May 11, 2008

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church

Pr. Per Inge Vik

Joh 20, 19-23

His Breath Creates Life

(Introduction:) Pentecost is much more important for us than the focus we give it in our church as for today. This festival rather deserves a celebration similar to the one of Syttende Mai! For we wouldn’t have existed as a Christian church were it not for what Pentecost is all about, the sending of the Spirit to the earth.

None of us could believe in Jesus or have faith in God without the Spirit making us able to do so. Faith is a gift. As Luther puts it in the Small Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith.”

So everything that is connected to our faith, is the work of the Holy Spirit. This gives us a reason for thanks and praise. So let us stand and please join me in singing the festival verse, # 224, v.1 Kved opp, Guds folk, syng høgt i kor!

John 20: 19-23 His Breath Creates Life

In a refugee camp in the far East there lived a swarm of people. In the middle of the crowd of people there was one single Christian family. One day the mother in this family got overwhelmed by fury as she saw that the neighbor’s chicken went eating the precious straws of grass in her own tiny garden.

She threw a stone at the chicken. The stone hit well, - too well. The bird was dead on the spot. But instead of going and admitting her sin to the neighboring wife, who was a pagan, she took the chicken and stripped it. Then she cooked soup with it for herself and her family. 

When her pastor, a missionary, came that evening and asked if she would be the text reader in church the next day, she answered no. Her conscience had started working. The missionary asked if something was wrong. Then the truth came forth. She turned to God, and got forgiveness, according to today’s gospel. The missionary was allowed to be the spokesperson from God, and forgive her sin.

Afterwards the missionary said: “Then you have to go and admit what you have done.” That was terrible. As that was to “lose face”. In the far East, nothing is worse than that. But the Holy Spirit conquered her stubborn nature. She went and admitted everything, and made up.

So far, the non-Christian neighbor woman had been skeptical towards the Christians. But after this she exclaimed: “Now I can understand. A Christian is a person who cannot live together with sin.” A simple, pagan woman understood something crucial in our text for today. In the power of the Holy Spirit, sins are forgiven when they are brought to the light.

So this is a characteristic of being a Christian. To belong to Jesus doesn’t mean to be like an angel. A Christian can stumble and fall. And we do so, every day. But we cannot live together with the sin. We can not persist in a lifestyle that we know is in opposition to God’s will.

We read  that Jesus breathed on his disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Here we can hear the echo all the way back to the first leaf of the Bible. In Gen 2,7 we read, then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. So God’s breath creates life.

We also find another Old Testament parallel to the miracle of Pentecost, by the prophet Ezekiel chpt 37 (v 9). The prophet saw a valley full of dead bones as he heard God say, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." This is also a prophecy about the Holy Spirit’s coming. Pentecost is a resurrection. Life is created from death.

As God’s Holy Spirit comes over the church, it is recreated and equipped for her mission. And the church’s mission is very clearly stated today: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. This means that Jesus gives the church partnership in his creating word.

What a confidence! The church is set to redeem people from their sins, on Jesus’ behalf.

This is our great privilege and mission. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Imagine someone coming to you with a message from another person. To what extent do you have confidence in the messenger? Well, that all depends on how well he or she knows the sender. If you know that they are close to each other, you will have confidence in the message you get to hear.

The apostles had the very best qualifications to bring the message of Jesus out. Since they knew him best of all. For that reason the Resurrected One himself takes the chance to let his witnesses share in the power of creation. To continue his task.

The Church today brings on the mission of the apostles. We are sent as the representatives of Christ. Just as God had sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us who believe in him. We are his mouth to proclaim his great works, his hands to do good deeds, and feet to do errands for him. Christ’s body on earth.

A temple of living stones, to use another picture of the church of Jesus Christ. Because there are many small stones in the wall, they can together be a big building. Because there are so many limbs and organs in the body of Christ, we can reach as far out as we do. The world wide church expands, bringing his message constantly further out.

The church’s mission is this: We have the authority to forgive the sins of people, or to retain them. Can that come into the question at all, to retain? Well, only if a person says “no thanks”, not wanting or not believing in the need for forgiveness. As for example the woman who killed the chicken. If she refused to make up, she couldn’t be forced to do it. Then she would be retained in her sin.

One can not force forgiveness for sins on a person that doesn’t want it. Luther speaks one place about God’s left hand’s and right hand’s work. He is a righteous judge. 

When people say “no thank you”, he doesn’t force them. Then they themselves have chosen wrongly. But what God wants the most , his Right Hand’s Work, is to forgive and save.

A prayer arises within me upon encountering today’s Bible text: Lord, breathe on us again. Lord, come with your Spirit and create life from death. Let your Pentecost Wind blow on us and cleanse us from the dirt that lies there hindering and hampering our faith from producing fruits that you are looking for.”  

So today we have been reminded that The Risen Lord lives and breathes on his disciples. That creates life and faith. As God’s wind blows, humans are put to move. The dead come to life. The word of the Bible is not only printer’s ink on a paper we hold in our hands. It is a message that comes alive as the Spirit works. We cannot control the Spirit. He works only when and where God wants him to.

Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who was, is and shall remain one, true God from eternity to eternity. (Congregation:) Amen

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716