The Ember Wednesday after Pentecost

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

On Sunday, we celebrated the Day of Pentecost, when fifty days after Christ’s resurrection and ten days after His Ascension the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and anointed them to bring the Gospel to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. On that day, the Holy Spirit granted the Apostles the ability to speak in other languages, so that the Jews who had journeyed to Jerusalem from the ends of the earth to celebrate the Feast of Weeks would hear the Gospel in their own native languages. In today’s first reading, we heard what happens next, namely that St. Peter preaches to the crowd and shows them how this coming of the Holy Spirit was a crucial part of the fulfillment of the events of the last days.

The majority of today’s first reading is simply a quotation from the prophet Joel. This prophecy is introduced with the words:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh (Acts 2:17a).

We often think of the “last days” as something distant—something yet to come. And yet, this prophecy makes it clear that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which began on Pentecost, is a part of the events of the last days. In fact, the last days were inaugurated by Christ Himself. His Passion, death, and resurrection began the “last days.” It should be no surprise to us, then, that events which are typically considered “apocalyptic” are closely associated with Christ. Consider, for example, the “wonders in the heaven above” mentioned by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:19) and think of the “Christmas Star” which guided the Magi to the baby Jesus. Or, consider how the prophet says: “The sun shall be turned into darkness” (Acts 2:20) and think of the darkness which was upon the face of the earth while our Lord was on the cross (cf. Matthew 27:45). Then, of course, there is the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which the prophet explicitly connects to the last days, as we have said.

But the most important thing that the prophet associates with the last days is this:

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

These words of the prophet tell us that the last days grant that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But is this any different than before the inauguration of the last days? Yes and no. Let us therefore consider how: The last days both have and have not changed salvation for humanity.

But before we can consider how things both have and have not changed, we must be clear about what salvation is. At the beginning of today’s Gospel text, our Lord says this about salvation:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

These words make clear two important aspects of salvation. First, God is the initiator of salvation. And second, salvation is through Christ alone. These two truths are at the heart of an important Lutheran distinction in the doctrine of salvation. Salvation consists of both justification and sanctification.

Justification is the foundation of our salvation. This is the doctrine by which we speak of Christ’s cross and empty tomb “justifying us” or “making us righteous” before the Father. In the realm of justification, God does everything. Christ atones for our sins and justifies us before the Father by virtue of His suffering, death, and resurrection. God the Father declares us righteous on account of Christ. And the Holy Spirit delivers the message of justification to sinners like you and me through the Means of Grace. In the realm of justification, our only work is to receive the gifts of God by faith. For faith is that which receives the gifts of God. And it is God’s work alone that justifies us.

Sanctification, then, is the result of justification. The word sanctification comes from the Latin, sanctus, or holy. But contrary to popular belief, sanctification is not the process of being made holy—that happens through justification. Sanctification is the process of learning to live holy lives consistent with the holiness we have received. Sanctification is, in the words of the Book of Concord, “the new obedience” (cf. Augsburg Confession, Article VI). For sanctification requires active participation on the part of the individual. Sanctification is the “walking in the Spirit” of which the Apostle writes when He discusses the “Fruit of the Spirit” (cf. Galatians 5:16-26). And so, our actions matter. Our actions can even directly impact our faith and our ability to continue in the justification we have from God. But still, justification and sanctification must be distinguished.

But the point of this distinction is exactly what Christ says in today’s Gospel. God is the initiator of salvation. He is the one who justifies us freely on account of Christ—not by works, let anyone should boast (cf. Ephesians 2:1-10). And the Holy Spirit, in particular, is the one who enables us to live sanctified lives. We cooperate with His initiation. And, of course, this is all by virtue of Christ. He has atoned for our sins. He has justified us before the Father. He has sent His Spirit to bring us to faith and to enable us to live justified and sanctified lives. And by His Spirit, He will raise us to new life on the last day (cf. John 6:44b).

This is how salvation works. But has anything changed in the last days? The prophet said:

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

St. Peter’s words might make it sound like this is something new in these last days. So, is it new? Is there anything different about the last days which enables whoever calls upon the name of the Lord to be saved? As we have said, the answer is both yes and no.

Let’s begin with the “no.” In one sense, salvation is no different now than it was beginning in Genesis chapter 3. Even there in Eden, long before the Incarnation of Christ, Adam and Eve were saved by faith in the Coming One. Their sin had put them at odds with God. And yet, He made them a promise: The Seed of the Woman would one day come to crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Salvation has always been by faith in Christ. Old Testament believers had faith in the One who was to come. New Testament believers have faith in the One who has already come.

And likewise, the “whoever” hasn’t really changed either. Many people believe that in the Old Testament, salvation was reserved only for the Jews. But this simply is not true. Remember that there is a lot of history before Jacob and his sons came on the scene. Faith in the Lord God was not isolated to a particular family. For example, Job was not a Hebrew, and yet his faith in God made him blameless and upright before Him (cf. Job 1:1). Melchizedek lived among the Canaanites, and yet he was “priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18), implying that there were others in his city who believed. Jethro the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, demonstrates a fear and worship of the Lord God (cf. Exodus 18:9-12). And then, famously, there are Rahab the Canaanite prostitute and Ruth the Moabitess, both of whom were brought into the people of Israel. Salvation was never exclusive to the Jews. And yet, there is a sense in which things did change in these last days.

Of course, the big change in these “last days” is the coming of Christ. Faith is no longer looking forward to the coming Messiah. Our New Testament faith is grounded in historical fact. Christ has come. He has accomplished all things needful for your salvation. He has sent His Holy Spirit to both work and sustain faith in you through the Means of Grace. There is a sense in which the last days have changed everything because we have the fullness of the Gospel. There is nothing left to be fulfilled except the final coming of Christ and the inauguration of the New Creation. We, who live in these last days, have it far better than the generations before Christ because we have the fullness of Christ, and we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. When Christ says that He is “the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:51), we know that this is the bread which He gives us in the Lord’s Supper. For in these last days following Pentecost, Christ has given Himself to us fully. Thanks be to God!

In Jesus’ name. Amen.