The Communion of Saints [Pentecost]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE

• Genesis 11:1-9
• Acts 2:1-21
• St. John 14:23-31

To you all who are baptized into the fiery and powerful Spirit of the true Son of God:

To you who are called; to you who are beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“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.'”

Pentecost is the word for “50 days”. It has been 50 days since the Resurrection of Jesus. It has been 50 days since the disciples were in the upper room for fear of the Jews. And it has been 50 days that they have not left that huddling fear, as we hear in Acts today, “they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1).

Now, there are two ways to understand this statement. The first is the negative, as I have just stated. That they were still afraid 50 days later, which is entirely possible. That they were still indoors even having seen the risen Jesus multiple times, eaten with Him, and being witnesses of His Ascension is SOP for the “O ye of little faith” Apostles. 

What were they waiting for? Were they waiting for an All-Clear signal? Were they waiting for the Jews to say, “Ok we aren’t going to kill you anymore for your belief in Jesus”? Were they waiting for the All-Clear from the government and hear from them that they won’t punish them for causing riots and disturbing the peace? 

More than likely, they were waiting for their end to come. Meaning, they were waiting for Jesus to bring about the End and end them so they wouldn’t have to deal with the times that the Apostles found themselves in, surrounded on all sides, the grave and depths of hell yawning at them, because deep down they knew there would never be an “All-Clear”.

Jesus also knew this. He knew that there would never be a day on earth that His faithfully baptized would not be persecuted or killed as a service to God (Jn. 16:2). He also knew that they would stay hidden, so He told them at His Ascension “to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49). After that, they would then go out and be His witnesses “both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

So they would stay in Jerusalem and yet leave it? Even though they were to go out to all the earth, they were forbidden from forsaking the places they were already in! So the Apostles went out with these Apostolic gifts, not just to spread the Word, but to spread the Word in order to start churches.

Yes, much to the chagrin of the super-spiritual crowd, the Apostles were sent out to start churches. Not just any churches, but the holy Christian Church which is the communion of saints or the total number of those who believe in Christ. This is the culmination of the Holy Spirit’s work and giving of gifts, that He not only gives tangible gifts, but gives them in a tangible Church as well.

So it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that we say “I believe in the holy Christian Church” and it is by that same power that we come to a second understanding of the Pentecost Epistle from Acts. When they were gathered together, it may have been from fear as we first said, but it was definitely for Church Service, for already in Acts chapter 1 they were continuing to devote themselves to prayer with one mind (Acts 1:14).

Being members of God’s household means that there is a house. The true Gift of the Spirit, Faith, makes us members of this holy Christian Church and this faith is hidden, just as the true Church, the Body of Christ, is hidden. Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Lk. 17:20-21).

So are there two Churches then, one hidden and one revealed? Once again, we run into the problem of being spiritual yet physical creatures. For we see “church”: brick and mortar and people, but we do not see Church, because we also see rust, decay, and sinners which are not in the true Church that has been purified and sanctified.

And yet, there is only one Body, one Church. Christ is the head of the body, the Church (Col 1:18). The Church is called holy because it is made up of holy people: those who have been cleansed by the Blood of Christ and who serve God by holy living. The Church is Christian because it belongs to Christ and is built on Him alone.

So we are what is called a local church. Meaning, we are those who have gathered visibly around the means of the Spirit. This is the revealed church, the one we can see that contains all who use the Word of God and profess the Christian faith, but also alongside the unbelievers. In the revealed Church on earth, both are in the pews and we can’t tell who is who.

Repent. This poses a problem for us and we and the world knows it. We have those undesirable traits in us that are fodder for the unbelievers’ fire. They love to throw our sinful deeds in our faces in order to say, “you are not the church and God’s not real”. We then live in true fear from all sides. We are afraid of going into public with our Divine Service because our reputations will be torn to shreds and we are afraid of claiming to be Christian because of how sinful we know ourselves to be and that’s no example to set, is it?

What is a Church of Pentecost to do?

We are to wait, just as the Apostles did. Wait for power from on high. And we have already discussed how and what the Holy Spirit brings to give us that power. It is the power of Faith. In Word and Sacrament, we are given that power from on high. So it has already come to you. This Scripture has already been fulfilled in your hearing.

This then, is Jesus’ fulfillment of the peace that He promised. He had painstakingly ordered all of creation and history in order to suffer, die, rise again, and build you a Church. “You are no longer foreigners and aliens”, Jesus says, “but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).

He said, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. What’s so special about them such that Jesus says, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not overcome it” (Mt. 16:18)? They have the gift of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the same Spirit. God’s Name will be made holy through men and even through means. Ezekiel told us this last week when he said, through you the Lord will vindicate His holiness (Eze. 36:23).

What the Apostles had to wait for, for 50 agonizing days of fretting over life and death, you gained when your parents brought you to the baptismal font, that is to the means of the Spirit; the way that the Spirit works in this world. Please remember. you have been bought and paid for, redeemed for a price. Yet, instead of being in debt, your Redeemer has made you a lord, in Him.

Your castle is His Body, the Church. Your throne is His throne, there in heaven, and here at His Altar on earth. He has given you His life in order that you always seek to be a remain members of His hidden Church by sincere faith in Him. 

He has sent you His Spirit so that you would remain faithful to His revealed Church, or denomination, which professes and teaches all the Bible’s doctrine purely and administers the Sacraments according to Christ’s institution. He has loved you in order that you avoid false teachers, false churches, and all organizations that promote a religion contrary to God’s Word.

Jesus has granted you such a perfect and complete measure of peace that you are able to cooperate with Him to maintain and extend God’s Church by telling others about Jesus Christ, personal service, and by prayer and financial support.

Such is the power of a Church of Pentecost, which this place is. The Epiphany, revealed, Church Who celebrates Christ’s Mass.  The power to remain hidden and yet be revealed at the same time. The power to face life-threatening peril, suffer from it, and yet live again. The fire of the first Pentecost lives on but now burns in water, Word, and Body and Blood. 

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Our Lord has gone ahead to conquer death and the devil and He will return to get us. He has left us His true Body as a promise that where we are, HE is. And that where His is and is going, that is to eternal life in heaven, we shall be also, even though today it looks like brick and mortar.