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Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 13, 2021

“From Our Earthly Tent to Our Heavenly Home” (2 Corinthians 4:13-18; 5:1-10)

As some of you know, my older brother Jim recently was put on hospice with an inoperable brain tumor. He doesn’t have long to live–any day now, it looks like. So I wanted to talk with him while there was still time. He had retired to North Carolina, so we had to do this by video chat, and at a time when he was awake and alert enough to do it. Well, we talked a couple of days ago, on Thursday. His family was there with him to make it happen.

It was tough seeing Jim in the condition he was in. It was hard to hold back the tears, knowing this might be the last time I talk to him. Jim wasn’t able to talk much, but he could hear what I was saying. I shared some memories with him. I told him I loved him and have always looked up to him. And I shared a Bible verse with him. It was from last week’s Epistle reading, 2 Corinthians 4:16, where it says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Now why could I say that? How could I say, “we do not lose heart,” when what I was seeing on the screen was so heart-breaking? Here’s why: Because I know, and I know Jim knows, we will be going “From Our Earthly Tent to Our Heavenly Home.”

An earthly tent. A heavenly home. That’s the imagery St. Paul uses in our Epistle reading for today from 2 Corinthians 5. The earthly tent is where we are now, in this body, in this life. The heavenly home is where we’re heading, the eternal dwelling waiting for us.

First, the earthly tent: Paul refers to this several times. He writes: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed”; and again, “For in this tent we groan”; and once more, “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened.” The tent that Paul is taking about is our body, this flesh-and-bone body in which we live in this world.

I’m guessing that most of you, if you’re like me and you’ve been using this tent for a good long while, you’ve done a little groaning. Maybe you’re feeling the burden. The wear and tear on your tent has been adding up. The fabric is getting worn out. The tent poles are rusty. It’s getting harder for the tent to stay upright. In other words, the aches and pains of your body are taking their toll. Now if you’re young, and your tent is still relatively new, you’re wondering: “What are you talking about? There’s no problem. I’m young! I’m invincible! There’s nothing wrong with my tent!” Well, just wait a while. A few decades of camping out, and your tent won’t work so well, either.

“Our outer self is wasting away.” It’s not going to last. You can watch what you eat, you can go the gym, but still your body will wear out and waste away. You can feel it in your bones, literally. Maybe you’ve made it to 70 or 80, but the time of your tent is limited. Heart disease, cancer, brain tumor–something is going to catch up to you in due time. And that time could come anytime. Even if you’re young, and you feel invincible, you aren’t.

When Paul says, “if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed,” that “if” is more like a “when.” It will happen. This earthly tent will be destroyed. Death will take it down, and then where will we be? Good question. Where will we be? Do you ever wonder about that? Where you will be when you die? We know the body we’ve been living in will be lifeless. We see it in the coffin. We bury it in the grave. But is that all there is, my friend?

No. For Christians, for those who trust in Christ their Savior and who die in that faith–for people like you and me–for us, death is not the end but just the beginning. The beginning of an eternity that will be so much better than what we experience in this life. And this promise of God gives us hope and courage even now.

This earthly tent will not last. It will be destroyed. And that actually is a good thing. The thing about a tent is that it is temporary. It’s not your permanent lodging. Now, while you’re on a journey, a tent will do. But the goal is to get to your destination, to reach home.

That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we’re looking forward to. Something better. Far better. Paul writes: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Our earthly tent will be destroyed, but we have a heavenly dwelling that is eternal. That life is what we’re looking forward to in the age to come.

And it will not be body-less. We will not be disembodied ghosts, floating around. Paul does say that in this body we groan and are burdened, and that this body will be destroyed. It will be dead and buried and return to dust. But notice, Paul adds that by putting on our heavenly dwelling we will “not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed.” Here Paul switches metaphors, going from the image of a house to the image of clothing. He says that we will not be naked, we will not be unclothed. That means we will have a body in the age to come. Not a groaning, achy body, subject to death, like the one we have now. But a body that will last for life, eternal life. “So that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

God is committed to a physical creation. It was that way before the fall into sin. And it will be that way when Christ comes again. All creation, including our bodies, will be wonderfully restored, better than ever. “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” This is the Christian’s hope, based on the sure promises of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You, dear Christian, you are baptized into Christ’s resurrection! You will share in it, a physical, bodily resurrection.

But what happens between now and then? Between the time we die and the day when Jesus returns? We know that these bodies of ours will be resting in the grave. So where will we be? Our souls, I mean.

There isn’t much that Scripture tells us about the so-called intermediate state, that is, our situation between death and the day of the resurrection. But we do know that we will be with the Lord, and it will be good, better than our life now. Paul says in our text: “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So we do know that when we die and our body is laid in the grave, we will be with the Lord.

There are a couple of other Scripture passages that tell us about the intermediate state. Like when Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” That’s pretty good! Or Philippians 1, where Paul writes, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” So, to depart this life and be with Christ is far better than what we experience now.

But even then, the best is yet to come. And that will happen when Christ comes again at the Last Day. When that day comes, our Lord Jesus will raise up our dead bodies and give us glorified bodies, like his, fit for eternity. With soul and body reunited, you and I will serve the Lord in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. That will be the heavenly home in which we will dwell. That glorified body will be the new clothing we will wear.

From our earthly tent to our heavenly home. But how do we get there? Through Christ, of course. Our Lord Jesus Christ will get us from here to there. Because Jesus offered up his body for us on the cross, bearing the burden of our sin, a burden we could not bear. By faith in Christ, we are freed from that load. And that lifts the load of death from off of us. The stone has been rolled away. Christ Jesus is the one who empties the tomb, first his own, and then, at the Last Day, ours. By his death and resurrection, by the forgiveness he won for us and the righteousness he bestows on us, you and I will be able to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. And the judgment will be “Not guilty.” We will receive eternal life as God’s gracious reward. The Lord will welcome us into our heavenly home and clothe us with our spotless garment, a resurrected body made glorious.

The groanings and burdens of this life are transient, temporary. They cannot compare with the glory to come, which will be eternal. But at the moment, the groanings and the burdens can seem overwhelming. If you, dear friend, are feeling that burden right now, we don’t want to dismiss that. The groaning is real, the burden is real. But God loves you and cares for you, and he will help you through it. As great as the pain may be, so much greater by far is the joy in store for you in Christ. This gives us real hope and real courage to endure.

“So we do not lose heart.” “We are always of good courage.” Yes, friends, we are of good courage, for Christ our Savior will take us all–you, me, my brother Jim–he will take us from this earthly tent to our heavenly, eternal home.

Liturgist:  Rev. Kyle Castens, Farmington Circuit Visitor

Preacher:  Rev. Warren Woerth, Pastor, Good-Shepherd-Arnold

Presiding Minister:  Rev. Brian Thieme, Third Vice-President, Missouri District

Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS)     De Soto, Missouri

Installation of Pastor Charles Henrickson

Second Sunday after Pentecost     June 6, 2021

VESPERS (pages 229 ff.)

Hymn 645:  Built on the Rock

Opening Versicles, with Common Ascription of Praise (p. 229)

Psalm 84 (spoken responsively by half-verse; Gloria Patri in unison)

Hymn 648:  Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

Readings:  Acts 20:28-32; 1 Peter 5:2-4; Luke 24:44-49a

(P:  O Lord, have mercy on us. / C:  Thanks be to God.)

Common Responsory (p. 231)

Sermon

Canticle:  Magnificat (pp. 231-32) / Offering

RITE OF INSTALLATION

Invocation/ Address to Congregation/ Collect

Selections of Holy Scripture on the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Institution of the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Responsibilities of the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Strength and Promise in the Office of the Holy Ministry

Address to Pastor-elect and Responses

Address to Congregation and Responses

Installation, Prayer, and Blessing

Hymn 681:  Send, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit

Kyrie/ Lord’s Prayer/ Collects (p. 233)

Benedicamus/ Benediction (p. 234) Hymn 682:  God of the Prophets, Bless the Prophets’ Sons

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2021

“Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House” (Mark 3:20-35)

When you were baptized, what did you get? Yeah, you got wet, sure. You had water poured on your head. But I mean, when you were baptized, what did you get, in the sense of what did you acquire? I’ll tell you what you acquired: You got an enemy for life. Did you know that? That when you were baptized, you gained a strong and powerful enemy who’s out to get you! You did! And his name is Satan, the devil. He is the “old evil foe” who “now means deadly woe.” He is your arch-enemy. He wants to destroy your faith, destroy you, and take you down to hell with him. And he is very strong.

Satan. The devil. We minimize his threat at our peril. But the Bible certainly does not. And Jesus does not dismiss the reality of Satan and the damage that he does to people. Jesus compares Satan to a “strong man” who has a bunch of goods stored in his house that he doesn’t want to let go of. Satan is strong; he’s hard to overcome. But the good news is that there is someone stronger, someone able to overcome the strong man. And his name is Jesus. For Jesus came “Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House.”

As I say, we minimize the devil’s threat at our own peril. But that does happen, especially in our culture. In our supposedly enlightened age, people tend to think of the devil as an antiquated old wives’ tale with no basis in reality. Belief in the existence of Satan is seen as a silly, outmoded superstition, held by those of a gullible mind. The idea of the devil is used for comic effect. “Satan?” became a punch line in the “Church Lady” skits. People laugh at anyone who believes that the demonic realm is real. But all that does is to play into one of Satan’s best strategies: To dismiss his existence is to let down our guard.

In his book, “The Screwtape Letters,” author C. S. Lewis imaginatively relates a series of letters from a senior devil, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior devil named Wormwood. Screwtape gives Wormwood advice on how best to deceive and lead astray the human that has been assigned to him as his “patient.” Uncle Screwtape writes to Wormwood and says: “I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that . . . he therefore cannot believe in you.”

But denying the devil’s existence does not agree with the biblical perspective. The Bible throughout, from Genesis to Revelation, presents Satan as a real being–a fallen angel, bent on evil. The Bible teaches that Satan’s power, while limited, poses a real danger to human beings. The devil is out to tempt, accuse, and deceive people. He is the enemy of our souls. He will assail us, attack us, and assault our minds and our bodies. Satan hates God, and therefore he hates God’s people.

Martin Luther took the devil seriously. He took it seriously when a little child was baptized, knowing what was in store for that new Christian for the rest of his or her life. Luther writes: “Remember, therefore, that it is no joke to take sides against the devil and not only to drive him away from this little child, but to burden the child with such a mighty and lifelong enemy.”

Dear Christian, when you were baptized, you took on an enemy for life. The sign of the cross that was placed on you on your forehead and your heart? That was like a target being painted on you, and the devil is aiming for it. He wants to dispirit you and demoralize you. He wants to cause you to doubt and to pull you away from Christ your Savior. So you and I need to be deadly serious about the devil, because he is seriously deadly toward us.

The existence and power of Satan, the enemy of our souls, is real. In the Bible, we find demons assailing and assaulting people in their souls and their bodies. Repeatedly in the four gospels, we see Jesus confronting and casting out demons. Those unclean spirits were doing real harm to people: attacking them in their minds, causing them to do self-harm to their bodies. Satan and his demons were out in full force during Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus saw this happening to the people who were being demonized, he had compassion on them. Jesus got angry with the devil, he cast out the demons, and he healed the people in both body and soul.

In the gospels, there seems to be an increased occurrence of demonic activity–a spike of it, in very dramatic form–at the time of Jesus’ ministry. This makes sense, since the one who came to destroy the devil and his works was coming on the scene. Jesus obviously was able to discern when the various afflictions he encountered were due to demonic activity. You and I, however, are not able to know that for certain. It may be, also in our day, that various phenomena–self-mutilation, criminal insanity, drug-fueled bizarre behavior–these spectacularly bad things could have a link to demonic activity. But we can’t be sure.

In any case, it’s not just in the spectacular stuff that Satan does his work. There are a lot of normal-looking, normal-acting, respectable people who are equally in the thrall of Satan and under his sway. Remember, the main thing that Satan cares about is keeping you away from Jesus and destroying your faith. And he can do that quite well in quieter ways.

How might the devil work on you? The devil can allure you with temptations, or he can crush you with disappointments. Either way, he wins. If you are drawn off into living for pleasure, living for self, so that you become satisfied with your life in this world–then you will no longer feel your need for God, and you will lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins. On the other hand, if you are so crushed with disappointment that you despair of God’s goodness and lose all hope, you may likewise lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins again. When doubt assails you, when bitterness begins to take root in your heart, realize that the devil is trying to undermine your faith. Take that very seriously.

And realize that you are not strong enough in yourself to overcome the devil’s schemes. There’s a reason Jesus calls Satan a “strong man.” He is a formidable foe. Luther was right when he wrote: “Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight; on earth is not his equal.” “With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected.” “But,” the hymn goes on, “But for us fights the valiant one.” “Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is.” Yes, Jesus Christ is our divine champion, the one stronger than the strong man Satan. Satan is strong. Jesus is stronger. “He holds the field forever.”

In our text from Mark 3, Jesus says, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Binding the strong man, plundering his house. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ came to bind the strong man, enter his house, and plunder his goods. This, Jesus has done. We were captives of the devil, prisoners in his house of sin and death, unable to free ourselves. But Jesus came down from heaven, God’s own Son in the flesh. He came to seek and to save us and to pull us out of Satan’s grasp. When Jesus cast out of demons, he showed his compassion for people and his authority over Satan. Jesus was binding the strong man, entering his house, and plundering his goods.

But the strange thing is, Jesus would demonstrate his superior strength by way of weakness. He allowed himself to be bound and nailed to a cross. But this was God’s plan to beat the devil at his own game. The devil would strike Jesus in the heel, but in so doing, Christ would deal a death blow to Satan’s head. By taking on himself the curse laid on sinners–death under God’s judgment–Jesus would take away that card from the devil’s hand. The devil can’t play the sin card against us anymore. No more accusation, no condemnation. All our sins have been forgiven by the blood of Christ. The devil’s taunts and threats go nowhere. The serpent has been defanged. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” the devil’s reign was ended. Then Christ descended into hell to proclaim his victory even there.

And so now our ascended, exalted Lord comes to us in our fears and says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Do you see? Jesus has bound the strong man, entered his house, and plundered his goods. Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hell. He has stripped Satan bare. And this is good news for us. It means that no matter how much the devil tries, he cannot overpower us. Jesus wins. He holds the field forever.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what did you get when you were baptized? You got wet, sure. And you acquired a lifelong enemy, a strong one. But Satan is a defeated foe. He has been bound, and his house has been plundered. What did you get when you were baptized? You got Jesus fighting on your side. And with Jesus, you get all of his goods: forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. Satan may be strong. But Jesus is stronger. And it’s not even close.

The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 30, 2021

“Born of Water and the Spirit” (John 3:1-17)

On this Trinity Sunday, our Gospel reading, from John chapter 3, tells us of the work of the Holy Trinity–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–in bringing us to a new birth and the new life that flows from it. And this is where Jesus goes in his conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “Born of Water and the Spirit.”

This Nicodemus was a prominent Jewish religious leader. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Jesus even calls him “the teacher of Israel,” showing how highly respected Nicodemus was among his people. Yet Nicodemus doesn’t “get it.” Not yet. He needs to be born again. He needs a spiritual rebirth to open his eyes and to give him a right understanding and a whole new life.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, presumably so as not to be seen. It might not look so good for a member of the Sanhedrin to visit this controversial Jesus of Nazareth. He tells Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Well, Nicodemus, that’s good as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Jesus is far more than a mere rabbi, even an exceptionally insightful one who can also do some miracles. Nicodemus is “low-balling” who Jesus is. He’ll need to see far more in Jesus than that, if he is to come into the kingdom of God.

So Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Friends, there are lots of people who say some nice things about Jesus–what a good teacher he was, what a fine example. But if that’s as far as they can go, then they have reached the limit of what human flesh and reason can discern. And that is not enough. You must be born again if you are to recognize who Jesus really is and trust in him and thus see God’s kingdom in the way you need to see it. You must be born from above. “Born from above,” “born again”–the Greek here could be translated either way. The point is, you need a heavenly rebirth, in order to recognize the kingdom of heaven coming in the person of Jesus.

Jesus’ response about being born again puzzles Nicodemus. He doesn’t know where Jesus is going with this, this riddle. “Born again”? Is Jesus joking around? Nicodemus replies: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” This stuff sounds like crazy talk to Nicodemus.

But no, Jesus really meant what he said. Now Jesus explains what he meant by being born again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Thus, to be born again, born from above, is to be born of water and the Spirit. It is a heavenly rebirth that involves the use of water, in connection with the Spirit. And that is baptism.

Water and the Spirit, together. That’s what happened in the beginning, at creation. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’” etc. Water, the Spirit, and the Word–creation. Same with the new creation, the spiritual rebirth in baptism: Water, the Spirit, and the Word. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

Holy Baptism, instituted by Christ, is the spiritual rebirth of water and the Spirit. St. Paul speaks of it in Titus 3: “[God] 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, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Did you catch that phrase? “The washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” “Washing,” water. “Regeneration,” rebirth. “Renewal,” new life. “The Holy Spirit” . . . well, the Holy Spirit. In other words, to be born again, of water and the Spirit. Just like in John. And this rebirth of water and the Spirit is what happens in Holy Baptism.

“Born of water and the Spirit.” We need this new birth in order to see clearly, to see the kingdom of God having come in Christ. Otherwise, our spiritual blindness would keep us in the dark. We need this new birth in order both to see and to enter the kingdom of God. Otherwise, without faith in Christ, our sins and our spiritual deadness would keep us out of God’s kingdom. We need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to see the light, to have the scales fall from our eyes. We need to receive the righteousness of Christ, the life he has won for us, to raise us from death to life. This is why Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

“Flesh,” in this sense, means our fallen sinful nature, which is inherited and passed down to us from generation to generation. We all share in this sinful nature and are doomed to death. Flesh gives birth to flesh. And flesh can only take you so far. You cannot rise above that level. To be born only of the flesh is a dead end.

That’s how the Bible describes our natural state. Ephesians 2 says: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” So, according to the flesh, we were by nature children of wrath, God’s wrath. That’s not good. As Jesus says, flesh gives birth to flesh. That’s as far as you can go, that’s as high as you can rise, born only according to the flesh. You and I need a different kind of birth.

And you don’t give birth to yourself. No, this is about being born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you this new birth. You don’t do it, he does. John 1 says, “To all who did receive him,” that is, Christ, “who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God gives you the new birth. It’s not your decision or your will that does it. It’s God giving you a new birth, making you his child, giving you the gift of faith.

Faith in Christ. Faith is to receive Christ, to believe in his name. For Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. Here’s where we can talk about the Father and the Son on this Trinity Sunday. As we heard in our text: “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Yes, God the Father sent his Son into the world out of his great love for us. God the Son, Christ Jesus, then was lifted up on the cross, so that you and I would not perish in our sins, but rather, that through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our sins would be forgiven. Believing in Christ, trusting in him, then, we receive that forgiveness, and so we have eternal life.

Now what the Holy Spirit does is to bring you those benefits that Christ won for you on the cross–forgiveness, life, eternal salvation–the Spirit gives you the faith to receive and take hold of those benefits. The Holy Spirit quickens you, makes you alive, brings you from death to life, through the gospel. The gospel, the word of God in and with the water, is the power source in Holy Baptism. It makes baptism the life-giving sacrament that it is. The Holy Spirit uses this sacrament to bring you to faith and raise you to new life. This is how baptism is the new birth, your real spiritual birthday.

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Well, Nicodemus, it doesn’t matter if someone is eight days old, eighteen years old, or eighty years old, when someone is baptized, that is God at work to give that person the new birth. If you have been baptized, you have been born of the water and the Spirit. You are now part of God’s family, the church. You are God’s child, and Father welcomes all his children. Christ Jesus is the Savior you know and trust in. All your sins have been washed away. You have been joined to Jesus and his resurrection. You have a new life and an eternal life! The Holy Spirit has given you the gift of faith, through the Word. And the Spirit will keep you in the faith and keep you growing as you continue in the Word.

Born of water and the Spirit: That’s Holy Baptism, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism, your spiritual rebirth into the new and eternal life of the kingdom of God. Baptized believers in Christ, in your baptism you have been born from above, born of water and the Spirit. And what a joyous, blessed thing that is!

The Day of Pentecost
Sunday, May 23, 2021

“The Day of Pentecost: What Does This Mean?” (Acts 2:1-21)

You know those people we heard about in Acts 2, the ones in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost? I think they must have been Lutheran. I mean, it says in our text, “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” That’s the Lutheran question, isn’t it? “What does this mean?” We’d almost expect the answer to begin, “We should fear and love God so that. . . .” Well, even if it isn’t right out of the catechism, this is still a good question to ask: “The Day of Pentecost: What Does This Mean?”

Let’s start by asking about that word “Pentecost.” What does this mean? Literally, it means, “fiftieth.” For it was on the fiftieth day after Passover that thousands of Jews from around the world were gathered in Jerusalem for one of the great pilgrimage festivals in the Jewish religious year. In Hebrew, this festival is called “Shavuot” or “Weeks.” The Feast of Weeks came seven weeks, seven sevens, after the Passover. That’s why all these Jews were in Jerusalem. They were there for the Feast of Weeks, “Shavuot” in the Hebrew or in the Greek, “Pentecost,” the “fiftieth day.”

But in this particular year, Pentecost came seven weeks after a most unusual Passover. For it was right around Passover that year that some truly amazing things took place. You see, there was this fellow Jesus of Nazareth who had gotten the crowds all worked up. The Jewish religious leaders called for his crucifixion, and the Roman governor Pilate gave it to them. Since then, his disciples had laid pretty low. They had been hanging out in Jerusalem, and now, on the day of Pentecost, “they were all together in one place.”

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” The sound of a rushing wind. Tongues of fire resting on each one. What in the world does this mean? Well, actually, something not of this world. These were signs from heaven. The sound came from heaven, the sound of a mighty wind. The word for “wind,” whether in Hebrew or in Greek–the same word is used for “Spirit” or “wind” or “breath.” So the sound of the wind was a sign of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This was the breath of God blowing on them, filling and empowering these disciples of Christ. And then fire. John the Baptist had said of Christ, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” A holy fire, purifying the people of God. And “tongues” of fire, at that. Tongues are for speaking. And that’s just what they do: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

But why? Just to make a confusing babel of sounds? No. Again, this is a sign from God, a sign from heaven. It served a purpose. What happened was, when that sound occurred, the sound of the mighty rushing wind, it gathered a crowd. Remember those thousands of Jews in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost? When they heard this unusual sound, people were curious and went to see what was going on. And that’s where the disciples were.

When the crowd gets there, they hear something else just as unusual. It’s the believers speaking in a variety of languages. But aren’t they just Galileans? How come they’re able to speak in these different tongues? They couldn’t have learned those foreign languages, this bunch of uneducated fishermen. But the people in the crowd, the Jewish pilgrims from around the world, are able to understand what is being said in the languages of the nations they come from. Amazed, they ask, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and so on. “We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God!”

And so this is what all the speaking in tongues is about. What does this mean? It means that God is going to have himself a people from all the nations of the earth. The gospel is going to go forth in many languages, to all peoples. “Every tribe and language and people and nation.” It’s starting here in Jerusalem, on this first day of Pentecost, the beginning of the church’s ministry out into the world. Jesus had told his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And this is it. Now it is starting.

It starts especially when Peter gets up and addresses the crowd. The sound of the wind and the speaking in tongues had gotten the attention of the crowd and drawn an audience. Now Peter is going to get to preaching. He will be that witness for Jesus in Jerusalem. First, Peter explains the phenomena that people had just witnessed–the wind, the fire, the languages. This, he says, was a fulfillment of a Scripture from the prophet Joel. God had promised to pour out his Spirit on all flesh. Now that promise has been fulfilled. “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” the Scripture said. And so here are these disciples of Jesus, telling forth the great things God has done in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a sign: We are now in the end times, the last days. Judgment Day is coming, the day of the Lord, “the great and magnificent day.” Therefore, people, be ready. Take refuge in the mercy of the Lord. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If that was true then, how much more is it true today! If those people back then were in the last days, how much more are we, in these days, in the end times. Judgment Day is coming. We don’t know when or how soon, but it is coming. Therefore, we need to be ready. We need to be saved from the coming judgment, from death and hell and eternal damnation.

That’s how Peter begins his sermon, with the need for salvation. From there he goes on to tell how that salvation happens. He explains what calling on the name of the Lord involves. Peter tells this crowd of Jews that the Jesus whose death they had called for, just weeks earlier–Jesus of Nazareth, divinely attested to be the Messiah–this same Jesus, God has raised from the dead. His death was no accident. It wasn’t even your doing. His death was according to God’s set purpose and foreknowledge. But death could not hold him. God has raised this Jesus to life, Peter says, and we are witnesses of this fact. Exalted now to the right hand of God, Jesus has poured out the promised Holy Spirit, as you now see and hear. Be assured, God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

What does this mean? What does this mean for you and me? It means that God’s plan and purpose was to send his Son to be our Savior. Jesus willingly, knowingly, went into death for our sake. We had sinned against God, blindly, ignorantly, not knowing how much we were actually enemies of God. Nevertheless, God has had mercy upon us. The death of God’s own Son paid for our sins. Jesus paid the whole debt of sin and death. He took the punishment we deserve. Therefore, rest assured, God is not punishing you. Jesus then rose from the dead, showing that death has had the sting taken out of it. And even though he has been taken from our sight, Jesus now is our ascended and exalted Lord.

What does this mean? It means that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us also the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we may know him and have faith in him and thus be saved. The Holy Spirit is Christ’s gift to the church, empowering our witness here at home and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter and Counselor, the one who comes alongside of us, to guide us into all the truth and to empower our witness to Christ. The Spirit strengthens our faith in Christ through the church’s ministry of Word and Sacrament.

So what does all of this mean? It means that Pentecost is still happening. It is ongoing. It continues today. The gospel is going out to all peoples: Bonne Terrians and De Sotans, residents of St. Francois County and Jefferson County, Missourians and Chicagoans, Germans and Swedes–and if there are any Parthians or Medes or Elamites in the building, well, you’re getting the gospel, too. The Holy Spirit continues to work saving faith in the hearts of all kinds of people, through the ministry of the gospel. Christ’s Spirit-filled disciples–people just like us–we Pentecost people will tell forth the mighty works of God with our tongues to the people we meet. Yes, Pentecost is still happening today, as God’s baptized children speak forth their faith, and the Holy Spirit empowers their witness.

The day of Pentecost: What does this mean? It means that you who call on the name of the Lord–you shall be saved! And it means that the Lord will use our tongues, he will use our Spirit-empowered witness, to share the good news with others.