Video of the Divine Service is here. The sermon begins around the 24:50 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Try to carry the wind. Try to hold on to fire. Try to gather words into your hands. Sometimes it can seem just that difficult to understand the Holy Spirit, and what the Holy Spirit is doing. The Holy Spirit seems like the least tangible Person of the Holy Trinity.

And so people get “interesting” ideas about the Holy Spirit. There are those Christians who are named by this day, who claim that the Spirit causes people to speak in languages that are not related to any people or nation on earth. But it is clear here, on the actual Pentecost, that every word that is spoken is spoken to be understood by the people listening. In fact, besides “tongues” the other word used for languages is where we get our English word “dialect.” It is clearly and without any doubt a word for languages of a region or nation. The people specifically mention that these Galileans are speaking the languages into which they were born, so that they hear in their own languages the mighty works of God in Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, there are people who will claim that the Holy Spirit is doing something new or different from what He did in the past. Usually, it matches very closely what they think should be happening. Whenever the church is doing what they think it should do, the Spirit must be at work. But the Holy Spirit never acts independently of the Father and the Son. Jesus says that the Spirit speaks what He hears from the Son, and the Son speaks what He hears from the Father. One word, one salvation, one Gospel proclaimed in the world by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that the Spirit will bring to the Apostles’ remembrance everything He said. So if someone claims that the Holy Spirit is saying something new or different from the words of Jesus through His Apostles and Prophets, then it is not the Holy Spirit. This is why John says to test the spirits. And if anyone denies that the Son has come in the flesh, it is most certainly not the Holy Spirit speaking.

So what then? How can we know where the Holy Spirit is working and active, and what the Spirit is doing? If we hear the Scriptures, it is not so difficult. Even though Jesus says that we cannot determine where and how the Holy Spirit works, we can know that the Holy Spirit is working, because we hear His voice; that is, we hear the words of Jesus, which the Spirit is causing to be proclaimed, and then we can know the Spirit is working, even if we cannot see or touch Him. The Spirit is poured out on the Apostles and those with them on this Pentecost day, and what happens? They proclaim Jesus, crucified and resurrected for their hearers, that He is the one whom God has sent into the world to gather His people together—not by nation or language, but by the Gospel. And when this is proclaimed, the people say what shall we do? And Peter says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism and the Spirit go together. In his letter to Titus, Paul says, “When the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works that we had done in our own righteousness, but He saved us in His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we would be justified by His grace and be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The Spirit is poured out on all flesh in the washing of regeneration and renewal. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters at the creation of all things, so the Spirit is over the water at the recreation of a new creature in baptism. The Spirit is poured out on all flesh! The Spirit has been given to you, baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is your salvation, to have this washing, to have this Spirit and this Jesus and this God. This is God’s mercy to you.

When the people saw all these things happening, they said, “What does this mean?” which is a question familiar to most Lutherans. It runs throughout the Small Catechism. What does it mean that we say “I believe in the Holy Spirit”? It means that you and I cannot by our own reason and our own strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord, or come to Him. So the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel. The Holy Spirit called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts of Baptism, Absolution, Supper; sanctified you—made you holy—and keeps you in this one, true faith, just as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth. And within this Church of baptized believers that He gathers, He daily and richly forgives your sins and the sins of all believers. Where does this rich, daily forgiveness lead? It leads to the day when He will raise up you and all the dead, and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

This is the Spirit’s work, to give you the new birth into the Church, and keep you in the Church until you die and are raised from the dead on the last day. He creates in you a living faith in God through Jesus Christ, and a living and active love toward your neighbor. Of course, we have faith now in the darkness. We have faith, because we cannot yet see. But the Spirit continues to renew and refresh our faith in Christ each day. And the day is coming when the Spirit will take that faith that He has given and turn it into sight. And of course, our love now is halting, faltering, weak, and often failing. But the Spirit continues to renew and refresh our love for one another. And the day is coming when He will transform our weak and faltering love into perfect love in the light of Christ.

No, we cannot carry wind, or hold fire, or gather words in our hands. And we often want something spectacular like earthquakes, rushing winds, tongues of fire we can see. But recall Elijah on the mountain and realize that Yahweh was not in the earthquake, or the wind, or the fire. Then a voice came; then Elijah heard words. The Spirit is not in the wind, or the tongues of fire, or the shaking house. He is in the voice, in the words, in the bold proclamation of Jesus for the sake of your salvation. And He is in your bold prophecy of Jesus. The Spirit has been poured out on all baptized and believing flesh. So all prophesy—that is, all speak forth the words of Jesus in love for the neighbor. All bear witness according to their own God-given vocations. All speak boldly. And so it will continue to go until the Spirit finishes the work He began in each one of us, and brings us from our baptism to the resurrection, from faith to sight, from hope to the fulfillment of that hope. And everyone whom the Spirit brings to faith by the Word will call on the Name of the Lord and be saved.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen.

– Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 5/26/23