Grace to you and peace from our loving God, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams...Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Did you hear about the boy who always shook hands with his left hand? Finally, the pastor asked him why he did that every time. The boy replied, "Because that's the way God shakes hands."

"What do you mean?" the pastor asked.

"Well," the boy explained, "don't you know that Jesus is sitting on God's right hand?"

Ten days ago, the church marked the Day of Ascension, when tradition celebrates the assumption of the resurrected Jesus into heaven to be seated "at" (not "on") the right hand of God in power. That was, of course, forty days after Easter. On this fiftieth day following the resurrection, we commemorate the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God comes to the followers of Jesus, assuring them that though their Lord has departed, the Spirit remains with and upon them. The Day of Pentecost is the birthday of the church.

What a perfect day for our congregational celebrations of baptism, graduate recognition, receiving new members, and holy communion. It is such an honor and a pleasure this morning to baptize these children in the strong name of our God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; through the waters of baptism they are reborn children of God. It is their birthday into the family of God, celebrated on the anniversary of the church's own day of birth. Their annual celebrations of baptism will be far easier to remember than most; they can light their candle and give thanks for God's grace every year on the Day of Pentecost.

What an honor and a joy this day also to welcome through affirmation of baptism, the many Christians who are called to become members of this congregation—this part of the Body of Christ. They too are all given, if not exactly a new birth today, then at the very least new expression of their Christian vocation as members of St. Thomas Lutheran Church.

And what a blessing to honor our High School graduates. The Spirit has rested upon them as they have studied long and hard to reach this hallmark achievement in their lives of academic and personal growth. I was so proud to see the names of Emily Garl and Celina Nierzwicki in the newspaper, listing their special honors. We pray today that the Spirit of God continues to abide with them as they take on new challenges.

How appropriate it is to celebrate baptism, graduate recognition, affirmation of baptism, and holy communion in the same worship service. It is a rare day indeed.

In the book of Acts, we read that after Jesus ascended into heaven, those who gathered together in his name experienced his presence by the power of the Holy Spirit. The day of Pentecost is what makes the church possible. The Holy Spirit is what pushes the church out from behind the closed doors of the weeks following Easter and into the world. By the Spirit, we are reminded of the continued presence of our Lord with us. By the Spirit, we are made members of the Body of Christ. By the Spirit, we are assured of our being children of God and therefore brothers and sisters. By the Spirit, we are empowered to serve.

I hope you have heard and will listen carefully during the special rites today. At the baptisms and during the rite we call "Affirmation of Baptism" used for confirmations and for receiving new members, words are repeated that recall and re-enact Jesus' practice related to calling, healing, or blessing. He laid his hands on people, as I do at baptisms. A prayer like this one is prayed:

Stir up in this child of God the gift of your Holy Spirit; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen.

It is the Holy Spirit who affirms our faith, guides, empowers, and makes possible the life of patient suffering and serving that is our lot in life until that time when we share in the fullness of life eternal at our death.

At the end of his sermon preached to those who are amazed at the witness of the disciples speaking many languages, Peter tells the crowd how it is that they may share in their experience:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (v. 38)

Receiving the spirit as a reminder of God's presence is what happens at baptism, what is affirmed at various points along the path of our spiritual pilgrimage—such as joining a congregation, marking the milestones of life, and partaking in the sacrament of holy communion.

These are not empty rituals. They signify and communicate God's grace. They are imbued with God's word, and they mark us and seal us with the rich blessings that God grants. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit at baptism. We are reminded of the Spirit's presence at our rites of passage. We affirm the Spirit's continuing call to us towards lives of service in community through the rite called Affirmation of Baptism. And the Spirit confers assurance of forgiveness under the forms of bread and wine at communion.

A day rich with authentic ritual and the divine gifts of grace and forgiveness are a breath of fresh air, much like the one that swept through the room where the apostles were gathered. These are the things that matter in life.

In Walker Percy's short story "The Message in the Bottle," a castaway has lost everything, even his memory, in a shipwreck. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself on an island and soon becomes assimilated into its culture. But in his deep memory is a picture of his real home, so every day he walks the beach in search of his roots. On these walks he finds bottles, each of which contains a message. Some are statements of fact, such as "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level." Some contain information of urgent relevance, such as "There is fresh water in the next cove."

Percy calls the first "knowledge" and the second "news." The difference has to do with the need of the reader: Does the person desire information about water, or is the person dying of thirst? Of those messages that he classified as news, there are two types: those that convey island news, of use to all those who live on the island, and those that bring news from across the sea. Neither knowledge nor island news is completely relevant to the castaway, who longs for news that can tell him who he really is and where his true home is to be found.

For Percy this news from across the sea is the gospel...Only this news from across the sea can tell him who he is, where he came from, where he is to go, how he can get there, and what he must do. (Westerhoff, "On the Threshold of God's Future," Harper & Row, 1986, 18-19)

Today we have the rare opportunity to hear and see the good news in its most powerful forms. Receive it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Baptism, affirmation of baptism, and Holy Communion—these tell us who we really are and where our true home is found. Amen.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord unto eternal life. Amen.