Loving God, you send your Spirit into our hearts, making us your own children through Jesus.  Renew us by that same Spirit today, that we might be witnesses to your love and grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    On the church calendar, there are three great festivals that mark the seasons of the church year - Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.  Yet, I have to wonder how many people would even be able to name Pentecost as an important festival.  I have been keeping in touch with Pastor Philomene in Cameroon, and she sent me a message this week wishing me blessings on the feast of Pentecost.  She also said that during the week leading up to Pentecost there were many things that were happening: Bible studies, a night of prayer, evangelization, and then a special service on the Day of Pentecost (today).  It reminded me that we in North America seem to shy away from doing such things, and for most people Pentecost is not a particularly big deal.

    I’m wondering if any of you have any theories as to why Christmas and Easter are regarded as big holy-days, but not Pentecost.... [harder to quantify the Holy Spirit; no gift-giving; time of year; not taught; lost over the years?]  The cynical answer might be that there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny associated with it.  However, perhaps people also have a harder time understanding the Holy Spirit, and some even find it a bit of a scary concept.

    Biblically speaking, when the Holy Spirit shows up it is described in a number of different ways.  In the Pentecost narrative in Acts, there is the sound of a rushing wind and it looks like tongues of fire touching each person among the disciples (Acts 2:2-3).  However, in the gospel of John, Jesus breathes on the disciples, and in this way they receive the Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:22).  Meanwhile, when the Spirit shows up at Jesus’ baptism, it looks like a dove that comes down from heaven and alights on him (Lk. 3:22; Mt. 3:16).  And then there are other times when the coming of the Spirit cannot be seen or heard except by the fact that the people who receive it are suddenly able to speak in tongues.  This is what happens in Acts 10 when the Holy Spirit is first given to the Gentiles.

    Perhaps it is things like speaking in tongues that people find hard to grasp.  It is important to remember the original purpose of this gift.  The disciples were able to speak in other languages so that every person could hear God speaking their own language.  For unless people can understand what is being said, how will they ever hear the good news about Jesus?  Speaking in tongues was simply one of the more obvious gifts given by the Spirit, along with the power to heal in the name of Jesus.

    These, however, are not the only gifts that the Spirit brings.  The three great gifts of faith, hope, and love come from the Holy Spirit.  The gifts of teaching and preaching and evangelism come from the Holy Spirit.  The ability to pray comes from the Holy Spirit, and sometimes the Spirit even prays for us.  The gifts of wisdom and knowledge come from the Holy Spirit, as well as things like compassion and mercy and generosity.  In fact, none of us would believe in Jesus Christ without the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

    Yet, ultimately the Holy Spirit isn’t just about giving gifts and producing fruit.  Rather, the work of the Spirit is to draw us into a relationship with God just like the relationship that the Son has with the Father.  The passage that we heard from Galatians today is another one of those where you don’t necessarily understand what it is saying the first time that you hear it.  Paul is essentially painting some before and after pictures - before receiving the Spirit and after receiving the Spirit.

    For the “before” picture, Paul talks about minors who are looked after by trustees and people who are “enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world” (Gal. 4:3).  In the language that Martin Luther used, all of us are slaves of sin, death, the devil and the law before we are set free by water and the Spirit.  Paul also uses the language of being enslaved by our worldly passions that do not lead to life.

    However, all of this changes when God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts - described in Gal. 4 as the Spirit of Jesus.  We are no longer slaves, but children of God.  We are no longer minors, but inheritors of eternal life.  In relation to Jesus, we are brothers and sisters.  In relation to God, we are children with the same Spirit in our hearts as Jesus had.

    This means that when we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our hearts and our minds, some of the same things appear in our lives that we see in the life of Jesus.  For example, we have the same need and desire that Jesus had to spend time in prayer in order to stay close to his Abba.  We also learn obedience from Jesus, who was able to pray “not my will but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42).  At the same time, we are empowered for all that God calls us to do, given the gifts that are needed, as well as the strength and the power that comes from beyond ourselves.

    Then, as we live in this relationship with God through Christ, the Holy Spirit also begins to produce some fruit in our lives - just like a branch that draws its strength and its life from the vine also bears fruit.  In fact, once again it is some of the same fruit that showed up in the life of Jesus - things like love, joy, peace and patience; kindness, generosity and faithfulness; things like gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

    Now, just in case you were wondering, this does not mean that we become perfect people - at least not this side of the grave.  However, empowered by the Spirit and united with Christ, the Spirit of Jesus does start to show up in our lives.  Come, Holy Spirit, and thanks be to God!  Amen.

Day of Pentecost (NL 3)                            Galatians 4:1-7
June 4, 2017                                Acts 2:1-4
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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