Pentecost Sunday June 5, 2022
John 14:23-31
The Holy Spirit’s Job Description
v.26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Beloved in Christ, today is Pentecost Sunday—a holy festival in the life of the church. A day in which we celebrate with joy and thanksgiving the coming of the Holy Spirit to the holy Christian church. Today we remember the important work of the Third Person of the Divine Trinity. But what, exactly, does He do? Ah! That is the question, isn’t it?
Sadly, in our Lutheran circles, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity has often become the forgotten Person of the Trinity. Someone to whom we pay lip service in our invocations, but one whom we don’t really see at work in the church. Sure, He certainly gave gifts to the disciples at Pentecost, but what does He do now? We certainly don’t see tongues of flame dancing on our heads, now do we? Furthermore, we are at times confused by the great emphasis that our evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ place upon the Spirit and His power—to the extent that Jesus Himself and His saving work on the cross is at times forgotten—while waiting for that all important experiential “baptism of the Spirit,” by which they claim one may know with certainty that one is a true believer and saved.
So, what is the Spirit’s job description, anyway? Well, we need look no further than the words of Jesus in our text for this morning, “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” And, in the next chapter of John’s Gospel (which we talked about last week), Jesus further states that (15:26), “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.”
You see, the great work of the Holy Spirit, the work that must never be forgotten, is that He comes to tell the Church of Christ—to instruct her—in the Words and works of Jesus Christ. To tell of Him who died and rose again, all for sinners like you and me. It is He who sanctifies us—makes us holy in the sight of God—by washing us with the life-giving blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. It is He who makes us Christians—it is He who works through His own appointed means—Word and Sacrament—to breathe life into our dead souls—to grant faith and thereby forgiveness and salvation, in Christ Jesus.
Luther’s explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed captures this beautifully, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” By reason of our sinful flesh we are deaf—dead, if you will—to the Words of Christ as He stated to His disciples in our text. In our state of utter depravity before God we can do no more than hear His Words with our ears. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must come to impress these words on our hearts—as we heard last week—He wants to speak only of Jesus.
Therefore, this promise of Jesus, this Word of Christ, that He will indeed send the Holy Spirit to us should give us and all Christians the utmost joy and comfort—for we have the promise of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. And, dwelling in our midst, He continues to teach us and bring to mind all of Christ’s Words to our remembrance until the Last Day. Whenever we confess that third article of the Creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Christian Church,” we affirm that the Holy Spirit dwells with all of Christendom and sanctifies her, through Word and Sacrament, by which He works faith and the knowledge of Christ. These are the tools and the means through which He continuously sanctifies and purifies His Church. And this, and this alone, dear Christian friends, is what truly makes you and me and all Christians holy before God—not by virtue of what we ourselves are or do, but because the Holy Spirit is given to us.
And who among us doesn’t need this kind of comfort in a world that has at times, seemingly lost all rhyme or reason? A world in which floodwaters destroy homes and property. A world in which the economic situation is turned upside down on its head? A world in which war rages throughout—be it in Ukraine, Africa, or elsewhere—indiscriminately killing anyone in its path? A world in which disease runs rampant throughout, often unchecked? A world where it is better to love oneself than to serve our neighbour in love? A world in which the devil and his angels are constantly at work attacking Christ’s church?
Indeed, as Luther once said, “Christians need this comfort...For here is the promise of Jesus, which neither lies nor deceives: ‘The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’ Now we can be sure of this and joyfully glory in it; we can wager everything and live and die on our possessing the Holy Spirit if we have and believe Christ’s Word. Then we can conclude with certainty: ‘Let the devil, death, and sin be against me! I am holy nevertheless. I believe in Christ and have learned to know Him; I understand and use the Word and the Sacraments aright—all this I owe to the Holy Spirit, not to my own brains.’”
So we can see that it is the Holy Spirit who makes us holy—sanctifies and cleanses Christ’s church and all within her. We are not made holy by any of our own works or deeds—be they decisions for Jesus—good deeds to our neighbours—or any other such thing as praiseworthy as they may be. They amount to nothing in the sight of the Lord who judges all things justly. The only work we can cling to is the perfect work of Jesus Christ—who though innocent suffered mightily on the cross for your sins and mine and those of the whole world. Christ who willingly went to the cross to shed His blood so that you and I might be forgiven for all our sins and granted peace and life eternal.
And it is to Him—always to Him—Jesus Christ and Him crucified—that the Holy Spirit directs the Christian church. We see Him crucified for us in the Word of the Gospel—we are cleansed with His blood in the waters of Baptism—and we truly eat and drink His body and blood in the bread and wine each time we come before His altar—to kneel at His table—to receive His Holy Supper—for the full and complete forgiveness for all our sins.
The Holy Spirit is at work here, in this place, like no other. He is at work both to keep Christ’s church in the Truth of all Christ’s words and doctrine—and to move us by His power to boldly proclaim this saving Truth to others. Yet He never talks of Himself. Instead He opens the eyes, ears, and hearts of people to see, hear, and believe that every page of Holy Scripture points us to Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. Indeed, He leads us to declare with unswerving faith, ‘Even though I am a poor sinner, wracked by my sinful flesh, stalked by death and the devil, still Christ is holy with His Baptism, Word of the Gospel (preached, read, and sung), Sacrament of the Altar, and the Holy Spirit.’ This is the only genuine holiness given to us by God.
This Word of Truth we should hear each week in sermon, in hymns, in our prayers—as we seek the Holy Spirit and His Truth not in our own experiences or any other place than in the Word and Sacrament of Christ Jesus, whereby He teaches us all things and brings to remembrance all that Jesus has said and done—with His perfect life, death, and glorious resurrection from the dead to conquer all those great enemies that plague and torment us so in this life. Indeed, we are truly given all these things in the Word and Sacrament of Jesus by the Holy Spirit who works ceaselessly to confirm upon us the treasures of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus earned for us all on the cross by His death and resurrection.
Some may ask, “But how do I get this? What does the Holy Spirit do for me?” The answer is simple: He baptized you; He proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to you; and He awakened your heart to believe. Baptism is not of your making; nor is the Gospel; nor is faith. He gave these to you. For the hands that baptized you are not those of a man; they are the hands of the Holy Spirit. And the preacher’s mouth and the words that you hear are not his; they are the words and message of the Holy Spirit. By these outward means He works faith within you and thus He makes you truly holy—now—and for all eternity—through the blood of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
John 14:23-31
The Holy Spirit’s Job Description
v.26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Beloved in Christ, today is Pentecost Sunday—a holy festival in the life of the church. A day in which we celebrate with joy and thanksgiving the coming of the Holy Spirit to the holy Christian church. Today we remember the important work of the Third Person of the Divine Trinity. But what, exactly, does He do? Ah! That is the question, isn’t it?
Sadly, in our Lutheran circles, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity has often become the forgotten Person of the Trinity. Someone to whom we pay lip service in our invocations, but one whom we don’t really see at work in the church. Sure, He certainly gave gifts to the disciples at Pentecost, but what does He do now? We certainly don’t see tongues of flame dancing on our heads, now do we? Furthermore, we are at times confused by the great emphasis that our evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ place upon the Spirit and His power—to the extent that Jesus Himself and His saving work on the cross is at times forgotten—while waiting for that all important experiential “baptism of the Spirit,” by which they claim one may know with certainty that one is a true believer and saved.
So, what is the Spirit’s job description, anyway? Well, we need look no further than the words of Jesus in our text for this morning, “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” And, in the next chapter of John’s Gospel (which we talked about last week), Jesus further states that (15:26), “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.”
You see, the great work of the Holy Spirit, the work that must never be forgotten, is that He comes to tell the Church of Christ—to instruct her—in the Words and works of Jesus Christ. To tell of Him who died and rose again, all for sinners like you and me. It is He who sanctifies us—makes us holy in the sight of God—by washing us with the life-giving blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. It is He who makes us Christians—it is He who works through His own appointed means—Word and Sacrament—to breathe life into our dead souls—to grant faith and thereby forgiveness and salvation, in Christ Jesus.
Luther’s explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed captures this beautifully, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” By reason of our sinful flesh we are deaf—dead, if you will—to the Words of Christ as He stated to His disciples in our text. In our state of utter depravity before God we can do no more than hear His Words with our ears. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must come to impress these words on our hearts—as we heard last week—He wants to speak only of Jesus.
Therefore, this promise of Jesus, this Word of Christ, that He will indeed send the Holy Spirit to us should give us and all Christians the utmost joy and comfort—for we have the promise of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. And, dwelling in our midst, He continues to teach us and bring to mind all of Christ’s Words to our remembrance until the Last Day. Whenever we confess that third article of the Creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Christian Church,” we affirm that the Holy Spirit dwells with all of Christendom and sanctifies her, through Word and Sacrament, by which He works faith and the knowledge of Christ. These are the tools and the means through which He continuously sanctifies and purifies His Church. And this, and this alone, dear Christian friends, is what truly makes you and me and all Christians holy before God—not by virtue of what we ourselves are or do, but because the Holy Spirit is given to us.
And who among us doesn’t need this kind of comfort in a world that has at times, seemingly lost all rhyme or reason? A world in which floodwaters destroy homes and property. A world in which the economic situation is turned upside down on its head? A world in which war rages throughout—be it in Ukraine, Africa, or elsewhere—indiscriminately killing anyone in its path? A world in which disease runs rampant throughout, often unchecked? A world where it is better to love oneself than to serve our neighbour in love? A world in which the devil and his angels are constantly at work attacking Christ’s church?
Indeed, as Luther once said, “Christians need this comfort...For here is the promise of Jesus, which neither lies nor deceives: ‘The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’ Now we can be sure of this and joyfully glory in it; we can wager everything and live and die on our possessing the Holy Spirit if we have and believe Christ’s Word. Then we can conclude with certainty: ‘Let the devil, death, and sin be against me! I am holy nevertheless. I believe in Christ and have learned to know Him; I understand and use the Word and the Sacraments aright—all this I owe to the Holy Spirit, not to my own brains.’”
So we can see that it is the Holy Spirit who makes us holy—sanctifies and cleanses Christ’s church and all within her. We are not made holy by any of our own works or deeds—be they decisions for Jesus—good deeds to our neighbours—or any other such thing as praiseworthy as they may be. They amount to nothing in the sight of the Lord who judges all things justly. The only work we can cling to is the perfect work of Jesus Christ—who though innocent suffered mightily on the cross for your sins and mine and those of the whole world. Christ who willingly went to the cross to shed His blood so that you and I might be forgiven for all our sins and granted peace and life eternal.
And it is to Him—always to Him—Jesus Christ and Him crucified—that the Holy Spirit directs the Christian church. We see Him crucified for us in the Word of the Gospel—we are cleansed with His blood in the waters of Baptism—and we truly eat and drink His body and blood in the bread and wine each time we come before His altar—to kneel at His table—to receive His Holy Supper—for the full and complete forgiveness for all our sins.
The Holy Spirit is at work here, in this place, like no other. He is at work both to keep Christ’s church in the Truth of all Christ’s words and doctrine—and to move us by His power to boldly proclaim this saving Truth to others. Yet He never talks of Himself. Instead He opens the eyes, ears, and hearts of people to see, hear, and believe that every page of Holy Scripture points us to Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. Indeed, He leads us to declare with unswerving faith, ‘Even though I am a poor sinner, wracked by my sinful flesh, stalked by death and the devil, still Christ is holy with His Baptism, Word of the Gospel (preached, read, and sung), Sacrament of the Altar, and the Holy Spirit.’ This is the only genuine holiness given to us by God.
This Word of Truth we should hear each week in sermon, in hymns, in our prayers—as we seek the Holy Spirit and His Truth not in our own experiences or any other place than in the Word and Sacrament of Christ Jesus, whereby He teaches us all things and brings to remembrance all that Jesus has said and done—with His perfect life, death, and glorious resurrection from the dead to conquer all those great enemies that plague and torment us so in this life. Indeed, we are truly given all these things in the Word and Sacrament of Jesus by the Holy Spirit who works ceaselessly to confirm upon us the treasures of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus earned for us all on the cross by His death and resurrection.
Some may ask, “But how do I get this? What does the Holy Spirit do for me?” The answer is simple: He baptized you; He proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to you; and He awakened your heart to believe. Baptism is not of your making; nor is the Gospel; nor is faith. He gave these to you. For the hands that baptized you are not those of a man; they are the hands of the Holy Spirit. And the preacher’s mouth and the words that you hear are not his; they are the words and message of the Holy Spirit. By these outward means He works faith within you and thus He makes you truly holy—now—and for all eternity—through the blood of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.