Sermon by Rev. Deborah Hannay Sunoo
Like so many church creeds or confessions, “The Brief Statement of Faith,” which you’ll see on your bulletin insert, is written in a Trinitarian format. If you glance through the document as a whole, you’ll see a section on Jesus Christ, a section on God our Creator, whom Jesus called Abba, Father, and a section on the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons is the traditional language for the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So as we’ve worked our way through the creed this summer, the last couple of weeks we talked about our Creator God, who made all people equally in God’s image, and about the one biblical story of God that stretches from Genesis to Revelation. The prior couple of weeks were focused on Jesus: his life and ministry, his death and resurrection. Today’s section of the creed now brings us to what we believe about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Let’s read aloud together lines 52-64 of “The Brief Statement of Faith.”
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
Everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
Sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
And binds us together with all believers
In the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit
Who inspired prophets and apostles
Rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
Engages us through the Word proclaimed,
Claims us in the waters of baptism,
Feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
And calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.
Both of today’s Scripture lessons speak of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. According to John’s gospel, the fearful disciples were gathered in a locked house after his death, when the risen Jesus suddenly came and stood among them and said “peace be with you.” After showing them his hands and his side – in other words the marks of his crucifixion – he breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit.” In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples on the day of Pentecost with a rush of wind and tongues of fire and the ability to preach the gospel in languages they’d never been taught. The Spirit cane come in the rush of a loud wind, or in a gentle breath. So we speak both of the Holy Spirit inspiring and energizing, bringing boldness and courage, and we also speak of the Holy Spirit breathing into us the gift of confidence and peace.
Today’s section of the creed reminds us that it is also the Holy Spirit that binds believers together to create the Church, and not only that, but the Spirit rules and guides us, engages us when we encounter the Scriptures, claims us when we are baptized, feeds us when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper as we will later this morning, and calls us – all of us – to ministry.
Think about the great heroes of our Christian faith – whether in the Bible or in church history – and consider how they were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit. Consider the things they were able to accomplish with the Spirit of God breathed into their hearts. In fact, let’s share a few names right now. Who comes to mind when I ask you think about either biblical figures or figures in history who seem to have been particularly inspired and inspiring? Who stands out in your mind as really demonstrating what it means to live as a man of God or a woman of God? Putting their faith into action. Living what they believed.
[time for sharing names]
We have so many inspirational examples to look to, don’t we? It’s precisely for this reason that the phrase that really sticks out for me here in today’s section of the creed is “the same Spirit.”
Because the same Spirit who inspired all of them also inspires us! The same Spirit who ruled, engaged, claimed, fed, and called them, rules, engages, claims, feeds, and calls us! This Holy Spirit we talk about in the Church – admittedly a little hard to wrap our minds around, spirits being by their very definition hard to pin down – this same Holy Spirit, this holy wind or breath that has blown and encouraged and inspired and comforted men and women of faith through the ages, that’s who inspires us too!
As you’ve pointed out with your excellent examples, God’s Spirit certainly isn't limited to inspiring the few and the famous. We are, all of us, in the Holy Spirit’s jurisdiction; we are, all of us, the Holy Spirit’s project. Later in Acts 2, beyond the verses we read this morning, Peter recalls the words of the prophet Joel, who foresaw a time when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh. “And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” the text says, “and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17) The day of Pentecost made it clear. That time had come. The kind of inspiration that used to be poured out on a few select prophets had started to blow and flow and move and shake and break out all over the place. And it continues to this day. The Holy Spirit is at work always and everywhere, including in each one of us, if we give it a chance.
Think again about a few of those folks we named aloud, or others that particularly inspire you with their faith and life in Christ. Do you have them in mind? Now add to that mix Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles and all of the leaders of the early church in Acts, and men and women of faith throughout church history. Can you picture a whole crowd of them standing together? The great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us as we run our respective journeys of faith?
Let’s stand, with them in mind, and reaffirm what we believe, from lines 52-64 of the Brief Statement of Faith:
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
Everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
Sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
And binds us together with all believers
In the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit
Who inspired prophets and apostles
Rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
Engages us through the Word proclaimed,
Claims us in the waters of baptism,
Feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
And calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.
Amen!
Like so many church creeds or confessions, “The Brief Statement of Faith,” which you’ll see on your bulletin insert, is written in a Trinitarian format. If you glance through the document as a whole, you’ll see a section on Jesus Christ, a section on God our Creator, whom Jesus called Abba, Father, and a section on the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons is the traditional language for the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So as we’ve worked our way through the creed this summer, the last couple of weeks we talked about our Creator God, who made all people equally in God’s image, and about the one biblical story of God that stretches from Genesis to Revelation. The prior couple of weeks were focused on Jesus: his life and ministry, his death and resurrection. Today’s section of the creed now brings us to what we believe about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Let’s read aloud together lines 52-64 of “The Brief Statement of Faith.”
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
Everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
Sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
And binds us together with all believers
In the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit
Who inspired prophets and apostles
Rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
Engages us through the Word proclaimed,
Claims us in the waters of baptism,
Feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
And calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.
Both of today’s Scripture lessons speak of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. According to John’s gospel, the fearful disciples were gathered in a locked house after his death, when the risen Jesus suddenly came and stood among them and said “peace be with you.” After showing them his hands and his side – in other words the marks of his crucifixion – he breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit.” In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples on the day of Pentecost with a rush of wind and tongues of fire and the ability to preach the gospel in languages they’d never been taught. The Spirit cane come in the rush of a loud wind, or in a gentle breath. So we speak both of the Holy Spirit inspiring and energizing, bringing boldness and courage, and we also speak of the Holy Spirit breathing into us the gift of confidence and peace.
Today’s section of the creed reminds us that it is also the Holy Spirit that binds believers together to create the Church, and not only that, but the Spirit rules and guides us, engages us when we encounter the Scriptures, claims us when we are baptized, feeds us when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper as we will later this morning, and calls us – all of us – to ministry.
Think about the great heroes of our Christian faith – whether in the Bible or in church history – and consider how they were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit. Consider the things they were able to accomplish with the Spirit of God breathed into their hearts. In fact, let’s share a few names right now. Who comes to mind when I ask you think about either biblical figures or figures in history who seem to have been particularly inspired and inspiring? Who stands out in your mind as really demonstrating what it means to live as a man of God or a woman of God? Putting their faith into action. Living what they believed.
[time for sharing names]
We have so many inspirational examples to look to, don’t we? It’s precisely for this reason that the phrase that really sticks out for me here in today’s section of the creed is “the same Spirit.”
Because the same Spirit who inspired all of them also inspires us! The same Spirit who ruled, engaged, claimed, fed, and called them, rules, engages, claims, feeds, and calls us! This Holy Spirit we talk about in the Church – admittedly a little hard to wrap our minds around, spirits being by their very definition hard to pin down – this same Holy Spirit, this holy wind or breath that has blown and encouraged and inspired and comforted men and women of faith through the ages, that’s who inspires us too!
As you’ve pointed out with your excellent examples, God’s Spirit certainly isn't limited to inspiring the few and the famous. We are, all of us, in the Holy Spirit’s jurisdiction; we are, all of us, the Holy Spirit’s project. Later in Acts 2, beyond the verses we read this morning, Peter recalls the words of the prophet Joel, who foresaw a time when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh. “And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” the text says, “and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17) The day of Pentecost made it clear. That time had come. The kind of inspiration that used to be poured out on a few select prophets had started to blow and flow and move and shake and break out all over the place. And it continues to this day. The Holy Spirit is at work always and everywhere, including in each one of us, if we give it a chance.
Think again about a few of those folks we named aloud, or others that particularly inspire you with their faith and life in Christ. Do you have them in mind? Now add to that mix Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles and all of the leaders of the early church in Acts, and men and women of faith throughout church history. Can you picture a whole crowd of them standing together? The great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us as we run our respective journeys of faith?
Let’s stand, with them in mind, and reaffirm what we believe, from lines 52-64 of the Brief Statement of Faith:
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
Everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
Sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
And binds us together with all believers
In the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit
Who inspired prophets and apostles
Rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
Engages us through the Word proclaimed,
Claims us in the waters of baptism,
Feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
And calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.
Amen!
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