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

 Meditation is a pretty fashionable form of spirituality these days.  Meditation is something that most people can accept without too much controversy.  The problem is that meditation can be about any number of different things.  Of itself it's really neutral; it's not even necessarily religious.  Meditation is defined by its focus, by what you are meditating on.

 The fact of the matter is that everybody meditates, whether they realize it or not.  Meditation has been described as passive thinking, where the mind is focused on a particular thought, and then that thought takes over and leads to a stream of related thoughts and ideas.  Daydreaming is a form of meditation, where you aren't actively in control of your thoughts, but your mind has wandered to a particular place and you are focusing there almost without even realizing it.  (Hopefully none of that is going on right now!)  Worry is a form of meditation, where your mind constantly returns to a particular source of stress and concern and keeps running through all the possible things that could go wrong and how you might deal with it over and over again.  You don't have to tell yourself to worry.  But your mind is focused on that worry and it takes over the direction of your thoughts.

 Our problem as fallen human beings is that we tend to meditate on all the wrong things.  We let the focus of our mind get directed to all the wrong places.  We meditate on how we'd like to get back at that person who wronged us.  We meditate on and covet that dream vacation or that perfect getaway.  We meditate lustfully on our neighbor's spouse.  We meditate greedily on the bigger house and the better car and the higher quality stuff we want to get for ourselves.  We let our heart get all wrapped up in and dominated by things that pass away.

 Even most religious meditation has gone wrong.  The spirituality of the world teaches you that meditation is about focusing within yourself, getting in touch with your inner spirit, drawing upon the resources and the strength you have inside, or else getting in touch with some sort of cosmic life force that has nothing to do with the true God.  In the end all of that is nothing but self-worship and a spiritual running around in circles.

 Scripture gives us the proper object of our meditation.  It says in Philippians, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things."  Don't let your mind be filled with the junk of this culture which seeks to infiltrate your homes and your lives.  Instead dwell upon the good gifts of God and the good and virtuous and noble things He has caused and allowed to be in existence in this world.

 In particular in today's Gospel Jesus tells us of the #1 focal point for our meditation.  He says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."  That word "keep" is very important.  It means in the original Greek "to hold onto, to treasure, to cling to," like Mary who "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart."  It doesn't simply mean "obey" as one translation puts it.  It involves taking Jesus' words to heart, meditating upon them, inwardly digesting them, trusting in them, following them.  "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."

 The best illustration of this that I've heard is the way you treat a love letter you've just received.  When you get a love letter you don't just read over it and then throw it away.  You dwell upon every word.  You consider what every sentence is saying.  You read between the lines.  You remember most of it by heart.  You treasure it and hold onto it and refer back to it time and time again.

 So it is with the words of Jesus.  If you love Him you want to hear what He says to you, not just once and that's enough, but over and over again, always uncovering more of the meaning that is there in His words to you.  No guy would ever say to His girl, "I love you, but I don't want to listen to you."  In the same way, no Christian would ever say, "I love Jesus, but I don't want to listen to His words and preaching."  No, to be Christian is to hang on Jesus' words and to draw your life from them continuously–not simply showing up for church and then zoning out, but meditating on and pondering Christ's teaching and letting it form your faith and your way of living.

 In what was once the study room of Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany, one can observe still today a rut in the wood floor there.  It is said that the rut was slowly worn in as Luther would pace back and forth while meditating on the words of Scripture and repeating them out loud to himself.  He would roll them over and over again in his mind until they became like polished stones in a tumbler.  Luther himself compared the Word of God to a spice which releases the fullness of its flavor and aroma the more it is crushed and broken apart.  In the same way the sweet aroma of Scripture is released ever more as we meditate upon it and break it apart and consider each life-giving word.

 This is why daily devotions on God's Word are important.  They help in forming those ruts and paths and patterns in your mind and heart and spirit that conform to God's truth.  "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."

 Now, you might be asking yourself, "What does all this stuff about meditation have to do with Pentecost?  I haven't heard anything yet about the Holy Spirit."  Well, I've been talking about meditation on the Word because the Holy Spirit comes to you through the Word.  Jesus said, "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  The Holy Spirit is all about bringing to light the words of Jesus, teaching you all things revealed in the sacred Scriptures.

 That's the central thing that happened on Pentecost.  There were the miraculous signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit–the rushing wind and the tongues of fire.  But the main event which the Holy Spirit brought about was that the Word of God was preached and confessed, not only in the Hebrew tongue, but in the native tongue of countries well beyond Israel.  For indeed this Gospel of Christ the crucified is for all the nations.

 The Word of God is filled with the Holy Spirit.  That's what we mean when we say that the Scriptures are inspired by God.  Literally, that means they are God-breathed, full of the breath and Spirit of the living God.  Jesus said, "My words are Spirit and they are life."  To hear those words and consider them, to meditate on them in true faith is to be instructed by the Holy Spirit Himself and to receive in them the life of Christ.

 Jesus said of the one who loves Him and keeps His Word, "My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."  Through the words of God which the Holy Spirit teaches, Jesus comes to be present in and with the believer.  And where Jesus is, there the Father also makes His home.  The Father loves all those who love His Son.  The Father loves you who love and trust in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  You are never alone, no matter how isolated you may sometimes feel.  For the Blessed Holy Trinity has made His home with you through the Word.

 And as a sign of His abundant grace toward you in Christ, God gives you His Spirit-filled Word not just in one way but in several different ways.  He poured His saving Word onto you in Holy Baptism, marking you with His own name as His treasured possession.  And where God puts His name, there He is present to dwell with His good gifts.  Martin Luther said that you have enough to meditate on in your baptism alone for the rest of your life.  The Lord also speaks His life-giving Word out loud right into your ears in the absolution and in the spoken meditation we usually call a sermon.  In fact hopefully the Word of God will cause you to meditate on even more than the sermon can say.  If your mind wanders in such Spirit-led meditation during the service, that's OK, that's good.  For He is always working through the Word to teach you ever richer truth in Christ.  And God also gives you His Word in the Sacrament of the Altar.  For there you receive and eat the Word made flesh, the body and blood of Christ sacrificed for you on the cross for the full forgiveness of your sins.  By the power of the Word Christ is truly present here and comes to make His home in your very flesh and bones.  Truly, God has given you so much to meditate on and ponder, so much to draw your hope and salvation from, so many ways to keep His Word and live from it.

 But none of it would do you any good apart from the working of the Holy Spirit.  Only the Spirit of Christ can make your meditation on His words fruitful and beneficial.  Without Him the sermon will seem useless, the liturgy will seem like dead ceremony.  That's why we pray each week before the Lord's Supper, "Send your Holy Spirit into our hearts that He may establish in us a living faith and prepare us joyfully to remember our Redeemer and receive Him who comes to us in His body and blood."  We cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to Him.  The Holy Spirit must open our understanding and enlighten us with the Gospel, as it is written, "No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit."

 And finally, Jesus teaches us here that through that Gospel we receive true peace.  The only meditation that gives lasting and indestructible peace is meditation on His words.  Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  There is no reason to fear any more, not even when you're facing death itself.  For Jesus has conquered your death by the holy cross.  He absorbed into His body all that makes you fearful and restless and He crucified it.  So it is that Isaiah prophesied, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him."  You have been reconciled to the Father in Christ.  You are at peace with God.  And if you are right with Him, then you can face whatever is going on in your day to day life with His strength and with the confidence that He is with you and will guide you through His Word.  This is not worldly peace which fails; this is peace given by the Spirit of God which never fails and which endures forever.

 Now may this peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Amen.