CELC The Day of Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost – May 30, 2004

John 14:8-17, 25-27

Last week ended the Easter season. Today is the day of Pentecost. Besides being the birth of the church, it is the beginning of the second half of the church year. Now we enter the half of the church year that focuses on the church, on us, rather than the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

As we make this change, ask yourself if you really believe that God has redeemed you in the cross of Jesus Christ. How you answer that will determine what the season of Pentecost can mean for you.

As you consider my question reflect on the ordinary chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate chips are necessary for there to be a cookie. But, by themselves chocolate chips are not a cookie. They are necessary, but not sufficient. You need to add cookie dough, bake them and more. Then you have a chocolate chip cookie.

Some folks see the cross that way. They say, “Well, the cross is necessary. Jesus died for my sins. Lord knows I need forgiveness.” Thus, the cross for them is a necessity. They do not, though, see it as sufficient. They might say something like, “well, Christ did die for your sins, but you need to make a decision for him or you aren’t saved.” This is the unfortunate unbelief that the cross is necessary but not sufficient. You have to add your decision. It is what you might call the “chocolate chip cookie” theory of the cross. You have to add something to make the cross adequate. By itself, the cross just doesn’t do it.

At the heart of the problem if whether you really trust God or not? Trusting God you believe that the cross is adequate by itself. You do not have to add anything. On the other hand, some would add something: a decision for Christ, a perfect life, moral perfection, or something else. The cross is not enough. You can’t trust God to redeem you in Christ.

You who are being confirmed today know that we are saved by grace and grace alone. There is nothing we add. God has done what is necessary and sufficient in the cross, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That is our belief. We trust God for the grace that forgives all our sin.

Jesus tells us today in the gospel lesson that God will send the Holy Spirit to us to sustain us as redeemed people. The cross has transformed you. You know that because you have rejected “Chocolate Chip Cookie” theology and trust God has done it all. The result is that you are transformed. You are a saint of God’s making. Now Jesus promises that God is giving the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit calls you to a life of freedom. It is the difference between living in a corral and living on the open range. Remember the scenes of movies where the horses are kept in a corral. It is small, dusty and confining. You can easily move from one side to the other because the space is small and the limited.

On the open range horses run free. The limits are so far apart that you cannot see them. You need to travel a great distance before you reach them.

Pentecostal life in the Holy Spirit is a life of freedom, like life on the range. What the cross has done is set you free to follow the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit calls you to serve others in the name of Christ. This calling comes to you not to add to the adequacy of the cross, but to give you the opportunity to return thanks to God.

So, the question of today becomes, “How shall you serve?” You want to serve, not to add to the cross, but to respond to the love of God that was incarnate in Jesus and died for you. So loved by God you now want to love in the name of Christ.

How shall you serve? Well, the entire second half of the church will be spent looking at how to serve, how to use the freedom granted us by the Holy Spirit. There will be ample opportunity to decide how to serve, how to love.

As you consider each week, each day, how to use your freedom for others, remember what Jesus says today: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” You have heard from Jesus himself, you need not be anxious or fearful. The freedom you have in the Holy Spirit is the freedom to fail as well as succeed. What a gift that is.

On the license plates of cars in New Hampshire this motto appears: “Live free or die.” It is a motto that reminds you we have the wonderful gift of civic freedom and that many have died to protect your freedom. On this Memorial Day weekend you remember those who have served this country to preserve civic freedom and especially those who paid the ultimate price of giving their lives. We give thanks for their sacrifice and for the freedom you have.

The truth of today, though, is that God has died that you can live in freedom that is so complete that it gives you this life and one more. God died and you live free. Living free the Holy Spirit calls you to serve. Amen.

Pastor Robert F. Holley