The Gift of the Holy Spirit

The Day of Pentecost

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let me just say again, it’s good to be back with you in God’s House, gathered together to hear God’s Word, lifting our voices in worship, praise, and thanksgiving. It’s good to be here with you, taking our first steps toward coming back to normal.

Honestly, if I had to pick a day to do this, I don’t think there could be a much more appropriate day than today. Pentecost Sunday. If you know the history of this day, you know what I mean. The day of Pentecost was one of three great festivals in the Jewish year: first was the Passover in the Spring. Then, 50 days later (which is what Pentecost actually means) is the day of Pentecost, and then in the fall is the Feast of Booths, which culminated in the Day of Atonement. But this Day of Pentecost came at the end of the “Feast of Weeks” - 7 weeks, or a “week of weeks” after the Passover, and the Hebrew people would celebrate the first fruits gathered from their Spring crops, bringing those first fruits to the temple to present to the Lord every year. People would come from all over that part of the world to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, and then would stay for a couple of months to also celebrate Pentecost before returning home. They came from long distances, so it made sense to make the most of their trip to God’s Temple. We hear the description of many of these different peoples in the reading from Acts today. So many people who had been scattered all around came to the Temple (God’s House) to worship Him after being away for a long time. Yes, I think today is incredibly appropriate to be our first day back in this building.

And that’s how Acts 2 begins: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.” Now this is not just the 12 - they have already chosen a replacement for Judas Iscariot - they cast lots and prayed and it was Matthias who was chosen as the 12th. But it was more than just “the 12” who were gathered. In this particular passage, there are about 120 people gathered…ten times the size of the Apostles’ group. And the Holy Spirit comes to rest on all of them…the rushing wind, the “tongues as of fire”, and then they began speaking in different languages. Galileans were not known to be very academic or well-taught. They had a reputation for being a “simple” people, so it was highly unusual for people to hear them speaking in other languages. Galileans wouldn’t know that many different languages. These are all very visible signs of the work of the Holy Spirit.

When we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, we attribute much of what this day is about to the Third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit. We adorn the altar and chancel in red - the color of the Holy Spirit = reminiscent of the color flame, like the tongues of fire. We have the image of the dove, reminding us of the “Spirit of God descending on Jesus like a dove” at Jesus’ baptism. And this Sunday is the only Sunday in the church year when the theme for the day is shaped not by the Gospel reading, but by the Epistle reading - Acts chapter 2. Much of this day is about the Holy Spirit.

However, it’s important for us to remember that Acts 2:1-21 is not simply a passage about the Holy Spirit; it is *still* about Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit doesn’t ever want to be the center of attention. The Holy Spirit’s job, his function, and even his pleasure, is to reveal Jesus Christ to us. In fact, even in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit can be observed performing this function. All throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is active, doing His own work (such as with Moses and the elders), and creating faith in the coming Messiah. Once Jesus is born and begins his earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit goes to work creating faith in people to help them believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And Scripture lets us see the work of the Holy Spirit in other ways throughout the story of God’s people.

But as we hear Jesus describe in the Gospel lesson today, up until this point, there were limits as to how much of the Holy Spirit would be given. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” For most of us, to be glorified is a good thing - it probably means a promotion or an achievement of some sort, something that is worthy of celebration. For Christ, for him to be glorified, it must begin in what seems a very inglorious manner - through his ugly death on the cross. It doesn’t end there, of course, because it follows that he is then raised from the dead, and ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. And that part is much easier to see the “glory” in it. But until this happens, John tells us, the Spirit will not yet be given.

But now it has, and all is in place. Christ has been glorified, and He is at the right hand of the Father. And he has waited for this specific date - Pentecost - when many will be gathered, to give the gift of the Holy Spirit…to reveal Christ to many. This is no accident. Remember: those who received the Holy Spirit that day spoke in a variety of languages. Languages which represented the visitors who had come from many different parts of the world. We know that in that time, Greek was the language of commerce, it was the common language that everyone spoke, so that they could travel and get business done anywhere in the Roman Empire. And so the message could have been delivered in Greek and everyone or most everyone there would have understood the message.

But God decided that it was time for a display of the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone was able to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own NATIVE language. We believe that the Word of God is powerful in its own right. The Word of God brings people to Christ in any language. But for these people to hear it in the language of their homeland, however far away that might be, was something special indeed. And remember, most of these people who spoke other languages had traveled far to be in Jerusalem, and were due to travel back home. With such a sign as this, they were SURE to take this story home with them and share it with their friends and families.

When I wear this cross, it’s called the Jerusalem cross. It is a large cross surrounded by 4 smaller crosses. The large cross represents Christ and his Good News of salvation for the whole world. The 4 smaller crosses represent the 4 corners of the earth. Those of us who have this Good News are called to share it “to the 4 corners of the world.” This is what is bound to happen in this story we’ve read. Those present to witness this power of the Holy Spirit will go home to wherever they are from and talk about this event. And they come from places east of the eastern border of the Roman Empire, from Egypt and other places in Africa, and from all around the Roman Empire. This event will end up being talked about all over that part of the world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was carried far away from Jerusalem after the Holy Spirit descended upon these 120 disciples.

We don’t often get to see things like Christians miraculously speaking in foreign languages…so it’s not always so easy for us to observe the work of the Holy Spirit. But it’s important for us to recognize that, now that Jesus HAS been glorified, there is no longer any limit to the coming of the Holy Spirit. His coming doesn’t stay with us for a few moments and then fade out like in our Old Testament lesson today. We have been given the Holy Spirit in our baptism, and He is our Helper as we carry the Gospel of Christ about in our community…our travels…waiting to help us to share this Good News in our own language. His role is to equip us to share that Good News…that’s what He does.

Why are we sharing this Good News? Why does God put that on our shoulders? This is what Peter is describing in the second part of Acts. It is to prepare us all for the Last Day - the day of Jesus’ return. Judgment Day. That’s why we were given the Holy Spirit in our baptism, and that is why we are called to tell others about it - to help them prepare for Christ’s return. We don’t know when it will happen…only that it WILL happen. We are called to prepare as many as we can…to share the Gospel to the 4 corners of the planet.

It seems like a daunting task sometimes. But it’s not impossible…especially when we remember that we have a Helper to be with us and to guide and inspire us to carry that message. So many times we feel like we’re not up to the task, and we don’t have what it takes to do such a job. I speak from experience here. Let me ask you this: how does a bachelor of science in business administration and 20 years of working in Aircraft Maintenance on military aircraft prepare you to go to seminary? It doesn’t. Not one bit. How does it prepare you to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I never thought it did. I felt woefully inadequate and under-prepared for the job. But because the Holy Spirit went to work on me, I was able to trust God and follow His lead. And when you can do that, sometimes things have a way of working out that you just couldn’t see on your own.

Like this little story: In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push.

After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life.

For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work. (from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/spiritual_power.htm)

In my case, that “loose connection” was my own doubts about my preparation and adequacy. But that’s because I thought I would only have myself to rely on. Once I stopped thinking that way and started trusting God… “the engine roared to life.” I began to rely on God.

The Holy Spirit is with all of us. This is promised to each one of us in our baptism. Now we are being equipped to share the gift of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know him. How are your unique gifts going to serve that mission? That’s something only you can know, but it’s something we can all discover together. The beauty of it is that when you find out what it is and put it into action, you will feel a sense of fulfillment like none other. I pray that all of us will be able to find that place in God’s plan.

It’s good to take these first steps to coming back together again. Let us all pray that as we continue to work on this, we all discover how God is calling us to use our gifts for His purpose.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.