. That you die and
rise with Christ to a life that starts now and will never end. That the amen you proclaim now you will proclaim forever.
Now before the Lord who is hidden; then before the Lord you will see.
So next week Neely is going to begin learning a new tongue: Greek. He’ll
begin ten weeks of intense study of that language, and probably not a few times
in those ten weeks he’ll wish the Holy Spirit would just come to him and give
him that language like on the first Pentecost. But as he plunges in and begins
to read the Scriptures in their original tongue, he will be blessed; the Holy
Spirit will be working in him; he will drink deeply of the living water of
Christ.
And yes, he will be filled
with new wine, as the amazed and perplexed and mocking
onlookers thought of the apostles that first Pentecost. But he won’t be
drunk, as they supposed. The new wine he is filled with is the same new
wine you are filled with here: not just the Spirit, but also the new wine, the
Gospel wine, you receive at this altar. The Blood of your Lord first shed on
the cross and now poured over your lips, which, as Jonathan has learned, is given
and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And that whoever believes
these words has exactly what they say. And he and you will say: Amen.
So consider what will
happen here today: a new confirmand, a new seminary student, a pastor and
people, visitors and members, a Church, gathered as one, gathered around font,
pulpit, and altar, to receive Christ, His life, and His forgiveness. That’s
what happened on that first Pentecost. That’s what this day is all about. And
that’s what will continue to happen as this day fades in our failing memories
and new days and new challenges rise to meet us. But Christ and the work of His
Spirit will remain. Christ and His Spirit will continue steadfast. Christ and
His Spirit will come to you and work in you to gather you to Himself
and keep you with Him. For this is His very work. For as Jonathan also learned:
I believe that I cannot
by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him;
but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts,
sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers,
enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it
with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and
richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He
will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers
in Christ. This is most certainly true (Small Catechism,
Explanation of the Third Article).
Or, instead of that last
sentence, simply this: AMEN! True. Gift received.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill
the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love (Introit).
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.