THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
"If Anyone Loves Me, He Will Keep My Wordâ€
John 14:23-31; Acts 2:1-21
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This morning, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. There are many things to celebrate on this glorious day, but mainly we celebrate the faithfulness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He promised to send the Holy Spirit. He made this promise to His disciples many times while He was still with them, as we've heard in the Gospel lessons the last few weeks, and again this morning. In His promises, He described the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the Helper, and Power from on High. He promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would remind them of all that He had taught them and would empower them for the Ministry they were being sent out into the world to accomplish. Their days of hiding would cease. Their fear and weakness would be replaced by mighty courage and strength. They would boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. And, today, we celebrate the fact that the Lord was faithful to His promises, for He did indeed send the Holy Spirit.
It happened on the Day of Pentecost and the Lord couldn't have chosen a better day to send the Holy Spirit and reveal His Church to the world, for Jerusalem was packed with pilgrims on this Day. They had come to Jerusalem, by Divine ordinance, to celebrate the Feast of First Fruits, also known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest (Lev. 23:15-21). This Feast was observed fifty days after the ceremonial cutting of the first grain offering after the Passover Feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Hence the Greek word "Pentecost,†which means "fifty.†They came to this Feast to bring an offering of the first fruits of their newly harvested wheat to the Lord, along with sin offerings and peace offerings. It was a Day to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord, who gives grain to the sower and bread to those who eat. Over time, it also became a Day in which the Israelites celebrated the covenant the Lord made with His people, for rabbinical tradition held that Moses received the Torah from the Lord on Mt. Sinai on the Day of Pentecost. For the Jewish people, Pentecost, the Feast of First Fruits, was like the 4th of July and Thanksgiving Day rolled into one. They came in large numbers to this Feast. Estimates put the crowds at over 150,000, making Pentecost one of the most crowded days of the year in the holy city of Jerusalem. As I said, the Lord couldn't have chosen a better day to send the Holy Spirit and reveal His Church to the world.
The disciples were all gathered together in one place when it happened. A Mighty Wind from heaven swooped down and filled the room, tongues of fire appeared and rested on them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).
I doubt the disciples were expecting this. They knew the Holy Spirit was coming. They believed that the Lord would fulfill His promise. But, they couldn't have known how. They couldn't have known about the Wind and Fire and the miraculous ability to speak in tongues. And yet, when it happens, they don't fear it and they don't question it. They don't revel in amazement or take time to ponder the miracle. Instead, they preach. They proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the crowds. They're filled with the Holy Spirit for one purpose - to preach Christ crucified and risen to the crowds, that they may believe and receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.
That, my friends, is the miracle of Pentecost. It's not the Mighty Wind, tongues of fire, or speaking in tongues. Those are miracles, to be sure, but those miracles are given only to accomplish the real miracle at work here - the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, through the preaching of the Word.
In this way, the miracle of Pentecost continues to this day, for the Word preached to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost is the same Word preached to this, and many similar crowds, today. And that Word is this: You, yes you, every single one of you, is guilty of putting Jesus Christ to death. God sent His Son to save you, but you reject Him. You don't want Him. You want things your way. You want to remain in your sins, to remain in your greed and lust. You have no desire to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. The proof is in the pudding. Just look at how shamefully you treat God. You don't give Him your firstfruits. He's lucky to get your leftovers. You'll give Him your time, but only after you've done what you want to do. You'll give Him your talents, but only after you've put those talents to use accomplishing your own selfish wants and desires. And, you'll give Him your treasures, but only after you've accumulated those things you want for yourself. And, worst of all, you believe that your time, talents, and treasures are yours to do with as you please, that you have some inalienable right to decide when you put them to use in service to the Lord, as if the Church was an earthly organization that works for you and will get your support only when it satisfies you.
And, what of your neighbor? You treat your neighbor just as shamefully as you do God. You don't love your neighbor as yourself. Instead, you betray your neighbor daily. You gossip, slander, and backstab your neighbor. You preached to your children, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all,†but you, yourselves, have not practiced what you preached. You wield your tongue as a weapon against your neighbor, never giving thought to the damage and hurt it causes. You try to justify your actions by saying absurd things like, "I haven't said anything about so and so that I wouldn't say to his/her face.†Really? Well, then why not just say it to his/her face? Besides that, you're missing the point. You're not permitted by God's Word to say anything bad about so and so unless you say it to his/her face. And, you're to say it directly to his/her face not with an "I'm gonna tell him/her!†attitude, but with the hope, prayer, and intention of reconciliation.
If you're sitting in the pew not liking what you're hearing - good! You shouldn't like it. I don't like it either, for everything I just said applies just as much to me, a poor sinful wretch, as it does to all of you. We're all guilty of failing to love God with our whole heart and of failing to love our neighbors as ourselves. And, for this, we all deserve nothing but God's eternal wrath and punishment. We don't confess this every week just to fulfill some element of our liturgy. We confess it every week because it's true. None of us are exempt; we're all guilty. We may not like to hear this, but we must. The Law must be preached to us in its full severity. It must be preached so that it brings our sin to light and creates in us a sense of utter hopelessness. In short, it must kill us.
So it was with the Spirit-filled preaching of St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost. I doubt that the crowds liked hearing what he had to say. He proclaimed their guilt to them. He told them that the Blood of Jesus was on their hands, for they killed the Author of Life. The Spirit of Truth inspired him to preach the Law in its full severity to the crowds assembled before him. This was no fluff, fluff, motivational, loving, feel good message. It was a stern accusation, leaving them nowhere to hide! It was preached with one purpose in mind: To show them their guilt and hopelessness, so that they would be prompted to ask, "What, then, shall we do?â€
And when the Law has done its work, when it has struck its hearers to the heart and led them to plea for help, then, and only then, can the Gospel be delivered.
Do you recognize your sin? Do you realize your guilt? Do you acknowledge your utter hopelessness? Good, then hear this: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself†(Acts 2:38-39).
You are right. You deserve nothing but God's eternal wrath and punishment. But, God sent His Son into the world to take your place. He lived the life you fail to live. He suffered and died the death you deserved to die. Repent and be baptized in His Name and you shall be saved, for "all who call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved†(Acts 2:21).
The Pentecost message has not changed. The Holy Spirit was sent to empower the apostles to preach the Word - to convict people of sin through the Law and to point them to the Savior through the Gospel. This message is not to be preached just to bring people into the faith, but also to keep them in the faith. Do not think that, because you've been baptized, you no longer need to be shown your sins and urged to repent. You need this just as much today as you did when you first received the Holy Spirit. You must never be allowed to become comfortable, lest you fall away and forget how desperately you need the salvation which comes only through Christ.
Therefore, dear friends in Christ, on this Feast of Pentecost, rejoice that the full Word of God is preached in your midst. Give thanks that the Holy Spirit attends this Word to remind you of your sinfulness and urge you to repent. And, give thanks that, upon your repentance, the Holy Spirit points you to the Savior, Jesus Christ, through whom you have forgiveness, life, and salvation. This is the message and miracle of Pentecost, my friends, that sinners like you and me are brought to repentance and faith by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.
Leave your sins at the altar of the Lord this day. All of them - all of your greed and selfishness, all of your pride and prejudice, all of your gossip and backstabbing, all of your envy and lust - leave all of them at the altar, for Jesus Christ has paid their penalty in full with His Holy and Precious Blood. As a guarantee that your sins are forgiven and forgotten, He gives you to eat and drink of His Very Body and Blood - the very means by which the punishment for your sins was paid. Receive the Blessed Sacrament and depart with His peace, made perfectly new with His grace, so that you may go out into the world with strengthened faith toward God and with fervent love for one another.
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word.†This, my friends, is how you keep Christ's Word and reveal your love for Him, when you come to His House with the desire to confess your sins and amend your life by receiving the grace He delivers through His Holy Word and Sacraments. The miracle of Pentecost is that this grace is delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent just as the Lord promised. May that Pentecostal miracle exist among us now and forever. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.