Romans 5 culminates in a dramatic - if not overwhelming - crescendo of grace.

So much so that it prompts St. Paul to anticipate the question, often brushed aside as a rhetorical foil, that opens chapter 6.

But it's akin to questions pressed on Jesus. It is the kind of question put to St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Do we believe in grace so persistent and powerful that it actually makes sense to ask if we should just keep on sinning?

We live in an unprecedented time in the West.

More and more, people who have grown up in the faith, who have been baptized and willingly surrendered their lives to Jesus, no longer participate in any kind of formational spiritual community.

Many have asserted that so long as someone know what they need to “get to heaven,” there’s nothing else they need.

But God desires so much more for his people. And always has.

This is Trinity Sunday

Maybe the most compelling and well-known depiction of the Holy Trinity is an icon by Andrew Rublev, a fourteenth-century Russian monk. It depicts three divine figures seated around three sides of a square table.

The fourth side of the table is left open by Rublev, signaling an invitation…and also a clue about some of our deepest desires.

Last week we celebrated the Ascension: Jesus leaves.

But Pentecost means that Jesus’ work—the redemption of everything—isn’t over. In fact, it’s really just begun.

Pentecost is the shot from the starter pistol.

But the movement of Acts—fueled by the Holy Spirit—doesn’t end with the conclusion of Luke’s letter. Not even close. The end of the book isn’t the end of the race. It goes on.

Which is why Pentecost matters still today.

Ascension Day is the 40th Day of Eastertide (the season of Easter to Pentecost). As a community, we’ve been commemorating it for millennia, but in the 21st Century, no other festival in the Christian year is more important and less emphasized than the ascension of the Lord. Many grew up in faith traditions where it's not talked about much, if at all.

So Jesus went back to heaven. Duh. What’s the big deal?