Love Languages

Sermon Context

Today, Pentecost, concludes the 7-week season of Easter.

The length of the Easter season reflects the history of events surrounding Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

Jesus was crucified on a Passover Friday. He was raised from the dead on the third day.

Over the course of the next several weeks he appeared to his disciples.

On the 40th day, Jesus instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power to be his witnesses to the world and then he ascended into heaven.

10 more days pass.

The Jewish festival of Pentecost arrives.

Pentecost was and is celebrated every year, 50 days after Passover — hence the name, Pentecost, which means “fifty.”

Pentecost commemorated the giving of the Law through Moses at Mt. Sinai.

It was also a harvest festival. As the barley and wheat crops were brought in, the people celebrated how Israel was a first-fruit among all the nations.

Pentecost, then, was a holiday that offered dual meaning: 1) God had given Israel the Law; 2) one day all the nations would come to know the true God.

Jews from all over the Roman Empire have filled the city.

The disciples are all together. Celebrating Pentecost….and, waiting for the “power” that Jesus said would arrive…

Text

Acts 2:1–21 NLT

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Prayer for Illumination

Almighty God, by the power of your Holy Spirit, speak to us in the language of our hearts, that we may hear your Word with understanding and answer your call with confidence. Amen.

Introduction

Gary Chapman book “The Five Love Languages”

The core idea is that people have different ways of communicating their love, they have different “Love Languages”. Aiming his book primarily at couples, learning to speak your partner's primary love language can significantly improve your relationship.

For example. HYPOTHETICAL: If my wife’s primary love language is “spending quality time together”; then the best way for me to communicate love to her is to spend time with her. Talk with her, go on a walk, put my undivided attention on her. My native love language might be “acts of service.” But me knocking out tasks of the Honey-Do list will not necessarily help my wife appreciate my love for her. I would be showing love in my own language, but not in hers.

So, Chapman says, when we love someone, we should make the effort to figure out their love language and speak to the in that. We’ve got to go the extra step, as it were. When we speak the language the other person can understand, the love we feel for them will be more readily received.

In the Pentecost story, we see God’s commitment to communicating his love to the world.

Exegesis

The disciples are gathered together.

Are all celebrating Pentecost.

They were would have been remembering the Law of Sinai with deep gratitude.

Fearsome event. God came down in darkness, smoke, cloud and fire.

Also an act of divine love. Out of all the peoples of the world, God had chosen Israel.

The disciples would have been pondering the Pentecost message of how the one true God, who so loved Israel, would also one day bring all nations into a relationship with himself.

It seems to me that the disciples could not have helped wondering whether their current Pentecost would be the perfect time for the “power” Jesus promised to come upon them in some way.

On the first Pentecost God came down and empowered Moses to give the law to Israel.

Maybe on the current Pentecost, God would empower his people to bring in the harvest of nations.

That is what Jesus had told them to expect, afterall. “You shall be my witnesses to the whole world when power comes upon you.” (Acts 1:8)

And that is exactly what happened.

Just a God came down in thunder, cloud and fire on Sinai, so God sends his Spirit upon Jerusalem in wind and flames.

Suddenly there came from heaven —- not from the east or the west or the south or the north, but from heaven — there came the sound of a great wind.

And the wind of the Spirit fills the house wherein the disciples are gathered. Tongues of fire appear over each of their heads, so that each one of the disciples looks like a candle.

This outward sign confirms the promises of John the Baptist about Jesus.

JB — One greater than me is coming: He shall baptize you with fire and with the Spirit. (Matt. 3:11)

Then the Spirit that had filled the house outwardly, fills the disciples themselves inwardly.

They begin to do something that has not yet happened before in the Bible. The central miracle of this Pentecost.

The disciples begin each one of them to speak in languages they did not previously know. Some disciples speak this language, some speak that, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I say this is a new sign because Jesus never miraculously spoke foreign languages. He spoke his normal, local language. John the Baptist never spoke in new tongues. None of the prophets, nor David, nor Moses, miraculously spoke languages unknown to them by the power of the spirit.

The Spirit comes upon these disciples on Pentecost enables them to speak the languages of all the world.

It is a sign, that now they are being empowered, to be ambassadors to all the world. A world full of people who speak all different languages.

The disciples had wondered how they — simple fishermen and others — could possibly share the saving message of God’s love in Christ to diverse people of the world, but now they get a sign of how. The Holy Spirit will enable them.

Through the Holy Spirit they will speak LOVE in EVERY LANGUAGE.

There is no nation or tribe or ethnicity or dialect or tongue that will be off-limits to the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ can and will go forth from Jerusalem to all the ends of the earth from these disciples.

That is exactly what happens. Having heard the wind all the Jews come rushing to the location where the wind had blown.

To their amazement, everyone in the crowd could understand what was being said.

Are not these all Galileans? Yet they are speaking our languages! (Acts 2:7-8)

They are talking to us in a words we can understand!

Peter, standing with the 12, filled with the Spirit, preaches the first Christian sermon.

This is a sign: The promise of Joel, coming true.

I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh…and all who call upon the LORD will be saved!

By the end of Peter’s sermon, 3,000, people heard the word in a way that made sense to them, … and they believed that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that any who believe in him will not perish in sin but have eternal life. (Acts 2:41)

A Pentecost Harvest. God began to bring all people to himself.

Interpretation

At the beginning of this sermon, I talked about “love languages.”

Lovers need to translate their love into a message that makes sense to the beloved.

husband may need to offer quality time to his wife, because that is how she best experiences love.

A wife may choose to offer words of affirmation because that is how he experiences love.

On that first Christian Pentecost the Holy Spirit took the “extra step” of translating God’s love to people.

Willing to come down and speak any language I must to communicate with people. Latin…Greek…Egyptian…Arabic…

I just want to communicate to people the love of God revealed in Christ.

In the book of Acts the HS is the real actor. Everywhere the disciples take the gospel, the Holy Spirit goes with them.

giving them words to speak.

empowering them to offer acts of service

giving them gifts with which to bless others

The disciples were not equal to the task of sharing the gospel with the whole world. But the Spirit was.

The Spirit steadily brought people, whatever their love language, into the church.

Each and every one of us is here because the Holy Spirit has moved in our lives, he wants us to know the love of God.

Example: Man who had suddenly lost his hearing after an accident. Desolate. Thought he was cut off from the joys of communicating. Wife convinced him to learn sign-language. They learned it together. First thing they learned together: I love you.

When we love someone, we find a way to connect. That is what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is all about. Connecting us to God.

Love language

Act of service

Word of affirmation

Physical touch

Gift giving

Quality time

Application

How can we respond?

Being part of church. The disciples were celebrating Pentecost. The real spirit of Pentecost filled them. We too should celebrate Christmas — so Christ can be conceived within us. We should celebrated HW - so our sins are on the cross. Easter — for resurrection. Pentecost — The HS given to us.

Enjoy all the ministries around us. The music. The fellowship. The mission. The education. The sermon. The prayer. Some of us like some parts more than others but they are all avenues of the Spirit to us and our fellow members.

Play our part. Some disciples spoke this language. Some that. Some when to this country some that. But the Spirit was guiding them all.

We are part of a team. As the spirit fills us we are part of the body of Christ in the world.

Conclusion

Love language Act

HS speaks to us.

Respond by sharing live with each other and world

Prayer