"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer" (Ps. 19:14). Amen.

At one of our last confirmation classes, each confirmand was asked to write down something that they would like to pray for as part of our service today. Pretty much every prayer that they wrote asked for help in some way, shape or form: help during hard times, help in our daily lives, help and guidance in making decisions, help that keeps us safe. All of these are very appropriate prayers for today - the Day of Pentecost - because today is all about the Holy Spirit, who is also known as the Helper, the Advocate, the Counsellor, and the Comforter.

I'll say a little bit more about that in a moment, but first I'm going to invite each of the confirmands to share with you what they wrote for today. Each one of them was asked the same question: How is your life different because you believe in Jesus Christ? I'll invite them to come, one at a time, and share their answers with you.

[Confirmands speeches]

They probably didn't realize it when they were writing their speeches, but many of the things that these young men just spoke about come straight out of the readings for today. These things all have to do with the kind of help that God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gives to us. Even in the psalm we heard about how all creatures look to God for the food that they need, and God provides. Those same creatures don't even have the breath of life unless God gives it to them, and if God takes away their breath, they die (Ps. 104:28-30). The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord (cf. Job 1:21).

At the same time, God knows how weak we can be at times. God knows that sometimes we don't even have the words for prayer. And so God sent the Holy Spirit, who prays to God for us when we can't pray ourselves (Rom. 8:26). And so, if we are too sick to pray, or worn down beyond belief, or confused and not knowing what to pray for, the Spirit of Jesus prays on our behalf, asking for those things that God wants for us. This is true for all those who have put their faith in Jesus. This is God's Spirit - our Helper.

This same Holy Spirit plays a prominent role in a couple of courtroom scenes that are suggested by today's readings. In the first scene, Jesus is on trial, the Holy Spirit is his defence lawyer, and we are on the jury. I don't know if you noticed or not, but there was an awful lot of "testifying" going on in the reading that we heard from the gospel of John. Well, in this scene, the Spirit is testifying about Jesus.

The Spirit is telling us about the problem of sin and about how God decided to do something about it. The Spirit is telling us about the whole way of life that Jesus brought into being - a way of life that serves others instead of just our own selfish, sinful desires. The Spirit is telling us about how Jesus gave up his position in heaven in order to live a life of humble service, giving his life for our sake. The Spirit is telling us that Jesus has done all of the hard work in order to bring us back to God and has opened the way into new life, both in this world and the next.

The Spirit does all of this testifying about Jesus, and then we are asked if we believe it or not. Do we believe that Jesus has done this for us? Do we believe that there is a different way of life that expresses love for God and for the people whom Jesus loves? Do we believe that Jesus has set an example that is worth following and has given us life that is worth having? Do we believe that there is something better than the power of sin and death and the devil?

When we do believe in Jesus, a new courtroom scene emerges where we are on trial, and the Holy Spirit is our defence lawyer, and God is the judge. As we sit there on trial, we are dressed in white robes, and those robes represent the righteousness of Jesus which he has placed on us in baptism. The prosecution (which happens to be the devil) points out to God our sinfulness and argues that we deserve nothing more than death. But the Spirit intercedes for us and speaks to God on our behalf. "Don't you see," says the Spirit? "Jesus has taken their sinfulness on himself and has given them his own righteousness instead. They may not have grown into it quite yet, but every day their lives become more like the life of Jesus."

"You're right," says God. "I don't see any sinfulness there. They have been forgiven -- washed clean. I see only the life of Jesus. Case dismissed." And then we are called to go and testify on behalf of Jesus - and the Spirit helps us to do that, too!

May that same Spirit be a powerful force in each of our lives, teaching us to serve as Jesus served, to love as Jesus loved, and to live as disciples - as learners - of Jesus. Amen.

The Day of Pentecost (B) John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
June 4, 2006 Romans 8:22-27
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore
? 2006 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved