Perhaps this time I have gotten it right... The Second Sunday after Easter To Those Who OBEY Him Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! In today’s First Reading from the book of Acts, in the aftermath of our Lord’s resurrection, God says that He has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” Translated a little more closely, “God has given His Spirit to those who are obeying Him.” Dear Christian friends, Martin Luther had a pet peeve. Luther did not like preachers who happily proclaim Christ’s resurrection, but then fail to preach how your life must change as a result of the resurrection. Such preachers “are fine Easter preachers,” said Luther, “but shamefully poor Pentecost preachers.” Why? “Because they do not preach the sanctifying and restoring work of the Holy Spirit” (Holman, vol. V, p. 234). Then Luther went on: What Christ has earned for us is not only gratia, “grace,” but also donum, the “gift” of the Holy Spirit, so that we might not only have forgiveness of sin, but also cease from sinning (Ibid., 234-235). Luther did not dream this up. Luther read it in God’s Word. You heard it in today’s First Reading: “Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. … God has given [the Holy Spirit] to those who obey Him.’” Strange but true: There are many people who would rather not hear God say that He has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him”; who wish that God would have spoken differently. Let’s make a list of the different sorts of people who might not want to hear these Words. Maybe the list will include you! 1. You might not want to hear that God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him” if you are one of those people who says you love God but do not really care two bits for your neighbor. Your attitude is, “I will leave him alone if he leaves me alone.” Your attitude is “My efforts and my giving really do not make much difference, so I won’t try.” Your attitude is, “Every man for himself.” Your attitude needs adjustment. If your attitude does not change, you will have no reason to expect God’s continued blessing in your life. Not loving your neighbor is just another way of saying that you do not love your God. God commands love for neighbor and He has provided no escape clause. If you are someone who says you love God but could not care less about your neighbor, REPENT; change your mind and your attitude before God takes His Holy Spirit from you. God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him.” 2. Again, you might not want to hear that God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him” if you think God’s Word does not really matter for everyday life. God’s commandments concerning sexuality seem outdated, especially if you watch TV. His prohibition against women’s ordination seems a little unfair, especially if you are an old hippie. You believe what God says concerning the Holy Communion, but you have Christian friends and family who reject what God says about the Communion—and you still want to commune with them. Many fellow Christians baptize their children and then disappear from church life until confirmation time. You would have more time in your week if you did the same thing, too. TAKE GOD’S WARNING from today’s First Reading! Back away from the edge of unbelief! God does not give His Spirit to those who hear what they want to hear, or to those who decide for themselves what is or is not important. The Word is OBEY: God has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” 3. Or maybe you are part of the third group of people who might not want to hear that God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him.” You might not want to hear those Words if you daily sin much and you deserve nothing but punishment. These Words—God has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him”—these Words feel like a punch in the chops because you find it terribly difficult, on a daily basis, to obey Him. You sincerely love God and you desperately want to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). You also feel so overcome by human frailty and sin that you find it nearly impossible even to love yourself. If you are one of those people, TAKE HEART from today’s First Reading! Rejoice that God has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” Your daily sorrow over your sin is, in fact, your obedience to God. Your daily sorrow over sin is a good sign that you indeed have the Holy Spirit. After all, part of the Spirit’s work is to convict the world of sin (John 16:8)—and the Spirit is doing His Work in you! God also says that your highest act of obedience is to believe the One whom God has sent (John 6:29), even Jesus His Son, who was crucified for your sins and raised for your justification (Romans 4:25). God promises and assures you today that He has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him”—“to those who are obeying Him.” Rejoice in your daily sorrow over sin because the Spirit is producing His good effect in you, even in spite of you. It is written, “His mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 2:23). Have patience, trust your merciful Lord Jesus, and get back into the saddle! 4. There is a fourth group that might not want to hear that God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him.” This group feels as though God and His Word need protection or defense. You might not want to hear that God has given His Spirit “to those who obey Him” if you are afraid of false teachers. Christians all around us continually splutter and cluck that, if you want Jesus to save you, you must first do something for Him: you must give Him your heart; you must invite Him in; you must commit to a relationship with you. Such Christians will jump on today’s First Reading like duck on a June bug. “Aha!” they blither, “God has given His Spirit to those who obey Him. Therefore you must first give God your obedience before He will give anything to you!” No one wants to hear such people twist the Word of God, as Satan likewise twisted the Word (Genesis 3:1-5, Matthew 4:5-6)! Perhaps we should find a different way to translate today’s First Reading, in order to keep it out of the false teachers’ grasp. Or perhaps we should look the other way and pretend we did not hear that God certainly has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” Failing that, perhaps we should simply focus on preaching Easter every Sunday and not worry too much about Pentecost. Alternatively, we could let God be God and allow Him to say what He wants to say. Neither Father nor Son nor Holy Spirit not needs any spin from you or me. RELAX AND SMILE when you hear that the Spirit is given “to those who obey”—“to those obeying.” Resist the urge to defend God’s Word. God’s Word is powerful to defend you! Plenty of other Scriptures explain how both faith (Romans 10:17, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Peter 1:1) and the Spirit (Luke 11:13, John 20:22, Acts 2:38, 2 Corinthians 11:4) are pure gifts from God, without any contribution or prerequisite from us (Ephesians 2:9, 1 John 4:19). It is a promise, not a scandal, that God has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him” —“to those obeying Him.” In particular, it is a promise of the Easter resurrection that God has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” Christ is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Alleluia! In today’s First Reading, God lumps the resurrection together with the gift of the Holy Spirit: Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus… God exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” What does it mean, that God should give you His Holy Spirit? It means that it was too small a thing for your God, merely to forgive you. Forgiveness was indeed given to you when you were baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 63-4), but so also was the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, Titus 3:5-6). Hear again what Luther so rightly said: “What Christ has earned for us is not only gratia, “grace,” but also donum, the “gift” of the Holy Spirit.” You also heard Jesus say it to the disciples in today’s Gospel, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Jesus earlier promised in another place, “the heavenly Father will give His spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). This is God’s promise of old: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17). What does it mean, that God should give His Holy Spirit to those who are obeying Him? It means that your obedience to God is not a prerequisite for the Spirit, but a result of the Spirit. It also means that the resurrection of our Lord is more than a pep rally. Christ’s resurrection is the well-spring of the Spirit, the source of the Spirit, the unleashing of the Spirit. Your obedience to God—be it great or be it feeble—your obedience to God is simply a sign that Christ is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Alleluia! Today’s First Reading is well-chosen for the Second Sunday of Easter. The Second Sunday of Easter is also the first Sunday in our annual pilgrimage away from Feast of the Resurrection and toward the Feast of Pentecost. By all means, Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! Because of the resurrection, God promises today that He has given His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him.” In light of this precious promise, let’s move boldly toward Pentecost, showing forth in our lives what we profess with our lips. All along the way, both in word and in deed, let us wholeheartedly pray to the Lord of All, “and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
