Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
May 24, 2026
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Glory Be To The Holy Spirit
Pentecost A
But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Num. 11:29-30
Today the church marks the Feast of Pentecost which is the church’s oldest liturgical celebration. Some call it the “birthday of the church” which is true, but not true enough. The church of Jesus Christ was actually born in the Garden. Born when God redeemed fallen Man. Restored him by shedding the blood of innocent animals to cover the sins of guilty humans. And the same church is still in full operation today with this difference. They had the promise and the prophecy. We enjoy the fullness of the things to which those actions only pointed.
We possess them by faith which, according to Saint Paul, is installed within us by the Holy Spirit who is the “Lord and Giver of life,” both temporal and eternal. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 12:3 that: “No man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” That is a foundational doctrine of the holy Christian religion into which we have been admitted through the font.
With a bit of time and effort a person can trace the Spirit’s activity throughout the church’s history. Indeed we have such a “sighting” in today’s Old Testament reading, an event that took place 14 centuries before Pentecost, the day when the Spirit was lavished upon “all flesh.”
Here we find Moses leading Israel’s clergy out of the camp, and to the Tent of Meeting to hear the LORD speak the “Words of Eternal Life.” And, having heard, they responded in “wonder love and praise;” even as we are doing today.
It was there, at the Tent, that God had promised to be incarnationally present for humanity. He showed himself in the form of an imposing pillar made of what appeared to be cloud.
There was no mistaking that sight!
This is where Moses led the 70 Elders so that they might Commune with God Most High. What “business” did God transact with them there? Much indeed. There he spoke to men, proffered remission for their “high crimes and misdemeanors” committed against the LORD God, and against one another. There he told them of the coming Christ of whom Moses was only a type. There also he answered their prayers and dispensed his Wisdom and Consolation to them.
The Most High did not only speak to them there, but he also listened to their many prayers for their many needs. We do the same when we come to this New Testament “Tent of Meeting,” today.
Not only did they hear and believe God, but they also “prophesied” by the power of the Holy Spirit. We heard a moment ago that the LORD: took some of the Spirit he had put onto Moses and distributed it to the others. And it was by the power of the Spirit, then as now, that any man will hear and believe God, and that he can prophecy as did the 70 Elders of Israel.
This “act of God” did in fact happen, but it also served as a prediction of Pentecost, when the promise of Jesus came true that: “I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter.” And again he told the disciples at his Ascension as recorded in St. Luke 24:49 “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high,” another reference to Pentecost: the day for which we give glory to God in the High-test. The day when the Spirit was POURED OUT on ALL FLESH. And notice. Not borrowed from Moses, or dribbled or applied sparingly. But “poured out” in buckets-full upon them. An outpouring which is still happening today wherever and whenever the Word of God, the “Sword of the Spirit” is engaged.
In the past, as we see in today’s first lesson, God only granted his Spirit to some people, for a period of time, so that they could accomplish a particular work of God. Keep that in mind because no godly work can be accomplished apart from the power of the Holy Spirit who “along with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified” here, today!
Now returning to the word prophesy one must always add explanation.
The first thing Christians thing about when they hear that word is: predicting a future event; and that is correct. Every word the prophets spoke or wrote be it Isaiah, or Ezekiel and Daniel pointed to the coming Christ. Peter says so in Caesarea to Cornelius and company in Acts 10:43 where he states: “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” If we are honest with ourselves, which may be the most difficult job in the world, we all have much that needs to be atoned for. And that is what Jesus did, because we certainly cannot. “Trust not in man in whom there is no salvation.”
As a side note we can also learn from verse that the prophets did NOT speak about the End Times or the Tribulation, or anything else you may have heard from broadcast preachers. The prophets spoke only of Jesus, and nothing else at all.
However prophecy has another meaning in Scripture as we encounter it today. To prophecy means: to speak God’s Word aloud. Moses prayer was as follows:
“O that all of God’s people were prophets, and
that the LORD would put his Spirit on them all”
So what did Moses and the Elders do? First they heard God! That is an experience in itself! Then they repeated what they heard back to God in the form of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. In this respect we are prophesying today just like they did, with perhaps this one difference. Theirs stopped came to a halt, but ours does not.
Hear it again. To prophecy means to hear God’s all-powerful word, which give us life, and eternal glory starting even now … and to repeat them back to him. This takes place in Divine Liturgy.
The case is like that of an infant who, after listening to his parents’ speech for many months, begins to form words. To repeat the words spoken in the home. And when that special day finally arrives: all parents proudly say the same thing: Baby talked today! And it makes their senses tingle with gladness. And as time goes on baby says more and more, and momma and papa get more and more excited and guide them along, teaching them sentences and how to articulate human language: until soon they are proficient, and you can’t turn the little tyke off.
That’s how it is with us. We come to the New Testament temple of God and hear “the words of eternal life.” And we repeat them back to God, aloud. When and where and how? In this Divine Liturgy via formulations, hymns, prayers, creeds, canticles, readings, preaching and the like. In a word we “sing a new song to the LORD”. And therein and thereby we are in full communion with the Eternal God.
And there is nothing better than that!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.