ya know ya can't lose a fight

is you take cover or abandon it

A Pentecost Sermon:

Come, Holy Spirit! Come! And deep down, that’s what we all want. Isn’t it? We want something like Pentecost. And we want it to happen today. And we want it to happen here. And we want it to happen to us.

Or, at the very least, we want to believe. We want to believe that something like Pentecost could happen here. We want to believe that our life and our little corner of the world could be the staging ground for the outpouring of God almighty’s Holy Spirit. Don’t we?

But. But we might as well admit it: it takes faith to believe. Doesn’t it? We can’t just bottle up our innocence. And we can’t pretend there isn’t a part of us that expects, or at least worries, that we’ll be disappointed if we believe. 

Listen, I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble. And if you’re riding high today, by all means, enjoy it! Such moments are hard to come by. Take them when they come! 

However! However, I’ve also come to learn that the Holy Spirit can work with reality much better than denial or delusion. As we like to say around here, “true spirituality is life,” *where? That’s right! Reality! True spirituality is life in reality! True spirituality is life in reality.

And therein lies our first sermon, you Pentecost people! Your life is the playing ground of the Holy Spirit! But it’s your life as it actually is that’s the arena of the Holy Ghost, not your life as you imagine it could be! This little church and your ordinary life, as they presently are, are ideal locations for another Pentecost to happen! And you don’t have to conjure up some mystical mindset for this to be true, either! 

Just look at the disciples! They weren’t praying for a revival. Were they? No, they were hiding out. But! But the Holy Spirit took that shabby discipleship and those cramped quarters and made a miracle as massive as the church universal out of it! 

As Amanda reminded us last Pentecost, “Instead of silence, She, the Holy Spirit, chose fire.” Instead of silence, the Holy Spirit, she chose fire.” 

…*Snap. Hey! Do you think I’m joking here?!? I’m not whistling in the dark! These are the Holy Spirit’s marching orders we have in hand at this very moment! Today is Pentecost! And the Holy Spirit is less than a hair’s breadth away! 

Come, Holy Spirit! Come! Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t sit back! Lean forward, for heaven’s sake!

But I get it. I know you’ve been looking forward to the sermon. I know you’ve been looking forward to the sermon, so you can take it easy and let your mind wander. Well, too bad! 

That’s right, too bad! The Holy Spirit has other plans for you today! And let me tell you, they’re oh so much better than your grocery or to-do list. No, the Holy Spirit intends to give you nothing less than the greatest miracle of all today: faith. Got it?

Good! Well, then, let’s get to it. Shall we? And to keep you at the ready, let’s have a little participation. Let’s do some diagnosing. On a scale between one and ten, where would you put your spiritual health? 

Start thinking because I’m going to ask you to answer. On a scale between one and ten, one being totally unhealthy and ten being perfectly healthy, where would you put your spiritual health? And here’s how we’ll answer: I’ll start counting, and when I get to your number, just raise your hand. Ok? 

And if you’re a little apprehensive, let me ease your mind. First of all, I’m willing to bet a lot of us will raise our hands at a similar point. Secondly, everyone else is thinking about their answer, too. So, it’s not like you’re ever really on the spot. And last of all, if you’re feeling really uncomfortable, I give you permission to lie! 

That’s right! You hereby have permission to lie! Just raise your hand when everyone else does! 

And if you get to the pearly gates and St. Peter hassles you about that time you lied in church, you can go ahead and blame it on me! But guess what? St. Peter won’t do that! No, more than likely, he’ll just high-five you for exercising a little blessed freedom when you needed it. In Christ, you really are truly free!

…But let’s get to it. I’m going to play, too. And not only am I going to raise my hand for my answer, but I’m also going to make a prediction. But I’m not going to tell you what it is just yet. 

I don’t want to spoil the results. I just have it here on this piece of paper. Afterward, we can check it. Sound good? 

Ok. Let’s get started. On a scale between one and ten, one being totally unhealthy and ten being perfectly healthy, where would you put your spiritual health? Raise your hand when I get to your number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, *6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Alright. Thank you for playing along. You’re all good sports. Now, here’s my prediction. I predicted that most of us would raise our hand at about 6. Was I right?

It’s a pretty safe guess. Isn’t it? It’s around the middle. And we’re all good midwesterners, too. We like to fit in. We live in the middle!

But we don’t just live in the middle of the country. Do we? No, we spend our entire lives in the middle. We’re a mixed bag. And this is true of our spiritual health, too. Isn’t it? We’re spiritual. But we’re not all that spiritual, either.

And on that note, I’ll make another prediction. If I were to hazard a guess, I bet if I were to ask if you wanted to be more or less spiritual, you’d say more. Wouldn’t you? 

Let’s find out! Give me a thumbs up if you wish you were more spiritual and a thumbs down if you wish you were less spiritual. Thumbs up, more spiritual. Thumbs down, less spiritual. Got it? 

Ok. Let’s do it: Thumbs up, more spiritual. Ok. And thumbs down, less spiritual. Ok.

Was I right? That was another safe guess. Wasn’t it? We all want to be more spiritual. And we could all stand to be a bit more spiritual, too, I reckon. 

But, since I’ve been playing it so safe, how about I go out on a limb? What if I told you your problem is not that you’re not spiritual enough? That’s right. Your problem is not that you’re not spiritual enough.

No, your problem is that you’re too spiritual! And you’re way too spiritual, too! Let me repeat that! Your problem isn’t that you’re not spiritual enough. No, your problem is that you’re too spiritual. 

…What do you make of that? I bet it doesn’t make all that much sense. Does it? For one thing, my job is to get you to be more spiritual, not less! That’s what this whole “religion business” is all about! Isn’t it? 

But more importantly, our lives don’t seem all that spiritual. Do they? No, our lives feel altogether too hectic, worldly, and godless to be all that spiritual. Don’t they? So, how could we be too spiritual?

Well, for starters, the very fact that your life is hectic, worldly, and godless is a symptom of just how spiritual we all are. And desperately spiritual, too! And if you don’t believe me, there’s a way we can test this. And we can do it in real-time, too! All you have to do is answer one simple question. 

Want to try? Ok. Here it is: Where in your life are you most tired? Let me ask that again. Where in your life are you most tired? 

Where are you most burned out? Where are you most fed up? Where are you most stressed? Where are you most worried? Where in your life are you most tired? 

Now, my guess is it didn’t take long to think of an answer. But just in case, I’ll ask again. Where in your life are you most tired? This is important. So I’d really like you to have an answer. 

Don’t worry. I’m not going to make you share. I just want you to have a point of contact for what we’re considering. So let me ask again: where in your life are you most tired? 

Do you have your answer? I hope you do. I hope you do because when you know what’s got you most worked up, you know what you’re most spiritual about! That’s right. The place in life where you’re most tired is where you’re most spiritual!

Don’t worry. I know that doesn’t make much sense, either. Honestly, it probably seems altogether counterintuitive. Doesn’t it? After all, it’s those places that we’re most stressed where spirituality first goes by the wayside. Right? 

Wrong! Sorry, it’s just not true. It’s those things that you’re most worked up about that you’re most spiritual about! In fact, fatigue is a sure sign that you’re too spiritual about this or that. 

…Martin Luther, in the Small Catechism, said God is to be—Do you remember this? It’s in the explanation of the First Commandment. Right at the beginning. God is to be blank, blank, and blank above all things. It’s three verbs. God is to be blank, blank, and blank above all things. Do you remember?

It’s feared, loved, and trusted. God is to be feared, loved, and trusted above all things. This means, and thank you Luther for helping us notice this, but this means if fear, love, or trust is involved, you’ve ventured into the realm of the spiritual. Yes, the spiritual. 

I know, we don’t think we’re being spiritual in such matters. We think we’re just being practical. But in reality, what you most fear, love, or trust is what you’re most spiritual about. 

Let me demonstrate. You can’t drum up fear, love, or trust. Can you? No, fear, love, and trust just happen TO you. Don’t they? And that means whatever triggers your fear, love, or trust is what you’re spiritual about! And madly spiritual, too!

We’re spiritual about our finances. We’re spiritual about our health. We’re spiritual about our looks. We’re spiritual about our relationships. We’re spiritual about politics. We’re even spiritual about our hobbies! Of course, we’re spiritual about our careers. And we’re spiritual about our retirement, too. 

On and on it goes! Truly! It never ends! Anything, full-stop. Anything we think will make the future turn out the way we want is what we’re spiritual about! And we’re spiritual about those things because we want them to do for us what God has promised to do: deliver us! And that’s why we must be spiritual about them, too! 

…There’s absolutely nothing wrong with finances, health, beauty, relationships, politics, hobbies, careers, or retirement. No, those are perfectly fine ways to serve your neighbor. However! However, whenever you use those things to try to achieve salvation, which is just the future, you use them for your own self-righteousness. And not only does that ruin those things! It also dooms you! 

Using anything, anything to try and carve out the future forces you to rely on it! But seeing as every day comes from the hand of the Lord alone, you’ll inevitably have to pour more and more of yourself into your preferred method of securing tomorrow. And that’s how spirituality always creeps in! Why, that’s how human religion always works. 

Human religion works by taking what is ordinary, like all those things we just listed, and making them extraordinary, like suffusing them with the power to save! God, though, in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, works precisely the other way ‘round! God takes what is extraordinary, like eternity itself, and in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, brings it to bear upon the ordinary, like right here and *right now! Human religion works by trying to go to God. But what God does is come TO us! Grace is God’s one-way love!

By your baptism into the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father, you’re free of all those other things you’re spiritual about! God has promised good to you, come what may! And that means everything else can just be things! Take ‘em or leave ‘em. 

Just don’t place your trust in them. Or do I need to smash another mirror to make my point?!? I’ll do it!

Rather, in Christ, you are set free for true religion! In Christ, you are free to call on the name of the Lord in any and all circumstances! And, in fact, that is one more miracle your Lord and Savior has in store for you today! Now, when you’re driven to fear, love, or trust, you are free to stop fiddling around the edges and instead go ahead and call upon the name of God who made heaven and earth! By the power of the Holy Spirit, you can call upon the Lord, who is strong to save!

And you know what else? God will draw close to you, too! In fact, God already is doing as much in these very words and the fear, love, and trust, or faith, they are evoking in you right now! And God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is doing so much more for you, too! God is presently making all things work together for your salvation right here and right now! 

…That, and that alone, is what makes for Pentecost every time! No matter what day it is!

Pentecost is less than a hair’s breadth away. Isn’t it? God is HERE. Let’s sing! Hymn number 526. God Is Here! Come, Holy Spirit! Come!