If there’s one day within the life of the Church that can produce the unintended consequence of causing people to feel grossly inadequate in their faithful service to God, it’s this day—Pentecost. Today we hear about faithful disciples boldly and masterfully speaking in tongues, and thousands of people hearing, repenting, and converting. The Church grew by thousands seemingly because of the amazing evangelistic efforts of a few. There”s not a single pastor or congregation out there who wouldn’t love to experience even a fraction of such extraordinary and miraculous results. If only…. And this is where the feelings of inadequacy start to surface. 

In proud fashion, though, we miss the point, and so often attempt to overcome these feelings of inadequacy by our own effort. We try to manufacture and re-produce the results that God blessed at Pentecost. Churches attempt it all the time. The thought is “re-produce the excitement; manufacture some awe and inspiration, and perhaps you’ll also re-produce the massive influx of new members. If you’re not putting on the biggest, most entertaining and uplifting show in town, then you’re doing something wrong. You don’t stand a chance. You’ll never get that Pentecost experience.”

Well…I don’t believe a word of that. You know why? It’s not true. It’s not right. It’s not faithful to God’s Word. You see, the disciples never set out to have this Pentecost experience. They didn’t organize focus groups and community polls to find out what the public masses were looking for so that they could “scratch the itch of the masses” and make a big public splash. They didn’t sit down at a board meeting and discuss membership data, and formulate marketing plans and advertising so that they could increase their market share. They didn’t even wake up that morning with the intention of going out from behind the safety of their locked doors. It wasn’t their plans and purposes and intentions that made that Pentecost what it was. It was Almighty God who did this.
It was the work of the Holy Spirit, who not only spoke the Truth of the Gospel through these men, endowing them with the gift of proclamation in foreign tongues, but who also summoned a huge crowd of people to the disciples so that the crowd could even hear the Gospel proclaimed to them. Remember: The text tells us that the sound of this great rushing wind caused everyone to come running so that they could find out what was going on. Faith comes by hearing. This hearing of the wind led the masses right to the source and wellspring of the Gospel in the Words which were proclaimed. These men didn’t manufacture anything. In terms of “success,” these men were grossly inadequate, in and of themselves. Left to their own devices and schemes and plans, they would’ve produced nothing but ruin and despair. This Pentecost miracle was all God’s working. All glory, honor, and credit belongs to Him.

To say that we’re also grossly inadequate in our personal capabilities to save and deliver people from damnation is an understatement. We’re not inadequate. We’re completely and utterly incapable, in and of ourselves…just like those first disciples were on that Pentecost Sunday. We are not able to overcome our inadequacies, for we are sinful and selfish. In our attempts to lead a perfect Christian life we have failed, yet we want to grow the church by our own means and our own plans, without realizing the source of the growth. We can talk about growth all day, and tell people to grow the church all we want, but it will never take place unless the Lord grants the increase through His chosen message and His chosen means. The miracle of Pentecost that produced growth did not come through the miraculous signs of rushing wind, tongues of fire, or suddenly speaking in foreign languages. Peter later in chapter 2 of Acts explained what is the source of the miracle of Pentecost, and what is the content of the message that converts and saves: Jesus who was crucified and raised from the dead is the Lord and is the Christ. As Peter said: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Also “that Jesus was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

To this message the Jews who had been gathered to celebrate the Festival of Weeks asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” and the answer was: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Dear Friends in Christ, despite your sin and mine, this same Jesus Christ who was crucified, raised, and ascended into heaven has given you forgiveness for your sin. He has already given you your Pentecost in your Baptism where you were washed in His atoning blood and received His living Word. Though you have been inadequate to be saved and to serve, the blood of Jesus Christ is more than adequate to cover your sin and make you Holy. His Holy Spirit has been given to you through His Word and you have received the miracle of faith to confess His name. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continue to use their humble means with miraculous results as the Word is faithfully preached and spoken through Baptism, Absolution, and this Divine Service to bring you and many others again to Himself and bind you to the salvation and forgiveness given to you for Jesus Christ’s sake.

You have heard the message that Jesus is the Christ and you are forgiven for His sake, you are given life eternal through faith in Him who was crucified, risen, and ascended; you are about to receive the very body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin and the strengthening of your faith, so that through Him you are again receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now you have heard His Word once more. Even as you have had His Word and name given you as you were baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Now by the power of the Helper you are able to love Jesus and keep His Word even as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have come and made their home in your hearts and minds giving you that saving faith.

Now you able to confess with your tongues that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Keep the mercies of His cross ever before you and do not worry what you will say. Study this Word and meditate upon it day and night and be blessed in the delight of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will speak through you in the simple language of His love, joy, and the confession of faith in the words and deeds which He has planted into you.

This day, we will hear the confession of faith by Jonathan Torrance, the very affirmation of that faith given in His Baptism. The same confession that we all have or should be willing to make every day: “I intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed, to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death by the grace of God, to be willing to remain steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death rather than fall away from it.” God grant us the power to confess this and hold fast.

How can we? Can we stand firm to this end? Not by ourselves, but by His Spirit. How can we grow the Church or grow in our faith? Not by lessening the Word of God, but by magnifying His Word and meditating upon it day and night. By repeating faithfully, God’s Words which have been repeated to us in our hearing, preached to us, taught to us, sung to us, memorized by us, in the liturgy, the catechism, in godly hymns and spiritual songs which declare the faith and make us ready to give an answer, to speak that confession made by the disciples at Pentecost to a world that so greatly needs to hear that word of Hope and salvation by the forgiveness of their sins in Christ crucified and raised.

By faithfulness to His Word and the receiving of it, God will bless the increase. By virtue of their baptism, all of God’s people may speak forth the mighty works of God in their own language, in their own vocations, because regardless of tongue or ability, the message is from the Lord and the message is the Lord. It is the sign of the cross and the empty tomb. It is the message of life, salvation, hope, and forgiveness because the Sacrifice of God’s Son Jesus Christ is more than adequate to pay for your sins and the sins of the world. This message is exciting in and of itself. It does not need to be packaged in slick modern marketing or in stage shows. The message is His and the results are His, and they are magnificent! It has come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Therefore, come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love, through faith in Jesus Christ to your glory and our salvation. Alleluia and Amen!

Pr. Aaron Kangas

This last Thursday was Ascension Day. It marks 40 days since Easter and the day when Jesus was taken bodily up into heaven even as His disciples looked on. Now this is more than a mere historical remembrance. If it were, it wouldn't worth more than just a brief mention. However, the Ascension of Jesus into heaven is significant. It is significant for you, me, and the Church throughout the ages. By His Ascension, Christ has been crowned to receive the full glory, power, and might due Him as the Son of God. Jesus has ascended to prepare a place for His Church; He has gone to send forth His Holy Spirit to bring faith by His Word and Sacraments until Christ comes again in the fullness of His glory at His final return.

Now we may wonder why did Jesus have to ascend into heaven to do all that? The disciples may have wondered why as well. They might have preferred to have Jesus forever on earth with them like Peter had remarked at the mountain of transfiguration when Jesus had shown His glory and Peter suggested making a shelter in order to stay there longer. No doubt they would have loved Jesus to be continually teaching them rather than leaving even to send the Holy Spirit which to them may not have made sense. This is the importance of the words of Jesus in John chapters 13-17 as we have heard them the last several Sundays. On the night that He was going to be betrayed, He explained some of the mysteries as to His ministry and why it was necessary and for their benefit that He had to do all that was required of Him as the Messiah and leave them. 

The Ascension of Jesus into heaven is important as part of that entire Ministry of Jesus Christ. As with all the other parts of His ministry, it was necessary to fulfill God's plan of salvation. It was all necessary to rescue and redeem His creation from the curse of sin. Since Adam and Eve's sin you and me and all children born naturally inherit the corruption of our parents and are guilty of sin and worthy of eternal punishment. To redeem humans in their fleshly corruption God had to send His own Son to be born of a human mother not through natural means but through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word in the Virgin Mary so that the Word of God would join human flesh without original sin. It was necessary for Jesus to be true man and true God. Only in the sacrifice of a man could God's wrath for sin be turned, but only by Jesus being true God could He keep the Law perfectly. In His preaching, teaching, and healing, He was announcing that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, that He was in His own person, fulfilling all OT prophecy, that in Jesus, God was reconciling man to Himself, and the power of sin, death and the devil was being overthrown. This overthrow of sin, death, and the devil could only happen through that sacrifice of the perfect Messiah as our substitute; therefore Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross in our place. He received the guilt of all sin upon His own flesh and the heavenly Father cursed Him upon the cross. Jesus had tried to prepare His disciples for this event as He spoke to them the night before He died. He told them that it was necessary that He be betrayed and die so that His Father would be glorified in His loving sacrifice of His own Son for us. Jesus told them that that time of weeping and mourning would only be for a short time; that He would come to them again. He was referring to His resurrection and its necessity to show that the payment for sin was indeed completed in Christ's crucifixion, to show that the power of death had been over turned and now resurrection from the dead is a promise for those who believe in Christ. 

Now we get to the necessity of the Ascension. The disciples, of course, rejoiced when Jesus appeared alive to them after the resurrection, but they also had fear. They feared what would happen next. They did not yet understand. We can see by their question to Jesus just before He ascended that even then they still didn't get it. The disciples were still trying to figure out everything and see everything through the eyes of reason. This is one of the reasons why Jesus had to ascend, so that they could "get it" by the sending of His Spirit upon them. The Spirit could give them true understanding and bring to the disciples' remembrance all that Jesus had said to them. Jesus said in John 16 "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you." In this way, the disciples would be given power from on High so that they might bear witness to Jesus and to what He had done. They would be given not only the authority, but the knowledge through faith to rightly administer Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper in the care of the young church. They would be given the Holy Spirit's inspiration to write down the Gospels and the books of the New Testament so that future generations would also hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and be saved from their sins by God's Grace.

Therefore, in Easter triumph Jesus entered the heavenly realm and was declared the king of Glory in heaven as well as on earth. This is what Jesus was talking about in John 17:5 "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed." The glory, power, and honor that were due Him as the Son of God who was begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made was restored to Him. When we confess in the creeds that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father it is not a place where His earthly body is confined. It refers to His position of authority as true God. Now glorified on high, His human body is no longer subjected to the regular rules of science, but His divine nature now shares Divine attributes to His human nature. Now that Jesus is ascended His resurrected human body is now even more free by the full exercise of Jesus' Divinity to be everywhere and anywhere He declares Himself to be. This is another benefit to us and the Church. He now is present where He has promised. Jesus comes among us through His Word as it is preached and studied. He is present in Holy Baptism and calls and gathers His sheep into the Church. Now that He is ascended He now also comes to us in a presence that is better and truer than the visible resurrected form that the disciples witnessed with their earthly eyes. Now as He is fully glorified, Jesus gives unto His people His glorified flesh and blood and the fullness of His godhead to ingest in, with, and under the bread and the wine no matter where we are around the world. In this way He comes to us poor forgiven sinners to strengthen our faith to continue to give us joy and hope as He prepares us for the place that He has prepared for us, that is, eternal life.

This is another triumph of the Ascension, for Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. He is making ready heaven for the last day when He shall return in the same way that He ascended. When He returns, He shall come in His full glory and power to judge the living and the dead, to bring to life the flesh of all the dead and to those who believed on His name He will gather and restore body and soul and bring them to live for eternity in heaven. As we wait for that day, the Ascended Christ continues to send forth His Holy Spirit in the places where He promises to be, His Word, baptism, Absolution, and the Sacrament of the Altar. Jesus has ascended to prepare a place for His Church; He has gone to establish His Kingdom here and in heaven, He even now rules over all things, He sends forth His Holy Spirit, until His final return. He continues to intercede for us by His sacrifice so that we receive mercy from the Father, even as He hears our prayers. 

This mercy is yours by the forgiveness of your sins. You are redeemed in Jesus Christ. You are His child, you may pray to the father in Jesus name, and His sends His Spirit to you to give grace and faith in abundance through His sacramental presence. In this way, you too are now witnesses of His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension by faith. Let us rejoice then that our Lord and Savior has Ascended on high so that He may also be with us here below. Let us who have received His presence and forgiveness be filled with joy like His disciples and bear witness to this joy. This same Jesus who has been crucified for your sins, risen from the dead so that you may not fear death, has now ascended so that we might ascend to Him at the last day. And on that last day He will come again to judge the living and the dead, but also to bring us with all believers into His eternal glory where we may dwell with Him forever in His joyous victory for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Prayer does not make sense from the perspective of merit. Why should anyone approach a Holy God asking for favors expecting anything when nothing worthy can be given in return? Is it right that a sinner would even approach the Holy of Holies?

Consider the fact that we are all sinners. To be a sinner does not simply mean that we make a few little mistakes here and there. It means that we are fundamentally filthy in our soul. Sins come pouring out of us constantly because all sinners are turned away from God in prideful rebellion and selfish action. Even actions we think are good works are soiled by our unclean sinful nature. So even the purest, most selfless prayer coming from one who has sinned is a horrible abomination, an offensive, a screeching noise in the ears of the holy God….Or at least they would be without Christ.

How is it that we can speak our prayers to the Lord? We do not and cannot approach God in prayer because we think we are worthy. On the contrary, we confess that we are unworthy sinners. In fact, because we know that we are sinners, that we are weak and heavy laden, that we are in need and are otherwise worthy of wrath, we know that we need salvation and help. And God, in His mercy, has given us an intercessor, and we believe and hope in Him. For the sake of Jesus Christ, therefore, we come to Him as Our heavenly Father invites us in Christ’s love and stead.

It is Jesus who has atoned for our sins with His Blood. He died on the cross for your sins and mine. He has redeemed us from our sin, rescued us in our damnable condition. He has torn the curtain that separated us from God by giving up His life for us. God has adopted us as His children by the promise given in Holy Baptism, and Jesus Christ has invited us to call upon Him in prayer. “Ask and you will receive,” says Christ to us today. We approach the Almighty as our loving Father who cares for us and wants to help us because of the merits and for the sake of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to pray in the Name of Christ. We base our prayers on His merits. He has earned for us the right to come to God with our requests.

How strange this makes prayer! We should realize and appreciate, from time to time, that God should NOT listen to us based on our merit and worthiness. We are praying to Him based on Someone Else’s virtues. The ordinary, earthly way of doing things is that we do not ask for favors because a different person is worthy of the favor. How would it sound if I said, “Hey, can you give me a thousand dollars? I am a nasty jerk, but I know someone else who is an awesome person. So, give me the money because of how great that other person is.” In everyday life, that does not make sense. But that is how true Christian prayer works. That is the strange principle of how God decides to treat us.

What a good thing it is that God works this way! Because of sin in us, sin in the world, the curs of it hangs about us. Humanity is vulnerable, weak, and destined for mortality. A world that exists without Christ, aimlessly seeks control and power in its own might of reason, science, or brute force, yet the brute forces of disease, hurricanes, floods, fires, famines, earthquakes and the like show that we do not and cannot have ultimate control. There is so much suffering due to disease, fear, anger, and unbelief all a result of sin and rebellion against God.

Our dear Lord knows this: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is patient and loving. God is not a distant, indifferent observer looking down from heaven. God fashioned Adam and Eve in a very personal and specific way. He had made them for life, not death. When Adam and Eve sinned despite the threat of death, God did not destroy them in the curse of sin, but gave them a promise of salvation.

In Mercy, the Word of God joined Himself to flesh to redeem that fallen flesh. Jesus, the Son of God, knows what our human lives are like. He lived it. He knew the ache and trouble of temptation. He knew the pain of suffering illness. He knew the grief of loved ones dying, even though He knew that they could and would be raised from death. He knew the severe pain of injuries inflicted upon Himself, and the pain of dying. But unlike us, He deserved none of it. He was perfect, obedient to the Law, and without sin, unworthy of suffering the effects of sin upon Himself. Yet, Christ allowed Himself to live as a weak Man, a vulnerable Man, a Man who suffered and wept and felt crushing emotions. He knew exhaustion, hunger, and physical weakness.

Why? Because He loves you. He loved His creation so much that He was willing to come and redeem it from damnation: from eternal suffering and separation from God forever. So in addition to His love for you as His redeemed creature, purchased and won by the ransom of Christ’s precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, so that you may be His own and serve Him in everlasting innocence and righteousness forever. Your loving Savior knows what it feels like to be you. He knows everything you experience, except for sin. He knows your weaknesses, He loves you despite your fear and weak faith. He has given you faith now to believe in His love and gives you strengthening of that faith by His Word and sacraments as He descends to give you forgiveness of sin, life, and every blessing by His Spirit.

Know that when you pray to the Lord, the Lord understands. He is not a distant, strange creature who has no sympathy for your troubles. Far from it. He understands and has felt it.

If you believe that God knows nothing of your life and does not care, then prayer is an exercise in futility. But if you know that the Son of God has become Man and lived your life, died for you, and has become your Brother, then you also know that God is your Father who cares deeply for you. Prayer requires this kind of faith. Prayer is a response of faith to God’s Word as He speaks to us and gives us faith. We see this even in our worship and liturgy.

So how does the loving Father answer your prayers? Since He is loving, He wants to give you what is best. But sometimes you and I ask Him for things that are not best for us. We simply cannot always know what is good or not good. What appears helpful may actually be harmful. If only we can remember this. Deep down, our old Adam thinks that he knows better than the Lord. We may impatiently complain when He does not give us what we want.

It is precisely because the heavenly Father loves us that He does not give us everything we desire. As we learn better to be His children in the image of His Son, we pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Jesus Christ even prayed this in Gethsemane.

Our sinful mind is sometimes too foolish to do that. Instead, like a little child, we may ask for destructive things without realizing it, and then whine and pout because we did not get our way.

But we may also go to the other extreme. We may be too fearful to ask for something foolish, and so ask for nothing at all. Our timid prayers would refuse to ask for a single blessing.

But the loving Father wants to hear our prayers. Even though our prayers may be stammering and foolish, He wants to hear the desires of our hearts. No petition is too small for His Fatherly care.

By all means, avoid asking for what is obviously sinful. And yes, confess your sinful foolishness to God in your prayers. But then say, “Please give me this thing, if it be Your will.”

When God seems to delay, perhaps He has said, “No.” Or perhaps He is delaying for a good reason and the answer is “not yet”. Whatever happens, let your faith stand fast toward God. Continue to receive His Word and respond to Him with worship Him in your prayers and your lives. Feed those prayers with the Word and Supper, since a plant does not flourish and flower without water and the sun. God uses prayer to strengthen faith, for by praying you are repeating the words and promises of God. You are hearing again God’s promise to you. You are remembering that God is your heavenly Father and you may approach Him as dear children approach their dear Father in Heaven. You are acknowledging your needs and salvation can only come from Him for the sake of Jesus Christ. Know that that is what He wants: your salvation. He wishes only for your good. Pray for that strengthening of faith to say “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Pray for blessings of His Holy Spirit as He feeds you by Word and Sacrament: to that His answer will always be “yes”. He desires that you would be saved and kept in the faith. God’s Gospel of salvation shows you His enormous love in Christ His Son. 

Always remember that Jesus did say: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Therefore, dear Christians as His beloved children, redeemed for the sake of Jesus Christ and given faith to believe, you also are overcoming the world. Pray for ongoing strength and peace. Rejoice in His promise to hear you: all for the sake of Jesus Christ your loving crucified and raised Lord and Savior, In Jesus Christ’s Name. It shall be so. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

This morning Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit. Based on what we see throughout Scripture, we confess that the work of the Holy Spirit is to create and nourish saving faith. What does this mean? Our Small Catechism confesses this in a short and sweet kind of way: “I believe I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies me in the one true faith.” Short, sweet, and to the point. When the Holy Spirit works faith, that work consists of calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying.

But, if you’re paying attention to our Lord’s words in the Gospel lesson, He doesn’t speak of the Holy Spirit calling, gathering, enlightening or sanctifying. Jesus adds to the “job description”, saying that He’s going to send the Holy Spirit to “convict” people in the Truth. Convict: That’s seems like a harsh word to our ears. It’s short, but there’s nothing sweet about it…at least not in how we typically use the word. What is Jesus saying here? The word that Jesus uses here (in the original Greek) is elegko, which we translate as “convict,” although a better translation would be “convince.” Okay…so the Holy Spirit’s job (as sent by Jesus) is to “convince”? Convince of what? Well…Jesus answers that question. He says that the Holy Spirit will elegko (convince/convict) in the Truth. His job is to convince/convict in the truth of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Now, before we go any further, it is important to understand that all of this important convincing/convicting finds its source in the cross of Christ. The crucified Christ is the origination and destination of this holy conviction. John makes this clear in his Gospel and John the baptizer confesses in the first chapter of this Gospel: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son[ of God.”. Three years later, Jesus is telling His apostles here (Maundy Thursday evening, at the Last Supper) that He will send His Spirit of Truth so they [the disciples] can understand. They can’t understand what’s about to go down, yet. But…Jesus will send His Holy Spirit of Truth later on, and then they will understand. Three chapters later (John 19), and Jesus is hanging on the bloody cross, mere moments away from breathing His last. John tells us that Jesus, knowing that all of the Father’s plan for salvation was now complete, each and every sin atoned for; the full wrath of the Father against sin for all time paid for in full, declares victoriously, “It is finished!” He then drinks the sour wine, and gives up the Spirit. So often this is simply translated/understood as Jesus “gave up the ghost.” He breathed out His last breath. End of story. But…the way the Greek reads is that Jesus gives up and sends out or even breathes out “the Spirit.”

This is important! The Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Truth—proceeds forth from Christ at the moment of His death on the cross; at that singular moment of our eternal, vicarious satisfaction. Divine Truth—the Spirit of God’s condemning, life-giving Truth—flows forth from and finds its source in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished at the crost. Three days later the resurrected Jesus—the One who has completely conquered sin, death, and the devil for all time—stands among these same apostles and breathes on them. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness, it is withheld.” Here is Christ giving His Holy Spirit to the apostles, the very men who would be the first pastors of His New Testament Church. Again, notice that this giving of the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Christ’s Truth—is all about forgiveness of sin. It’s all about the forgiveness that flows forth from and flows back to the crucified/resurrected Christ. There is forgiveness of sin NOWHERE else! This is the Truth! 

Now, did these men fully understand all this? No. They wouldn’t (and didn’t) understand the necessity of the brutal death of Jesus. They didn’t understand the necessity of the cross. Easter Sunday? They still didn’t get it. They were hiding behind locked doors. When they encountered the resurrected Christ, they were in disbelief. They were joyous—yes—but as St. Luke tells us that they “disbelieved for joy.” They still did not fully understand what the death and resurrection of Jesus meant for them and for all mankind. Even forty days later, atop that ascension mount, they still didn’t get it. Jesus is getting ready to ascend, and at least some of them are still thinking in terms of “worldly kingdom” and “earthly rule and power.” “Lord, are you now going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” They didn’t get it. They didn’t understand what Jesus—His death, His resurrection, His victory, and His reign and rule—was all about. They needed help from the Helper to make it clear. Only the Holy Spirit could bring about that sort of faithful understanding… which He would do ten days later at Pentecost. Pentecost is when they finally understood by the working of the Holy Spirit. That is why it was important for Jesus to Ascend and the Spirit to be sent in His fullness.

How can we come to any understanding without the Holy Spirit? We can’t. Can we save ourselves by our good works or come to faith of our own efforts? No, we cannot. Why did God send His only-begotten Son? To take our place and die for our sins; to do what we cannot do; to save us from our justly-deserved wage for sin. This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in for our benefit. This is where His “convincing/convicting” is focused: On the cross of Christ. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and our sin is so great that God Himself had to die for it. We cannot save ourselves, no matter how hard we try. The Holy Spirit works saving faith to be convinced of this fact that we need Christ’s redeeming work for us. Faith believes this truth, in spite of what the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh tell us. Faith looks to this same cross and rejoices because faith believes Christ when He victoriously declares, “It is finished!” Faith is convinced of this all-redeeming righteousness. 

Look at the crucifix. It doesn’t look like a victory, does it? It certainly doesn’t have the appearance of “good.” But saving faith worked by the Holy Spirit is convinced of this singular all-redeeming Truth. Saving faith is a firm conviction of all of Christ’s Truth. It is finished. Because of the crucifix we are redeemed outside of our merits, but by Christ’s merits, once and for all time. The faithful one has a firm conviction of their judgment according to their sins. But now in repentant faith in Christ, they do not fear or doubt or worry whether they’re good enough to make the cut. Baptized into Christ’s all-redeeming death and resurrection; holding fast in faith to this all-atoning death and resurrection, the faithful one stands firm in the sure and certain conviction that God has already judged them “innocent,” not because of who they are or what they’ve done, but solely because of who Jesus is and what He has done for them in their place.

And we see the fruits of this Holy Spirit-wrought conviction in our midst, from baptism to funeral and everything in between. Consider when a baptism of a child takes place. The faithful parents, convinced of what our Lord says regarding “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and “the wage of sin is death,” faithfully bring their little baby born into spiritual death and the trespasses of their father Adam, to the life-giving Good Physician so that He can breathe His Holy Spirit into that precious little one and give them the gift of eternal life. We see this in the funeral, as the baptized child of God who has fallen asleep in the faith is brought before the altar covered over in the white pall of Christ’s all-availing righteousness. That is a confession of faith; a public proclamation of the firm conviction that the deceased now rests peacefully and confidently in the blood-bought righteousness of Christ. Even as we grieve the death of our departed loved one, we grieve differently. We don’t grieve like those who have no hope. We grieve in the joyous hope and firm conviction of blessed reunion before the heavenly throne of God; reunion with them, and more importantly, reunion with Christ in all glory and peace.

And the “everything in between”? You are baptized. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection? This is present-tense assuredness and peace; a peace that surpasses all understanding; a peace that can only be known and understood in the conviction of Spirit-wrought faith. No matter what befalls you on this side of eternity; no matter what crosses you bear as you make your way through this shadowy valley we refer to as “life,” you are completely covered over in Christ’s perfect righteousness. 

May you, by God’s good grace through the working of the Holy Spirit, ever hold fast to this peace of Christ. God be with you by His Spirit to ever and always be humbly convicted in the reality of your sin, while rejoicing in the greater reality of God’s judgment. A judgement that now declares you holy and righteous in His sight for Jesus Christ’s sake. 

Pr. Aaron Kangas

“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Jesus speaks these words to the disciples shortly before His betrayal, crucifixion, burial and resurrection. He compares this time of trial and sorrow to the pain, anguish, and worrisome time of expectation that happens at the time of childbirth. From the perspective of a woman giving natural birth, there is sorrow, perhaps fear, and certainly pain even with various medications to numb it, but once the child is born, the excitement and uncertainty is passed, the mother worn but joyful, embraces her newborn. That, is of course, the ideal outcome. But the reason for the fear and worry before the birth is that much could go wrong during the actual childbirth: internal breeding and hemorrhaging, heart troubles, strokes, blood clots for the mother, umbilical cords wrapping around where it shouldn’t, breeches, and so on. Will both the mother and child be healthy? How long will the labor last?

No doubt some of the same emotions of doubt, fear, sorrow, pain, anguish and uncertainty went through the hearts and minds of the disciples after the arrest, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. “Oh no! What is happening? What will happen? How much longer will this trial last? Surely, they will find Him innocent. Wait, now He is dying, will He be rescued? Now He is dead. What now? What will happen to us?” Yet after and through all those labors of Jesus, Jesus had given the answer to these questions. God had not abandoned them: He had not abandoned His servant, His Christ, His Son. No, Jesus now having broken through the bonds of death and the grave, has become the first born of the dead in the glorious resurrection of body and soul for eternity. Jesus is the first born of the resurrection victory triumph. He kept the Law, took our sin, our sorrows, and the punishment that we deserved at the cross in His suffering and sorrow of His crucifixion so that we might be born from above as His people now by faith, but ultimately to be brought forth into the resurrection of our flesh and soul at the last Day. But what about in the meantime? How do exist and survive in a world that seems so often hostile to God, His Word, and His Church?

You know, it is very interesting. Today is the first time that I can recall that this particular text has fallen upon our secular holiday and remembrance known as “Mother’s Day”. This is a day in which we give thanks for the gift that God has given called motherhood through which God brings forth life. Sadly, not all mothers are good at raising their children once they have come out of the womb. Some try hard and make mistakes, some don’t try to be good mothers at all which is among the worst mistakes, and some women do not understand that to conceive a child is a great gift and make the mistake and sin of aborting the life of their child.
Furthermore, we know that taking care of the child is not just about what you do after the child is out of the womb, but how to take care of the child while it is yet, unborn, within the womb is very important. What foods should a mother eat to feed its child through her body: supplements, exercise, taking care of the body, making sure that bad substances are not taken in, lest it affect the child being formed. Now they say, avoid recreational drugs, smoking, low nutrient foods and both mother and child will fare better.

This is where Jesus’ words to the disciples apply to us, as we exist in our current life and situation as members of that body of the church militant. We speak of ourselves as Sons and daughters of God and indeed we are. As St. John says in the epistle this morning: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 

The life that we live now in our relation to God is kind of like the relation of an unborn child in relation to his mother and father. We were conceived by the Holy Spirit by the Word of God into belief and faith, attached to the womb of the Church by Holy Baptism in Christ’s blood, and we receive ongoing sustenance from the umbilical cord of the liturgy and the Sacrament of the Altar, and through the Word of God spoken in and through our mother of the church, we also hear the voice of our Father. We have not yet seen Him face to face. We are still being formed for what is yet to come. We are yet, weak and unable to breathe the pure air of holiness with perfectly constructed body and soul that we shall receive after the labor and birth pangs of the judgement of this world.

As we live in this world and this life and we look to the world to come and ponder its mysteries, it really is like a child in the womb who lives and if possible could ponder what life outside the womb may be. But ponder as it may, it cannot fully conceive the idea of sunshine, breathing air through lungs, eating food though the mouth, or any of the other things that we on this side of our earthly mother’s womb know. So the joys of heaven remain somewhat a mystery.

As we remain in the womb of the Church, Christ’s bride, we receive a foretaste of that joy as our knowledge of God in Jesus Christ is ever growing and maturing. What we are right now as people of sinful flesh and bone is different than what we will be. Though differently from what exactly happens in the womb of our earthly mothers, God is forming us and fashioning us. We are now weak, and we cannot take care of ourselves as we ought. We sin, we see the labor pangs of the devil and the world pressing about us and we fail. We think upon death and the different life that we are being trained for and we fear and tremble and sorrow. We wriggle and fight. We momentarily despair that our heavenly Father will not bring us safely through the trials and travails of this world. We wonder if truly He sees us. Again as a child in the womb has no knowledge of the ultrasound images that its parents sees, we are ignorant of how much better God sees us and has mercy upon us and is taking care of us even now.
From Psalm 139 we declare:
For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, God has created, formed and named us with His name. He sent Jesus Christ to die for you to forgive you of your sins and to give you eternal life. Look at the miracle that is your physical body, despite its taint of sin, it is a miracle and wonder and He has redeemed it for the sake of Christ crucified for something even better. It is already being made more perfect as you receive from Him grace, mercy, forgiveness of sins, here in His Word, here with His body and blood. God is ever faithful and bountiful in goodness to you and for you in Christ.

Rejoice, be of good cheer, though there may be times when the Church Militant cries out in pain, the labor of this life and these trials are very short compared to the eternity that is yet to come. Remember death is swallowed up in Christ’s Victorious Resurrection. You are by faith in Jesus Christ appointed to eternal life, soul and body. As Jesus said, “so also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
In the meantime, look to the cross and the empty tomb. As it is written “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not grow faint. God’s understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.”
Grow in Him and be formed by Him in His strength, abiding in the womb of His church. Hear His voice and have peace and joy now until we are delivered to heavenly birth in eternal life. There we shall see Him face to face and live with Him in an everlasting innocence, righteousness, and blessedness in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas