This weekend we will celebrate Pentecost, the day on which the gift Jesus promised (the Holy Spirit) was given in a special way to Jesus’ followers. While we might think about the sound of the rushing wind, what appeared to be tongues of fire over the apostles’ heads, and them speaking in different languages giving evidence that something wondrous was happening, those signs were temporary. What was permanent was a whole new level of intimacy now possible between Jesus and His followers.

Happy Ascension Day! Chances are pretty good that when you greeted someone today that was not the first thing you said. As we learn from Acts 1, Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after His resurrection. During those days He appeared to the apostles and many of His followers to show them He was very much alive and well, just as He said would happen. But instead of remaining on this earth and setting up a powerful nation, He ascended to heaven to prepare a place for His followers in the Father’s House. He has promised to come back and take us to be where He is.

This weekend’s Epistle reading from 1 John 5 and Gospel reading from John 15 both include the word “love” multiple times. Our reading from Acts 10 does not use the word at all but does give us an example of love in action with Peter sharing the good news about Jesus with the Gentiles and then wanting them to be baptized and brought into the fellowship of believers in equal standing with the Jews. The Holy Spirit made clear to him what it truly means that “God so loved the world.” His love is offered equally.

If you joined us in person for worship of our Lord last weekend or watched online, you may recall that I mentioned during the message that John's Gospel account includes seven "I AM" statements of Jesus. Last week, we heard Jesus say, "I AM the Good Shepherd." This weekend's Gospel includes Jesus' words, "I AM the true vine." Jesus goes on to say we are the branches attached to the vine – fruit-bearing branches that the Father prunes so they can become even more fruitful. 

As you have heard me talk about, we recently brought Leilani, a rescue dog, into our home. She suffers from severe separation anxiety. So far, she has broken out of one crate, destroyed a few dog beds and door mats, tore into a recliner, had "accidents" in our basement, etc. There is a positive and a negative to all of this.

As we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit brings us to those times of refreshing when we are brought to a fuller understanding of God's amazing love and mercy, as well as His powerful intervention in the midst of life's challenges.

As some of you know, Ellen and I have welcomed a new dog into our home, a 1-year 2-month-old hound of some sort we adopted from HAWS. We have renamed her "Leilani," Hawaiian for "heavenly flower." I must admit that as much as I was looking forward to having a new dog, house accidents, shredded dog beds and crate cushions, trying to keep her away from "snack time" in the cats' litterbox, and trying to train her to stop counter surfing have already made me think to myself, "What was I thinking? I am way too old and too busy for this."

Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to go through what He did? Why didn’t God the Father come up with a plan for our salvation that didn’t involve suffering and death? Why couldn’t we just have the joy of Easter all the time? The simple yet profound answer is given to us in 1 John 4:9–10: “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

This Sunday begins Holy Week as we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey amidst shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” By Friday, the shouts of “Crucify!” were louder. It’s not that everyone who was waving a palm branch on Sunday suddenly began waving an angry fist on Friday. It is to say that there were competing voices in the public square, and the anti-Jesus voice seemed to win out. The same might be said of our day.

That phrase “go green” is commonly used to refer to taking care of the environment, but for those of us who follow the Church Year calendar with different colors for the different seasons, green in the color of life, specifically the life we have in Jesus.

Today is Leap Year Day. Imagine if time worked so that you could add an extra day when needed. What would you spend the time – catching up on work, catching up on sleep, catching up on…? Which is perhaps why, regardless of if it is a Leap Year of not, one thing people spend time doing is catching up on cleaning – Spring Cleaning we call it, perhaps because we’ve let things pile up from summer, fall, and winter to the point that something must be done.

Several years ago, Southwest Airlines began running a series of ads with the tagline, “Wanna get away?” The commercials would show someone in an embarrassing situation that drew attention to him or her – one of those times when you squirm and wish you could disappear. We’ve all been there. In the scheme of things, those things are usually no big deal, even though we wish we could just run away from them, never to see them again. But memories linger, don’t they? And, truth be told, there are some things that we wish to run away from because we know they are sins. In fact, we may even feel like running away from God because we’re so ashamed.

I began a recent 7th and 8th grade religion class with these words on the board: "Event driven or lifestyle?" I then had my students list important events for Christianity, such as Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, etc. Out of that list, obviously Christmas and Easter are the most highly attended worship services. One student even noted that the word "Chreaster" is sometimes used to describe those who come to worship only on those two days of the year. An "Events Driven Christian" lives for important events.

This weekend's Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 9 includes verses that were very instrumental in me starting down the path that eventually led to me becoming a pastor. As a part of a religion project during my junior year at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, my teacher assigned each of us a section of 1 Corinthians to thoroughly study and then present to the entire class, followed by feedback from our classmates. I found myself enjoying digging into the Scriptures and presenting what I had learned, and the feedback I received was that it seemed very natural to me and easy to understand. And so I began thinking more seriously about being a pastor, wondering if I had the gifts and abilities for that and if that's what God really wanted me to do.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? I hope your immediate answer to that question is, "Who cares?" That's a question which some say theologians and philosophers who lived in the Middle Ages used to debate. Whether or not such debates actually took place is, in and of itself, a matter of debate.

You remember the start of the story, how when Jonah heard the LORD'S call he ran the opposite direction, boarding a ship headed for Tarshish. But you can't run away from God…