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The counterproductive sermon
Day of Pentecost
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New illustrations for 2008
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| David Kalas |
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This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Accordingly, our first reading is the familiar story of
Pentecost from chapter 2 of Acts. And, accompanying it, we have two other passages that
bring to light the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discusses the gifts of
the Spirit and in John 20, Jesus breathes on his disciples, saying, "Receive the Holy
Spirit."
It would be natural enough, therefore, for us to conclude that we should preach this week
about the Holy Spirit.
In so many of our churches, the Holy Spirit is the most unmentioned member of the
Trinity. Of course, in other churches, he may be talked about quite a lot, but that is
probably more the exception than the rule in church history.
For those church folks who grew up reciting the Apostles' Creed, the poverty of their
doctrine of the Holy Spirit is unsurprising, for the creed has almost nothing to say about
him. There is a grand opening statement about God the Father, and then a detailed
affirmation about God the Son. But God the Spirit? "I believe in the Holy Spirit"
endeavors to sum it all up.
The Nicene Creed does a somewhat better job of elucidating just what it is we believe
about the Holy Spirit, though it still comes up short in the face of the gaping void for so
many Christians in this area. Most of our hymnals and songbooks, too, do a better job of
explicitly instructing our people about the Father and the Son than they do about the
Spirit.
So it seems not only appropriate but necessary that we should preach this Sunday about
the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we will. And if we do, the selected lections will give us plenty of
material to consider, to exegete, and to proclaim....
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David Kalas
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