Grace to you, and peace in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The third article of the Apostles Creed is as follows:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

The greatest blessings of God is: Our heavenly Father sent His Son to save us, and has also sent the Holy Spirit to sustain and hold us in the saving faith that knows Jesus has done all that is necessary to ensure our safe passage home to Heaven. For those who believe and are Baptized they will be saved.¹ This is God’s Christmas Gift to you.

I wonder if you’ve ever pondered the ties between the Holy Spirit and Christmas. C. S. Louis was an author who put a Christian message in all of his writings. In his book, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” he described the Father as “the Great Father across the waters.” He described the Jesus as “Aslan the Great Lion.” The Holy Spirit was something different. The Holy Spirit he described as “Santa Claus.” Have you ever thought of comparing the Holy Spirit to Santa Claus? There are some similarities.

Santa in his sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer (nine if you count Rudolph) is able to canvas the entire globe nearly unlimited by time. The Holy Spirit does just a little better, He is present everywhere at all times.

Santa of course delivers gifts. It has been calculated that he visits homes at approximately 22,000 per second, bounding up and down chimneys and eating cookies. Truly a near miraculous accomplishment. The Holy Spirit doesn’t climb chimneys, but He is the One who gives us the gifts of the Spirit.² In giving these gifts He does a bit better than 22,000 homes per second. The Holy Spirit is present everywhere, at every time, always calling and pointing us to Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith.³

Is the Holy Spirit God’s spiritual Santa Claus? No, but there is a little bit of fun in imagining. Then we need to come back to reality. The reality of an understanding that Christmas is not just about Baby Jesus. Christmas is about Jesus coming to save us after we abandoned Him. That same Savior has promised to send us the Counselor,⁴ the Holy Spirit, who lives with us and within us, who sustains and keeps us, who empowers and leads us, who teaches and strengthens us.

That is why we should not close our hearts to the Holy Spirit who comes to give us, and keep us in, the one true Christian faith. That faith that leads us to eternal life.

So what does the Apostles’ Creed teach us about the Holy Spirit? What do we confess to believe in this creed, this statement of faith? Not too much actually. Just:

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

That’s it. That’s all that there is. However, look at what follows in this third article. We also confess:

[I believe in] the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

In more academic theological writings the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the, “Shy member of the Trinity.” That is because He does not use a big thundering voice from Heaven.⁵ He does not come to be tortured and die for our crimes against the Father.⁶ The Holy Spirit comes in a still small voice. What is the Holy Spirit’s job? It is to keep the Church and all its members strong in the faith and in living out that faith.

He does this through the Means of Grace: the Holy Bible, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion. He does that through the forgiveness of our sins when we confess them. Through that forgiveness we are restored, made new with our heavenly Father.

That is why we are here today, and why we gather in church every week. Our presence is our public confession or statement that we need these things from the Holy Spirit and want to have them in our lives. To reject or dismiss the teaching of God’s Word, to reject or dismiss the Sacraments, or even to reject or dismiss prayer is to reject the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ words of promise. Jesus’ promise is:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper who will be with you forever. That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it doesn’t see or know Him. You know Him, because He lives with you and will be in you.⁷”

I have told you this while I’m still with you. However, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you.⁸”

This is most certainly true. What a great gift to be able to confess all of these things with such confidence and assurance, because our God cannot lie, and does not abandon His children. In that confidence we can join St. Paul when he says:

God’s kindness made me what I am,
and that kindness was not wasted on me.⁹”

The rest of the world does not want you to know those truths. The rest of the world wants you to look somewhere else for safety and security. The rest of the world wants to leach joy and happiness out of you. The rest of the world want to lead you down paths that end in destruction.

Trial and trouble always come in life, but it is through the Holy Spirit that we are revived, restored, even remade once again in the image and likeness of God.¹⁰ That is a gift that Santa’s, “Ho Ho Ho’s” can not give. In fact all the money in the world cannot buy those things,¹¹ nor can it buy the comfort that Truth brings.

When you say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit” that is your answer to every enemy. That is your answer to all that would come to overwhelm and defeat you. That is your answer in victory in Christ Jesus our Lord, and the eternal perfect salvation that comes through such faith. In those few words, “I believe in the Holy Spirit” we are saying God can and does carry us through even the worst of times.

Have you ever seen a sports team that is trailing far behind? The scores aren’t even close, but then there is that one big play and it starts the momentum that give the players their second wind. They start to run faster and jump higher. They are filled with energy again. Energy that, as we have often seen, provides that big come-back to help them win the game.

That is what the Holy Spirit does for us. If you can think of life in this world as “the game” we are defeated. The enemy has a score so high we could never beat him, but then the Holy Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit’s presence is that one big play that gives us a second wind,¹² that causes us to be revived, renewed and restored by His work in us through the Holy Word of God, and the Holy Sacraments that Jesus has given to us, so that you become young again like an eagle.¹³

Is the Holy Spirit God’s spiritual Santa Claus? By no means! Santa’s, “Ho Ho Ho’s” can’t come close when through Word and Sacrament the Spirit takes our lows and turns them into songs of joy.¹⁴

Santa Claus may be a fun. The Holy Spirit is much more than that. The Holy Spirit is that person of God, the third person of the Trinity, who now dwells not just with you but within you.¹⁵ He has made your body His temple.¹⁶ It is He that will carry you all of your life in that saving faith in Jesus, that brings you face to face with your heavenly Father in peace and in joy.

May God make this so in all of us.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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