EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 2.5 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Jan. 7, 2017.
If you’ve read the front of the bulletin or paid close attention to today’s readings you’ll notice a trend. Today we’re talking about the Holy Spirit! … And I have to tell you that it makes me more than excited.
I admit it: I am a certified Holy Spirit junkie! … Now, that might be a little strange to hear from someone on the path to being ordained in the ELCA, as our faith so heavily focuses on Christ. … But I can’t help it. Even though the Holy Spirit is certainly the least understood of the three persons in the Holy Trinity, I am hooked.
And if you’d be so kind to indulge me, I’d like to get a little theologically nerdy about the Holy Spirit today! Does that sound OK?
So … just what is this Holy Spirit to which we are referring? … Yes, most of remember that God sends the Spirit, which descends like a dove, at Jesus’ baptism. And probably even more famously, we know that the Spirit descends on the faithful at Pentecost and creates the church here on earth. But outside of that, many Lutherans aren’t that familiar with the Spirit or who she is.
Most of us can pretty easily pick through the Old and New Testaments and find where it mentions God and Jesus, but it’s simply not as easy to find the mentions of the Holy Spirit.
So, just what exactly does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit? … Well, volumes as a matter of fact. Do a simple Google search and you can find countless books, articles and research papers dedicated to what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.
And while there are no specific chapters in the Bible dedicated to the Holy Spirit, we do discover a lot about its nature through its many references throughout the Old and New Testaments. In fact there is quite a litany of passages in Scripture that pertain to the Spirit and give us ample evidence as to her equal importance to the Father and the Son.
And, whereas, many Lutherans have relegated her to a lesser or more subservient role to the Father and the Son, the biblical writers did no such thing. As a matter of fact, there are some religious traditions which fully embrace the Holy Spirit in its full triunal glory.
But I digress!
So, just who is the Holy Spirit. … Well, in short, she -- and I should mention here that there’s no where in the Bible that assigns a gender to the Spirit, but in my mind I always picture her as a her -- so, in short, she can be described as God’s life-giving essence.
But unfortunately, even that meaningful description falls short of providing an apt description of who the Holy Spirit is. … So we can also describe the Holy Spirit as God’s inspired breath that gives us life. .. And lastly, the spirit is also no less than “the efficacious presence of God himself, which means the Spirit is the presence of God in person. … Lastly, described one more way, the Spirit is God’s empathy, his feeling identification with what he loves … us, his children.
On a more practical level, the Holy Spirit can be described by studying the Hebrew word for “spirit,” which is ruach, referring to the “breath of life” and the “power that gives life.” And it is God’s ruach that gives us the breath to live.
In fact, Genesis 2:7 describes how God literally breathed life into the first human being, Adam, turning him from dust into a human being. Furthermore, it is this very breath alone that defines our very humanness because when God takes away our breath, we die and return to the dust, whence Adam came.
How are we doing? Is any of this making the spirit clearer now? … Well, don’t worry if you don’t think so because I completely understand how mysterious the Holy Spirit can feel!
Something that may be helpful, frankly, is just to forget what it is that we in modern times think of the Holy Spirit. … Because to understand the Old Testament word ruach, we must actually forget what we think the word “spirit” means. … Because if we talk in Hebrew about Yahweh’s ruach, we are actually talking about God as a tempest, a storm, a force in body and soul, humanity and nature. … Not as a spirit such as a ghostly entity, as we might think of.
Ok, so now that we have some grounding in who the Holy Spirit is, it’s natural to wonder just what it is that the Holy Spirit does!
In its most bare essence, the Holy Spirit is the conveyor of God’s grace and the glue that holds together the relationship between Father and Son, between Son and humans, and thus, between us and God. According to Martin Luther, Christ promised he’d be present at the eucharist and he is through the Holy Spirit. So, in communion, we are united with Christ’s resurrected body. And so if the eucharist is symbolic of eating and becoming the very body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is flowing through Christ, then that is how the Spirit transforms us into Christ. And as you enter into Christ, you enter into thy neighbor. … And, together, the Holy Spirit, with Christ as the head of the church, unites all members of the church together.
So let’s boil it down to this: The Spirit’s importance, at its core, is that she is the real administrator of the sacramental act of communion and in holy baptism, as you see in today’s gospel lesson. During baptism, our soul is purified by the Spirit and makes it possible for us to see the glory of God.
OK, so we got that now, right. … The Holy Spirit is key to our sacraments, both communion and to baptism. … But let’s dive a little deeper …
You will encounter numerous stories regarding the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible, and if you ever care for a deeper dive than today, let me know, we can have coffee!
One of the most significant stories where the Spirit appears is that of Pentecost. It is here, at Pentecost, when the Spirit is delivered to the believers and is credited with building God’s church here on earth. Here I read from Acts 2:1-4: “Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
So just why is Pentecost so important? … Acts 1:8 describes how the Spirit infused or became one with the believers, giving them the power of the Spirit, but also commanding the believers then to bear witness to Christ throughout all of the lands.
In reality, Pentecost was the birthday of the church as we know it. The Old Testament period of law was concluded and a new era began; those who now believed in Jesus as Messiah during this present age became part of the body of Christ known as the church. And the church age began at Pentecost and will conclude when Christ comes back for His own.
Ahhh, so that’s why we make a big deal about Pentecost!
Now, it would be impossible in this short sermon to mention all of the times that the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit. ... In fact, the Holy Spirit appears in the Old Testament more than one hundred times alone. But here are a few more places you might find the Spirit at work:
We, of course, have to begin again back in Genesis where it is established that the Holy Spirit is nothing less than God’s very own “breath of life,” or in Hebrew ruach. There will be dozens of times throughout the Bible in which God’s Spirit is simply termed his ruach.
It’s important here to note that since the Spirit has been around since time immemorial, just as God himself has been, that the acts of the Spirit predate the birth of Jesus, and should firmly establish the importance of the Spirit in the Holy Trinity.
In fact, the Old Testament shows that the operations of God’s spirit precede the workings of Christ; and the New Testament tells us that they go beyond the workings of Christ.” … Now, before I get myself in trouble here, I don’t want to give you the impression that I believe that the Spirit is more important than Jesus, just that it’s at least equally important as Jesus. … I don’t want you thinking that I’m so heretic!
So, where else and how else does the Spirit appear in the Bible. Well, often times its referred to symbolically, being described as natural, physical presences, as in early Genesis -- which, coincidentally was one of our readings -- the Spirit is often described as a wind. Other examples are in the exodus from Egypt when a strong wind parts the Red Sea, allowing the Hebrew slaves to flee, and of course, another appearance of the Spirit as wind is on the day of Pentecost.
The Spirit also appears as thunder and lightning, once when the giving of the Ten Commandments takes place on Mount Sinai in Exodus, and also later in stories in Ezekiel where the prophets describe God’s killing wrath and life-giving mercy (Ezek 13:3) and the story of the “Spirit of burning that washes away filth and cleanses bloodstains in Isaiah” (Isa 4:4).
Finally, the Spirit also is often manifested throughout the Bible as “breadth” or “space.” The Hebrew word ruach is also probably related to the Hebrew word “rewah,” meaning breadth. So, in essence, God’s ruach creates space for us as humans, leading out of narrow spaces and into wide vistas, thus conferring life.
Moving along chronologically, the Spirit also makes appearances as God acts in history such as helping Abraham’s wife give birth in Genesis and appearing as the burning bush to Moses and helping lead Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt in Exodus.
Next, in Deuteronomy, the Spirit is mentioned in the many stories of Israel’s judges, who are leaders given extraordinary power -- charismatic power through the Spirit -- to lead Israel in defeating their enemies.
The Spirit then makes its appearance while it is helping out Israel during its period of kings. Next, are the stories in which the Spirit appears to Israel’s prophets, who guide Israel’s kings at key times in the people’s history.
And while it’s impossible to hit all of the highlights of the Spirit’s appearances in the Old Testament, the ones mentioned establish a pattern. Essentially, the Old Testament writings foretell the future, one where there will be “a time when the Messiah will usher in a new age when God’s Spirit will be poured out not only on all people but also on the entire natural world -- or in other words, Pentecost. … See the story building?
Moving onto the New Testament, stories of the Spirit begin on the day when Jesus is baptized, another of our readings today. And it is during this experience that Jesus receives his calling, just as now in baptism we receive our own calling in Christ.
The Spirit is also often noted in other places throughout the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke such as at Jesus’ birth, his baptism, during his temptations and in his public ministries. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the topic of Jesus’ first public sermon and the message nearly gets him killed, by his own people!
Following the gospels, we encounter the letters that Paul wrote -- Corinthians, Acts, etc. -- where Paul continues to help the people in the early church to figure out just who the Spirit is and what it does.
Admittedly, this is a short and somewhat random collection of the Spirit’s appearances throughout the Old and New Testaments. But it should be enough to give you a start on who the Holy Spirit is and does and that she truly is as an equally important person of the triune God.
And it helps us see that from the earliest days of man, the Spirit has worked on our behalf to help God deliver his promises to us, his people.
Thanks for indulging my theological nerdiness! … Amen!
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