When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) Jesus had compassion. The Greek is esplagxnisthay. This refers to a deep visceral pain deep within himself, a primal response from deep within the essence of His being. This, we are told, happened at a few different points of His Ministry. He suffers on behalf of his pathos for the suffering of people. This compassion of Jesus is one of the deepest, richest, and most comforting of His qualities for any believer in this life. He knows what you are going through and He suffers with and for you.

The reason for this compassion within Jesus in today’s Gospel is the spiritual state of the people. They were like unprotected sheep: Sheep without a shepherd. As such, they are described as wearied, harassed, the Greek implies that they were “cast away”. How? Why? What does this mean? It means that those who were supposed to be spiritual caregivers, leaders, and guides were not doing their job. Like all too often in the Old Testament, those whom God had established to be spiritual caregivers were shirking their duties. The Levites and the Priests were not teaching the people rightly, they had not been preparing them to live in humble faith and repentance.

The words harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd tell us that the people were the constant target of an evil bully. They were like a flock of sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves. The wolves constantly probing, nipping, consuming. Who were these? The false teachers. The Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees, religious movements whose members emphasized the study of the Law and Old Testament not for the sake of understanding God and His mercy and to grow in faith but for the sake of vain philosophy and pride in doing more works than others. As Jesus said in Matthew 22: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Mt. 23: 15, 23)

These false teachers, hypocrites, and blind guides, were the wolves seeking to take God’s Word, twist it and use it to deceive and destroy, while casting out as refuse and worthless those who lived simply by faith in the Messianic promises as repentant believers. Therefore Jesus groans for them and said to His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt. 9:37-38)

With that, we are introduced to the 12 disciples and their names. These are they whom Jesus chose to be an answer to those wolves, and to supplant those who had been appointed to be shepherds but had only been unfaithful hirelings protecting God’s flock. Interesting fact here. Notice the language used. Only 2 Weeks ago on Trinity Sunday, we heard Jesus send out the disciples with the command: ” Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” But here Jesus sends them out saying: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Interesting. 2 things here. One is that this was temporary sending out of the disciples. This was like their internship or as we use in our churches, a type of vicarage. A time of trial for the disciples in a prophetic role which they would continue later. But this time also had a slightly different message content. It was a sending out to continue the message of preparation by repentance as John the Baptizer had proclaimed. It was to show that the kingdom of heaven was about to be proclaimed and redeemed in the very person and work of Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah, the true and faithful Shepherd of God’s flock. The second sending was a message that redemption had been accomplished.

The second point regarding this is to answer the question “why were they sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel this time and not all nations?” Well, the reason is because these were already sheep. They were believers though weak and set upon by the wolves. This message was one of encouragement. Hang in there. Keep the faith. Do not give in to the temptations to despair or turn to a false religion of works, philosophy, or anything that Satan would try using to steal them away. Your Shepherd King is fighting for you and will deliver you from the Devil and his wolfish sons of hell!

Do you think Satan likes his lies to be debated? Do you think wolves who are feasting wish to have their lunch interrupted? O course not! That is why Jesus a few passage later in Mt. 10 tells the disciples: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

He warns them that the enemy will not be easily defeated by words and deeds, but that the Lord would protect and deliver them.

Dear Friends in Christ, the battle continues even today. There are today many false shepherds who are hirelings, false prophets, and wolves in the employ of Satan seeking to harass, destroy, and consume people in spiritual darkness, unbelief, and misbelief.
They know how to appeal to your heart and mind as you struggle in your own flesh with the wolf of human pride within. I struggle too. That voice which says “take the easy way, do your own thing” or “God doesn’t love you” or “I am pretty great”.

Jesus the Great and Good Shepherd knows what is going on in your hearts and minds even if nobody else knows or understands. Jesus in His compassion and love came for you. He came to take your sin, your troubles, the weight of your spiritual enemies off of you. Be comforted! Repent and believe that Jesus has died upon the cross for you to take your sins, to defeat the enemy. To keep you from being consumed by the wolves, to be taken to the depths of hell. Jesus became exhausted by His work and the attacks of the devil as He died so that you may be given strength by the forgiveness of sins which He has won for you by His sacrifice. He has won for you the kingdom of heaven, so that you may eternally rest in Him with the Father, Holy Spirit, the angels, and all the saints. But you are able to rest in Him now. You are able to be comforted now.

This is why He continues to send out His Word, why He sends out pastors today to be His shepherds striving to be faithful in proclaiming His Word, protecting His flocks, teaching them to fight back against the Devil, the World and the flesh, in the name of Jesus Christ who is your Savior Redeemer. He is the one who fulfilled God’s justice, by God’s mercy and faithfulness in Him.

You were lost, but God found you with His Word and brought you into His flock by Baptism into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There you received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection and made you His child and part of the harvest of believers. Remember God’s promise to you here.

Be strengthened as His sheep huddled closely under the cross of your Shepherd, draw near to Him by hearing His Word in Scripture, hymnody, and the liturgy, wherein you hear His voice soothing and singing to you as He leads and guides you through this life as you grow in His wisdom, love, and faith.

Know that the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, death, and the devil is already yours. You have confessed your sins and have been absolved, now by the hand of His undershepherd, be fed the Holy things which bring Christ’s forgiveness for you. Be comforted as you eat and drink Christ’s body and blood in the bread and the wine. This is our victory feast in Christ Jesus. Here is where your exhaustion from the taunts and torments of the week may be shed from you and placed upon Christ once more.

Then go from here fearless even in the face of the daily battles that await. Your Father in heaven has sent you the Holy Spirit which you received in this Word and these gifts. He who has redeemed you will keep you in this faith. He who has spoken His Word to you has given you means to silence the Devil by confessing that faith which has been given unto you in Christ.
You are not helpless. You are not a sheep without a Shepherd. Your Shepherd Jesus Christ loves you and continues to not only “feel for you”, but He loves you and actively fights for you, intercedes for you, redeems you. Continue to confess and believe Jesus Christ crucified and raised and He who is faithful, will bring you safely to our eternal joy and rest: the full realization of the kingdom of heaven, in Jesus Christ, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Today’s Gospel lesson teaches us a spiritual truth while using rather conventional wisdom. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

How do you know that you are sick instead of well and should go to see the physician? Usually the symptoms. You have a fever? You must be sick. You have a cough, weakness, pain, etc., you must be sick. There you go. Of course, the sick should go to the doctor, to find out how to become well once more or at least alleviate the symptoms. The “well”, that is the “healthy” should probably save their money as they have no trouble that needs treatment.

Ah, but you see the trouble is this: some illnesses have few visible symptoms until it is far advanced. This is not to terrify you, but it is the truth. Recently, for example, 41 year old NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died of sepsis, which is the catastrophic collapse and shutting down of the body in response to some other issue or illness within the body. He had some symptoms, but he and his doctors did not take them seriously until it was too late. Many other things are like that. Heart Disease, Various cancers, etc. When it comes to our physical health, there may not be signs and symptoms, but then again there may be signs and symptoms, but a person may not recognize them, or they may choose to ignore them: “I’m just getting old”, “I don’t want to bother anyone”, “I’m tough, I can handle it”, “I hate doctors”. You see, they do not want to admit that there is a problem until it is too late.

Such is also the case when it comes to the Spiritual state of mankind. The difference between the Spiritual and the physical health of people is that I would argue that the symptoms of spiritual illness are far more obvious and definitive than many of our physical ailments. I am sure all of you know what this disease is: It is sin. What is the symptom? Death… and all its accompaniments: sickness, evil, frustration, sadness, thorns, poverty, greed, pride, etc. Sin is the falling short of God’s perfect healthy Law which Adam and Eve were first created to live. Before sin, there was nothing but good health of both the body and the soul. When Adam and Eve sinned, death entered into the picture. You see, there is a direct connection between the spirit and the body and its well being. They are not separate. Once the spirit and mind became tainted with sin by rebellion against the health of God’s pure Law, the bodies of humanity began to wear and bear the symptoms of sin and death even as God had warned them. Sin is the sickness: a disease that effects the mind, and then also the body ending in a terminal prognosis: death, death of the body here in time, but also eternal death and punishment in Hell. Holy Scripture reveals the diagnosis, the prognosis, and the solution. Creation itself, beautiful as it is, tells us that something is wrong through death and violent events.

There are some people who do not know how to read the signs within themselves, society, or creation correctly nor understand what exactly is wrong or what to do about it because they have not heard the truth of Holy Scripture. But there are others who simply do not care to deal with it, even if they have been told the why in Christian witness. They choose to ignore the symptoms of spiritual illness and collapse. There are many, who when told what is the matter and what is the cure still insist that they are well and/or have no need of help. They will use similar excuses as those who can detect something is amiss with their physical bodies but mysteriously refuse treatment. Perhaps some even enjoy and take pride in the symptoms of this disease of sin. Or they say something like: “I’m not that bad a sinner”. “I don’t need God. I can handle it myself.” “How dare you call me a sinner”?

That was the case in the Gospel lesson for today. Many tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to eat with Him and speak with Him and His disciples. At least this was the perspective of the Pharisees. The dregs of society are going to Jesus and He doesn’t send them away? How could He be a teacher sent from God? Surely, He would not want to hang with such scum if He were a “Holy Man”. For it was to the attitude of the Pharisees that Jesus said: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

Did Jesus mean that only some are spiritually sick with sin and need help from God? That those who are spiritually well don’t need Him? As though there is a way to become well without His help? NO. that is not what He meant. As Romans 3:23 says: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. But you see, the Pharisees saw themselves as well, as spiritually holy, healthy, hale, and hearty. They are doing just fine. “I can keep the Law, thank you very much, and to show just how holy I am, I and my brother Pharisees will add to God’s Law to show just how healthy and good we are.”

But it was all for show. As Jesus laments in Matthew 23: “The scribes and the Pharisees do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues.” (Mt. 23:5,6)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Mt. 23:27,28)
To humans, appearances are deceiving, but God knows the heart. God desires mercy and not sacrifice. In other words, outward sacrifice with a heart that is proud and unrepentant is not well though it may appear so to others. Just saying that you are holy and just, that you are a good person and spiritually healthy and does not help does not make it so. In fact, the road to “spiritual wellness” and health is going to the physician Jesus Christ in repentance, by admitting that you are not well, that you are a sinner, that you need the help that only God can give by His mercy. This is the sacrifice that pleases God as it is written in Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, you will not despise, O Lord.”

So, we also flee to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. The Law has exposed our death sentence and the seriousness of our sin, but Jesus tells us the cure: believe in Him. Have faith in His mercy and love. He will take your sin and mine, drawing it from you, and infusing it upon Himself. That is why Jesus came to earth. To be the right and true sacrifice. The One who takes the punishment, the burden, the sickness, and wretched estate of sin from us and places it upon His pure and Holy self. He died upon the cross with those sins, and each time that we look to Him, confess and are absolved, He removes those sins from us once more and covers us with the robes of His righteousness by the forgiveness of sins.

We then gather at table fellowship with Jesus. Now the world may look and see sinners of various kinds and labels us as such, but now for the sake of Christ, we are forgiven, we are healed and healing. We are declared spiritually well, and by the Holy Spirit working in us faith, gratitude, joy, and hope, we are then also made well.

Good Works, those things which the Pharisees took so much pride in, are important. But good works are not done in pride of ourselves, nor to show how good and healthy we now think we are compared to others. Lives of believers should strive to show good works to God’s glory, to the praise of Him, to the good of our neighbors. As Jesus said in Matthew 5: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

So then “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” applies to us in relation to our neighbor. We who have received mercy from God, we who have received the medicine of immortality in the Sacrament of the Altar in the precious blood and body of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, how could we not also show the symptom of Spiritual health by being merciful to others? We seek to care for and love others as God has loved us. We seek to heal people in their physical or mental troubles by pointing to them to their greater Spiritual needs and their fulfillment in Christ and faith in Him from which all true health begins.

Though we are made spiritually well by the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ, we will always have need for our Physician. We return week after week to the place of His Divine Service. This is more than a check up with an earthly doctor. This is where we come tired, battered, and bruised by the ongoing attacks of sin in our bodies and souls, attacked by the devil, the world, and our flesh. Here the Lord once more applies the salve and healing ointment of baptismal remembrance, He comforts us with the forgiveness of sins and His love in Jesus Christ, He prescribes His Word and Supper, and because Jesus Christ has been crucified and raised triumphant, we have our prognosis: eternal life and joy forever for Jesus Christ’s sake and in His name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

In the second book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he introduces a fantasy character named Treebeard. Treebeard looks like a tree with the exception that he can walk, talk, and feel emotions. He is a member of a race that loves and cares for trees. As Treebeard explains who he is to some of the other characters in the book, one of the things that he says is, “If something is worth saying, it is worth taking a long time to say.” I think Treebeard would like the Athanasian Creed. It does take a long time to read. But there is another reason why Treebeard would like this Creed. He also said something about names. He said: “Real Names tell you the story of the things they belong to.”

Now, if you are one of those who thinks this old and honorable creed is just a little on the long side, you should be very thankful for the theologians who came up with the words “Trinity and Triune”. If it weren’t for these words, you would have to haul out the Athanasian Creed every time you wanted to talk about the community of three persons who are one God. The words “Trinity and Triune” save a lot of time in theological discussions whenever we want to talk about the true God who is a community of three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There are those who try to tell us that because the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, that God is not a three person community in one God. They would argue that because the word “Triune” does not exist in the Bible, the idea of the Triune God is wrong. That is a little bit like saying that before Isaac Newton described the operation of gravity and gave us words and mathematics so that we could talk about it, gravity didn’t apply and things went flying off into space.

Things do not come into existence because we have words for them. In fact, the opposite is true. We humans come up with words for things because they already exist and we use those words to identify what is real. So it is that theologians came up with the words “Trinity” and “Triune” so that we can talk about the importance of God, as we examine the story, as it were, or even better “explain” the definition of the reality of each person within the unity of the godhead. So we can shorten the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the word “Trinity” for discussion, but by using these terms we must also mean that the Triune God is three persons who are coequal, coeternal, uncreated and so on as we say in the creeds. But by shortening the name and describing God as Triune, we able refer to God without having to recite each of the Historic creeds every time we want to discuss the things of God.

The reality of the Trinity is true just the same. In fact, it is only because of the reality of the Trinity and their workings that we can even understand Scripture and God at all.

It is the Father who created all things perfectly, though mankind caused sin and imperfection, the Son then obeyed His Father and fulfilled the Law in the flesh and made a perfect sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of the world in order to restore mankind to perfection by faith and hope of life eternal, and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that the minds of humanity can begin to understand the realities of God through faith. It is only by the gift of faith from God that we can understand the meanings of Holy Scripture as God speaking to us and revealing His love and will for us, which is: repentance and salvation in His name. Through God’s revealed Word and the sacraments, the Holy Spirit overcomes the hardness of our hearts and ignorance of our sin, so that we may believe who and what God is, even if we don’t fully understand by reason or know the Athanasian Creed by heart. We can understand the reality of God’s love and give Him glory for it and then appreciate the mystery of God, study it, ponder it, and take the time to say it, confess Him, even it takes a long time to say it, because it is worth saying: for He who is timeless, created time, shaped, formed, and entered time in order to love and bring salvation for such small, mortal, and oftentimes rebellious creatures such as you and I. All so that we can in Jesus Christ be brought into eternity, brought into God’s perfection and rest by the forgiveness of our sins.

If we did not have this unique and special revelation from God so that we may believe rightly, we would be left with only a “so-called” natural knowledge of God which does not save. I am referring to how we are born sinful without a right knowledge of God, but rather born with an enmity, a separation from Him, a fear and almost mistrustful hatred of a being far above us.

Throughout the ages, people of every tribe and tongue have tried to use nature to understand the meaning of life and who God is. Based on that ignorant natural knowledge of God, people will look to the forces of nature and may see Him as an all-powerful God, but also One who is angry, and has mood swings, a God who needs to be appeased. Some people have thought, maybe there are many different gods controlling many different aspects of creation. They end up envisioning and creating a god after their own image and experience. If they are a war-like people, they make for themselves a war-like god. If people are thinkers, they may think that he is a thinking god. Whatever it is, people make God into their own image, as they combine nature with their own self-awareness and experience. If you base God on one’s own imagination and natural revelation and experience, you will get a religion that is always a variation on “salvation through works” with some accompanying image of an impersonal God.

This is why the Trinitarian message of Christianity is unique to all of the world’s religions. We are not the same. This message was revealed by God, Himself. Christianity is the only religion who confesses a loving, just God who comes to His creation in their sin, who provides salvation not because we deserve it but because He desires it: because His nature is one of love. He is a God who grants grace and salvation outside of our goodness, or proving our worthiness to be saved. This is different than all other religions, that difference is proof of its truth. Man’s interpretation of God sees God only through the lens of pride, and what mankind wishes he himself was, that is why in the end a religion devised by man, gives glory to one’s self or to the knowledge and greatness of man.
In Christianity, it is the opposite, because God sees us just as we are: sinners, rebels who are now helpless, lost and destined to eternal death, and so, the Father sends His Son to the rescue, so that He would accomplish the works of the law and the punishment of the Law for us through His death on the cross. Through His resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life as our sins are forgiven through faith in Him and His merits. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to believe, He gives us the gift of faith. It is that faith in God and the forgiveness of sins worked by Christ, that gives life, and through it we are changed, comforted and we are given direction and purpose in this life. We are pointed away from ourselves to give glory to God rather than ourselves.

That is why Jesus gives the command in today’s Gospel text. It is important that the name of the Lord God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be proclaimed, explained, confessed, and carried forth into the world. This message, this confession, and the description of who God is, is the only way that people can come to faith and be saved from their sins and their ignorant idolatry of various kinds. This witness can start simply as summarized in Christ’s commission or the preaching of St. Peter in our Acts reading, but it is only a starting point. Coming to faith, becoming stronger in that faith, explaining that faith, over coming unbelief and misbelief is the work of the Holy Spirit who works through words. And those words are worth pondering, studying, and saying and repeating even it takes many words or seems to take a long time to do it. It is based on God’s Word and therefore it has power and meaning, even it seems to be taking a long time to be said or for somebody to be turned and converted. The Lord will do it in His time and in the meantime, as we study, as we confess, as we receive His communication in His Word, returning to God’s promise to us in Baptism, receiving Christ’s body and blood in the bread and the wine, confessing the creeds, the liturgy, the hymns of the Church, praying and serving in our vocations, we become changed, stronger in faith and understanding and confidence in knowing God’s Love and sharing it with others.

And know that God comes to you and me as He gathers us at the cross through the waters of Baptism and renews us in the celebration of Christ’s Body and Blood. It is though these that He prepares us for eternity, where we shall forever give glory to our Triune God. Let us ever give thanks unto Him, who continues to take care of our physical and spiritual needs on this side of heaven. He comforts, forgives, and gives us knowledge, wisdom, and strength unto life everlasting in the name and to the glory of our Triune and loving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Have you ever taken a drink of water from a glass that has been sitting out for hours and hours, maybe even a day or two? How did it taste? Most likely stale and weird, because stagnant water tastes nasty. The reason for that is because still water loses the natural gases and oxygen that is in the water when it is first poured and after time you are left with a flatness, perhaps making the taste of chemicals and minerals in the water stand out more. It is this presence of gas that makes any kind of water taste good and taste alive, you might say. In order for there to be this aliveness or oxygenation in the water, there needs to be pressure or movement and mixing with air. In our water systems at home, this is often replicated as the water gets flushed and poured out in our different plumbing systems. This process of moving the water and causing oxygen and air to get into the water replicates the natural motion and movement of water that occurs when water bubbles up from an artesian well or water that is being tossed about over rocks in a stream, brook, or river. This is part of why we as humans enjoy fountains so much, why the movement of water gives us joy. If we went for a drink in a pond or bog where the water doesn’t move, it would not be pleasant and would only quench our thirst in the most desperate of times, and it may even be dangerous as bacteria and other microorganisms love still water. So the key for tasty, living water is the freshness that comes from moving, oxygenated, naturally purified water.

In the Gospel text for today, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” If we wonder “what does this mean?” we don’t have long to wait, because John the evangelist immediately tells us what it means. He writes, “Now this He said 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.”

In other words, Jesus was prophesying about the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be given at Pentecost. As we heard in the book of Acts, there were the visible manifestations or proofs to His presence. First was the rush of wind with its sound, then came the divided tongues of fire upon each person, then the speaking in tongues which when translated properly refers to dialects or actual languages. The disciples actually spoke in different languages so that when they left the house all those from different lands with different languages could hear the message of Jesus Christ in their own native tongue.

Notice how this is described in Acts as a direct quote from the prophet Joel: “And in the last days, it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit and there will be all kinds of signs.” There are two things in that quote to emphasize: one is that it says in the “last days” He shall accomplish this. That means, my friends, contrary to those who expect the last days to be coming, they are wrong. The last days are already here! The Last Days refers to all the time that is left after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus into heaven. The Last Days refers to the New Testament era. The last days have been going on for almost 2,000 years!

What is the working of the Holy Spirit though? Is it merely in the working of signs and miracles? Does the Holy Spirit come so that people may have a great emotional uplifting and feel good about themselves as so many of the Pentecostal Christians today believe. No, the Holy Spirit comes with a purpose, the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming on Pentecost was greater than the visible signs apparent that day. What the church of the apostles and of the early Christians experienced as the reality of the Holy Spirit was not first of all the spectacular gifts of the Spirit which occurred at that time, the gifts of healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and whatever else has in the church’s history been regarded as extraordinarily miraculous manifestations of the Spirit. Far more important were the great and lasting workings of faith, hope, and love in the calling, converting and gathering of believers. This is what the Holy Spirit came to bring: faith, hope and love.

How does the Holy Spirit come to humans? The other part of the passage in Joel and Acts that gives us the key to understanding is: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh”. There is the river of living water. There it is in the working of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you recall that I have mentioned in the past that the Spirit is pictured as the breath of God, the Holy breath and air from God. Air is required for speaking. Air is what makes water “living water”.

We are told that on that Pentecost day, there was a sound of rushing wind. Now it is true that the Apostles themselves were first filled with the living breath of the Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them, but now again they were filled by the rushing of the breath of God on Pentecost, so that through their vocalized breath in public proclamation, the message of Law and Gospel would bring faith, hope and love to all others. This is to the glory of God’s grace and love, not to the credit of the Apostles in the signs that were present.

In Acts, after verse 21 where our reading ends, Peter doesn’t say “Yeah, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and you don’t because we are better;” no, he points to the glory of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ. Peter by the power of the Holy Spirit does exactly for the crowd what Jesus did for the disciples. He opened the Scriptures to the people to see Jesus as the fulfillment of all prophecy, that He was the Messiah, that He died and rose again. That is the totality of the message and purpose of the Holy Spirit.

The whole mission and purpose of the Holy Spirit was to convict people of sin to repentance by the law, so that the Good News of salvation and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ could be preached and proclaimed. The power of the Holy Spirit is that of changing hearts of stone to hearts of love, hearts and minds that have been crushed by sin and built back up again in the love that God has shown them in Jesus Christ.

The people asked Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “Brothers, what must we do? Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Just imagine this witness by Peter and the other disciples, the very same who only 50 days earlier were huddled together in the upper room afraid and ignorant, with no understanding at all. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. He works through the Word of God, through Holy Baptism to make a change, to replace unbelief with belief, to replace ignorance with wisdom. To make those who didn’t know what to say, to declare the great works of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ. It is a life lived out in faith in Jesus Christ that is meant when Jesus said “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This river of living water has as its source not our hearts, not any signs worked by the Holy Spirit, but the one to whom the Holy Spirit bears witness, Jesus Christ Himself. When Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross with His own innocent suffering and death, He was pierced through with a spear, and from His side came pouring forth the living waters of His sacrifice, His own blood and water from His body. This river flows from the cross, from the One who died but also rose again, so that the water and blood shed in His death would now give life. That is the importance of Holy Baptism, why Peter said “be baptized”. If regular air infused with regular water makes it taste more alive and delicious, how much more does the living breath of God in His active spoken preached Word make water more than plain water in Holy Baptism? How much more does it quench the thirst for righteousness as it delivers the righteousness of Christ? How much more does this water infused with the Word of God purify and cleanse these human bodies made mostly of water and transforms them to be vessels to pour forth His Word in breathing and speaking forth His Word to our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and family after having received it here in faithful preaching and teaching by the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Holy Spirit continues to manifest the works of God to work faith in the hearts of men and women today which is a miracle of salvation by the changing of hearts and minds.

We have been given the gifts or fruits of the Spirit which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Though we may fail in living out this and allow our own sinful selves to stop the flowing of the living water by our own sin, we are called to repent and return to the cross, to be reminded of our Baptism. Be absolved and forgiven again in Jesus name. Then we receive the living water of the Word made flesh in the Lord’s Supper where Jesus Christ comes to us with the Holy Spirit and the Love of the Father by His body and blood to drink and eat and be satisfied in the blessings of His cross and resurrection. Through Him we are filled, renewed, and refreshed by this pouring forth of the Grace of God. We rejoice in receiving this living water and may we ever thirst for it. As now we go out from here with hearts flowing with His living water may our neighbors be blessed and God be glorified through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

This past week much has happened in the political realm. Donald Trump travelled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping and returns home to rising inflation due to the ongoing conflict with Iran. States both blue and red continue to form and reform congressional districts in order to control the federal legislative branch this fall and into the future.

As interesting as politics are, and indeed we are called to be active and aware of things in the public sphere, and of course, we are called to pray for all those in authority, we Christians, have a different perspective on world politics and events from the rest of the world around us. Especially on this day when we observe the Feast Day of Christ’s Ascension.

The Epistle lesson speaks of the end result of the Ascension this way: “He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”.

When you hear that the Father seated Jesus at His right hand or when we confess in the Nicene Creed that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father what do you think of? Do you picture Jesus sitting up in heaven, static, unable to leave, twiddling his thumbs, and waiting patiently for His Father to give Him the signal that the time has come for Him to return again in glory? What is He up to as He sits at the right hand of the Father?

First thing we need to clear up is this “right hand” business. The sacred writer is not giving you hints about heavenly throne room organization, so that when you get to heaven you’ll know on which side of the Father to look to see the Lord Jesus. The right hand of God is bigger than that!

Recall the words of the Psalmist: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted.” Ps. 118:16
The right hand of the Lord in scripture is not a place, but an almighty power: a source of authority and rule!. And so to say that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God is merely to say that He has all power, that He rules and governs all things! Listen again to how Paul said it in Ephesians: “He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Eph 1:20-23

So, when we confess in the Creed that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, we confess that the human nature which Jesus assumed from the womb of the Blessed Virgin in which He offered to God the sufficient ransom to release all people from the debt of sin and the power of death; this same human nature has now been exalted and raised above every other height, glory, and power imaginable. He has been given the exercise of all Divine power in heaven and on earth. The One who bears in His hands the scars of the crucifixion nails now rules over all! He is in charge of everything!

So, when You or I complain about the way things go in our lives, when we gripe about the troubles and events of the world, politics, or of the Church, we are actually complaining about the way the Crucified and Risen One sees fit to govern, aren’t we? We are actually grumbling against our Lord. Puts a different perspective on life, doesn’t it? Us pitting our puny wisdom and ideas against the omnipotence and wisdom of Christ and what He allows and through which He works His will.

In the early days of the Church, the active rule and authority of Jesus Christ in this world was not forgotten. Even as the persecutions raged and people died for the faith, they never forgot the One in charge. There’s a writing called the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp that was written in the earliest days of the Church, in the early 2nd century. It’s a fascinating document retelling some of the persecutions performed against the early church, but where it really soars is when it talks about the circumstances surrounding the time, place, and under whose authority St. Polycarp’s death occurred. It reads thusly: “It was the second day of the first fortnight of Xanthicus, seven days before the calends of March, when our blessed Polycarp died his martyr’s death two hours after midday on the Greater Sabbath (referring to a Sunday). The official responsible for his arrest was Herod; the High Priest was Philip of Tralles; and the proconsul was Statius Quadratus – BUT THE RULING MONARCH WAS JESUS CHRIST, WHO REIGNS FOREVER AND EVER. TO HIM BE ASCRIBED ALL GLORY, HONOR, MAJESTY, AND AN ETERNAL THRONE FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.” (Martyrdom of Polycarp, par. 21)
What confidence and peace those early Christians had as they remembered and confessed who it is who sits upon the throne of this universe and gives ultimate deliverance even at the time of death. The one who allows even evils such as persecution to accomplish His will: for the spread of the Gospel! This truth can also give the same confidence and peace to us today.

There is even more to being seated at the right hand of God. Our Lord Jesus not only rules all events for the well-being of His holy Church; He also constantly intercedes for each one of His people before the Father for their benefit and salvation. The writer to Hebrews put it this way: “Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them!” (Hebrews 7:25) For you, He prays. When you and I sin, when we stumble and grumble He says to His Father, “Father, forgive them. Look not upon the sin, but upon these scars from the cross that testify that I have answered for all their sin.” In this way He is our Mediator, our ongoing priest, the one who stands in the breach between us and God. His being Mediator did not cease when the work of the cross was done. He continues to be our Mediator by His unceasing intercession through His crucified body and blood for us and by hearing our prayers in His name.

And yet there’s even more. Since the “right hand of God” is not to be thought of as a place, but as a power, the Ascension of our Lord does not remove Him from us, but actually brings Him closer to us. Oh, yes, His visible physical human presence as during His earthly ministry is removed. But His presence is not removed from us. In fact, His presence with His Church is even greater now than in His temporary earthly ministry. His promise stands forever: “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Now He fills all things and gives the gift and promise of His special sacramental presence of His body and blood in the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of sins. St. Leo the Great preached to his parish in Rome hundreds of years ago: “The visible presence of Christ has passed into His sacraments.”

When you come to the altar today, you not only receive the Body and Blood that were offered in your place on Calvary’s tree for the forgiveness of your sin! You receive the Body and Blood of Him who sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all things. Thus, Paul could rejoice that “He has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2) The Sacrament lifts you that high! Lifting you from your sins, the threat of your death, to the place of Christ’s resurrection, to His authority reconciled to our Father and creator.

How great then are the treasures contained in the words: “He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” He is ruling our every circumstance, drawing us to Himself throughout this life by His Word and Sacraments unto eternal life. With this truth, peace through faith displaces our complaining, Jesus is interceding constantly for us, therefore joy drives out our anxieties. Because of His Ascension He is able to continually descend to us, to His body, the Church. He is constantly with us in His sacraments, and so we are never alone, but together with the Church are gathered with Him who sits at the right hand of God. Jesus, your Mediator. Jesus, your King. Jesus, your Risen, Ascended, and Glorified Lord now fills all things for you. And in the same way that He ascended this same Jesus will come again to bring us and all believers to Himself once and for all time. This is the hope to which you have been called. This is your glorious inheritance through Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all glory and honor now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas