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At
Pentecost, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
disciples of Jesus. It is at this moment that they are
transformed by this miraculous power from simple fishermen, tax
collectors, and their other various earthly occupations into the apostles of Christ. They have been
witness to the single most important events in human history -- the
death of Jesus of Nazareth on the Cross at Calvary, and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and his exit under his own
power from the garden tomb. My brothers, they were the first
witnesses to our salvation, and the power that they were given by the
Holy Spirit on that day is the power that has brought this message of
salvation through the remission of sin by the shed blood of Jesus
Christ down to us today in this distant time and in this remote place.
Today,
I offer to you that this same power of the Holy Spirit is offered to
us. I offer to you that, because of the power and the glory and
the eternal majesty of what Jesus has done for us on the Cross, this
same Holy Spirit is with us not only today, but always. I offer
to you that when Jesus uttered those last words on the Cross, "It is
finished," that he was serving notice to Satan the devil that it was he that was finished. That it was his time that was
over. That the time of humankind dying under the stain of sin,
both original and personal, had come to an end: That good had
triumphed over evil, life had triumphed over death, and heaven had
triumphed over hell. And, praise Jesus, it remains so unto us
today because this same Holy Spirit is with us, and in us, and through
Him we have become disciples of Jesus Christ every bit as much as
Peter, James, John, and the rest of the Twelve that stand guard this
very minute at the gates of the New Jerusalem and wait for us to join
them in the eternal Glory of God.
My brothers in Christ, is it not the first day
of the week? Are these doors not locked for fear? And, when
we look into the eyes of the men gathered with us here today, do we not
look into the eyes of Jesus Himself? Not only because the Bible
tells us that as we do unto others so we do unto Him, but because we
can feel it down to the bottom of our very souls? And will we
not, before we leave here today, greet each other with His very own
words, "Peace be with you?" And, so I say to you again, "Peace be
with you." For we know that because we have gathered faithfully
in His name, Jesus Christ Himself is with us. He has breathed
upon us this same Holy Spirit that is the Balm of Gilead, and the salve
of the nations that will bring peace and healing once and for all to
the face of the earth. And know also that this healing is
revealed unto us in the truth that as we forgive, so are we forgiven,
and as we retain so is it retained unto us. And so the invitation
that is offered to us this day by the Holy Spirit is to let go of
sin. Let go of the sin that others have heaped upon us by
forgiving them, and we open the door to Christ Jesus to forgive us our
own sin and cleanse us of all inequity. Through forgiveness, we
are miraculously transported in the Spirit to the Cross. And when
we behold Our Lord, the Lamb of God offered up for the sins of the
world, and we feel the purified heart within us broken by the Man of
Sorrows, we cry out to Him in the anguish that wells up from the very
bottom of the mortal soul, "Lord be merciful to me, a sinner." It
is in that instant when this sin of ours is covered by the shed blood
of Jesus Christ. And this, my dear friends, is what it means to
be washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Blessed indeed is he who is
washed in the Blood of the Lamb! Now we, too, have received the
Holy Spirit!
Today, Jesus has come to us behind these locked
doors. Today, He stands in our midst and says, "peace be with
you." He shows to us the nail prints in His hands; He offers to
us the wound in His side. And, as we gaze upon Him in wonder, He
tells us truly, "Be not unbelieving, but believe!" And, though
we, too have doubted like our brother Thomas, we have no choice but to
utter with him in awe, "My Lord and my God!" Through the power of
the Holy Spirit, we, too, have seen the Lord. We have brought the
broken ruins of our human lives to Him at the Cross, and have had our
lives transformed by Him and in Him, and through Him we have been
saved. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has revealed
Himself to us in the presense of the man standing next to us, and so
we, too, have come from the garden tomb of our own impending resurrestion, and
so we, too, have may breathlessly witness to one another, as did Mary
Magdalene, "I have seen the Lord!" Today, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, we have become the witnesses to our own salvation, and
by this same power so shall we take this message of salvation through
the remission of sin by the shed blood of Jesus Christ to times even
more distant and places even more remote.
And today, to those present who have yet to come to
know Jesus in this intimate and personal way, I offer to you this same
power of the Holy Spirit. I offer to you the knowlege that this
same Jesus that died on the Cross so that the world might be saved did
so for you as well. Today, this same Jesus knocks on the locked
door of your heart and asks to stand in your midst. And His
message is the same: "Peace be with you." This is the peace that
passeth all understanding: This is the peace that casts light
into the darkness of our human condition and brings us forward from the
night of sin into the day of eternal life. This is the peace that
speaks to each in his own tongue whether Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as
well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism,
Cretans,and Arabs and those within the walls of the Saginaw County
Jail. And, regardless of the language, the message remains the
same: Repent and believe the Gospel is the best advice ever given
or received.
So, Jesus says to us again, "Peace be with
you." As he told his first disciples so He instructs us, "As the
Father has sent me, so I send you." And so we move out from this
place today with our different spiritual gifts dedicated to that one
Spirit that unites us all. We move out from here dedicated to
spreading this Gospel that has saved us. For we are one body
given to drink of one Spirit, and as one we offer up this drink to
toast the God who sets us free.
Thank you and God bless you!
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May 11, 2008
Readings:
Acts
2:1-11
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in
Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”
Ps
104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
R. (cf. 30) Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the
earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O Lord!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
1
Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Jn
20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
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