Sermon on Acts 2 / Pentecost | Göttinger Predigten im Internet

Sermon for the Day of Pentecost | May 23, 2021 | The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel |

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

¹When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
⁵Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, „Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.“ ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, „What does this mean?“ ¹³But others sneered and said, „They are filled with new wine.“
¹⁴But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, „Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
¹⁷‚In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.‘

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

At Bible study last week, someone asked why it is so hard for us to understand what God is up to. Why are the Scriptures so cryptic and confusing, so that people can disagree on what they say?

Why doesn’t God just send a thunderbolt or put big flashing light signs up so that there is no question about what God wants us to do and to be?

I have asked the same question many times.

I wonder what God’s perspective is.

God might look at us and say, “I send my word, and they don’t believe me.
They say they will obey my commandments, but as soon as I turn around, they’re doing their own thing again.
I prophesy doom, and they are not afraid;
They experience the consequences of their sin, but do not care to repent.
I heal the sick, and they are not thankful;
I perform miracles right before their eyes, and they see nothing extraordinary.
Heck, I create the whole universe, and they think they can figure it all out themselves!
How long must I put up with this?”

If this were a session with Dr. Phil, he would say this relationship has issues – trust issues. And since God is the Creator and we the creatures, the problem is ours – we find it hard to trust God.

That’s why Pentecost is so important for us to celebrate.

It is just as important as Christmas and Easter, because Pentecost is God being faithful to his promises and giving us reason and ability to trust him.

Let me do a real quick holy-day recap:

Christmas is about God coming to earth in Jesus;
Epiphany is about God coming to earth in Jesus for everyone;
Easter is about God undoing the mess we made of things by raising Jesus from the dead;
the Ascension is about Jesus taking his place alongside the Father as Lord of all creation;
and Pentecost is about the expansion of God’s presence in humanity from one man (Jesus) to a worldwide body of believers called the Church, the Body of Christ, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of the Father and the risen Savior Jesus upon us.
Are you with me?

It is important for us to remember that God takes the long view of time.

Consider the promise to Abraham that he would have descendants more numerous than the stars. God took 4 generations before the families of the sons of Jacob grew so numerous that they became a threat to the Egyptians.

Consider the promise to Moses that he would lead the people to the Promised Land. It took several generations and a long wilderness journey for that to happen.

Consider the promise of God through the prophet Joel – that he would pour out his Spirit on all flesh, and show portents in heaven and signs on earth so that everyone would know that God was acting to be faithful to his promise – it was hundreds of years before that happened.

And on Pentecost, it did.

And I venture to say, that the very signs and flashing lights that people look for to know that God is up to something is exactly what was the purpose for all the furious sound of wind and fire that accompanied this gift of the Spirit.

But even on that day, not everybody got it – some people thought the apostles were drunk.

Others marveled at the noise of evangelizing going on in 20 different languages simultaneously, without really grasping what was happening.

Finally, Peter raised his voice to interpret what was happening:

God was keeping the promise he had made generations ago.
The word spoken by the prophets was now being fulfilled.
The promised redemption of all creation is now coming to pass.
“ And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Notice God does not say “everyone who understands it all is saved.”

God does not say, “Everyone who believes in the miracles will be saved.”

God does not even say, “Everyone who has an extraordinary religious experience like this will be saved.”

God says, “Here I AM. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

It’s a matter of trust in God.

– trusting that God knows what he is doing,

that God is giving life to his people,
that God is acting to redeem all creation,
that God is giving us ears to hear and tongues to speak
and hearts to tell of his mighty deeds,
because the Spirit of Jesus Christ risen from the dead
is poured out on us to give us God’s life – God’s love, God’s passion, God’s heart.

. . . . .

If you were baptized, then you are part of the living Body of Christ which lives and breathes by the Holy Spirit.

You have been set on fire and swept off your feet by God’s Spirit so that God might have his way with you.

The big bible word for that is sanctification – being made holy – being swept up into the passion of God by the Spirit of God.

This calls for daily trust in God to use you,

to make good of your life,
to place you where he needs you,
to give you opportunities to pray
and to assure others that God is alive and well in our world.

It is exciting to be sanctified – to be swept up by the Spirit and brought to new life.

It is also scary and perplexing.

It calls for trust –– trust in God to save us, and through us to save others by showing them Jesus.

Don’t worry that you don’t have what it takes – God is already equipping you!

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