The Spirit’s Job

Text: John 7:37-39, Acts 2:1-21

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Pentecost is the day we gather to talk about, and thank the Triune God for, the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord and Giver of Life, sharing in the same divine nature as the Father and the Son, proceeding from both, has always held fascination for many. He’s been spoken of in many ways—some accurate, as in our Creeds and Confessions. He’s also been spoken of by many in ways that are quite inaccurate: He’s been called an “it”, a power source to be tapped into for miraculous abilities, an atmosphere that makes someone “feel” a certain way, a different mask or mode of presence for the Father and the Son. But really, when we look at what the Word of God says about the Holy Spirit, He becomes quite a bit simpler to grasp. And when we listen to the Spirit Himself, we find that that things become even simpler still. The Holy Spirit only wants to point us to Jesus.

            We get a glimpse of the Holy Spirit early in Scripture. He’s in our Old Testament reading from Numbers today. The Israelites had been complaining—again—during their trek through the wilderness, so the Lord told Moses to gather seventy of the leading men of Israel to help him with administrative tasks in managing this people. Then we heard, “The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied,” that is, they spoke the counsels and words of the Lord. “But,” we heard, “they did not continue doing it.”

            Except for two. Eldad and Medad were among those seventy and they were making these proclamations after the others had stopped. Joshua, Moses’ secretary and successor-to-be, told Moses to make them stop. But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!”

            And then, millennia later, we hear about the fulfillment of Moses’ desire on the Day of Pentecost. All the faithful were gathered in Jerusalem for the Old Testament feast of Pentecost, a harvest festival that required all of Israel to gather at the temple to offer their firstfruit sacrifices. And in front of this countless number of witnesses, there was a sound of a mighty wind rushing across the city. Divided tongues of flame appeared and rested on each one of the disciples. Jesus’ little fledgling Church on earth was filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in the languages of all those gathered in Jerusalem for the festival. Moses’ wish had finally been granted.

            And yet, even with the crowds gathered there, with the sound of wind and sight of fire, with the disciples of Jesus speaking in languages they had never learned and perfectly understood by all the many nations gathered there, the entire sermon that Peter preached is all about Jesus. Peter could have pointed to any of the sights and sounds, the miracles they were performing, the strange and wonderful nature of everything that was happening that day. He could have zeroed in on the presence of the Spirit and focused on that. But that’s not what the Spirit guided Peter to preach about. When the Holy Spirit makes His biggest entrance ever, all He wants to talk about is Jesus.

            This isn’t surprising if we’ve been paying attention to our Lord the last few weeks. He’s told us that after His ascension He will send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, but the Church can, because we already know Him. Then, our Lord tells us, the Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will take what is Jesus’ and give it to us. He will help the Lord’s faithful remember all that Jesus has said to us. He will not speak on His own authority, but only what He is given to speak: the words of Jesus.

            That’s the Holy Spirit’s entire job: bringing Jesus to you. That’s why we talk about Him creating faith in us. That’s what Jesus was saying to us in our Gospel reading for today: “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And then John explains it to us, “Now He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The Holy Spirit instills faith in us so that when we receive those things that are given to the Church—the living waters of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Confession and Absolution—we’re receiving Jesus and all the benefits of His work for us.

            The Spirit’s job is not to draw our focus to ourselves: our works, even our good ones; or our community or atmosphere, although He is certainly involved there. He knows that if we give our attention, our faith, our certainty to those things, that we will eventually be left in despair. Our works will fail, even our good ones. Our community will ebb and flow, so that’s no way to gauge God’s presence. The way we feel about a certain place or thing or activity in the Church is no source of certainty either, because we’re flighty and temporary, constantly tossing and turning like the children of Israel during their own trek through the world. The Holy Spirit’s job isn’t even to get us to look at Him. Rather, He is the wind, the breath, that remains unseen, but who signals great things are happening. He is the flame that sheds light so that we can see what’s set in front us again. And in the light of the Spirit’s fire, what is it that we see? A flesh and blood, visible Jesus, who really walked through this very real world, who really died, who really rose, and who really ascended. In the light of the Spirit, we can see Him, even when He is hidden from our mortal eyes in bread and wine, even when He’s only heard in the flow of water in the font, even when His voice sounds an awful lot like our pastor’s when He’s forgiving our sins. But it’s Jesus. He’s there, and the Holy Spirit’s job is to show Him to you in those places.

            Today we listen for the Spirit and tune our ears to His voice. But His voice won’t be somewhere deep in the recesses of our hearts. He won’t be in the imaginations of our minds. When we tune our ears to Him, we’ll hear Him in the places we were told to seek Him all along: in the words of Jesus, in the Scriptures. And it’s there that He will constantly say, “Look to Jesus.” In the name of Jesus, who with the Father sends the Holy Spirit. Amen.