Genesis 11:1-9/Acts 2:1-21/St John 14:23-31
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
If anyone loves the Lord Jesus, he will keep His Word. His Word speaks love to you, and peace and comfort and the forgiveness of sins. By His Word He draws near to you, as does the Father in Him. And through His Word He pours out His Spirit upon you. In this way - through the Word, read and preached - the Holy Triune God makes His abode with you.
Therefore keep His Word. Be gathered together to His House, here, where His disciples are. Listen to what He says and remember what He has spoken. Call upon His Name, pray and confess His Word. As peace is spoken to you, speak peace to one another, in love for one another, forgiving those who sin against you; speak comfort to those who are troubled.
This is the language of the one, true God. This makes holy all the tongues of men. His Word establishes His City on earth; that is His Church, with the Tower of the Cross. This gives glory to His holy name. This is the Word that breathes the Spirit of God and gives life to you and all.
This is not your native language. It is a divine language. And it is taught only by the Spirit of Christ. This language is the holy liturgy and prayer and confession and it is the language of your new Father in heaven taught to you by His Son in the flesh who has given you His Spirit by adoption.
You have know and still know a different language, a tongue native to all men because all men sin. We all know a common way of speaking that knows no borders or boundaries. It is the language of selfish pride, of covetous lust, of towering ego, of envy and jealousy, of gossip and greed. You know the language and the law of the jungle.
This is a language that all people share. But it does not unit them; rather is separates and scatters them. This is the kill-or-be-killed language of the city of man, of life out there (in the world, of the flesh). Out there you strive to make a name for yourself. You compete and contend. You speak with cunning self interest. Nothing bridles your tongue, no filter separates the wickedness of your hearts to the filth of your mouths.
There is no love in that language, except love of self. There is no peace, only constant war. There is no comfort, only grief and trouble. There is no forgiveness, but debts that can’t be paid, grudges never let go, bitter resentment, hateful revenge. You have been poisoned by your own venomous tongue.
You know how the words of others sting and hurt. Do you not consider that your words also sting and hurt others? You know how powerful ways of speaking are, to calm things down or stir things up, and still you speak in ways that tear down your family and the whole house. When all the world speaks this language of sin, then all efforts fail, towers crumble and cities fall, nations are divided, and families are broken and scattered. There is no house or home of safety. There is no dwelling place of peace.
But the Lord has come down to see this travesty which the sons of man have spoken and made. He punishes their sin with their own sin. He scatters them to the four winds, driving them by their own common language of selfish pride. He does so in mercy, in order to gather them together to Himself by His divine language of the Gospel. In all the tongues of the nations - in Hebrew and Greek, Latin and German, Russian, French, Spanish, English, Tamil, and Japanese - He speaks the one Word of His Son; and through that Word He breathes His Spirit.
Consider how near His Word is to you: in your ears, and in your heart, and in your mouth, says Scripture.
For this is the Word that God the Father speaks - His own dearly beloved Son has become flesh and dwells with you. The Lord your God has made His home with you; sharing flesh and blood with you. Not only that, but He has also taken sin and death upon Himself, He has borne the crushing curse of the Law for you, the righteous wrath and judgment of God, the assaults and accusations of sinful men.
But He has not blasphemed or cursed God. He has not reviled in returns. He has not shouted in anger. He has not grown surly or silent, rude or hot-tempered. But in prayer and confession He has remained faithful. He has spoken the Word of His Father, and called upon the Name of the Lord. And to you He speaks forgiveness and peace. To you He speaks comfort and compassion. He loves you with the language of the Gospel, with mercy upon His lips.
This is the language of love which you learn from your new Father in Christ Jesus, His beloved Son. He is your Brother in the flesh and in the Spirit. This is how the Spirit is made known: not in feeling or emotion, not in dynamism or power, catchy phrases or pop-psychology, but in the plain, simple, spoken Word. “Unlike you, the Holy Spirit does not talk about Himself,” one of my seminary professors taught. He is right, both about us, and more important, about the Holy Spirit.
The language of the Spirit is spoken to you in bodily form, through the Word read and preached. But it is this Word which is alive and life-giving by and with the Holy Spirit. The Word of Holy Absolution, that is the Word of forgiveness; the water and the Word of Holy Baptism, which adopts you as sons and bestows the Spirit; the Word-made-flesh in the Holy Communion - which is the body and blood of the Son who breathes the Spirit of God into your body. By these means you are filled with the very life and light and love of God.
By and through and in these the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit come to make Their home with you.
This is the peace of which Christ speaks, which He grants to you by His speaking. We have signs throughout of city which read, “Peace in our Streets.” There is peace in the cessation of crime. But the peace of Christ is the only real peace, which the world does not know and is not able to give. It is the peace of being made right and one with God through the free and full forgiveness of all your sins of thought, word, and deed. It is the peace of harmony and unity of love within God, the Blessed Trinity, Himself.
Speak this language of love to your neighbor - both your neighbor at home, your spouse and children, but also to your neighbor at work, around the church, within your lives. Forgive those who sin against you. Comfort those who are troubled or afraid. In Christ you are reconciled to the Father, thus through Christ are you able to be reconciled to one another. Speak with gentle kindness and tender compassion, especially to those who do not yet know the love of Christ. And teach your children so to speak and confess and pray, to sing and give thanks, as God your Father speaks Christ Jesus to you.
With that Word of Christ, that language of God, you bestow the Holy Spirit upon your neighbor. You build a house and city of love. You raise the tower of the Cross, by which all men are drawn to Christ. You confess the Name of the Lord, by which you and your neighbor are saved.
As you abide in Him, and His Spirit abides in you, so do you abide in and with the Father. You and your life are hidden with Christ in God. You are seated with Him in heavenly places, even while you sojourn here below under the sign of the Cross.
It is for that life, and the life of the world to come with God the Father, for the sake of His love and mercy, that Christ Jesus keeps speaking peace to you, keeps forgiving you all your sins, and continually grants you His Spirit.
Do not be afraid. This Word is not mine, but His who sent me.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
If anyone loves the Lord Jesus, he will keep His Word. His Word speaks love to you, and peace and comfort and the forgiveness of sins. By His Word He draws near to you, as does the Father in Him. And through His Word He pours out His Spirit upon you. In this way - through the Word, read and preached - the Holy Triune God makes His abode with you.
Therefore keep His Word. Be gathered together to His House, here, where His disciples are. Listen to what He says and remember what He has spoken. Call upon His Name, pray and confess His Word. As peace is spoken to you, speak peace to one another, in love for one another, forgiving those who sin against you; speak comfort to those who are troubled.
This is the language of the one, true God. This makes holy all the tongues of men. His Word establishes His City on earth; that is His Church, with the Tower of the Cross. This gives glory to His holy name. This is the Word that breathes the Spirit of God and gives life to you and all.
This is not your native language. It is a divine language. And it is taught only by the Spirit of Christ. This language is the holy liturgy and prayer and confession and it is the language of your new Father in heaven taught to you by His Son in the flesh who has given you His Spirit by adoption.
You have know and still know a different language, a tongue native to all men because all men sin. We all know a common way of speaking that knows no borders or boundaries. It is the language of selfish pride, of covetous lust, of towering ego, of envy and jealousy, of gossip and greed. You know the language and the law of the jungle.
This is a language that all people share. But it does not unit them; rather is separates and scatters them. This is the kill-or-be-killed language of the city of man, of life out there (in the world, of the flesh). Out there you strive to make a name for yourself. You compete and contend. You speak with cunning self interest. Nothing bridles your tongue, no filter separates the wickedness of your hearts to the filth of your mouths.
There is no love in that language, except love of self. There is no peace, only constant war. There is no comfort, only grief and trouble. There is no forgiveness, but debts that can’t be paid, grudges never let go, bitter resentment, hateful revenge. You have been poisoned by your own venomous tongue.
You know how the words of others sting and hurt. Do you not consider that your words also sting and hurt others? You know how powerful ways of speaking are, to calm things down or stir things up, and still you speak in ways that tear down your family and the whole house. When all the world speaks this language of sin, then all efforts fail, towers crumble and cities fall, nations are divided, and families are broken and scattered. There is no house or home of safety. There is no dwelling place of peace.
But the Lord has come down to see this travesty which the sons of man have spoken and made. He punishes their sin with their own sin. He scatters them to the four winds, driving them by their own common language of selfish pride. He does so in mercy, in order to gather them together to Himself by His divine language of the Gospel. In all the tongues of the nations - in Hebrew and Greek, Latin and German, Russian, French, Spanish, English, Tamil, and Japanese - He speaks the one Word of His Son; and through that Word He breathes His Spirit.
Consider how near His Word is to you: in your ears, and in your heart, and in your mouth, says Scripture.
For this is the Word that God the Father speaks - His own dearly beloved Son has become flesh and dwells with you. The Lord your God has made His home with you; sharing flesh and blood with you. Not only that, but He has also taken sin and death upon Himself, He has borne the crushing curse of the Law for you, the righteous wrath and judgment of God, the assaults and accusations of sinful men.
But He has not blasphemed or cursed God. He has not reviled in returns. He has not shouted in anger. He has not grown surly or silent, rude or hot-tempered. But in prayer and confession He has remained faithful. He has spoken the Word of His Father, and called upon the Name of the Lord. And to you He speaks forgiveness and peace. To you He speaks comfort and compassion. He loves you with the language of the Gospel, with mercy upon His lips.
This is the language of love which you learn from your new Father in Christ Jesus, His beloved Son. He is your Brother in the flesh and in the Spirit. This is how the Spirit is made known: not in feeling or emotion, not in dynamism or power, catchy phrases or pop-psychology, but in the plain, simple, spoken Word. “Unlike you, the Holy Spirit does not talk about Himself,” one of my seminary professors taught. He is right, both about us, and more important, about the Holy Spirit.
The language of the Spirit is spoken to you in bodily form, through the Word read and preached. But it is this Word which is alive and life-giving by and with the Holy Spirit. The Word of Holy Absolution, that is the Word of forgiveness; the water and the Word of Holy Baptism, which adopts you as sons and bestows the Spirit; the Word-made-flesh in the Holy Communion - which is the body and blood of the Son who breathes the Spirit of God into your body. By these means you are filled with the very life and light and love of God.
By and through and in these the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit come to make Their home with you.
This is the peace of which Christ speaks, which He grants to you by His speaking. We have signs throughout of city which read, “Peace in our Streets.” There is peace in the cessation of crime. But the peace of Christ is the only real peace, which the world does not know and is not able to give. It is the peace of being made right and one with God through the free and full forgiveness of all your sins of thought, word, and deed. It is the peace of harmony and unity of love within God, the Blessed Trinity, Himself.
Speak this language of love to your neighbor - both your neighbor at home, your spouse and children, but also to your neighbor at work, around the church, within your lives. Forgive those who sin against you. Comfort those who are troubled or afraid. In Christ you are reconciled to the Father, thus through Christ are you able to be reconciled to one another. Speak with gentle kindness and tender compassion, especially to those who do not yet know the love of Christ. And teach your children so to speak and confess and pray, to sing and give thanks, as God your Father speaks Christ Jesus to you.
With that Word of Christ, that language of God, you bestow the Holy Spirit upon your neighbor. You build a house and city of love. You raise the tower of the Cross, by which all men are drawn to Christ. You confess the Name of the Lord, by which you and your neighbor are saved.
As you abide in Him, and His Spirit abides in you, so do you abide in and with the Father. You and your life are hidden with Christ in God. You are seated with Him in heavenly places, even while you sojourn here below under the sign of the Cross.
It is for that life, and the life of the world to come with God the Father, for the sake of His love and mercy, that Christ Jesus keeps speaking peace to you, keeps forgiving you all your sins, and continually grants you His Spirit.
Do not be afraid. This Word is not mine, but His who sent me.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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