Act 1:7-11 - Come Holy Spirit and Kindle in Us the Fire of Your Holy Love.
Every year we arrange our services to "preach the whole counsel of God," i.e., every teaching of the Scripture. While the sermon sometimes deals with things going on right at the moment, the verse of the day is a reminder of the theme of that day in the church year.
The verse of the day next Sunday is the theme for our sermon today. "Come Holy Spirit and kindle in us the fire of your holy love." These are not words of the Bible, but instead of very ancient prayers that became a part of the traditions that surround Pentecost.
The origins may be shrouded in the misty past, but the prayer is nonetheless a very relevant treasure today as we think about Jesus' ascension into heaven today and make preparations for our remembrance of Pentecost next week.
"Kindle" was an old fashioned word even before the tablet computer. Kindle means to take a tiny fire and feed it so that it grows into a bigger fire. In the Old Testament, kindling a fire is usually associated with growing anger or a literal fire consuming evil doers or a conflict turning into a war. But then came Pentecost Day, when God made for us a new association.
The Holy Spirit appeared as a tongue of fire upon the heads of the believers. In the prayer, we are asking that God the Holy Spirit would increase our faith, so that a godly zeal would consume our lives and spread to all the world.
There was great zeal among many in Jesus' day. The Pharisees were zealous for God, thinking that they would be paragons of virtue, following God's every command. The Zealots were zealous for God, thinking that godly zeal surely included acts of sedition and terrorism against the oppressive Roman occupation. The Essenes zealously protected their communities' myths; the Sadducees zealously protected the Temple and the aristocracy of Israel.
And many thought that Jesus was just another zealous teacher, with some new teaching, but Jesus was different. He taught openly before the people, not like the cloak and dagger Zealots. He revealed especially God's plan of salvation, not just the dictates of the Law. Every teaching is important for our eternal life.
There are things that He did not teach, i.e., the hidden will of God. The things that He did not teach us are the things that are not important for our life and salvation. It is not for us to know.
Jesus ascended. His physical form has now been hidden from us. It is not important. It is not for us to know how He looks or the timbre of His voice. The fact that He once walked among mankind in Israel 2,000 years ago is not hidden from us but is part of the history of our salvation. His Word is heard among us.
Jesus did not tell His disciples exactly what would happen when He left them. Those details were not important, even though they wanted to know them. It was not for them to know. Nor does He tell us what exactly will happen to us. It is not for us to know.
Jesus did tell His disciples to trust in Him and demonstrated that He was God and to be believed. They were to know those facts, but knowing and trusting are two different things. That is why Jesus would be sending them (and us) the Holy Spirit, to kindle in them the fire of His holy love. So while it is often not for us to know, it is for us to believe.
Which is the greater miracle? Jesus ascending into heaven or Jesus coming down from heaven to take on human flesh. Which is the greater miracle? The Word spoken in many languages on Pentecost Day, or the Word of God resting in the hands of countless generations in ink on paper and through words in the air between pulpit and pew everywhere in the Christian Church the world over? Which is the greater miracle? Tongues of fire appearing on the heads of the disciples or the fiery zeal in saved sinners to bring the Gospel to the whole world?
Just as it was not for us to see Jesus and know Him in that way, it is also not for us to merely know about Jesus and what He did, or to know about His suffering and death and His rising from the dead, to know about His ascension, it is for us to believe. Believing does not come about by seeing, for faith is the substance of things hoped for and not seen. No, believing begins when the Holy Spirit uses His appointed means to create faith in our hearts.
The Scriptures plainly teach that "faith comes from hearing, hearing the word of Christ." God creates faith by means of His Word, just like He created the world. The Scriptures plainly teach that "baptism does now also save you, through the washing with water and renewing of the Holy Spirit." God creates faith by means of water and His Word in Holy Baptism, even when that faith cannot be articulated.
So while there are many things, too many to count, that we will never understand, those things that are necessary for our life and salvation, God has implanted into our hearts, made them plain and made them an integral part of the life of all of His people on earth.
But they are not just for us. God has also plainly revealed that these things are for everyone. Jesus told His disciples, "Go and preach the good news to all creation." It is for us to tell the world.
On that great Ascension Day, the thinking of the disciples was turned inward. They were wondering what wonderful thing Jesus was going to do for them next. I don't think they were conscious of the way they were thinking about it all. They were a part of God's chosen people, sons of Abraham.
Their forefathers had received the written Law at Sinai, and they knew God's will. They were heirs to the promises that God had made to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. Theirs was the Temple worship. And they were eyewitnesses of the fact that Jesus had fulfilled the Law, that He was the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But in that moment, were they aware of all this?
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" By this they had in mind the days of Solomon, when Israel had been the center of the world, rich and wealthy and respected. They had in mind the visible things, worldly things and their own happiness. And when we have visible things, worldly things and our own happiness in mind, we tend to forget about everybody else.
But even at His ascension, an event that was uniquely about the victorious Christ returning to heaven to rule over all things, even then, Jesus was focused on doing so for our good.
And so He pointed His disciples to that wonderful day that was coming soon, to Pentecost Day. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Fellow redeemed, this salvation that we possess on account of Jesus, this faith that He has given us through water and the Word, this is not entirely for us, it is for the world.
That is why we pray that the Holy Spirit kindle in us the fire of His holy love, so that we would be zealous not for knowledge, not for power, not for material wealth, but zealous to love our neighbor as ourselves; zealous to hold God's Word sacred and gladly hear and learn it; zealous to be witnesses of Christ's mercy; zealous to share with our neighbors, our community and our world, the Good News that God forgives us for sake of Christ's life and death and resurrection; zealous to share that Christ has ascended and rules over all things for our good.
So, with our eyes looking heavenward and the events of Jesus' life before us, we pray come Holy Spirit and kindle in us the fire of your holy love. Amen.