Dear friends, it's Pentecost 2000 - P2K!  Remember Y2K?  That all seems like a dream now.

          Last Monday I found a manual called "Survival In Y2K."  I glanced through it, chuckled, and tossed it.  But on Tuesday a string of events happend that made fears over Y2K seem real.  My car wouldn't start, so I charged it all night.  It started great the next day and so I drove to Castle Rock.  After the visit, I needed another jump start, so on the way home I stopped at Sam's for a new battery, leaving the car running.  While in the store the car died, and this time it wouldn't jump start.  So I called Carol away from a baptismal gathering I was supposed to attend to get her Triple-A card.

          Between trying to get it started with parking lot Good Samaritans, and waiting on the phone for Carol, then waiting for Triple-A to answer the phone, then waiting for the Triple-A truck, waiting in line to take back the wrong battery to Sam's, waiting in line to get the right battery at Pep Boys, and installing a new battery in the dark, I was so steamed I could have powered a ship.  We got home about 10 PM.  Maybe it's the delayed effects of Y2K.

          Today is Pentecost 2000, P2K, our yearly birthday of the Church.  Some 1970 years ago God fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit, and in the Spirit's power the Church became a reality.  Without the Holy Spirit the Church could never have started.  Like my car, the Church needed a jump start, a burst of initial energy to make it go, and then a sustaining daily power to keep it running and growing as it still is today.

          Pentecost existed as a Jewish holiday long before the apostles.  It was called the Festival of Weeks, and occurred fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover.  Due to their hot dry climate, Israeli crops are still planted in January or February and harvested in May or early June.  At Pentecost people from all over brought their firstfuits of harvest to Jerusalem Temple as a sign of their faith.  Their firstfruits were a thankoffering, but also as a sign of trust that more harvest would follow.  The Temple priests used the food as provisions for their life and work, a real foreshadowing of the offerings we give in our worship services today.

          God chose that day because Jerusalem was crammed with people, as many or more than would be there on Passover.  And through the Spirit's mighty wind and holy flame He fanned the fire of faith into those few believers.  Their message brought fantastic results.  The Holy Spirit was the Firstfruits of God's grace, and His promise that more blessings would definitely follow.

          The Spirit jump-started the church, empowering believers to tell everyone within earshot that Jesus was truly the Messiah.  The Spirit's power was behind Pentecost, and His power is behind the Church today.  "When he, the Spirit of truth, comes," said Jesus, "he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13)   Friends, the Spirit has come and He's guiding us into all truth this morning.  He's calling us to believe in Jesus - the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

          A few years ago in Washington DC, several interns for the National Organization for Women approached Rev. Dave Adams, director of our Lutheran Office of Government Information there.  They saw his clerical collar and wanted to know what he thought about homosexuality and divorce.  When Rev. Adams spoke about sin, they became indignant.  "Why can't you just let people be happy?" they asked. "Surely it's cruel to load people down with guilt and shame."  When he spoke of forgiveness and freedom in Jesus, they seemed interested, but one of them didn't understand why she needed forgiving when she was already happy.  When he spoke of God's truth, she bristled, "There is no such thing as truth and frankly there's no meaning to life. When I get up every morning and look in the mirror I tell myself, 'You are a meaningless bit of matter adrift in a meaningless universe, so you might as well do what you want and be happy'."

          Friends, she's not the only one who thinks life is meaningless!  We all may have meaning, we may all have purpose, but a lot of people don't.  Our task in P2K is to be God's precious children.  We need to share our hope and God's love with people.  The Spirit is calling us this morning, calling us to trust that Jesus is our Lord, and to share the hope we have with others.

          Our District Convention the past few days had this theme, "Always Prepared to Give Reason for our Hope."  As we went, many of us anticipated disagreement over a resolution questioning the way Epiphany got its start, but it was a battle that never happened.  What did happen was more evidence of the Spirit doing His work.  A resolution about us was passed and in summary, it said the opposite of what we feared: "Resolved, that this convention graciously support the acceptance of our newest congregation, Epiphany, Castle Rock, and be it further resolved that we thank God for the Word and Sacrament ministry at both Epiphany and Mt. Zion and invoke His rich blessings on both of their ministries."  It passed unanimously!  No discussion, no opposition, just great relief!

          During the convention perhaps fifty people expressed their gratitude for our work.  Bernie and I shook hands with Mt. Zion's delegates and reached out to them in fellowship.  There was no rancor, no cynicism, no argument, just amazement at what the Holy Spirit had done.  Later we learned one of our chief critics was unable to attend due to illness in the family, and that the Floor Committee considering his resolution was made up of people favorable to our ministry.  Several even said their church started much like ours.

          People, that's the Spirit doing His work!  He creates each congregation and keeps it running for the Lord.  Through Word and Sacrament, He brings joy and peace where the Gospel is proclaimed and shared.  When His people need Him, He's there, giving them faith, renewing their spirits, bringing harmony, and building bridges between them.

          The Spirit does His work in our churches, but also in our personal lives.  Some here today may be thinking, "I'm glad our church is okay, but I'm not.  I'm in trouble.  Something's missing, and I don't know what.  What can the Holy Spirit do for me right now to untangle the mess in my life?"  Friends, some days I know that feeling.  You try your best but fail miserably.  You know better, but you do it wrong anyway.  You try to avoid temptation, but fall for it anyway.  You try to fix your life, but it only gets worse.  Days like that can come to all of us, and for some, it's like that every day.  On such days you and I need the power of God because our personal battery is low, maybe even dead!

          We wait and wait for help that never comes, because we're looking for the wrong help.  We try to fix our life and it only gets worse because we're fixing the wrong things.  We're lost because we're going the wrong way.  All our efforts fail because we don't realize we can't fix our real problem - our sin that separates us from God and from each other.  Sin keeps us from building bridges and finding our way.  We need outside help, help that comes only from God.

          In 1986, Walter Wyatt boarded his single engine Beechcraft for the flight from Nassau to Miami.  During the night thieves had stolen his navigational equipment, but he took his compass and a portable radio and was sure he could make the one hour flight.  Soon after takeoff, storm clouds appeared, he veered off course.  He was confident of his abilities, and so flew below the clouds, trying to find his way.  He told himself he had the ability, that he could do it, and he would make it.  After all, this is the 20th century, his plane was easy to fly, the trip was short and, after all, he was a very good pilot.

          But Wyatt couldn't get his bearings.  He circled for hours into the night, and finally put out a Mayday call.  The radio dispatch encouraged him to hold on.  A Coast Guard search plane was coming to lead him out, but before the plane reached him, his engine coughed and died, out of fuel.  His plane crashed into the water and sank, leaving him bobbing on the darkness in a lifejacket.

          Bloodied from the crash landing, Wyatt floated awhile until he felt a hard bump against his body.  A shark had found him!  He kicked at the shark and kept kicking.  Somehow he managed to stay afloat and alive for the next 10 hours.  Sharks came and went.  He kicked off each one, but was nearing exhaustion as daylight came and with it the sound of a distant aircraft.  He waved his orange lifejacket and was spotted.  A helicopter picked him out of the sharks and saved him.

          When Wyatt finally made land, he knelt and kissed the ground.  He'd been saved, but it wasn't because of his flying ability or the encouragement of the dispatcher.  He wasn't saved because he had a great airplane or because he was a good pilot with great stamina.  He was saved only because someone picked him out of the water.  It took nothing less than complete rescue by someone else to save him from certain death.

          Friends, every one of us is like that pilot!  We all need saving, and our salvation comes only from someone outside ourselves, and that someone is Jesus.  We may have great abilities and resources.  We may be morally upright and good.  We may have a fine education, good friends and the best of intentions, but unless we have outside intervention, the sharks of Satan will get us.

          Our salvation is from the Holy Spirit.  He rescues us through the waters of baptism, and sends us Jesus, the divine life preserver thrown to a world of drowning people.  The Spirit is the rescue helicopter who carries us to the Father.  Thanks be to the Father for giving us life!  Thanks be to Jesus for giving us His life!  Thanks be to the Spirit for showing us the Way, the Truth and the Life.  The Spirit does His work among us all.  Thanks be to God forever!  Amen.

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.