Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

In his book, Symbols of the Holy Spirit, C. Gordon Brownville tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first explorer to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and the first to go to the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!" Imagine how much greater the joy of the disciples on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit appeared above them. As Jesus had promised He sent another to strengthen and encourage them.

Although the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit, Jesus recognized they would be sorrowful. Jesus said, "If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father."

The disciples had not been able to understand all these things until Pentecost. The disciples were weak in faith. That's why they were sorrowful. The disciples didn't recognize the Father's will in what was about to happen. Jesus stressed the need for them to have faith in Him and His word. Jesus had quoted Deuteronomy when He was asked what the greatest command was, Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (6:5, Mt. 22:37) To love Him is to have faith in Him and God the Father. That faith is imparted by the Holy Spirit; it is not something we or they can do alone.

The result of our love for Him is that He will live in us. Look at the first verse in our reading. We will come to him and make our home with him. That is what will happen to the one whom loves Jesus. We is the triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being key in that we recognize the gift of Jesus' sacrifice for us through the power of the Spirit. Where there is Christian faith, there God makes His home. David prayed in Ps. 51:11 "Take not Your Holy Spirit from me." And John recorded Jesus' words "I in them and You in Me" (17:23) And Paul shares in Ephesians, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (3:17) All confirming that the result of our love for Him is that He will live in us.

Pentecost opened a new chapter in the understanding of faith. We see the importance of the silent partner of the triune God as an enabler of our ability to have faith in Jesus as God and man. Pentecost also gives us the opportunity to learn.

Part of the learning experience is repetition and reminders. As we know from our own experience, history, and of course the Old Testament humans forget very quickly. It's our sinful nature to turn away and forget the goodness of God in favor of our selfish need for expediency. We need reminders from the Holy Spirit to keep our faith alive.

If you remember back to 2001 during the weeks following 9/11 churches were seeing large increases in attendance. Within two months attendance was back to previous levels. For some reason those people who suddenly felt the need to attend church didn't find what they were looking for. The Spirit was not really at work in them because they returned to their previous patterns of life. The time was not right for the Spirit to convert them. For the steadfast the Spirit gives us constant reminders of the love Jesus showed for us. If we read the Acts of the Apostles we find many references of the Spirit working in the Apostles and those converted by their preaching. That conversion does not come from preaching it comes from the Holy Spirit working in those who hear the Word.

Even better than the reminders of God's grace through Jesus the Spirit teaches us. He gives us what we need. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything Jesus said. That is what we are told in this reading. That may seem to be an odd statement if you are like me quoting anything let alone the words of Jesus can be a disastrous bumbling of words. But its not saying we need to memorize and quote bible verses. The Spirit will give us the appropriate words to say at the appropriate times. It's a good thing to rely on especially if you are as inarticulate as I am. The bigger picture is that the Lord does provide all that we need in our mission to share the word of God.

But wait there is more about this mysterious Holy Spirit that helps us on our journey through this world. Pentecost assures us of the peace of God and continues to strengthen our faith.

Most people would define peace as the absence of armed conflict between nations. We all know there is another kind of peace an inner peace that is an absence of the anxiety this world constantly churns up within us. This inner peace is the peace that God provides us through the Holy Spirit. The disciples were fearful and sorrowful before Pentecost and afterward were bold and full of joy in Jesus Christ. The world can't do that for us and we can't do it ourselves. Only the Spirit can lead us to that peace.

Our assurance in Him is ever strengthening by the Holy Spirit. We are assured that He will fulfill His promises. Pentecost is a perfect example of promises fulfilled. We have the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy and of the words of Jesus. In His final conversation with the disciples (John. 13-17) Jesus spoke repeatedly of the Holy Spirit. He promised to give them another Comforter. Jesus said that the Spirit would teach them everything. He promised that the Comforter would testify concerning Christ. And He said that the Spirit of truth would guide them in all truth. Finally in Acts on the day of His Ascension Jesus promised that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.

All promises were fulfilled not only for the disciples but for us as well. We are the new witnesses that continue to carry the truth about Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. We make the introductions to Jesus the Holy Spirit builds the relationship. So don't be fearful be bold as the converted apostles were. We need to accept that inner peace promised by the Holy Spirit. Let's ask that our lives reflect the joy of Christ so that others ask what they are missing.

In the Name of our Risen Lord Jesus, Amen.