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This Week's Sermon THE DAY of PENTECOST 31 May 2009 "It's Still All About Jesus" John 15:26-27;16:4b-15 LSB Series B Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

The Day of Pentecost is the last Sunday in the festival half of the Church Year, which began last November 30 with Advent. Properly speaking that prelude to what we call Christmas is "The Advent of Our Lord." Jesus. And then there was The Nativity of Our Lord. Jesus. Then came another segment of that season, The Epiphany of Our Lord. Jesus again. Then came the Easter season with its six week preparation, Lent. Jesus and his suffering. Holy Week followed with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, his betrayal in the garden, his trials before the Jewish authorities and before Pilate, and the his crucifixion on Good Friday. It was all about Jesus. Then came the Great Vigil of Easter and the Resurrection of Our Lord. Again, all Jesus. A little over a week ago the faithful celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord. Again, Jesus. That brings us to Pentecost, the day of the sending of the Holy Spirit, but surprisingly, it really isn't all about the Holy Spirit. "It's Still All About Jesus."

During Holy Week Jesus was preparing his disciples for the time when he would no longer be with them according to his earthly presence. He warned them of the hatred of the world [last Sunday's Holy Gospel] and of the necessity of listening to his words, which is the Truth. In spite of his Ascension to the right hand of the Father, Christians would not be abandoned. This is the way Jesus said it:

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:18, ESV)

It is Jesus' coming to us in a new way that the Day of Pentecost is about. It is all about the coming of Jesus through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to our world in a new a different way than his first coming in the flesh. Jesus still comes to you in his flesh, but it is of a different sort. He comes to you in his glorified flesh which is always accompanied by his Word. This Word is the word that the Holy Spirit speaks. In this, the whole Holy Trinity cooperates and works together. Jesus says here:

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." (John 15:26, ESV)

Pentecost, then, is still about Jesus. Why? Because only Jesus is the Savior. Only Jesus has redeemed you from sin, death, and hell. Only Jesus has died, risen, and ascended for you. Everything depends on your being attached to this Christ. There is no other way.

Everything that Jesus speaks he has received from his Father [John 14.24]. Jesus made it clear to all that he was not making things up on his own, but repeating what the Father in heaven gave him to say. These words which come from the Father and the Son together are now spoken by God the Holy Spirit. His work is to help Christians learn and remember the things that Jesus has said to them [John 14.26].

The Holy Spirit does not make up new stuff. Pentecostals and those who follow them seem to think that God the Holy Spirit is constantly making up new things to say, but he is not. He is still speaking about Jesus and his work of redeeming the world. That's the Holy Spirit's work.

You may have noticed that the Holy Gospel seems to have a gap in it today, that there are some verses which were omitted. I'm a context guy because lifting things out of context usually causes errors. I'm not saying that this is the case here with this Gospel reading, but the left out verses actually help us understand better. Let me read them to you.

"I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you." (John 16:1-4, ESV)

Once you hear those words you begin to understand why Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "Paraclete," a term that we have translated into English as "the Helper." When you hear those words of Jesus you start to understand why you need the Holy Spirit! Life as a Christian is not going to be easy. There are sometimes persecutions and even death involved! You and I can't manage these things on our own, so the Father and Christ together send us the Holy Spirit to be with us and in us.

Recall the words we heard from Jesus last week:

"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." (John 17:14, ESV)

So, you need the Holy Spirit to comfort you and assure you that you belong to God when you are afraid, discouraged, miserable, forsaken by other people, and even by your own heart. Where there is sorrow and affliction among Christians, there you will find the Holy Spirit, the Comforter with his Word.

When the Holy Spirit comforts you, he does it in no other way than by witnessing to Jesus and picturing him to you with a human heart. He brings Christ to you. He reminds you of Jesus' words. He "speaks" Jesus to you again and again. He brings you what Christ has earned for you: forgiveness, life, and salvation.

His work is to preach repentance and forgiveness, "convict[ing] the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" [John 16.8]. He speaks into your ears and hearts the word that condemns your sin. He reminds you that sin brings death and separation from God forever, but he also brings you the comfort of Christ. He brings what Christ has earned by his innocent life, death, and resurrection, and makes it yours.

What a wonderful thing that this day God the Holy Spirit has done exactly that in little Allie. She was baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. All her sins were washed away and she became God's child. All of this happened because of Christ's work. It is the result of his work in suffering and dying for the world. And now God the Holy Spirit takes all of this work of Christ and distributes it freely to all. "It's Still All About Jesus!" All true Christian baptisms take place "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The Triune God acts in unison for you!

We should say something of the life she faces, as do all of you. We hear the Pentecostals talk of living what they like to call "the victorious life." We Lutherans would never deny that Christians live the victorious life, but it doesn't take the shape that others like to give it. They like to say that a true Christian never experiences trial and tribulation in life, or if he does, he is never defeated by it. That simply is not true. If you have never succumbed to trial and temptation, if you have never been discouraged or experienced defeat, then you are a hypocrite and a liar. Living victoriously is not living a life without trouble as most Pentecostals think; rather it is living in the life of Christ. It is living the baptismal life, the life under the cross. When Allie was baptized this morning she was signed with the holy cross, not only to mark her as one redeemed by Christ, but also to remind us that the Christian lives her life after the pattern of Jesus. It is every bit a life under the cross.

You, too, have been baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. That means that the life of the baptized Christian is filled with repentance and forgiveness. It is what Luther calls the daily drowning of the Old Adam by repentance and the emerging of the New Man through faith in Christ. Sometimes we call it "confession and absolution." It is returning every day to the cleansing that God the Holy Spirit provides in Holy Baptism.

Did you ever notice that the confession, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins" is not under the Second Article of the Creed? Nope. It's under the Third Article, the confession about God the Holy Spirit. In the baptismal creed it stands there very simply. In the Nicene Creed it connects it a bit more closely with God the Holy Spirit:

"And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins . . ."

"The Holy Spirit . . .Holy Christian Church . . Baptism for forgiveness . . . the resurrection of the dead . . . the life of the world to come." All of this is from Christ himself because he has won all this for us by his life and death. All that God himself has spoken through Jesus the Holy Spirit records and brings to your ears. He brings the body and blood of Jesus to you in the Holy Supper. All of this God the Holy Spirit brings to you because he is sent by the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit "speaks" Jesus. He does not speak some strange, alien language; he speaks to you about Jesus.

Whenever you hear about God the Holy Spirit you should be hearing about Jesus. The Holy Spirit's Word is the word about Jesus. The content of the Day of Pentecost is Christ. "It's Still All About Jesus."