The red color of Pentecost represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit given to Christ’s Church and the tongues of fire which rested upon those first disciples gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2). This gift of the Holy Spirit is given to all Christians who are baptized into Jesus. The gift is yours.

In our Gospel tomorrow from John 15:26 we hear that the Holy Spirit is “the Helper” and “the Spirit of truth.” Furthermore, we learn about His mission and work: “he will bear witness about me.”

There is a lot packed in this verse, and it is so important to our Christian lives. We have received forgiveness, salvation, and new life, but remaining and growing in these are vital concerns. How will we remain in this faith? How will we grow in it? We need the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we are lost.

He is the only way Christ is kept before our eyes of faith. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Let us gather to be fed with the Word and also the Holy Sacrament. Let us gather to be blessed!

A note about one of our members: Dr. Eleanor Pettus has moved to Atlanta, GA to begin a new position. We were greatly blessed to be in fellowship with Eleanor. She was and is an example of Christ’s salt and light. She is a woman of faith who has always conducted herself as a holy one of Christ, bold and deliberate about walking with God in all purity of conduct and life. She served our congregation on the altar guild and one year worked hard for us to enjoy what turned out to be an outstanding children’s Christmas program. Of course, she was regular in Divine Service and lived out the ministry of mutual encouragement. We will miss her and we pray that the Lord will richly bless her next stage of service in the Kingdom!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow’s sermon:

“He Will Testify About Me”

(John 15:26)

Pastor Espinosa

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. So what exactly is “Pentecost”? This is not an incidental thing. For our lives of faith and for truly knowing God, it is a big, big deal! We need to know about Pentecost and the great gift that was given!

“Pentecost means ‘fiftieth day’ and refers to the Hebrew…Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16), [and the] day of First Fruits (Numbers 28:26)….” [Lueker, ed., Concordia Bible Dictionary, 108] “It was named Pentecost because it fell on the fiftieth day after the offering of the barley sheaf [a bundle of cut stalks of grain presented] during the Passover celebration. [That first offering of Passover led to the Pentecost] offering of firstfruits [50 days later].” [Tenney, ed., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopdia of the Bible, vol 4, 692]. First fruits are signs that what was originally presented has led to great blessing! If you have a good planting, then you will have a good harvest!

In very simple terms: Passover brought forth God’s richest blessings (the necessary grain) and 50 days later, Pentecost was the proof that these richest blessings led to an ongoing blessing or harvest (symbolized for example by loaves of bread brought forward during Pentecost). First the grain, then the bread…there was a pouring out of more blessings from the first blessing.

This is beautiful imagery: just as you must first have grain to make bread, you must first have a Savior to know salvation. Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God. He was the great offering – giving His very body and blood – to save us from sin and death. And 50 days later there is a great harvest! Just as grain leads to bread to eat; Jesus’ death and resurrection lead to a real life to live. But for that life to happen, a harvest must occur; a pouring out of the blessings that follow the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And sure enough! 50 days after His death and resurrection, Jesus poured out His first-fruits gift; His resultant real-life blessing for you and for me: Pentecost shows the result of what Jesus “planted” when He won for us the forgiveness of sins through the great harvest of the Holy Spirit. What has come from Jesus’ great saving work? The blessing of the Holy Spirit. He is the grain turned to bread. He is the One who fills us so that we may know Jesus, the Bread of Life.

There is no Christian life, no faith, no peace, no salvation, and nothing good apart from the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to be alive in our spirit like our bodies need air to breath. Without the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually dead, but with the Holy Spirit, we live…Christ’s harvest of eternal life is within us. That’s how important the Holy Spirit is.

With the concept of harvest comes a very basic and vital realization: we get to live. Harvest means life is given. Without a harvest, we starve. Without a harvest, we die. With a harvest, we live. The Holy Spirit is our Christian harvest. With Him, we live. With Him, we do not die.

But we continue to learn about our Christian lives and the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament. Never let anyone ever tell you that the Old Testament isn’t important. In so many ways, we just can’t understand the New Testament without it. The Old Testament is the foundation of the Gospel itself.

In all of these blessings from God at Passover and Pentecost, the Lord led His people to be in worship. They were active in the worship; they were active in the receiving (if nothing else). They were offering themselves to God, even as God was coming to them to bless them. They were gathered to receive the blessing; they were gathered to receive the harvest. Nothing has changed.

This is why we worship. This is why we come to Church: to receive the blessing of Jesus…and to know the harvest of the Holy Spirit. Jesus who has won your salvation gives you His first-fruit gifts: in Holy Baptism you receive the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit feeds and nourishes your faith as you hear the sermon; and the Holy Spirit leads you to receive the body and blood of Christ in a good and proper way as you come forward for Holy Communion. The Holy Spirit is the harvest of God who “calls, gathers, and enlightens” the Christian Church on earth. Again, we can’t have faith without Him!

But our offerings of worship don’t just take place here. They continue as we go out into the world and live in it 24/7…and guess who is guiding and sustaining you Christian? The Holy Spirit! And as He does, you are experiencing what it means to have a new life, but this is where as your pastor I am especially eager to describe the new life harvest the Holy Spirit is giving to you.

What is this new life like? Some would have you believe that if you have this new life, this harvest life of the Holy Spirit that you become some sort of super Christian; full of astounding and spectacular spiritual gifts; and living in such a way as to avoid the common struggles of the rest of humanity…perhaps having better health, a better attitude, and knowing all kinds of extraordinary benefits. This is how the world sees the harvest of true spirituality. And our flesh sees it this way as well. If you were really filled with the first-fruit harvest of the Holy Spirit, then you would be a much better Christian. You wouldn’t struggle so much with doubts, fears and temptations. Life would be easier. This is, however, not the true faith, but a form of triumphalism, utopian imagination, our “theology of glory” image of the Christian faith. When we convince ourselves of these images, then we don’t attain this life, we are tempted not to believe at all. These are gross misunderstandings of what it is like to know the harvest ministry of the Holy Spirit.

So what is this harvest ministry? It is put forth very simply in the first verse of our Gospel in John 15:26: “[Jesus said:] When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

[come to worship tomorrow and hear the rest of this sermon!]

I hope to see you tomorrow morning in God’s house.

In Jesus’ Love,

Pastor Espinosa