Pentecost
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On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Christ. On this day, the Day of Pentecost, we celebrate the birth of the Church. Now, in one sense, we could say that God’s Church began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and that all believers on the Old Testament were Christians. This is true. But on the other hand, the Church that the Holy Spirit gathers around the Word of the crucified and resurrected Christ and His Holy Sacraments was brought into being on the day of Pentecost.
Today we will consider three questions? Who belongs to God’s Church? What are the marks of the Church? What treasures does she possess?
Membership in a human organization, such as St. Paul Lutheran Church, incorporated with the State of Connecticut in 1961, should never be confused with membership in the one Church of God. Last week I conducted the sad funeral service for a man who had not attended church since his confirmation fifty-five years ago. He refused the Lord’s Supper and was unable to confess the basic articles of the faith. Yet he was a member of First Lutheran Church from birth until death.
Who then belongs to the true Church? We might answer: “Anyone who is baptized.” Certainly, there is no better beginning. Baptism is the means by which we are granted entrance to the Church. Yet there are many who, after baptism, jump overboard, so to speak, from the Ark of the Church, abandoning the faith and the ship of their salvation. Perhaps we could expand our answer: “Those who are baptized and then continue to live as Christians.” But there are just as many who observe the religious customs of the Church, living lives that outwardly conform to the Ten Commandments, yet have no faith in Christ.
Who then is a member of the true Church? Let us hear what Jesus, the Lord of the Church, has to say. “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” (Jn 14:23). Jesus equates membership in His Church with loving Him and keeping His Word. How different this is from membership in secular organizations. Triple AAA, for example, doesn’t care whether or not you love them. As long as you pay your yearly dues, you are considered a member. But not so within the Church. Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep my Word.”
The Christian Church is like a field of wheat. Within the field weeds and wheat grow up side by side. Some types of weeds even resemble wheat so closely it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart. But on the day of harvest, the weeds are separated from the wheat and thrown into the fire. So it is within the Church. Many grow up within this holy field, watered by the heavenly dew of the Gospel, recipients of the rays of eternal truth, and yet without love for Christ. Not only do the pagans, the unbelieving Jews, and the Muslims not belong to the Church of God, but also those within the Church who do not love and treasure the words of Jesus.
If you examine your heart on this festival day to see whether you love Christ and keep His Word and are troubled by what you find, then you are, paradoxically, in good company. Three-thousand people heard the preaching of Peter on the first Pentecost Day. Were they uplifted? Not really. They were cut to the heart, and they cried out, saying, “What shall we do to be saved?” The answer will not be found within the depths of the human heart. All we will see there is our lack of love for Christ and His Word. The answer to how we can be saved is found only in the Gift of God, Whom He pours out upon His Church on the day of Pentecost: “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord, with all your graces now outpoured on each believer’s mind and heart; Your fervent love to them impart.” Love for Christ is not something we muster up within our hearts. It is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, which He accomplishes among us by the hearing of faith. It’s no accident that the birthday of the Church coincides with the coming of the Holy Spirit. He alone calls, gathers, and enlightens the Church.
This brings us to the second question: What are the marks of the true Church? Since her membership is known only by God, the searcher of the heart, and her true form and beauty is hidden this side of heaven, how can we recognize the Church while on earth? Some people say that you can’t, that you can never know if one denomination is better or truer than another, but they’re wrong. The true Church is not entirely invisible. Like the wind, you cannot see the Church directly, nor the Holy Spirit, but you can see the effects of the wind. And you can see the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work, and thus, wherever He is at work, the true Church.
And How does the Holy Spirit work? Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (Jn 14:26). This is the mark of the Church. What does Jesus say will never be taken from His own and will never fail them? What does He say is inseparable from His Church and at the same time the sign by which it can be known? His Word, His Gospel.
Dear saints, there can be no other answer. There are many good things that we would hope to find in our congregations that are not actually a mark of the true Church: more members, a balanced budget, lack of infighting, a long and proud history within the community, et cetera. But by this alone the Church is known: that the pure Word of God is preached and heard. Where this is found, no matter how things may appear, the Holy Spirit is at work. He is as powerful and effective through the preaching of Christ today as He was on the Day of Pentecost. By this same Word He calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps the Holy Christian Church with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
Finally, what treasure does the true Church possess? Among many, there is one that Jesus mentions in our text today: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn 14:27). Peace is, admittedly, not what tops the list of blessings we would usually consider great. Jesus says nothing of honor before men, earthly riches, a pleasurable life, or even exemption from suffering, poverty, and death. If fact, He expressly says, “NOT as the world gives do I give to you.” And yet, there is no greater blessing. When Jesus gives you peace, it means that God has forever forgiven all your sins and become your ally against sin, death, and the devil. Your conscience can be at rest because you now have nothing to fear but everything to hope in time and in eternity.
True peace can only be found within the Christian Church, which the Holy Spirit sustains with the Word of Christ. Though we are despised in the eyes of the world, in God’s eyes, we are His most precious treasure. We may consider ourselves the greatest sinners, and with good cause, yet we are the only ones who are clothed in a righteousness that avails before God. We pass for the greatest fools, and yet, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, we alone are truly wise. The world considers the members of the true Church the scum of humanity and would gladly be rid of them, and yet it is only for the Church’s sake that the world still stands. We seem to be the poorest, and yet are the only ones who have lasting treasure, who alone possess the true remedy for all the misery of this world, and to whom alone the keys of heaven are entrusted. From the Day of Pentecost until the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will continue His work in the hearts and minds of the faithful, kindling love for Christ, and giving us the desire to hear, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of salvation.
Let us pray. Come, holy Ghost, God and Lord, with all Your graces now outpoured on each believer’s mind and heart; Your fervent love to them impart. From every error keep us free; let none but Christ our master be that we in living faith abide, in Him, our Lord, with all our might confide. Amen.