Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; St John 14:23-31
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen,
Fifty days after Israel left Egypt - that is, fifty days after the Lord’s Passover, after the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, after the redemption of His people - the Lord God directed His people to Mt Sinai where He gave the holy Ten Commandments. Now, fifty days after the slaughter of the innocent Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, after the decimation of hell’s fierce power and the redemption of all mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ directs His Apostles to remain in the city, where He clothes them with power from on high.
The miracles of Pentecost mirror the great event of the giving of the Decalogue. At Mt Sinai there was thunder. At Pentecost there was a loud sound which came from heaven, filling the entire house. At Mt Sinai there was lightening and the glory of the Lord, but Moses was unscathed. The mountain trembled as the Lord descended on it in fire. At Pentecost God the Holy Spirit descended upon the Twelve, alighting on them in tongues of fire. Yet they were unharmed. At Mt Sinai the Lord called to Moses and spoke with him face to face, indicating to him those works which are pleasing to God. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and they began to speak in unlearned languages concerning the mighty works of God, which have pleased Him by the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ.
This final one - the Apostles preaching in unlearned languages the mighty works of God - this is the most distinct aspect of the New Testament Pentecost. That miracle is without precedent or parallel in the Old Testament. Except, perhaps, in the negative, as you heard this morning. The curse at the Tower of Babel. The Lord God descending, coming down, confusing the language of the people, inventing language, and dispersing them over the face of the earth. Today the Lord, the Holy Spirit, descends and unites men of various languages. He gathers them together. Pentecost is the undoing of Babel’s curse. Not only in comprehension, but also in reuniting men into one family, that is, the family of God, the holy Christian Church.
But there are other, less obvious miracles, at Pentecost. The disciples had once hidden in fear of the Jews in the same room. The room where the Lord’s Supper was instituted had become for them, the place were they locked themselves away from the world. It is now the same room where the Holy Spirit comes upon them with a loud sound, flames, and languages.
For forty days the the crucified and risen Lord Jesus had appeared to them in His body. Yet they had remained mostly confused and afraid, even as He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
Then He had ascended, departed visibly from them, engulfed by clouds as He was taken into heaven. But they were not afraid or sad. They rejoiced and returned to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. They waited, as the Church always does, in prayer. Not hidden away, cowering in her locked room, cut off from the world. But hearing and receiving the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which the Word of our Lord Christ who came from the Father. When this happened, the Apostles’ were no longer afraid. They were bold. So when the crowd comes to investigate the great noise, St Peter, who had cowered at the voice of a servant girl, now walks out and preaches to them without fear, even calling them account for what they did to the innocent Lord.
You have heard the past couple Sundays from St Peter. His letters to the elect exiles of the dispersion about living amidst suffering, in a world hostile to the Gospel, among debauchery and licentiousness, as people who are truly free. Some of those tho whom he wrote may have been present at Pentecost. Certainly men from their regions are represented here. These are men who were also present at the Passover, that is, at the crucifixion of our Lord. They called for His blood. When St Peter walked into that crowd on Pentecost there was no naivety. They had yelled “crucify Him,” concerning Jesus. He might not be far behind.
It is no different for you, elect exiles living among temptation and vice, suffering for the sake of the Gospel, enduring trials and hostilities. You know that to speak up, to call men to account, is dangerous. The Gospel is scandalous. It is offensive. You know how hard it is for men, yea, impossible for them, to believe.
But this is the first miracle we often overlook at Pentecost. The Apostles were changed. They were emboldened by the Holy Spirit for this purpose: to preach. St Peter and the Twelve were inspired by the Holy Spirit to preach the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. And he was bold in his Office. For this is what all men need. Whether they know it or not. This is why Christ commissions His Church to open the eyes of the pagans, those lost in darkness, blind to their spiritual condition, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18).
Because this is the second part of the miracle: some believed. They heard the mighty works of God in their native tongues. They heard God speaking, preaching through men. And the same Holy Spirit that had lit upon the Apostles, and is always present in the preaching of the Word, came through the preaching and lit upon their hearts too. And they believed.
We didn’t read it this morning, it comes later in Acts 2, but there were thousands that day that were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit working through St Peter’s preaching. They asked, What shall we do? St Peter commanded, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then he promised, You will receive the Holy Spirit. For the promise if for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself (Acts 2:27-39). Three thousand were baptized that day and added to the number of the saints. There were three thousand miracles that day.
And the miracles keep going. From Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. To Indianapolis. You hear St Peter’s preaching today. And by the Holy Spirit you love Jesus. You keep, that is, you believe His Word for which His Father loves you and God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - come and make Their home with you. The miracles continue.
But in the midst of Pentecost miracles there is still hatred and malice. Some hear the languages and mock the Lord and His disciples in willful, deliberate ignorance, saying, They are drunk. The Sower sows His in recklessness. All hear, but not all believe.
The preaching of the Gospel always sounds like drunken speech to the unrepentant. I used to think this was because the good news of God’s unconditional love sounds ridiculous and impossible to sinners. It seems to be good to be true. Sure.
But I remember visiting a former shut-in, Richard. He lived on the other side of the parkway, a short walk from here. His wife had died many years before I arrived. His adult daughter was now caring for him. She eventually had to move him in with her and her family on the southwest side of town. In the last year or so of his earthly life his daughter had hired a middle aged Russian woman, Yelena, to help provide care for him. She had some medical training. She also had some theological acumen. She was raised Russian Orthodox, but had fallen from the faith long ago. Now living in America she never attended the Liturgy. She just didn’t believe it anymore. But we would talk. And the thing she kept coming back to, what kept pricking her conscience, kept worrying her about abandoning Christ and His Church, is, she would say, “But you actually believe this. You speak with confidence that this is true.”
The problem with the Gospel, with the shocking news that God loved and forgives us in Christ Jesus, despite our hatred of and rebellion against Him, is not so much that it is radical and hard to believe. But its that those who preach it actually believe it. What troubled Yelena, what bothers the common masses, what caused the Pentecost haters to hate, is that the Apostles and Christians, both Pastors and people, proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with actual conviction. And conviction makes sinner uneasy.
And it should. They should be uneasy. We should be uneasy. We should be like those dwelling in Jerusalem who asked, What shall we do? The good news of the Father’s love in Christ is based upon our desperate need for that love. Forgiveness of sins is only good news for sinners. It is only good news if you need it. Well, we are sinners. We need it. And we are bold to say that, in this, we are not alone.
We have acted, said, and though evil and selfish things. We have lied and gossiped. We have cheated and stolen. We have lusted and been proud. We have at least some sense of what is good, of what we should be, but we do not live up to our own standards. Let alone to God’s Holy Ten Commands. We should be scared by the smoke and thick darkness of Mt Sinai, by the thunderings of God’s wrath against sin. We have no right to mercy. We do not deserve to be spared punishment. And if we are left to ourselves we would be damned. What shall we do?
Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Already baptized? Thanks be to God! Repent and return to your baptism. Circumcise your hearts. Turn from your sin. Throw yourself on God’s mercy. Confess your sins because you are baptized. You have been named with God’s own name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You belong to Him.
But then, He also belongs to you. He cannot and will not refuse your call. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You call upon Him of whom you have heard because you have been sent preachers. God be praised! His Word, by His Spirit, has come to you. And by His grace and Spirit you believe and call upon Him. You have access to Him through prayer, confession and absolution, His Word, and the Holy Communion. Return to His Name, to His way, to His promise. Return to Holy Baptism where the Holy Spirit was poured out upon you and where God’s own Word was made your inheritance. There you find your Father who loves you and is eager to welcome you and make His home with you.
And let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Do not fear the world, its mockery, and threats. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The ruler of this world has no claim on Christ Jesus, who has trounced Satan, death and hell. He also has no claim on you, for you have been named with the Name of the Holy Trinity. You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. You have been gathered and welcomed home to the family of God in Christ Jesus. You are given to speak the one language of the Holy Christian Church, the confession of saving faith. You are given a seat at the Table and peace which the world cannot give. The absolving peace that surpasses all human understanding, which guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen,
Fifty days after Israel left Egypt - that is, fifty days after the Lord’s Passover, after the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, after the redemption of His people - the Lord God directed His people to Mt Sinai where He gave the holy Ten Commandments. Now, fifty days after the slaughter of the innocent Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, after the decimation of hell’s fierce power and the redemption of all mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ directs His Apostles to remain in the city, where He clothes them with power from on high.
The miracles of Pentecost mirror the great event of the giving of the Decalogue. At Mt Sinai there was thunder. At Pentecost there was a loud sound which came from heaven, filling the entire house. At Mt Sinai there was lightening and the glory of the Lord, but Moses was unscathed. The mountain trembled as the Lord descended on it in fire. At Pentecost God the Holy Spirit descended upon the Twelve, alighting on them in tongues of fire. Yet they were unharmed. At Mt Sinai the Lord called to Moses and spoke with him face to face, indicating to him those works which are pleasing to God. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and they began to speak in unlearned languages concerning the mighty works of God, which have pleased Him by the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ.
This final one - the Apostles preaching in unlearned languages the mighty works of God - this is the most distinct aspect of the New Testament Pentecost. That miracle is without precedent or parallel in the Old Testament. Except, perhaps, in the negative, as you heard this morning. The curse at the Tower of Babel. The Lord God descending, coming down, confusing the language of the people, inventing language, and dispersing them over the face of the earth. Today the Lord, the Holy Spirit, descends and unites men of various languages. He gathers them together. Pentecost is the undoing of Babel’s curse. Not only in comprehension, but also in reuniting men into one family, that is, the family of God, the holy Christian Church.
But there are other, less obvious miracles, at Pentecost. The disciples had once hidden in fear of the Jews in the same room. The room where the Lord’s Supper was instituted had become for them, the place were they locked themselves away from the world. It is now the same room where the Holy Spirit comes upon them with a loud sound, flames, and languages.
For forty days the the crucified and risen Lord Jesus had appeared to them in His body. Yet they had remained mostly confused and afraid, even as He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
Then He had ascended, departed visibly from them, engulfed by clouds as He was taken into heaven. But they were not afraid or sad. They rejoiced and returned to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. They waited, as the Church always does, in prayer. Not hidden away, cowering in her locked room, cut off from the world. But hearing and receiving the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which the Word of our Lord Christ who came from the Father. When this happened, the Apostles’ were no longer afraid. They were bold. So when the crowd comes to investigate the great noise, St Peter, who had cowered at the voice of a servant girl, now walks out and preaches to them without fear, even calling them account for what they did to the innocent Lord.
You have heard the past couple Sundays from St Peter. His letters to the elect exiles of the dispersion about living amidst suffering, in a world hostile to the Gospel, among debauchery and licentiousness, as people who are truly free. Some of those tho whom he wrote may have been present at Pentecost. Certainly men from their regions are represented here. These are men who were also present at the Passover, that is, at the crucifixion of our Lord. They called for His blood. When St Peter walked into that crowd on Pentecost there was no naivety. They had yelled “crucify Him,” concerning Jesus. He might not be far behind.
It is no different for you, elect exiles living among temptation and vice, suffering for the sake of the Gospel, enduring trials and hostilities. You know that to speak up, to call men to account, is dangerous. The Gospel is scandalous. It is offensive. You know how hard it is for men, yea, impossible for them, to believe.
But this is the first miracle we often overlook at Pentecost. The Apostles were changed. They were emboldened by the Holy Spirit for this purpose: to preach. St Peter and the Twelve were inspired by the Holy Spirit to preach the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. And he was bold in his Office. For this is what all men need. Whether they know it or not. This is why Christ commissions His Church to open the eyes of the pagans, those lost in darkness, blind to their spiritual condition, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18).
Because this is the second part of the miracle: some believed. They heard the mighty works of God in their native tongues. They heard God speaking, preaching through men. And the same Holy Spirit that had lit upon the Apostles, and is always present in the preaching of the Word, came through the preaching and lit upon their hearts too. And they believed.
We didn’t read it this morning, it comes later in Acts 2, but there were thousands that day that were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit working through St Peter’s preaching. They asked, What shall we do? St Peter commanded, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then he promised, You will receive the Holy Spirit. For the promise if for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself (Acts 2:27-39). Three thousand were baptized that day and added to the number of the saints. There were three thousand miracles that day.
And the miracles keep going. From Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. To Indianapolis. You hear St Peter’s preaching today. And by the Holy Spirit you love Jesus. You keep, that is, you believe His Word for which His Father loves you and God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - come and make Their home with you. The miracles continue.
But in the midst of Pentecost miracles there is still hatred and malice. Some hear the languages and mock the Lord and His disciples in willful, deliberate ignorance, saying, They are drunk. The Sower sows His in recklessness. All hear, but not all believe.
The preaching of the Gospel always sounds like drunken speech to the unrepentant. I used to think this was because the good news of God’s unconditional love sounds ridiculous and impossible to sinners. It seems to be good to be true. Sure.
But I remember visiting a former shut-in, Richard. He lived on the other side of the parkway, a short walk from here. His wife had died many years before I arrived. His adult daughter was now caring for him. She eventually had to move him in with her and her family on the southwest side of town. In the last year or so of his earthly life his daughter had hired a middle aged Russian woman, Yelena, to help provide care for him. She had some medical training. She also had some theological acumen. She was raised Russian Orthodox, but had fallen from the faith long ago. Now living in America she never attended the Liturgy. She just didn’t believe it anymore. But we would talk. And the thing she kept coming back to, what kept pricking her conscience, kept worrying her about abandoning Christ and His Church, is, she would say, “But you actually believe this. You speak with confidence that this is true.”
The problem with the Gospel, with the shocking news that God loved and forgives us in Christ Jesus, despite our hatred of and rebellion against Him, is not so much that it is radical and hard to believe. But its that those who preach it actually believe it. What troubled Yelena, what bothers the common masses, what caused the Pentecost haters to hate, is that the Apostles and Christians, both Pastors and people, proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with actual conviction. And conviction makes sinner uneasy.
And it should. They should be uneasy. We should be uneasy. We should be like those dwelling in Jerusalem who asked, What shall we do? The good news of the Father’s love in Christ is based upon our desperate need for that love. Forgiveness of sins is only good news for sinners. It is only good news if you need it. Well, we are sinners. We need it. And we are bold to say that, in this, we are not alone.
We have acted, said, and though evil and selfish things. We have lied and gossiped. We have cheated and stolen. We have lusted and been proud. We have at least some sense of what is good, of what we should be, but we do not live up to our own standards. Let alone to God’s Holy Ten Commands. We should be scared by the smoke and thick darkness of Mt Sinai, by the thunderings of God’s wrath against sin. We have no right to mercy. We do not deserve to be spared punishment. And if we are left to ourselves we would be damned. What shall we do?
Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Already baptized? Thanks be to God! Repent and return to your baptism. Circumcise your hearts. Turn from your sin. Throw yourself on God’s mercy. Confess your sins because you are baptized. You have been named with God’s own name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You belong to Him.
But then, He also belongs to you. He cannot and will not refuse your call. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You call upon Him of whom you have heard because you have been sent preachers. God be praised! His Word, by His Spirit, has come to you. And by His grace and Spirit you believe and call upon Him. You have access to Him through prayer, confession and absolution, His Word, and the Holy Communion. Return to His Name, to His way, to His promise. Return to Holy Baptism where the Holy Spirit was poured out upon you and where God’s own Word was made your inheritance. There you find your Father who loves you and is eager to welcome you and make His home with you.
And let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Do not fear the world, its mockery, and threats. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The ruler of this world has no claim on Christ Jesus, who has trounced Satan, death and hell. He also has no claim on you, for you have been named with the Name of the Holy Trinity. You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. You have been gathered and welcomed home to the family of God in Christ Jesus. You are given to speak the one language of the Holy Christian Church, the confession of saving faith. You are given a seat at the Table and peace which the world cannot give. The absolving peace that surpasses all human understanding, which guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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