The Spirit who is from God
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fifth Sunday after Epiphany is the epistle reading 1 Corinthians 2. One of my professors at the seminary liked to tell certain stories about his life to his students. I know that he liked telling them because we heard the same stories over and over again. He especially liked to tell us a story about a time he flew on an airplane. He was sitting next to a man that he did not know. As the flight went on he started to talk to him. They talked about air travel, the weather, and what each did for a living. They talked about the normal things people talk about on a plane. But then their conversation turned to the church. My professor was able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the man who was sitting next to him. I think he liked sharing this story to encourage us to tell others about Christ.
We have all heard stories like the one that my professor liked to share. We all need reminders that we are part of the mission of the church to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. As Christians we want all people to be saved. As Christians we want all people to hear the glorious message about Jesus Christ the Lord. The problem is we are often afraid to do it. Some of us have a shy personality and so we find it difficult to share the Gospel. Some of us worry about saying the wrong thing. Some of us have shared the Gospel with others but they did not react the way that we hoped. We all have the desire to tell others about Jesus. But at the same time most of us have difficulty in doing it.
In our epistle reading for today the apostle Paul speaks about his time as a missionary. In our text He does address our concerns. What is interesting is that he addresses our concerns in a way that we would not expect. Recall what he said. “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”.
Paul does not say that he came to the people in Corinth with his own power and might. He does not say that he came to the people with lofty speech. He tells us that he came to the people with weakness and in fear and much trembling. What Paul tells us is not what you normally hear when it comes to evangelism stories. You don’t usually hear someone say I was weak, afraid and trembling and my speech was not very good when I told people about Jesus. But that is exactly what Paul says.
The point that Paul is trying to make is that the congregation in Corinth did not come to faith in Christ because he was a great and powerful man. They did not believe in Jesus because he was a great speaker. The people came to faith in Christ because of the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel. It is only the Holy Spirit that can create faith in the heart of a person. Paul is speaking about the power of the Holy Spirit in our text. Recall what He says. “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God”.
This is wonderful news because it takes the pressure off of us. We don’t have the power to make someone believe in Jesus. It is only the Holy Spirit that can bring someone to faith. We are now freed up to tell others about Jesus knowing that it is the Holy Spirit who is doing the work. What Paul teaches us in our text for today is stated in Luther’s explanation of the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed? “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one true faith”. It is the Holy Spirit who has brought us to faith in Christ and it is the Holy Spirit that brings others to faith as well. It is through the power of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit does these things.
The church has now been called to proclaim the Gospel to the world. At the center of the Gospel is Jesus Christ. Recall the words of Paul. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. It is the Lord Jesus and what He did at the cross that brings about our redemption. Through the shed blood of Jesus, we have been forgiven and saved. Through Christ Jesus we are right with God. It is the Holy Spirit that gives to us what Christ won for us at the cross. As saved children of God we have now been placed in our various vocations to be salt and light in the world.
The church is in the world to be salt and light. We do indeed bring people to the church, usually our children, to be baptized. We also share with them and others the Word of God. The means that the Holy Spirit uses to bring people to saving faith is through Baptism and through the Word of God. It is the Spirit who does the work. Our call is to be faithful. Our call is to repeat what we know is true. We have been saved by God’s grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is that Gospel message that we have received. It is that Gospel message that we share. But it is the Holy Spirit that does the work.
I could never be a pastor if it was up to me and my ability to keep you in your Christian faith. But it not up to me. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. My job is to publicly repeat what is in God’s Word knowing that it is the Spirit that keeps you steadfast in your faith in Christ.
You have been placed in your vocations of spouse, parent, grandparent, child, neighbor, student, and at your work. In those vocations God opens doors for you to honor His Name and to love your neighbor. To teach your children and grandchildren about Jesus. To share the Gospel with someone you know. To be a Christian light in the community. It is a grand calling to confess Christ to the people around you. But in the end it is the Holy Spirit who does the work. Some people will come to faith and others will reject the Holy Spirit. But in the end our job is not to be God. Our job is to confess Christ. That is to repeat what we know is true. We confess Christ and commend all things into God’s hands. It takes the pressure off to know that it is the Holy Spirit who creates saving faith. Here is another way of looking at it. We plant the seed and God makes it grow. Amen.