John 15 26-27, 16 4-11
Pentecost
John 15:26-27, 16:4b-11
May 30, 2004
“Convicted by the Truth”
CPR
Introduction: Many years ago, when I was in seventh or eight grades, I first watched an artist work with a lump of clay and turn it into a beautiful piece of art. The artist took a damp lump of clay in her hands, placed it on a round wooden block that spun as she worked the clay. It didn’t take long for that ugly, gray mass to be shaped into a beautiful vase. She put it in a kiln, a large oven. After baking it she took it out of the oven and poured a glaze substance over it and placed it back in the heated furnace. Several hours later I watched her take the vase out. It was graceful and shiny and solid, ready for use in one’s home. The sculptor’s work brought forth a beautiful piece of art to serve a useful purpose—to supply beauty to the eye and to hold an array of flowers for enjoyment.
Today is Pentecost. This is the day we celebrate the work of God’s Holy Spirit, who comes into our lives like a master sculptor and fashions us poor, lost sinners into the people of God—people with a wonderful purpose to fulfill in this life!
In the Jewish calendar Pentecost was sometimes called “the Feast of Weeks.” At Passover the first fruits of the barley harvest were offered. Pentecost means “50 days” and referred to the number of days after the offering of the barley sheaf at the beginning of Passover. Pentecost was observed as a celebration of thanksgiving to mark the completion of the barley harvest. It seems fitting that this day was chosen by the Lord to bring in the first fruits of the apostolic harvest, a day in which the Lord added three thousand new converts to his infant church. Our Lord Jesus sent His Spirit into the world, to His Church, to continue His work of salvation. What is the work that the Holy Spirit comes to do? Our gospel lesson tells us that He comes to testify about Jesus, to guide His disciples, and He comes to convict us about the truth of our sin and the truth of our Savior.
I. The Holy Spirit comes to testify about Jesus.
He is the bearer of the truth about Jesus. The Good News about Jesus, who he is and what he has done for us, this always remains the central focus of the Holy Spirit. This, in turn, becomes our central focus. As Christians we have no identity or life outside of the new life that has been given to us through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. He brings this truth about Jesus into our hearts, by the Spirit’s power we trust in Jesus as our Savior. Then the Holy Spirit aids us to bear witness to him in our world. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
II. The Holy Spirit comes to guide Christ’s disciples.
A. Until the Day of our Lord’s Ascension, Jesus had been the counselor to his disciples. Now he would be leaving them to return to the Father. He would not leave them as orphans, but would send the Spirit. Pentecost is a reminder to Christians that we have the Holy Spirit to aid us in our Christian walk and life. The Spirit is given as a gift in our Baptism. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you . . . for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39). The Holy Spirit comes not as He did on the first disciples and apostles, with flames of fire and the rush of a mighty wind, but through the read, spoken, or preached Word of God, and through the Sacraments as St. Paul preached Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ and Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the means of grace to comfort us with the assurance that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake (Lk 24:47). He works through the means of grace to increase our faith, our hope, and our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for all people in this world. As Paul wrote to the Church1 Thess 2:13) “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
III. The Holy Spirit comes to convict all people, of both guilt and righteousness.
First, the Holy Spirit convicts in regard to their sin and guilt. This happens as the Law is preached. Through the preaching of the Law we come to know and are convicted by our sins. Because of them we deserve to be eternally sentenced to hell, eternal separation from God. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Rom 3:20). Thus the Holy Spirit works through the Law of God. Once convicted of our sin the Holy Spirit points to the only one in whom there is forgiveness. The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus. Its as if we, after being convicted of terrible crimes, stand in the execution chamber. David Burford, in the May issue of the Lutheran Witness describes it this way, “Jesus is the telephone call in the execution chamber that halts the execution, releases the prisoner, and expunges all records. Jesus is the Court of last resort. Jesus is my only hope. It is the realization that without Jesus I haven’t got a prayer.” Then He asks this question, “What does Jesus mean to you?” The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus and points us to a righteousness outside of ourselves. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit shows the need for Christ’s righteousness. All of man’s righteousness is “as filthy rags” in God’s sight. To stand before our holy God, we need a perfect righteousness. That has been provided for us. God credits the righteousness of Christ to all those who trust the Gospel (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 4:5). This righteousness is given to all who trust in Christ’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins. Finally the Holy Spirit gives us the conviction that Satan has truly been defeated. The one who stood before God and tried to accused Job of faithlessness, the one that tries to point the accusing finger at you, reminding you of all the times you have failed God, the one who would try to take our sin off of Christ and place it back upon our shoulders, he has been defeated. Satan’s defeat was brought about by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Martin Luther wrote: “Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill, They shall not overpow’r us. This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none, He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him” (LW 298:3). That word is a name and the name is Jesus. It is the name at which every knee shall bow in heaven, in hell, and on earth.
Conclusion: The Spirit is still very much at work in our world. Sometimes we become discouraged because we think we don’t see sufficient evidence of his witness to Jesus, his encouragement to his present-day disciples, or his convicting power. At times we would like a little fire works like tongues of fire hanging over our heads, hearing the rushing wind and speaking in exotic languages. Certainly this would be helpful on a mission trip to Thailand. Yet, if we were to widen our focus to include the whole world, we will see the Spirit being poured out in abundance on people of every tribe and nation and language. He continues to come into the lives of the lost as God’s Word is preached in truth and purity, and as the Sacraments are administered. He is working even now in you who believe. He comes even now, not with the sound of a mighty rushing wind or flashing, cloven tongues of fire, but with the soft-spoken words of this liturgy, in the blessed bestowal of the absolution, His word of forgiveness, following our confession of sin. The Holy Spirit comes in the words of a humble pastor, in the sound of water poured out over a child’s head in Baptism. He still comes, in the bread and the wine of this Holy Supper. Yes, he comes—the Holy Counselor, the Spirit of Truth—and he will continue to come to us day by day in these same ways. The Holy Spirit of God comes into our lives like a master sculptor and fashions us poor, lost sinners into the people of God. In a way He covers us with the glaze of Christ’s righteousness and then He looks at us as His most beautiful and precious piece of art. Then He gives us the most wonderful purpose to fulfill in this life—to proclaim His wonderful praise and point to Jesus as the Savior of the world.