The Spirit Gift [Easter 7]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE

• Ezekiel 36:22-28
• 1 Peter 4:7-11
• St. John 15:26-16:4

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!

To you all, baptized into the death and resurrection of the true Son of God:  Grace, Mercy, and Peace are yours from God our Father, through our risen LORD and Savior, Jesus the Christ!

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.”

So we have been building our understanding of the Holy Spirit. We call Him God because Holy Scripture calls Him God and the special work that He does is conversion; bringing a person from unbelief to belief. But now, after the Ascesion of Jesus, it must be done in a hidden way, for we no longer have the hem of Jesus’ cloak to grab onto.

We may have the Shroud of Turin, but good luck getting to touch that. No, any possibility we had keeping Jesus around as a sort of peddler of spiritual blessings passed out of sight as Jesus did on Ascension Day. St. Peter talks about gifts in his letter today and that we are to use them. He also jumps right in and describes two gifts and promptly puts them out of our reach.

He tells us to speak oracles of God and serve by the strength of God (v.11). This here, along with the speaking in tongues gift, are the quintessential apex of gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to so-called Evangelicals today. The main reason is, well it happened at Pentecost, so why can’t it happen to us all the time? The sub-reason is, the Holy Ghost is a spirit and we can’t see Him, so you can’t tell me that He’s not doing this or that or He is only doing this or that. How dare you cage Him.

There are so many wondrous and miraculous things that happen in our world that could only be caused by the Holy Ghost, they say, and if we turn a blind eye to all these things and make ourselves so narrow-minded, then we will miss God’s beautiful actions in all of life. 

They will then go on to describe all the “miracles” in life: the birth of a child, love, kindness, relationships, etc, and say that this is the Spirit’s work. You know, the normal, everyday things that believers and unbelievers can experience. Very vague and not very convincing.

Well then, they will teach, our encounters with the Holy Spirit vary from person to person. Our experiences might be emotional or non-emotional. We may or may not speak in tongues. Sometimes there is a physical manifestation and other times there is not. But the real evidence of being filled by the Spirit is not an experience. The real evidence is the spiritual fruit produced in our lives. You will know them by their fruit, after all (Mt. 7:16).

The fruit described in Gal. 5:22-23, yes, but also from Eph. 5:18-21, “…Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

So, now the evidence that we are filled with the Holy Spirit becomes Our speech, our singing, our thankfulness, and our submission. Our, our, our, me, me, me, my, my, my. 

This is the sound of just about every teacher. Every one, that claims to be Christian and know the truth about God’s Spirit. And what I hope you conclude by hearing from them is that it turns out to not be about the Holy Spirit at all, but about you. No God. No Jesus. No Spirit. They gave us a little boost up, thank you Jesus, but now we are on our own. Me!

Here Jesus condemns us in our sin. He says in verse 26 of the Gospel today that the Spirit of Truth will bear witness about Him. Not you. Not your neighbor. Jesus. Do not mishear me. I am not saying that the fruits of the Spirit in your life is not real or are meaningless. What we are talking about here is priority. Is it a priority to focus on us or is it a priority to focus on Jesus?

Focusing on us, we get nothing. Maybe a little satisfaction from being a good person, but that quickly fades in our sin. Focusing on Jesus and the Holy Spirit gives us everything, because everything is in their hands only. So while we express our faith by speech, singing, thanking, and submitting to God, we do not gain life-sustaining faith by these gifts neither are they evidence of the Spirit’s presence.

So our teaching and preaching focus solely on Who gives the gifts, because He is God and He works to convert us, daily. We know that after being converted and given faith that “…we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). We also know that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). The conclusion is that faith is the greatest gift of the Holy Ghost and proof that He is present.

But faith is invisible, how do we tell if we have the right faith? It is true that the Apostles had some serious gifts, back in the day. They were healing people, speaking in tongues, raising people from the dead, just like Jesus. The Bible clearly teaches that those were the gifts used to prove Apostleship, as St. Paul says, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience” (2 Cor. 12:12). Those were not for all times and places.

So while the Holy Spirit may hand those out today if He chooses, not every Christian is promised one. Indeed, I believe only one of two things happen when a person truly receives one of those gifts from the Spirit. Either they keep it quiet out of fear or they actually go out into the world where it can be of use, but also keeping quiet about it. This is because a real gift is useful, not flashy and scary, not exciting.

There is a gift that every Christian is promised though. We have already mentioned it. It is faith. There is also a way for every Christian to tell if his faith is real faith or worthless faith, simply hearing God’s Word and believing it. All of it, not just the bits and pieces about divine gifts and charity to others, but the parts that say “Baptism now saves you” and “given and shed for you”.

Here now are the three most precious gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to all Christians all the time: faith in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Where is the proof we have these? In the Sacraments. No other indisputable proof is given to any other gift of the Spirit, by God. And fruits are not gifts, but responses. 

No the indisputable truth must be found outside of ourselves. If we are to say that its only in our hearts, there is no way any one else would believe us. This is the importance of the Holy Spirit being God and of Him alone doing the work of conversion. It makes the Sacraments that much more valuable, especially when facing our sinful hearts which are turned against God constantly.

We need an objective gift. We need a gift we can point to that doesn’t depend on us or our efforts. We need a gift that is built on the Rock and not on sand. A gift that withstands even the gates of hell. The Word and the Sacraments, administered in the Church, are that gift that the Word of God suffered and died to purchase and win, for you.

Now, instead of only welling up from inside of you, the Baptismal Font which saved you by water and the Word, stands outside of you; a pillar in your church. Now, instead of God speaking only to your heart and no one else’s, His Word is written down and spreads to all people. Instead of a private meal for a private party of two, God’s Sacrament of the Altar is communed in many places at once.

Proof that the Spirit is among you is the Gospel preached in its purity and the Sacraments administered according to it. I did not make this up. The LCMS did not make this up. The pope did not make this up. God did. These are the things that bear witness to Jesus, with or without our bumbling sinful selves. These gifts of the Spirit are able to convert all people and bring them to salvation in Christ Jesus.

In order to keep you from falling away, Christ has sent His Spirit to give you faith, plant you in His Church, and urge you on to the gifts He gives. Remember these things that Jesus has told to you, for your hour has come to wake up. The Day of Salvation is nearer to us now, than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11). Jesus is coming soon. Come quickly Lord Jesus.