[Machine transcription]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, I haven’t yet gotten in the habit of giving titles to my sermons. When I read this text, I thought I’d be real smart and come up with something creative. And so I came up with, Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? But if you just do some quick Googling, you’ll see that this has been thought of before. It turns out that this is a common theme or a common question to ask, and not just, I think, for us Lutherans who are sometimes maybe often rightly accused of being hesitant to talk about the Holy Spirit. I think it actually happens among Christian denominations, and that’s because we try to make it be something from our own mind and not from the Word of God.
I think also that Luke’s account of the day of Pentecost may very well play a part in our hesitation and apprehension about talking about the Holy Spirit. I guess I kind of want to take a little bit of a different approach today with that epistle lesson because it’s easy to kind of get caught up in the drama of what’s going on with this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and even to draw ourselves into this debate about what Luke means by speaking in tongues, and then of course what this might mean for us individually.
I think we would be clear about this to say that by the power of the Spirit, the Apostles were actually speaking in known languages, albeit languages that were foreign to them. So they weren’t, in fact, babbling this incomprehensible language that only the Spirit could translate for a select few, and so I don’t think that should be lost on us. We also don’t know often what to make of this manifestation of the Holy Spirit because we get a little too focused on these outward signs that are going on, and we don’t focus enough maybe on the end of this text and what the Spirit actually accomplishes the day of Pentecost.
So we might ask ourselves, does the Holy Spirit still come in like this rushing mighty wind? Are tongues of fire and speaking in tongues proof that I have the Holy Spirit in me? What if you doubt that you even have the Holy Spirit at all? Is this feeling I’m getting the Holy Spirit? What does it mean if I don’t feel anything? How can I be sure? Well, thanks be to God that He does indeed give us assurance of the Holy Spirit because He’s given that promise to us in His Word, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is the fulfillment of that promise.
Now, I think there are some inherent dangers in our misunderstanding of what actually occurred on that day. In doing so, I think we find ourselves in one of at least two different camps. The first is that we look at that and we’ve decided that this is what the Holy Spirit has to look like if he’s going to come to me, and then that is how I’m going to receive some type of special gift. In thinking this way, we become prideful because we think that we are receiving the Spirit in a certain way, that we now have these special spiritual gifts.
So I think we find ourselves on what we could generally call the charismatic tradition, which says that while the Holy Spirit does indeed dwell in all believers, you have to work to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Maybe your Holy Spirit tank is three-quarters full, and that’s good but not good enough. To become filled with the Holy Spirit, you must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this baptism of fire, this second baptism apart from the one true baptism of the water and the Word.
This isn’t a physical fire like at Pentecost, but it’s a spiritual fire that consumes you. So it’s no coincidence that the symbol for most Pentecostal churches is a flame. Ideally, for the Pentecostal or the charismatic, this baptism of the Spirit manifests itself in some visible way, most often in one of these spiritual gifts that I mentioned. We’ve probably all seen these videos of, you know, I would call them extreme Pentecostal churches, where you see miraculous healings, the speaking in tongues, and yes, even handling venomous snakes.
Most of these instances are accompanied by loud raucous music, maybe shouting and screaming, and then we see what looks to appear as to be uncontrollable body movements. In that world, the ability to heal people, to speak in tongues, even to prophesy, and in extreme cases handle serpents, is this visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts given. This becomes proof that you are filled with the Holy Spirit. But what if that never happens?
Well, maybe you fall into despair because you don’t feel it. I don’t feel like I have the Spirit. We look at what happens on Pentecost and, like the Charismatics, we focus on that visible sign. No doubt, becoming the Holy Spirit that day was a sensory experience. It was physical—the sound of the wind, the flames, the babble of languages. But if we don’t experience these spiritual gifts through the baptism of the Spirit as the Charismatics claim, we must. The conclusion we too often reach is that God has then deemed us unworthy of receiving the Spirit.
Worse yet, we doubt the truth of God’s Word that He promises the Holy Spirit to us and that the Spirit has and does continue to come to us. So we willfully reject the Spirit that has indeed come, and we fall into unbelief. I think the second pitfall is the sense of insecurity that kind of comes with those who shrug off the Holy Spirit as something or someone ethereal, that it’s not something of substance. I really kind of think this is our danger—that the Spirit is then going to come to us and make us do something we don’t want to do.
We don’t want to ever lose control of our body, but we also have to understand that one of the fruits of the Spirit is actually self-control. So we confess the Trinity, but sometimes we don’t know what to make of it, and so we can take him or leave him, the Holy Spirit that is, especially if the activity on the day of Pentecost is what we’re going to get. We don’t need a Holy Spirit that is going to make a public display of His work.
When this expresses itself in what we would call enthusiasm, the person becomes vulnerable to ridicule, to being seen by others as some sort of religious zealot or fanatic. And what if that turns out to be me? So I wanted to explain by telling a story from my childhood. I remember I was a member of a very conservative, traditional Southern Baptist Church, and this lady had been visiting for several weeks. I think she made the mistake of sitting down in the middle section where all the older people sat, which meant that she couldn’t go unnoticed. It was hard to sit there and be inconspicuous.
One particular Sunday, I happened to be sitting there with my grandmother. I sat with my grandmother because she would bribe me to sit with her by putting sticks of gum in her Bible. A hymn was being sung, and everyone noticed that this lady had raised her hands and her arms, and I think maybe she was even starting to sway a little bit. Needless to say, she drew a little bit of attention to herself. I wondered what was wrong with her, and I’m sure everybody else did too. I’m pretty sure that she was the main topic of discussion at the lunch tables across town after that service.
The discussion was more like not, “What did you think of the pastor’s sermon?” but, “What did you think about the crazy lady?” I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the church gave her a good talking to—”We don’t do that here.” I imagine some, because I was probably one of them, thinking that, uh-oh, she might have the Holy Spirit in her, and if that’s what that looks like, I don’t want any part of it. I don’t want the Spirit to cause me to do something that makes me look like a fool.
Let’s be clear that this, I would call it animosity, works against piety as well. We have to know that there is a difference between being enthusiastic and enthusiasm, and there is a difference between piety and pietism. But that’s a topic for another sermon. The charismatic view is that the Holy Spirit brings chaos and randomness, and sometimes we unfortunately take in this view when we think the Spirit causes people to lose control.
We take this sensation of the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost to mean that the Spirit takes over certain people and becomes responsible for their actions. It gives those exceptional spiritual gifts that not everybody is privileged to receive. You may say, “But didn’t the Apostles—didn’t the Spirit cause them to lose control of their tongues?” Now we have to assume there was this great cacophony going on at Pentecost because some of the Apostles were said to be drunk. But why did these men assume the Apostles to be drunk?
The text tells us each one was hearing him speak in his own language, so surely these men knew what the Apostles were saying. My theory is they weren’t mocking the Apostles themselves; they were mocking the message that the Spirit had brought through them. This is why Peter stands and gives what some might regard as the first Christian sermon. He wanted to establish order and control. He goes directly at these supposed men of Judea, reminding them of what they’ve been taught by recounting the words of the Prophet Joel, and in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
That’s why we don’t place our attention solely on the physical manifestation of the Spirit, and we must not claim spiritual gifts that the Spirit does not give or despair when they don’t. Peter’s sermon shows us the true gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the gift of faith. The Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to preach the gospel of repentance, and the Holy Spirit worked that repentance in the hearts of over 3,000 who were baptized that day. That doesn’t sound to me like chaos. It sounds like comfort.
Indeed, we should consider the name that Jesus gives for the Holy Spirit. In John 14, He promises to send to the disciples the paraclete, the helper, the comforter who will wipe away their tears of grief, the advocate who promises to go to the Father on their behalf, the Spirit who does the same for us. So brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit brings order and peace, not chaos. When we see how the Scriptures describe the work of the Spirit, we see it is wonderful and calming and not frightening.
The Spirit is spoken by the prophets to reveal God’s will to all people. He gathers the nations and unites them in one tongue and one faith. He causes the gospel to be translated into every language and gives the power to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. He sanctifies us and makes us holy. He gives us the gifts of our vocations so that we may then in turn practice good works in love of our neighbor, not just for some but for all.
To claim our own unique gifts of the Spirit robs Him of the divine gift of faith which He gives to all who hear and believe the Word of God. That Word of God which we confessed just moments ago in the words of the Nicene Creed. We confess God the Father, who created all things. We confess God the Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who was crucified, died, buried, resurrected, and ascended for our salvation. And we confess God the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who has given us life, speaks to us through the Word, comes to us through one baptism for the remission of sins, calls and gathers the whole Christian Church throughout all eternity, who promises to raise us and all believers on the last day.
We spent the last few weeks in the season of Easter hearing from the gospel of St. John, and so today we ought to remember what Jesus said to the disciples about the Holy Spirit. That is, that the Spirit would teach them in all things and bring to the remembrance all He gave to them, that the Spirit would bear witness about Jesus, that the Spirit would guide them into all truth because the Spirit speaks with the authority of the Father and that the Spirit will bring the gospel to them, and then by and through them, He will send it throughout all the world to the glory of God the Father, just as He does for us. That’s the promise that was fulfilled on Pentecost.
So to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is simply to have God dwelling in us. Your tank is always full. The Spirit teaches us the Word and guides us in the truth. He comforts our hearts and minds in a world that is turned upside down. The power of the Spirit gives us the ability to live by the Word and yet live in this world that is turned upside down, and the Spirit then can produce the fruit in our lives to the glory of God the Father. The fruits of which St. Paul wrote: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and yes, self-control.
How blessed are we to have the Holy Spirit in our lives as our paraclete, our helper, our comforter, our advocate, that the Spirit calls us by the gospel, He enlightens us with His gift, He sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith. So don’t be afraid of the Holy Spirit. Instead, pray that the Father and the Son would send us the Spirit to rule our hearts and minds and bring us to faith in Christ for eternal salvation.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
