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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

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I just didn't know what to do.

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First of all, this is the festival of Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila.

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The fourth text is all about Elijah.

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About Elijah as the horsemen and chariots of Israel.

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I think Elijah was simply observing that for all the political power that Elijah felt ranged

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against him throughout his ministry, the horsemen, the chariots had no power like the power of

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the prophet.

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It's interesting to me because when Luther died, one of his disciples wrote immediately

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to one of his friends the chariots and the horsemen of Israel.

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Melanchthon repeated that line in his funeral oration for Luther.

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Actually even Ulrich Zwingli had called Luther the third Elijah after John the Baptist.

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But we were taught not to talk about dead people, especially at funerals.

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We were supposed to talk about God.

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So I just want to say a few words about the Holy Spirit today.

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The Holy Spirit of course has a certain disadvantage over and against Jesus because Jesus had vocal

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chords.

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He had lips and tongue.

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And the Holy Spirit has to borrow.

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Borrow those of people like Priscilla and Aquila, you and me.

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He picks all kinds of people to be his instruments.

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Apollos was apparently a learned man, had started to learn about Jesus but didn't even

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have his catechization complete when he landed in the clutches of Aquila and Priscilla who

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took him aside and explained the fuller message.

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It worked out quite well because Apollos went on to be a faithful servant, a faithful instrument

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in the hands of the Holy Spirit.

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In Elijah's time Israel was a relatively small nation but not all that small.

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It was a regional power.

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It had good horsemen and good chariots.

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But Elisha knew that the word of the Lord endures forever and the chariots and the horsemen

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of Israel would not.

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To be sure the Holy Spirit recognizes that in those who practice the politics of the

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day, David for a while, Solomon for a while, you can have that political force be a force

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for good in society and the like.

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But God accomplishes his work.

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First of all, the work he likes to do, his proper work through people like Elijah and

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Priscilla and Aquila and you and me as we bring the word of the Lord, the power of his

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Gospel that we can foolish word from the cross to those whose lives are bedraggled, who don't

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know where to turn, who are at the mercy sometimes of those who are riding the chariots

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and the horses.

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But God accomplishes his power, his ultimate power through you and through me.

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Like Apollos, Aquila, Priscilla, Elijah, Luther, you and I have been singled out as

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instruments of the Holy Spirit to bring the word of the Lord that recreates sinners to

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certain people.

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We can rely on the Spirit's presence.

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He may not always seem present, but it's like Elijah.

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The darkest days when he crept away to that cave on Mount Horeb, he had been telling the

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Israelites that they were playing both ends against the middle, trying to worship Yahweh

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but really being faithful to Baal.

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Just as we will be serving people, are serving people who love to hear about the forgiveness

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of sins, but who want to preserve their own materialistic, individualistic lifestyle that

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ignores the stranger, ignores the sojourner, the single mother, the neglected child.

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Elijah was so disappointed and discouraged.

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That comes with being an instrument of the Holy Spirit.

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We try not to let seminarians know that, but it happens.

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So he sat down under a tree and wanted to die.

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But the Holy Spirit arranged a rendezvous on Mount Horeb.

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If you listened to the Psalm this morning, you would have thought, well, at least fire

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and storm are worth something, but there came a wind that broke rocks in pieces and not

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a word from the Holy Spirit.

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Then came an earthquake.

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Surely there the Spirit will be speaking.

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There came fire.

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The Holy Spirit associates himself with fire sometimes, not this time.

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And then came a small, still voice.

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Luther says a kind of whispering.

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And it was the voice from the cross.

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The voice that seems foolish, that seems impotent, but that is the very power of God, more powerful

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than horsemen and chariots, to proclaim the word of the Lord.

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And so, like Elijah, you and I have to learn once again that cultural dominance is not

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the game the Spirit plays.

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Instead, we are servants of a still, small voice, a gentle breeze blowing from the throne

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of God through the empty tomb into the lives of those we serve.

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The word of the Lord is that still, small voice that puts us in the chariots and on

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the horses that are riding toward God's triumph.

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And so, like Apollos, we have to count on the Holy Spirit to fill in the cracks that,

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even as we leave this place, we know we have.

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Like Priscilla and Aquila, the Holy Spirit will help us recognize opportunities to speak

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the word and to bring new life to people.

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Like Elijah, we can depend on the Holy Spirit to speak softly to us in the midst of discouragement

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and disappointment, knowing that his chosen people will always be there, at least 7,000

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of them.

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To receive the word, I forgive you all your sins and do something with it.

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Like Luther, we can count on the Holy Spirit to give us respect before the powers that

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be, before Charles V, for instance, but also to stand against the might of his empire and

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simply repeat the message of forgiveness.

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Today is Fat Tuesday, it's not referring to people who are built like me, but it refers

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to the fact that we have to lay lard aside and can't enjoy for the next six weeks all

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the blessings, the material blessings we have.

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We don't probably observe that all that carefully.

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But it behooves us on this day when we are listening to that still, small voice, that

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we recognize what the ashes are all about.

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They are all about recognizing that our own lives are left in dust and ashes, to be breathed

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upon by that Holy Spirit who uses us as his instruments and who once again makes us the

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children of God.

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That's the way it is on this Fat Tuesday in our Lord's year 2024.

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May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ

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Jesus.