Pentecost

Pentecost – Manuscript Acts 2:1-13 Our Scripture today is Acts 2:1-13. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” 1 This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let us pray: Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us. Melt us, mold us, fill us, use us. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us. This morning, we are starting a new series. This summer we will be looking at the Acts of the Apostles and seeing a church on fire. We are joining a narrative that is already in progress. Luke began his narrative by telling us of Jesus’ ascension, which we looked at a month ago. After his resurrection, Jesus continued to meet periodically with his disciples. He would meet with them and continue teaching them. We would teach them about the kingdom of God and why the Christ needed to suffer. And then after 40 days, he ascended to heaven. I can imagine that disciples were longing for Jesus and his presence. They had spent three years with him and now he was gone. They probably felt empty. 40 years ago, Jackson Browne sang, “running on, running on empty”. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of felt like that; that we felt as though we were running on empty. Society tells us that we should constantly be working, that there’s time to rest when we’re dead. We are running on empty. Maybe it’s not work, maybe it’s difficulties in life. Maybe it’s been a rough couple of months, or years, and we feel empty. The difficulties found in life have drained us and left us on empty. As we study Acts this summer, we’ll see that the Apostles never hit empty. No matter the workload, no matter the difficulties they face, they didn’t burnout; they didn’t ever hit empty. How is that? How could they do their work of building the Church and not feel empty? How could they face the difficulties and hostilities they faced and not feel empty? The Holy Spirit empowered them. As we examine this passage in Acts, we’ll see the Holy Spirit come upon them. We’ll see three things. We’ll see what happened to the Apostles, what happened in the Apostles, and what happened through the Apostles. What Happened To the Apostles The “day of Pentecost” had arrived. Pentecost was 50 days after Passover. In Greek, penta means five. A pentagram is a shape that has five sides. Pentecost occurred 50 days after Passover. Passover happens sometime in April, it’s around the same time as Easter. Pentecost was a big deal for the Jewish calendar. Passover was the celebration of God’s redeeming work in how he rescued Israel from Egypt with a mighty hand. Pentecost was the celebration of the first fruits. In the Old Testament is often called the Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Weeks was a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. In late May, the first of the harvest would be ready. And the people would gather in Jerusalem and praise God that he had provided for them. So it is fitting that on a day where the people would be celebrating the first fruits of God’s provision that God would do something spectacular. He would send the Holy Spirit to empower the Apostles and by the end of the day, 3,000 would believe in Jesus the Christ; the first fruits of God’s great harvest. But that isn’t all. Pentecost had come to symbolize the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. At Mt. Sinai, God had gathered his recently redeemed people together. After the people have consecrated themselves, he calls Moses to the top of the mountain while the people stand at the edge of the mountain. And there, God descended in a thick cloud and gave Moses the law; he gave Moses his Word. And here at this Pentecost, God descends again, but not in the form of a thick cloud, but in fiery tongues. The Apostles are all together in one places and then, “suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them”. God is acting. The Apostles were together, praying, desperately seeking God’s presence. Then a breeze began blowing throughout the room. But it was more than a breeze. It was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. In Greek, the words give the impression that it sounds as though a tornado has entered the room. Then as the deafening sound reaches its climax, fiery tongues appear before. Wind and fire. That might seem strange to us, but if you go back and you read the Old Testament, it will become clear that this is sign that God is acting. Throughout the Old Testament, God often appears in the wind. In Genesis 3, it says that Adam and Eve heard the sound of God “walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze” (Genesis 3:8, NRSV).Then when God appeared to Job, he spoke to him from “out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1). Here in this room, the reviving winds of the Holy Spirit blew upon the Apostles. They hear the wind blowing throughout the room and they know that God is appearing to him; they know he is acting in their midst. It’s not just wind but also fire. Wind, then fire. Fire is a representation of God’s holiness. When he first appeared to Moses, he appeared as a burning bush. Then when Moses met with God on Mt. Sinai, the Lord’s presence is described as devouring fire on the mountain. Fire represents God’s holiness burning away impurities and dross. Here in this room, the Apostles have the fire of God fall upon them. It rested upon them. The Apostles experienced God’s presence among them. His reviving Spirit blew across them; his holiness rested upon them. There in that room, God was doing something spectacular. He was showing them his glory like he did all of those years ago on Mt. Sinai. This is what happened to the Apostles. They saw God manifest his glory amongst them. What Happened In the Apostles It’s not just what happened to the Apostles, something happened in them. Luke tells us in verse 4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance”. The Apostles saw God’s glory, now the Apostles experience God’s glory. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a fulfillment of what both John the Baptist and Jesus said. John said that through the coming of the Christ people would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jesus, right before he ascended into heaven, said that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is the fulfillment of those promises. The Apostles are being filled with the Holy Spirit. Being baptized with Holy Spirit is the same thing as being filled with the Holy Spirit. What that means is that it is not just observing God’s glory and majesty that empowers people. It is experiencing God move deep within your heart. His power and his glory move within you. His Spirit blows through you, refreshing and reviving you like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. His Spirit descends upon you and his holiness shines on your life. This might seem a little out there, a little mystical. Christianity is more mystical than mysticism. In mysticism there is this vague notion that there is something out there and maybe you can encounter whatever is out there. In Christianity, you encounter the living God. The living God blows his Spirit upon you, reviving you. The living God reveals his holiness in your hearts and all of your impurities burn away. He revives you with his Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit revives us, he begins to reveal who he is. He reveals his glory and majesty in contrast to our sinfulness. He shows us our sin and our need for someone to save us. As the Holy Spirit burns away our impurities and sinful desires, he shows us that in Jesus we are redeemed from our sin. Even after that, even after the Spirit causes us to come to faith, he continues to work in us. He continues to revive us when we feel weak; he continues to reveal our sinful desires and he burns them away as fire burns away impurities and dross. As the Holy Spirit works in the Apostles, they began “to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance”. We’re not told here what it is the Apostles were uttering but at the end of this passage Luke tells us they were uttering the mighty works of God. They were filled with joy from the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been filled with incredible joy? What do you do? You speak about it. You utter it. There’s a scene in the Will Ferrell movie Elf where he utters the incredible feeling of joy he is experiencing. In the movie, Ferrell is playing Buddy, a man who was raised by elves at the North Pole. Eventually, he is told that he isn’t an elf and moves to Manhattan to meet his father. Not long after moving to New York, he meets Jovie a department store worker and he falls in love. He runs into his father’s office, where he is having an important meeting, and he utters, “I’m in love! I’m in love! And I don’t care who knows it!” He uttered what was happening in his heart. For the previous 10 days, the Apostles had longed for Jesus’ presence. They had been empty of it. Now here, the Holy Spirit descends on them and he fills them. All of a sudden they felt the joy of God’s presence again. He began to work in them. When God works in you, you will have this incredible joy. The Spirit of God will be working in you. And as you experience this intense joy you will want to utter it. You’ll utter it to yourself. The Spirit will remind you of the good news in those moments when you’re at your lowest. When Satan buffets and you begin to feel as though you’re running on empty, the Holy Spirit will utter the good news to you. He will utter that you are loved, that in Christ you have been redeemed, and that God is doing mighty works in you. When work is difficult, you have a difficult boss, or a difficult employee, or co-worker and you are starting to feel as though you’re running on empty, the Holy Spirit will utter the good news to you. He will utter the grace found in Christ is enough to transform you and show grace to others. The Spirit will utter God’s mighty works to you. What Happened Through the Apostles The Apostles made such a commotion that people started wondering, “What is that noise?” Luke tells us, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” The Apostles were uttering God’s mighty works amongst themselves and people gathered. All of those who gathered heard what the Apostles were uttering. They weren’t all just Judean. They were Jews from all over the places were Jews had been resettled throughout the years. They heard it in their own native language. Those who spoke Latin, heard the Apostles uttering God’s mighty works in perfect Latin; those who spoke Parthian, heard Parthian; those who spoke Phrygian, heard Phrygian. Some mocked the Apostles and said that they were just drunk. But others were sincerely wondering what this event meant. They wanted what it meant that the might works of God were being proclaimed in all of these languages. It’s interesting that the last time there is a table of nations is found in Genesis 10. Right after the table of nations is the Tower of Babel. At the Tower of Babel, humanity decided they were in charge. They decided they would decide be their own masters and ignore God’s commands. God, then, came down and confused the tongues. It was his judgment against humanity for asserting that they were their own masters. When humanity decides to become their own masters the result is nationalism, racial and cultural superiority, imperialism, and other social sins. It becomes ok to oppress others who look different than we do, it becomes ok to traffic women and children for sexual slavery. But here, God undoes that. God worked through the Apostles to utter his good news to the nations. What that means is this gospel is universal, it is for all people. It is not reserved for one people group or one culture. This gospel is for all people. This shows us that it is not anything about us that saves us. It is God’s goodness to send his Holy Spirit to revive us and remove our impurities. It shows us that our national, cultural, and racial identities take a back seat to God’s mighty works. Those items are no longer the defining items in our lives. The defining moment is the cross. And that unites us to others. It should cause us to see another believer from a different national, cultural, or racial background and recognize that person as our brother or sister. We should see we have more in common with another Christian from a different cultural than someone who shares our culture but isn’t in Christ. One of the ways we know that the Holy Spirit is working in us is we begin to see our prejudices come down. We begin to see other nations, other cultures, other races as people who need to hear us utter God’s mighty works to them. We begin to see the gospel is for all peoples and we should be part of uttering it to others. And that’s just what Peter did. He uttered God’s might works and everyone heard it in their own native language. As the story of Acts continues, we’ll see the prejudices come down. We’ll see Peter and Paul empowered by the Holy Spirit utter God’s mighty works to people near and far. And at the end of Peter’s first sermon, 3,000 people from various nations join the church. These are the first fruits of the greater harvest where vast multitude made up from every nation, tribe, and tongue gather before the throne praising God. The key to being a Christian is being filled with the Spirit. God work in you and through you. Let us pray. Father, send your Holy Spirit to fill us now. Revive us. Reveal yourself in your glory and majesty. Cause us to see our need for you and redemption found in Christ. Produce a supernatural joy in us. Lord, work through us too. Empower us to utter your good news to others, regardless of their nationalities. Amen.