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THE DAY OF PENTECOSTMay 19, 2024Pastor Tom SteersChrist the Saviour Lutheran Church, TorontoOPENING HYMN: 500 “Creator Spirit by Whose Aid”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5GOv0i0R0 The Invocation Page 184 Confession and Absolution (Please stand) Page 184-185 The Introit (Psalm 104:24. 27-28, 30; antiphon: Liturgical Text)Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Alleluia. O Lord, how manifold are your works!In wisdom have you made them all;the earth is full of your creatures. These all look to you,to give them their food in due season.When you give it to them, they gather it up;when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,and you renew the face of the ground. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Alleluia. The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Congregation: Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you. Our Collect Payer: O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.Our Bible Readings:First Reading Ezekiel 37:1-14 Psalm 139: 1-16 Epistle Reading Acts 2:1-21 Gospel Reading John 15:26-27; 16:1-15Nicene Creed Page 191HYMN OF THE DAY: 497 “Come Holy Ghost, God and Lord”https://blog.cph.org/worship/the-story-that-inspired-come-holy-ghost-god-and-lordTHE SERMON Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.It’s been fifty days since we gathered to proclaim the Resurrection on Easter morning.The name Pentecost means fiftieth.In the Jewish calendar, seven weeks after the Feast of Passover, they were invited to return to the temple for the festival of Weeks, or Shavuot.It was a harvest festival.And today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will see the Bible’s description of the great harvest of God’s people, Christians, into the Church.In our Old Testament text, we hear from the prophet Ezekiel who was active during the 70 years of the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel is conveying hope to a people in despair.They felt they’d gotten a raw deal from God: their fathers sinned, and they are being punished. They feel like corpses, a people who are dying without any chance of restoration. As God quotes their complaint here, “our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, we are indeed cut off.” What makes these words important for today is the way God conducts this re-creative act Ezekiel preaches to dry, lifeless bones. And then God’s Word creates the hearers themselves. Bones can’t hear what we say, but when the Word is proclaimed, the breath of life is given. The Hebrew word, ruach, is important.This is the very breath God gave Adam at the creation moment in Genesis, Chapter 2. In Hebrew, and in its Greek counterpart, the word ruach can be translated three ways: Wind, Spirit, or Breath. Jesus will use this very word in John, Chapter 2, when He speaks to Nicodemus. Ezekiel prophecies to the “wind,” the winds blow, the corpses then have “breath,” and in them is the “spirit” of life. God asks Ezekiel if all these bones can live and Ezekiel does a really wise thing.He says, God, you alone know the answer.The prophet is confessing that God is the Almighty, and that as a man, he is not. At the Lord’s command, Ezekiel preaches to dead bones. It looks hopeless, but the Word Ezekiel preaches is God’s.It has divine power. It created the universe.There’s a rattling sound. The bones assemble themselves, ligaments and muscles, then skin, but the corpses do not yet live. Again, Ezekiel is commanded to prophecy, this time to the ‘wind,’ ‘breath.’ ‘spirit.’ That Spirit comes, and the corpses live, standing on their feet. What had been a graveyard, is now a great gathering. When we apply this to ourselves, the message is profound. We can look at the world around us, and see lifeless non-believers, destined for eternal separation from God. And yet, there is the Word that has the power to transform and bring alive, now, and to life eternal. God’s Word, preached and taught in His true Church, and Christ’s Sacraments, that He instituted and commanded.The Sacrament of Baptism, for adults as well as children, because it is the Lord’s work, not our prideful ‘obedience.’The Lord’s Supper, that is Christ’s true Body and Blood given and shed for us, just as Jesus told us in the Bible. It is through these means of grace that the Spirit works. God raises dead people, then, and now.He gives purpose to the meaningless life; He gives eternal hope to the lost.In the incarnation of His only Son, He was a carpenter.Jesus knew hard work.And He had compassion enough to use the wood of the cross as an instrument to pay for the sins of the world.It is the Spirit that works faith in that atoning act within us.The Spirit uses the Word, that brings the benefit of that ultimate sacrifice to those who accept the free gift of God in Jesus.What shall we make of the description of the Apostle’s Pentecost experience in the Book of Acts?Some have pointed to the tower of Babel being undone in these verses. Yet we need to notice the order of events. First, they heard, then they saw. We often want to reverse that order and have God show us before we’ll start to listen to Him. On this day, there were Jewish people in Jerusalem from all around the ancient world. Yet those present heard the disciples speaking in their own languages, not senseless babble.Some wouldn’t believe what was happening, they scoffed, even accusing the Apostles of drunkenness.Others, though, are genuinely wondering what this all means. Peter stands up. The disciple, who, a few short weeks before had denied, even knowing Christ three times, speaks up.He confronts the people with a sermon.With words inspired by the Holy Spirit, taken from the account of Christ, God on earth.This Word cuts the crowd to the heart and changes them.Notice the Word is given as both Law and Gospel.Peter confronts them with their sins, then shows them their Saviour. The Apostle says Old Testament prophets foretold this day. Notice the Spirit is poured out on all flesh. Also note that after preaching God’s Word, the ones who repent and receive their Redeemer shall be saved. The coming of the Spirit means salvation is not just for some, but for all who accept Christ’s free gift of salvation. The proclamation that the Spirit poured out that day is still being preached, now, throughout the world. It’s an on-going, not a one-time event.The Spirit still makes alive, calls, gathers, enlightens.He sanctifies His whole Christian Church on earth. Our Gospel text is also rich in teaching about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is called the Helper whom Jesus sends, and who remains with us.The Spirit is all about witnessing to Jesus. That is what He does through Christ’s Church, and those who are part of it. He reveals Jesus and enables our witness. The presence of the Spirit is actually better than when Jesus limited Himselfto space and time while on earth.Now the Spirit can point to our Saviour throughout the world, in all times.If Christ had not ascended, the Helper would not have come to us. Now Jesus is with us in every true Church, in His Word, in His absolution, in every Baptism, in every celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The Spirit not only reveals Jesus.He also convicts the world. Regarding sin.Regarding the righteousness of Christ.And regarding judgment all people will face one day at the end of time.Then sin will only be a problem for the sinner who doesn’t believe in Jesus. For repentant believers, no sentence is passed. Final judgment, however, has already been handed down on satan and all who follow him.Remember, though, that if we focus on, or worship the Spirit without the Son, we’ve missed the whole point. We live a world that’s largely discounted spiritual reality or misunderstood that this reality is Christ. It’s a world too busy making money and chasing pleasure.Yet in every hour, of every day, there is Jesus, and it is the Spirit who brings us Christ Himself.Our whole life, in every decade, whether young or old, has been redeemed by His blood, sanctified by His Spirit.Christians are a precious treasure to Christ, worth more than all the universe. Jesus, by turning sadness into joy, allows us to see life, and our neighbour, differently. Our sorrows and trials are transformed by the joyous presence of Christ. And that allows us to endure a dark world with confidence.Our lives are illuminated by the light of Jesus.And He will remain with us into eternity.Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCHSERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 (Our Communion Hymn is 627 “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Saviour”) Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 504 “Father Most Holy”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmsnQeNqOY