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Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-13 + John 14:23-31
The high feast of Pentecost is the culmination of the Easter season and, really, of the entire Church Year. So it will be good for us to hear what the Scriptures say about all the amazing events of that day. You heard already the Epistle from Acts 2:1-13. Listen now to the rest of the story, through verse 42. (Acts 2:14-42 is read.)
How would you know who the believers in Jesus were on the Day of Pentecost and in the days following? You couldn’t see their faith or their love for God which flows from faith. But what you could see were their actions. Some 3,000 were baptized, and then—they didn’t just get baptized—but then they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. You could tell who the believers were by what they did. As Jesus said in the Gospel, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
So it is with the Holy Spirit. You can’t see the Spirit of God. But you know Him by what He does. Now, the Scriptures are full of the deeds—and the words! —of the Holy Spirit. But today, on the Day of Pentecost, God gives us the opportunity to know Him and His Holy Spirit through the mighty works of the Spirit revealed on Pentecost.
First, there were the three signs from heaven. The sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind in the place where Jesus’ disciples were gathered. They were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do. He had commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father—the sending of the Holy Spirit. How were they to know He had arrived? By the sound of rushing wind. Early in His ministry, Jesus told Nicodemus, The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. So this sound of wind was a sign that the Spirit had come, and that He would continue to blow like the wind throughout the world, converting sinners to God when and where it pleases Him.
Then there were the divided tongues, as of fire, that sat on each of the disciples. What were they to know about the Spirit from these tongues of fire? Well, tongues are for speaking, and fire is for burning and spreading, like the wildfires that sometimes ravage our land. The Holy Spirit would allow the disciples to “speak with fire.” That’s like what God said through the prophet Jeremiah, Is not My word like a fire? says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. In other words, the Holy Spirit would be working through the preaching of the Apostles to set hearts on fire—to break through stubborn hearts and bring sinners to see their own wickedness, to fear God’s wrath, to sorrow over their sins, and then He would kindle faith in their hearts—faith that looks to Christ and His sacrifice for sin, so that there they might find a gracious Father, who forgives sin for the sake of Christ alone.
Finally, there was the speaking in tongues—in different languages that they had never learned, languages that were understood by all the Jews who were visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost from the other countries where they lived. What did that reveal about the Holy Spirit? That He would accompany the Apostles throughout the world as they discharged their office of speaking the Gospel to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Now, you may wonder why we don’t see these signs still today. Well, remember, two of these three signs never happened again—the supernatural sound of wind and the tongues as of fire. The speaking in tongues was given as a sign of the Spirit here and there during the days of the Apostles, as well as other miraculous signs like prophecies of the future and the healing of the sick. The signs were there to confirm the testimony of the apostles, to show the world that the Holy Spirit really was working through their preaching. But as in all things, once something has been confirmed, it doesn’t need to keep being confirmed over and over again forever.
So much for the spectacular signs of the Spirit’s work. But the gifts of the Spirit are not restricted to external, miraculous signs. Even more important are His other gifts, many of which we see revealed at Pentecost.
Look at the powerful preaching of the Apostle Peter on that day, when the crowds were attracted by the commotion caused by the signs. See the boldness that was lacking before, when he and the others were hiding in fear from the Jewish authorities. And especially note in Peter’s preaching, the emphasis on the person and work of Christ Jesus, and how he correctly ties together the Old Testament prophecies and shows how they pointed to Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. That’s a mark of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus Himself had said: The Spirit will testify about Me. Or again, He will glorify Me. Or again in today’s Gospel: He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Fearless, Christ-centered, consistently Scriptural preaching is a work of the Holy Spirit.
And not the preaching only, but also the Sacraments are tied to the Spirit’s work: Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say that Baptism is? It is to be born again of water and the Spirit. What did Paul call Baptism? The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Christ-centered preaching. Baptismal regeneration or rebirth. Those are the Spirit’s works, even though they’re performed by men. But there’s yet another work of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in the response of the hearers.
What was the response of many who heard Peter’s preaching on that day? They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Cut to the heart. In other words, the Spirit-filled words that Peter spoke had an effect on the people. His revelation of their sin, especially their sin in enabling the crucifixion of the Christ, worked godly contrition or sorrow in their hearts. And then, when he proclaimed the promise of the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name, in Holy Baptism, what was the response? Some 3,000 were baptized on that day.
Now, faith, trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, isn’t something a person can come up with on his own. It’s a gift of God, St. Paul says. It comes by hearing. Or as he writes to the Corinthians, no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. All those who believed the Apostle’s message on that day, and every day after that day, are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work.
And not just the initial faith, but also the continued devotion to God’s Word and Sacraments, to the whole truth proclaimed to them by the Apostles; the deeds of love that followed as Christians loved one another, supported one another, forgave one another, and lived together in harmony with one another and at peace with the world, wherever possible; also, the ongoing repentance of the believers, the growth in righteousness and sanctification, the daily struggle between the New Man and the Old Man, the inner peace of the believers, who know what it is to have peace in the midst of all the turmoil of this world, the peace that Jesus promised to His disciples in today’s Gospel: Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. All these things are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work.
Preaching and the Sacraments. Faith-filled hearing. And all the godly works that follow. In short, the Holy Christian Church on earth is the work of the Holy Spirit. It the thing that the Spirit has built. It is the thing that the Spirit sustains and preserves. It is the thing that stands throughout the world as a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s power and working, even as the doctrinal divisions in the Christian Church stand as testimonies to the demon spirit’s working. But still, the Church stands. And still the Church will continue to stand and to thrive—spiritually, if not externally—until the Holy Spirit finishes His work by raising up our dead bodies on the Last Day and giving eternal life “to me and all believers in Christ.”
This is the power of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit working every day in the Church, and in the world, through the Church, through Word and Sacrament, as we preach and as we hear. You don’t see the Holy Spirit working directly, but without His presence in the Church, there would be no Church, and you would have no faith, no love for God or your neighbor, no hope, and no peace. But thanks be to God! The Lord Jesus kept His promise and sent the Spirit into the world, to bring us into His kingdom and to keep us here, and to sanctify to Himself people who love Him and who keep His word, that He may dwell within us and among us, both here in time, and there in eternity. May your Spirit-worked faith be known in the world by your love for Jesus and by your keeping of His word! Amen.
