Sermon for Pentecost: "Water and Spirit"

 + Pentecost – May 24^th, 2026 +

Series C: Numbers 11:24-30; Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the Feast. Not of Pentecost – not yet. The Feast of Booths. A week-long feast looking back upon Israel’s wilderness wandering. And looking forward to the temple restored and the new creation. The whole event is soaking in God’s promises, saturated with the story of salvation.

 

Every morning during the priests led a procession – a holy water brigade – down to the pool of Siloam. Gilded crocks of water filled up to brim. The holy parade made its pilgrimage to the temple. Water splashing. Mirth and joy filled the air. Isaiah’s words rang out:

 

With joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.

 

Around the altar three times. And finally, poured out upon the altar. Remember the headwaters of Eden. Remember the waters poured out of the rock. Remember the promise of water out of the new temple. 

 

Then on the last day of the Feast, the Great Day, the 8^th day if you count from 1^st to the 7^th day, the parade surrounded the altar seven times in a perfect crescendo of praise. Waving myrtle, willow, and palm fronds set the scene. Creation clapping her hands at the coming rescue by her Creator and Lord.

 

At this Feast. On this day. In his temple. Jesus steps forth and proclaims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as^[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 

 

Come to me and drink, our Lord says. “I AM the door, the gate to paradise restored. I AM the rock in the wilderness, gushing forth with new and living water for you. I AM the new and greater temple. The priest, the sacrifice, and the holy of holies all rolled into one, and out of my side flows life-giving water for you.” 

 

Jesus’ promises flow downstream from his crucifixion and resurrection to you. From his promise declared at the Feast of Booths to his promise fulfilled at the Feast of Pentecost.

 

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

The living water of the Holy Spirit will come. But first the flood of fire and blood and wrath falls upon Jesus on the cross. For the Spirit to be poured out to give life you, Jesus’ blood and life must first be poured out unto death for you. The Holy Spirit always given through the cross. Where there’s Jesus crucified, there’s his life-giving Spirit. Where his life-giving Spirit is, there’s his cross. 

 

Every river has a source, a spring, a headwaters. So it is with the great stream of salvation. Jesus crucified and risen is the source; his holy body poured out and his life laid down on the cross is the headwaters of the Holy Spirit being sent to you. Our whole life is lived downstream from the cross. Birth and new birth. Life and callings in life. Death and resurrection. 

It all goes back to the source, Jesus. He sends the Holy Spirit to bring you back upstream to Jesus the fountainhead of life and faith. Jesus pours out his life to pour out his Spirit upon us who pours out upon us the life-giving waters of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 

And it must be this way. Jesus must pour out the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us to drink of his living water. Our souls are parched. Thirsty. Dead and brackish. A wasteland without a drop of water. 

 

We cannot draw water from our own well for there’s no living water there to draw from, only a cesspool and a swamp, fetid waters of unfaithfulness and idols floating everywhere. 

 

In Genesis the Lord placed his bow in the sky and promised never again to pour out a flood upon the earth in divine judgment, wrath, and destruction. Here in John 7, Jesus promises something even greater, to flood the whole earth with the water of life -a flood of pardon and peace and deliverance.

 

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

 

What is this water? Is it the Holy Spirit Jesus pours out? Yes.

Is it His life-giving dying and rising? Yes

Is it the new birth by water and word and the Spirit? Yes.

Is it the life-giving waters where water and Spirit, and Jesus’ death and resurrection are poured out upon you? Yes.

 

It all flows downstream from Feast of Booths to Feast of Pentecost. From the Jesus crucified and risen to his holy house and holy gifts.

 

The living water you need, Jesus sends. He pours out his life. He pours out his Holy Spirit. He pours out his body and blood for you. 

He draws water from the wells of salvation which goes deeper than the grave and washes away every sin. Three times he pours out his name and water upon you. 

 

On the 6^th day Jesus is crucified for you. On the 7^th day he rested in the tomb for you. And on the 8^th day he rose again, opening paradise for you.

 

And he who poured out his life for you, pours out his water and Spirit and promise upon you. 

The same Spirit who hovered over creation’s watery abyss, now makes you a new creation. 

The same Spirit who descended on Jesus in the Jordan, comes swooping down into the water to fill your heart with faith, your mouth with praise, and make you his holy temple.

The same Spirit that blows with the breath of Jesus crucified and risen gives you new birth from above by water and word.

 

And this is the same Spirit who began a good work in you on the day of your Baptism and will bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus. 

 

And until that day, this well of salvation, this pool of Jesus’ promise, his life giving, living water never dries up, never runs out; His grace and goodness are ever-flowing downstream from his cross to you.

 

A blessed Feast of Pentecost to each of you…

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

 

 

Sermon for Trinity Sunday: "The Triune Name"

+ Trinity Sunday – May 31^st, 2026 +

Series A: Genesis 1-2:4; Acts 2:14, 22-e36; Matthew 28:16-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

There’s a beautiful moment in Disney’s Toy Story when the toys are given a boy's name upon their feet. The boy takes a sharpie and inscribes his name upon each of them, carefully, personally. You see, like most young boys, Andy loves his toys, so much in fact, that he writes his name on the foot of each one. To be one of Andy’s toys, to have his name written upon their foot, means they are loved, they are treated more like family than toys; and above all, they are Andy’s own prized possession, they belong to Andy and no one else. 

 

Although it can be difficult to imagine the mystery of the Holy Trinity on this Trinity Sunday, this gives us a picture. A glimpse. 

 

It’s all in the name. No, not Andy’s name. Not a fictional name of a cartoon created by man, but the true name above all names of the Creator of man. The Name who names everything and everyone. Who redeems. Who hallows. Who rescues and saves and names.

 

The Name: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We worship the Trinity in unity and the unity in Trinity, neither confusing the persons, nor dividing the substance, as we confess in the creed.

 

So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord;

And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.

 

There is many a great mystery here to be sure. But there is also a depth of grace just as unfathomable. For by God’s grace, His name is also yours. For he has placed his name upon you.

 

With his word - the same word with which he spoke creation into being - and water - the same waters he called forth into their places, he places his holy name upon you. 

 

This is what our Lord promises in Matthew 28, to his disciples, to his church, to you:

 

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe (to guard, cherish, treasure, hold fast to) all that I have commanded you. 

 

With something far more permanent than a black sharpie, our Lord inscribes his holy name upon you. 

 

For unlike all other so-called gods, the one, true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loves you. And not because we are particularly lovable. No, anything loveable in us or about us comes from him. The Holy Trinity loves us because that is who he is.

 

And he loves us in a particular way. The Father sends his Son. The Son lays down his life. Dies. Rises. Ascends. And the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to bring us back through the Son to the Father.

 

Behold what manner of love the Trinity has given unto us, that we are called children of God. washed. Cleansed. Hallowed. Rescued. Saved. Forgiven. And given a new name.

 

God makes us more than creatures. He calls us his children. Members of the family of God. You belong to God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You are his prized people. You belong to him and to no one else. God writes his name – not on your foot – but upon your forehead and heart with the blood of his cross to mark you as one redeemed by Christ crucified. You are God’s own chosen people; you belong to him and no one else.

 

I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

 

Baptize and teach.

 

These are the gifts Jesus gives his church. Baptize in Jesus’ name and teach Jesus’ Word. Receive Jesus’ baptism washed over you. Hear Jesus’ absolution declared to you. Take, eat and drink, Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for you. Everything else we say or do in this place exists to serve, support, and deliver God’s gifts.

 

Today, Jesus gathers us to receive his gifts in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This Name by which we enter God’s family is the Name by which we enter his house. We’re called to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures as his inspired Word, to confess the doctrine of the Scriptures summarized in the Small Catechism, to receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully, and to suffer all even death rather than fall away from Christ’s church.

 

To do this faithfully means to confess that we have all been unfaithful. To believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe, but only by the Holy Spirit. As we heard our catechumens confess a few weeks ago…I do, by the grace of God!

 

Like the disciples, the first catechumens, we live in a world full of doubts, fears, and anxieties. There will be days when we do not live up to the name that we confess today. 

 

For days when darkness surrounds. When sin overwhelms. When guilt, shame, and sadness would silence our praise, that is why there is a Trinity Sunday. To remind us again and again, that there will never be a day that Jesus forsakes us. That the love of Christ crucified is with you always. 

And that the Holy Trinity who reveals his name to you.

Who places his name upon you in those holy waters of Baptism

Will also keep you in his name

Now and forever.

A blessed Trinity Sunday to each of you.

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.