The Season of the Spirit
Sermon
THE CHALLENGE OF GOD'S HARVEST
Some of you who are over thirty may have had the pleasure, as I did, to grow up on a farm. Rural living and country life was a happy time for me. But summertime on the farm was always the big season of work. Here in the city we tend to relax a little more during summer. We try to take a vacation trip. We go out of town on weekends every chance we get. Young people spend a lot of time at the neighborhood swimming pool. But summer on the farm is the season of work.
In similar fashion, that's the way it is for you and me as Christians who follow the liturgical church year. These summer months are going to comprise our season of work! For you see, today, Pentecost Sunday, is the beginning of what we might call "The Season of the Spirit." All the festivals celebrating the main events in the life of Jesus end today. From now until about next December first it's going to be a time for us to discover in worship all the implications of what it means to be a Christian and to live like one. The Holy Spirit of Pentecost is given to you and me so that we can live God's life, so that Jesus and his life can be alive and working in us. The farmers are about to have their long, hot summer of work. So today let's you and I begin this season of working at being Christians. Today let's begin THE SEASON OF THE SPIRIT.
We begin, not by saying everything in one sermon of what it means to be a Christian. We couldn't possibly do that. Today we begin by getting a good idea about the Holy Spirit and what he means for our lives. Who is the Holy Spirit we Christians bank upon so much for living out our Christian lives? The Bible readings today all tell us a lot about the Spirit. Our text in Acts says that the disciples "were all filled with the Holy Spirit." The traditional words of the Nicene Creed give us a commentary on these Pentecost Sunday Bible readings. The Creed puts it so beautifully and clearly. It gives us these three main facts about the Spirit. First, he is the Lord and giver of life. Second, the Holy Spirit proceeds (or comes to us) from the Father and the Son. Finally, the Spirit speaks through the prophets, in times past and also today. Let us look at these three points more closely.
I.
The first claim about the Spirit here is dramatic and confronting. He is the Lord and giver of life. Perk up your ears, friends! Hear that again. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life. We're speaking here about quality life, of course, not quantity. The Holy Spirit's the one who brings us quality living.
We twentieth century folk, especially we Americans, are the lords and givers of quantity life, that's for sure. What a layout we have provided for ourselves. The comfortable, affluent, middle-class American sitting in these church pews this morning is the perfect example of how fully and successfully we have produced and distributed "the quantity life." As far as sheer over-abundance goes, things have never been better.
But if we are lords and givers of quantity life, I don't think the same can be said about the quality of our lives. If anything seems to be making itself more clear as the months roll by in this country it is that quality is going out of our lives as Americans. You will remember the Old Testament story about God's people in the wilderness. They grew tired of divine leadership under God's servant, Moses. They began to ease their soulful fatigue by emphasizing the material. They brought gold and silver and jewels and made for themselves the sparkling effigy of a calf. They danced around it. They did homage to it. They worshipped it.
In a sense we have done the same. We have grown tired of the alleged slow pace of divine leadership and guidance. We have turned our backs on quality living. We have given our chief attention and energy to the quantity of life. In the process it seems that we as a nation and creative society are being kicked to death by the golden calf we have fashioned for ourselves. We have a corporate case of the litters. There are presidential commissions charged with restoring quality to life in these United States.
Not too long ago a college professor made a well-known speech on the topic, "Generation Without a Future." In it he pointed out that many young people today have a deep suspicion that they will never grow up because there are too many forces at work which spell destruction. A half-million young people at Woodstock sing with enthusiasm, "We're All Gonna Die!" The poverty level in America is at its worst in the unseen ghettos of human spiritual failure. The malady is now pretty obvious. Our lives lack meaning.
So all around us there are those who are making themselves out to be the more superior lords and givers of life. The various ideologies of our time all claim to restore a quality life. Communism, conservatism and liberalism, Protestants and Catholics, Maoism and Marxism, the Playboy philosophy and puritan ethic, not to mention the ideologies of Ayn Rand, the John Birch Society, the K.K.K., the S.D.S., the A.D.A., the New Left, the Panthers, and sometimes our own Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
Amid all these desperate attempts to be heard and followed, there breaks upon our ear this majestic witness of our Creed: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life." The Holy Spirit, we believe, is the giver of life, and we might add, the giver of quality life! "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit," says our Bible text about the disciples that first Pentecost Day. They were all filled with a new and quality-type life, we might say. It was a rich, concentrated type of life that they now experienced under God's Holy Spirit. A new spirited existence overtook them.
II.
But what exactly was this spirited existence, this new quality life? Who can say? What's quality for one may not be quality for another. Where do we look for authentic, quality life? Well, the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life in this sense that he always directs us to that which is the quality life - or shall I say, to him who is the sum of quality life, Jesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed, you will remember, we say, "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son." That is to say, the Holy Spirit always points us to Jesus, who in turn always shows us the Father.
Jesus said, "Whoever sees me, sees the Father." And Jesus also said, "I have come so that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly." The word "abundantly" here does not refer to quantity, that's for sure. Just having lots of things and comforts and a long life? No, that's not the Spirit-given life at all. But abundance within is. Some people can pack more life into one day than others can manage to eke out of a whole week or month. They live quality lives. They live the life the Spirit gives.
The life of quality is the life of Jesus Christ. His was truly the abundant life. What quality there was in his living! Every minute of it was filled with meaning. Every day of it was given over to the purposeful service of others. Every week of it was lived under the thrilling awareness that the heavenly Father was holding and shepherding him.
And the cross of Jesus? Was that quality living? Yes, it was quality living, and more importantly, it was quality dying - a death in service and love to all mankind, death to serve the Father's greatest mission: man's salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Quality dying it was, for in the hour of death Jesus confidently proclaimed, "Father, into your hands I now give my spirit." Christian friends, the Holy Spirit wants to give you that kind of quality living and dying. The Holy Spirit wants to lead you to Jesus Christ, and thus show you that he really is the Lord and giver of life. The season of the Spirit is an on-going life of living under God's forgiveness, knowing that Christ has died and paid for all our sins, and then turning the focus of our lives outward in loving service to all people. The disciples were all filled with that Spirit and we pray today that as we hear the message of the Cross the same Spirit would proceed into our hearts.
III.
In the Nicene Creed we note this final statement about the Spirit. It says, "The Holy Spirit spake by the prophets." To many people the Holy Spirit is a mystery, a vague personality better left to the theologians. But to all who confess the Creed the Spirit is a vital entity. This word of the Creed takes the mystery out of it. The Spirit "spake by the prophets." This is a simple way of saying that God and his Spirit come to us not in mysterious, religious, hard-to-grasp ways. The Spirit comes through prophets - through people, through human beings entrusted with the message of life. God once spoke through the prophets. Today he calls you and me through other men and women of clay. The feature of these servants of the Lord is not that they are without error or infallible. Their claims are authentic, rather, because the Spirit has filled them and they cannot help but speak the things they have seen and heard about Jesus Christ. Hear the Word of the Lord - through ordinary Christians everywhere.
Throughout this "season of the Spirit" be listening for God's voice and then expect his action in your life. God has no formal office hours, nor is his Spirit bound to these walls. So when the Spirit comes, whenever and wherever that may be, watch out! He comes not merely to soothe us with religious feelings. When he comes he calls us to work, to do, to live quality lives, to be the people of Christ. It is this work and this glorious Christian living that we now want to dwell on for the next months in our worship during this season of the Spirit!
In similar fashion, that's the way it is for you and me as Christians who follow the liturgical church year. These summer months are going to comprise our season of work! For you see, today, Pentecost Sunday, is the beginning of what we might call "The Season of the Spirit." All the festivals celebrating the main events in the life of Jesus end today. From now until about next December first it's going to be a time for us to discover in worship all the implications of what it means to be a Christian and to live like one. The Holy Spirit of Pentecost is given to you and me so that we can live God's life, so that Jesus and his life can be alive and working in us. The farmers are about to have their long, hot summer of work. So today let's you and I begin this season of working at being Christians. Today let's begin THE SEASON OF THE SPIRIT.
We begin, not by saying everything in one sermon of what it means to be a Christian. We couldn't possibly do that. Today we begin by getting a good idea about the Holy Spirit and what he means for our lives. Who is the Holy Spirit we Christians bank upon so much for living out our Christian lives? The Bible readings today all tell us a lot about the Spirit. Our text in Acts says that the disciples "were all filled with the Holy Spirit." The traditional words of the Nicene Creed give us a commentary on these Pentecost Sunday Bible readings. The Creed puts it so beautifully and clearly. It gives us these three main facts about the Spirit. First, he is the Lord and giver of life. Second, the Holy Spirit proceeds (or comes to us) from the Father and the Son. Finally, the Spirit speaks through the prophets, in times past and also today. Let us look at these three points more closely.
I.
The first claim about the Spirit here is dramatic and confronting. He is the Lord and giver of life. Perk up your ears, friends! Hear that again. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life. We're speaking here about quality life, of course, not quantity. The Holy Spirit's the one who brings us quality living.
We twentieth century folk, especially we Americans, are the lords and givers of quantity life, that's for sure. What a layout we have provided for ourselves. The comfortable, affluent, middle-class American sitting in these church pews this morning is the perfect example of how fully and successfully we have produced and distributed "the quantity life." As far as sheer over-abundance goes, things have never been better.
But if we are lords and givers of quantity life, I don't think the same can be said about the quality of our lives. If anything seems to be making itself more clear as the months roll by in this country it is that quality is going out of our lives as Americans. You will remember the Old Testament story about God's people in the wilderness. They grew tired of divine leadership under God's servant, Moses. They began to ease their soulful fatigue by emphasizing the material. They brought gold and silver and jewels and made for themselves the sparkling effigy of a calf. They danced around it. They did homage to it. They worshipped it.
In a sense we have done the same. We have grown tired of the alleged slow pace of divine leadership and guidance. We have turned our backs on quality living. We have given our chief attention and energy to the quantity of life. In the process it seems that we as a nation and creative society are being kicked to death by the golden calf we have fashioned for ourselves. We have a corporate case of the litters. There are presidential commissions charged with restoring quality to life in these United States.
Not too long ago a college professor made a well-known speech on the topic, "Generation Without a Future." In it he pointed out that many young people today have a deep suspicion that they will never grow up because there are too many forces at work which spell destruction. A half-million young people at Woodstock sing with enthusiasm, "We're All Gonna Die!" The poverty level in America is at its worst in the unseen ghettos of human spiritual failure. The malady is now pretty obvious. Our lives lack meaning.
So all around us there are those who are making themselves out to be the more superior lords and givers of life. The various ideologies of our time all claim to restore a quality life. Communism, conservatism and liberalism, Protestants and Catholics, Maoism and Marxism, the Playboy philosophy and puritan ethic, not to mention the ideologies of Ayn Rand, the John Birch Society, the K.K.K., the S.D.S., the A.D.A., the New Left, the Panthers, and sometimes our own Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
Amid all these desperate attempts to be heard and followed, there breaks upon our ear this majestic witness of our Creed: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life." The Holy Spirit, we believe, is the giver of life, and we might add, the giver of quality life! "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit," says our Bible text about the disciples that first Pentecost Day. They were all filled with a new and quality-type life, we might say. It was a rich, concentrated type of life that they now experienced under God's Holy Spirit. A new spirited existence overtook them.
II.
But what exactly was this spirited existence, this new quality life? Who can say? What's quality for one may not be quality for another. Where do we look for authentic, quality life? Well, the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life in this sense that he always directs us to that which is the quality life - or shall I say, to him who is the sum of quality life, Jesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed, you will remember, we say, "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son." That is to say, the Holy Spirit always points us to Jesus, who in turn always shows us the Father.
Jesus said, "Whoever sees me, sees the Father." And Jesus also said, "I have come so that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly." The word "abundantly" here does not refer to quantity, that's for sure. Just having lots of things and comforts and a long life? No, that's not the Spirit-given life at all. But abundance within is. Some people can pack more life into one day than others can manage to eke out of a whole week or month. They live quality lives. They live the life the Spirit gives.
The life of quality is the life of Jesus Christ. His was truly the abundant life. What quality there was in his living! Every minute of it was filled with meaning. Every day of it was given over to the purposeful service of others. Every week of it was lived under the thrilling awareness that the heavenly Father was holding and shepherding him.
And the cross of Jesus? Was that quality living? Yes, it was quality living, and more importantly, it was quality dying - a death in service and love to all mankind, death to serve the Father's greatest mission: man's salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Quality dying it was, for in the hour of death Jesus confidently proclaimed, "Father, into your hands I now give my spirit." Christian friends, the Holy Spirit wants to give you that kind of quality living and dying. The Holy Spirit wants to lead you to Jesus Christ, and thus show you that he really is the Lord and giver of life. The season of the Spirit is an on-going life of living under God's forgiveness, knowing that Christ has died and paid for all our sins, and then turning the focus of our lives outward in loving service to all people. The disciples were all filled with that Spirit and we pray today that as we hear the message of the Cross the same Spirit would proceed into our hearts.
III.
In the Nicene Creed we note this final statement about the Spirit. It says, "The Holy Spirit spake by the prophets." To many people the Holy Spirit is a mystery, a vague personality better left to the theologians. But to all who confess the Creed the Spirit is a vital entity. This word of the Creed takes the mystery out of it. The Spirit "spake by the prophets." This is a simple way of saying that God and his Spirit come to us not in mysterious, religious, hard-to-grasp ways. The Spirit comes through prophets - through people, through human beings entrusted with the message of life. God once spoke through the prophets. Today he calls you and me through other men and women of clay. The feature of these servants of the Lord is not that they are without error or infallible. Their claims are authentic, rather, because the Spirit has filled them and they cannot help but speak the things they have seen and heard about Jesus Christ. Hear the Word of the Lord - through ordinary Christians everywhere.
Throughout this "season of the Spirit" be listening for God's voice and then expect his action in your life. God has no formal office hours, nor is his Spirit bound to these walls. So when the Spirit comes, whenever and wherever that may be, watch out! He comes not merely to soothe us with religious feelings. When he comes he calls us to work, to do, to live quality lives, to be the people of Christ. It is this work and this glorious Christian living that we now want to dwell on for the next months in our worship during this season of the Spirit!
