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The Holy Spirit CALLS Us 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 To begin this morning, I’d like to introduce a word to you that you may or may not be familiar with. The word is “Incarnation.” In four weeks, here at church we’ll be celebrating the Festival of the Incarnation, which is the official name of Christmas. Incarnation comes from the Latin word, carne, which literally means meat or flesh. Think of carnivores – animals that are meat-eaters. Or chili con carne – chili with meat in it. So, does that mean that Christmas is the Festival of Meat? Not really. Incarnation means in flesh. God came to us in flesh, as meat and muscle and bone in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. This was really quite a novel concept and his presence really shook up the world. And on the surface, it doesn’t necessarily make the most sense. I mean, can you imagine trying to save the polar bears by becoming a polar bear? Or trying to save the dogs at the pound by locking yourself up in a cage and walking on all fours? I think maybe the closest I’ve seen to this is by those people who try to save the rainforests by chaining themselves to the trees – becoming in-treed, if you will. But nonetheless, that is how God chose to save us, by becoming incarnated and putting on flesh and bone, sharing in our suffering and death, and by doing so, saved us. Christmas is about God coming down to our level because there was no way we were going to be able to reach him otherwise. This is the upcoming Festival of the Incarnation and its all about Jesus. But there is another incarnation that we Christians talk about. It is the incarnation of the Holy Spirit – how the Holy Spirit becomes flesh and bone and works in the world. And this incarnation involves you and me. If you read about the Holy Spirit in the Bible, its always this kind of nebulous thing that we’re not quite sure exactly what to make of it. In one instance, it is referred to as a kind of wind that moves over the waters. In another case, it is described as fire burning in people. Sometimes its like breath, soft and invisible, and other times it’s very visible, coming down from heaven like a dove. In any case, it would be incredibly hard to draw a picture of the Holy Spirit because we just don’t know what it looks like. But it doesn’t matter what the Holy Spirit looks like, so much as what the Holy Spirit does. For the next several weeks until Christmas, we’re going to be taking a look at the Holy Spirit and talking about incarnation. I think that, as Lutherans, we don’t quite talk enough about the Holy Spirit or our own spirituality. Martin Luther actually did a lot thinking about the Holy Spirit, however, and in his explanation of the 3rd article of the Apostles’ Creed, which is all about the work of the Holy Spirit, he identified 4 main jobs of the Holy Spirit. He said that the Holy Spirit calls us, gathers us, enlightens us, and makes us holy. And its cool because each week this year during Advent, our assigned scripture passages pick up on these workings of the Spirit. So, for each of the next four weeks, we’re going to be picking up one of these aspects of the Spirit and reflecting on how that impacts our spirituality. Okay, after that little introduction, we begin in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 1 with one of the most simple, yet profound statements that Paul ever makes. He says, “God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” I want to look at the second part of that statement first. By him you were called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. People sometimes ask me what spirituality is really all about. We just got done with a 12 week Sunday school class talking about that and one of the participants summed up spirituality nicely. She said, “I just want to know Jesus better, I desire and long to be with him, and I just want to know how to connect with him. It’s like this passion inside of me.” I think spirituality, at its core, is connecting to God. Pastor Don Erickson used to use this example and I love it, its like the painting on top of the Sistine Chapel with God’s finger reaching out and our finger reaching out. Spirituality is trying to make that connection, it’s a longing to be home and at home with God. And what the Holy Spirit does inside of us is to call us home. Do you remember the movie E.T.? ET was this lovable little alien who had been left behind by his spaceship. But whenever he thought about going home, whenever he tried to make connection with where he belonged, he had this little red light burning inside of him. “ET phone home” as his finger burned brightly and pointed to the heavens. He chest burned red as the spaceship neared earth again to pick him up. The Holy Spirit is like that yearning inside each one of us, calling us into a closer connection with God, as St. Paul says, “calling us into a fellowship with Jesus.” When we were little, we used to always go to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. It was a good couple of hours drive from our house in St. Joseph to Omaha where she lived. So for the first hour and half, us kids would sit in the back of the minivan with our headphones on, with our books, and basically being oblivious to the drive. But as we got closer, as we started to get into Council Bluffs and then Omaha, we began taking off our headphones, put the books away, pack away everything that wasn’t very important anymore, and we started to watch for Grandma’s house. And as we got closer and closer, we anticipated the time with our cousins and the wonderful food and getting teased by our uncles. The Holy Spirit is the one calls to us, “We’re almost there, its time to start getting ready. Put away your distractions, start watching, its only a matter of time. Jesus is coming near and we don’t want to miss him.” The Holy Spirit is always on the lookout for us, calling us to be with Jesus, trying desperately to help us make that connection. But I recognize that not everyone always feels this tug, this pull, this yearning to be closer. Sometimes we really feel disconnected from God, we feel cold, like we’re just going through the motions of life, and that we’re not sure we’ll ever feel close to God again. Sometimes we’re just really struggling with life, with pain, discomfort, with boredom. Sometimes our life just seems to be falling apart and not only do we not feel connected to God, but we feel like God has abandon us. This is often the feeling that the people had when they listened to Jesus speak about the end of the world [like in our gospel passage] – times when the sky will be darkened, the moon won’t give any light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the earth be shaken. There are times when we all feel like the sky is falling all around us. And it is in these times more than any other that we turn to the first part of that statement from 1 Corinthians: God is faithful. I had this great movie clip to show you for this part, but went I went to Blockbuster to get the movie, they said that some incredibly rude person never returned it, so I’ll just have to describe it to you. The movie is called World Trade Center, and like it says, its about 9/11 and the movie chronicles the true story of 2 firefighters who get trapped in the rubble. Literally, the world has come crashing down all around them. They’re still alive, but barely. And much of the movie is them being trapped, trying to remain hopeful, buried underneath all the junk. And throughout the hours and eventually couple days of being trapped, the one thing that kept them going is this idea that they know people are looking for them, that the other firefighters are faithful in their pursuit of rescue. Through all the ups and downs of their entrapment, they long for the time when they will be saved from the wreckage. And finally, in their darkest hour, in the depths of their despair, they hear someone calling. They see movement and begin to see daylight for the first time. As hands reach down to save them, they reach up. Just like that Sistine chapel painting. God is faithful. If you are lost, the Holy Spirit is out there looking for you, searching for you, calling for you, trying desperately to keep you connected to Jesus Christ. You can be reminded of this connection every time you pass those waters in the baptism font, where God first touched you through water and the Spirit. You can be reminded of this connection every time you receive Holy Communion, where God touches you with the body and blood of Jesus. You can be reminded of this connection every time you get a hug from a fellow church member or share a smile with someone in the pew with you. Today, as you receive Holy Communion, you will receive a very visible reminder of God’s presence with you. If you like, we have someone who will mark each of your hands with a cross. Let this be a reminder for you that the Holy Spirit has become incarnate in you, that you have been touched and marked with the cross forever, that the Spirit is with you always, longing and helping to connect you to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is calling to you: you are not alone. God is faithful. You have been called into fellowship with Jesus.
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