No Limits
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The Book of Concord The Third Article: On Being Made Holy
[5] The Third Article: On Being Made Holy56
I believe in the Holy Spirit, one holy Christian church, the community of the saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life. Amen.
[6] What is this? Answer:
I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my LORD or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins—mine and those of all believers. On the Last Day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.
Today is the Feast of Pentecost - for many Christians, it is thought of as the day in which we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the life of the Church. There is some truth to that, but there is more to it than that, if you consider the other lesson texts from the Lectionary.
The 1st Reading, from , takes place in the aftermath of God’s judgment upon the sinfulness of humanity by sending a flood upon the earth. Only the family of Noah and his sons was judged to be righteous and therefore spared by the God’s provision of the ark. Chapter 10 records how Noah’s sons replenished the earth, but in Chapter 10, the children of Noah’s family were unwilling to actually fill the earth. Instead, they sought to protect themselves by building a city with a tower that would reach Heaven itself. It seems that they were trying to build a permanent ark lest the promise conveyed by the Rainbow should prove false. Their speaking one language made it possible for them to plan and maintain cohesion. God responded to this attempt to outwit the Divine Purpose by breaking up its human basis. Unable to communicate effectively, they were forced to disperse.
Our 2nd Reading presents the events of that spiritual firstfruits celebration. Ten days after Christ’s ascension and return to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit, the outpouring which launched the fulfillment of God’s Word through the Prophet Joel:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
As the division at Babel let to the selection of Abraham and his family to be the unique group of people who would be used by God to show forth His grace, so the “divided tongues as of fire” - the manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit in, with, and upon the household of faith - led to the expansion of God’s purpose from one family back to the community of Adam’s children.
It is fitting that the Holy Spirit would play a crucial role here, for from the beginning, the Holy Spirit has played a significant role in the birthing aspect of God’s creative work.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
The word translated as “hovering” in the ESV and “ἐπεφέρετο” in the Septuagint is “mera-khe-pet” (מְרַחֶ֖פֶת) It shows the Holy Spirit as actively moving over the waters enshrouded in darkness until God declares, “Let light come into being!” Since the flood, the Holy Spirit has been moving as God used His servants the Prophets to proclaim His purpose both to and through Israel. In Our Gospel text Jesus reveals to His disciples that His earthly ministry was not the end of God’ work. Christ’s death would be the beginning of the end, but it would also be the end of the beginning, for the Gospel would bring a new beginning even as did the flood and the dispersion before.
Jesus tells us why this is taking place in our Gospel text.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Earlier in the chapter, Jesus revealed the relationship that the Holy Spirit would have with the Church:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“Another Helper” another “one who is called alongside” “advocate, intercessor, helper, comforter” - these are all terms that have been used to translate the word “παράκλητος.”
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Not for Himself, but working in partnership with Christ, not as a supplanter of Christ’s work, but to complete it. He didn’t come to outshine the Savior, but to shine further light upon the Savior’s work. As the Spirit empowered Peter and the others in the upper room to declare “the mighty works of God,” so those who heard were enabled by that same Spirit to believe the message preached by Peter by which “they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
It wasn’t Peter’s goodness, nor the goodness of the others, that gave them the power to proclaim the message that convicted those who heard it. Nor is it your goodness that empowers your confession before those whom the Lord has brought or will bring into your life. It’s the Holy Spirit Who energizes our confession of Christ, our declaration of His Good News and our testimony that He is still faithfully bringing people to repentance and faith, still faithfully forgiving sins and giving everlasting life to people who were doomed by sin to experience death.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
There is no need for us to live independent of, or try to control, or set our own limitations upon the Holy Spirit. God’s Word declares the Truth:
And Peter said to them, “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. 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.”
As we walk in love and community, the Spirit shines through us ever more brightly. Our love for our neighbor, birthed in us by the love of God in the person of Christ, drives us to live our vocations in the Spirit, exposing more and more people to the work of the Spirit. We have an inexhaustible supply of life and power, an inexhaustible supply of love and peace, an inexhaustible supply of forgiveness and grace. There is no limit to the number of those whom the Lord our God shall call, there is no limit to the number of those for whom Christ died, there is no limit to the power of God unto salvation.
Since there is no limit upon God, don’t let the devil put limits upon us by saddling us with fear and doubt concerning God’s will or our calling to be His people.
Let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.