St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Pentecost June 4, 2017
Prayer of the Day:
Holy Spirit, God and Lord, come to us this joyful day with your sevenfold gifts of grace. Rekindle in our hearts the holy fire of your love that in a true and living faith we may tell abroad the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Verse of the Day:
Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia. (From the antiphon: Come, Holy Spirit)
Sermon Text:
I love a good mystery. Some of my favorite television shows fall into this particular type of entertainment. I love to try and figure out who did it and how they did it before the show reveals the fiend for all to see. Sherlock Holmes, who has undergone his fair share of character remakes ranks high on the list of “Who Dun It’s” on my list. Sometimes I have it all figured out before I’m halfway in. Other times I’m left wondering how, and who in the carefully choreographed plot twists and turns.
It would appear that many in Jerusalem were left with that feeling after the events of Pentecost. Most didn’t have it all figured out until Peter lifted the veil of mystery on the whole scene. So today we view Pentecost under this lens. It’s a real “Who Dun It” answered by the Holy Spirit.
There are plenty of clues left for us to contemplate. The Festival of Weeks or the Festival of Harvest was in full swing. The final barley harvest would bring in the sheaves in what is late May or Early June on our calendar. The streets were packed with pilgrims who were required to make the trip to Jerusalem in order to rejoice in the manifold gifts which God had granted to a largely agrarian or farm centered, people.
The disciples as well as many of the followers of Jesus are all here too. As Jews they had to be. As Jesus close companions, they were following His instructions, given in the Gospel lesson today, to wait for the Counselor He would send. They are all gathered together in one place. Some have posited that it was in fear of the crowds gathered outside. Others simply because of the previously mentioned wishes of Jesus. Regardless of their motives, Jesus’ promise is about to be fulfilled.
Suddenly, we are told, there is a sound like the blowing of a violent wind. Already the mystery has begun. A sound without the fury. The roar without the force of air flying around. Already we see hints of who is at work. The word for wind in Hebrew is the same as that of Spirit, apparently a common manifestation of His presence and power.
The tongues of fire are next. Separating and coming to rest on the followers of Jesus. Another clue. God regularly reveals Himself in fire in the Old Testament. Consider the burning bush and Moses, the fire and smoke of Sinai as Israel gathered below, and yes the Words of John as he spoke of Jesus, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11).”
Then tongues of fire give way to the tongues of the disciples themselves. They begin to speak in the various languages of those gathered for the festival. They all hear it. The words of the prophet Joel stand fulfilled.
At this point and with these clues, I would hope we already have it figured out. This is no wild scheme of the disciples to impress the people. It is the very fulfillment of the Scriptures themselves as the real miracle of Pentecost comes into focus. The Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts and minds of His people.
But the people are a bit slower than we are as those who have the benefit of the weight of the work of the giants of theology to lean upon. We are told they are bewildered even as they are amazed at what they hear. A few would be Sherlocks even try their hand at the events they see. They mock the followers of Christ and suggest that they are simply drunk, mumbling gibberish for the itching ears of those gathered in the streets. It’s not until the Spirit works in the confession of Peter to call the masses to faith and thousands are enlightened by the gifts of the Spirit and rejoice in the promises of Holy Baptism that they clearly understand the events before them. The real miracle worker of Pentecost answers our question of how all this can happen? Only by the hand of the almighty Himself. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
But even as we marvel at the answer to our Who Dun it, there is another question that deserves our attention. The joke is often made that the first Lutherans step up to the mic at Pentecost with their pointed question, “What does this mean?”
The answer forces us to take in all the clues which God leaves us. The sound of the Spirit, the fires of God burning brightly upon His people, uneducated followers speaking eloquently in languages they have previously not known, even the results as the New Testament Church leaps into existence in a matter or moments, in one day, it all would answer that question for us.
How does God grow His church? The temptation is to focus on the amazing sites of the day and forget who’s really working behind the scenes. The Holy Spirit grows His church as He focuses on the Words and promises of the Holy Scriptures, as He calls us and others in the waters of Holy Baptism and nourishes us in the Divine food of Holy Communion.
How often aren’t we like that crowd memorized by the bright and shining lights of golden tongues and the promise of programs. We are tempted to believe that our works and our actions are the real miracles of Pentecost, the things that truly grow God’s church. Now don’t get me wrong, God wants His people to proclaim His Word with power and to work hard to bring in the sheaves of salvation from within our communities. But this requires a power larger than our own. All of the bravado of man and the power of programs ultimately will do is leave people wondering about how this can be happening and what it all means.
It’s not until the Word of God is proclaimed, until the sacraments are administered rightly according to their institution by Christ that the gifts of the Spirit become evident in the life of the Church of God. These are the Means of Grace through which God grows His Church as He pours out His Spirit on His people. As that Word is proclaimed it convicts us of our sinfulness and connects us through faith to the Savior who lived and died and rose for us.
As we live in the Word, our lives are forever changed. Others lives are changed as well as we hold out the message of Christ and Him crucified for all. This is what the Spirit led Peter to proclaim to the people that day. This is want prepares God’s people for His return on the last day. This is what saves us as the Spirit connects us to Christ and His saving work.
Do we want the miracles of Pentecost to surge within the Church of God? Do we desire to hear the rushing of the Spirit’s wind? Do we yearn for the fires of faith to rage in the lives of those around us? Then God would direct us to the Word and to the Sacraments where He sends the Spirit into our hearts.
And then mystery of mysteries, Pentecost continues. As men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers huddle around the Word at home, and usher in their children to church, as they devote their lives to their God in the various vocations into which He has called them. People will ask their questions. Bewildered and amazed they will seek the answers to the mysteries of the Spirit they behold as we quietly live for Jesus. The Church will grow. Not because of our might or our power, but because of the God who is at work within our lives as He plugs us into the power of His Means of Grace.
Oh, it happens! I see it all the time in this building as children and adults are taught the truths of a Savior who died and rose for them. I marvel at it as parents bring their children in for worship and as husbands and wives live forgiveness every day. As we behold the signs, we see the miracle. We see the answer to the mystery of how God grows His church. It’s a real “who dun it” answered by the Spirit at Pentecost. Amen!