Old Testament Ezekiel 37:1–14
Psalm Psalm 139:1–12 (13–16)
Epistle Acts 2:1–21
Gospel John 15:26–27, 16:4b–15
EPISTLE - Acts 2:1–21
2 When
the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And
suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as
of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now
there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under
heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were
bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are
speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own
native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them
telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were
amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But
others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But
Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men
of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear
to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it
is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through
the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be,
God declares,
that I will pour out my
Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female
servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens
above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the
great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone
who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
GOSPEL - John 15:26–27, 16:4b–15
26 “But
when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of
truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And
you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
4 But I
have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that
I told them to you.
“I did not
say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But
now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that
I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I
go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because
they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to
the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I
still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,
for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will
speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will
glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All
that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine
and declare it to you.
Come, Holy Spirit
Today is the fiftieth day after easter, Pentecost. Throughout the season of Easter, Jesus demonstrated that he is risen, and he taught his disciples before ascending up into heaven. He made them a promise throughout his forty days, that he would send them a helper and they were to witness of what he has done. And ten days after His ascension the Apostles went out and confessed and witnessed speaking in tongues. Pentecost is often associated with tongues of fire, and the Apostles speaking out in tongues, but the true focus this day is the Holy Spirit. For the holy spirit was sent into the world, as a comforter, councilor, and as a witness so that all humanity could hear and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
It is easy to set our focus on the big and flashy things, because they draw our attention, they keep us coming back for more. And so for this Pentecost Sunday we of course give note to the sounds of the rushing winds and the tongues of flame that rest upon all the witnesses of God the incarnate Son. Also the speaking in tongues is a great attention getter. To speak in tongues is to speak a language that the speaker does not already know and the hearers understand. To speak but not be understood would be worthless. The Lutheran Church is a church that boasts in the confessions of the historic church, but we don’t still confess, Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem,Factórem cæli et terræ,Visibílium ómnium et invisibílium. Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,Fílium Dei Unigénitum,Et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula. We confess this whenever we have communion, yet most here do not understand it even though Latin was the language of the church for centuries. Well we are good Lutherans, so perhaps another option of german would get a few more people, Ich glaube an Gott, den Vater,den Allmächtigen, but seeing as I don’t even know German, I dont think it would help all that much. No while these and other languages are the languages of the church historic, they mean nothing without understanding. True the church has spoken many languages over the years, but they mean little outside of their context. The substance of the message is lost without translation. But when the Apostles spoke in many languages appearing drunk to some of the passersby, there were not speaking gibberish, they were not speaking dead languages that only scholars knew. No. they were speaking the tongues of the people so that all could hear and understand the message. They were guided through the gifts of the spirit.
Speaking in tongues is considered a gift of the spirit. And, there are many churches that put special emphasis on receiving the gifts of the spirit. Some see it as a sign of truly believing, a sign that God has chosen them for a special calling. Some of these churches even have their new members fill out spiritual gifts inventories, so that their special skills and desires can be fully realized. It is good to recognize that you are a good teacher, or someone that is good at maintenance, but attempting to focus only upon our skills puts our thoughts not on above, but below. Trying only to receive the Holy Spirit is awefully short sighted and narrow focused.
It is perhaps unique that we speak about the holy spirit in the lutherand church, because of what the role of the holy spirit is according to the biblical accounts. Bbecause the holy spirit’s entire purpose is to direct our gaze upon the Father and the Son. In fact, if our focus did not turn to the Father and the Son, but focused solely upon the Spirit, we would be misunderstanding the spirit. For when Jesus spoke about the Spirit he said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, the will bear witness about me.” Yes the winds, and the flames, and the spoken tongues are good right and salutary, but the truly impressive thing that the holy spirit did was a lot more subtle. He gave the words to the apostles to preach. For while it was prophesied that a great signs and wonders would be done in Joel, the focus was not upon the deeds, but upon the result. ““ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” (Acts 2:17–21, ESV)
In our gospel Jesus knew that he would be leaving the disciples soon, but he was promising that they would not be left on their own, instead the helper, the Holy Spirit would proceedeth from the Father and witness to them about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13–15, ESV) If any spirit comes and preaches about himself or about the Jesus revealed through the scriptures, that is a false spirit, one of deceit and not of God. Instead the helper came to direct us to the one and only saving faith in Jesus Christ.
We many never receive an experience quite as visually stunning as the apostles and the tongues of flame or the impressive sounds of rushing winds to herald witness in Chirst. Most of us, including myself, have a hard enough time speaking in English that we probably will never experience speaking in tongues either. But we have received spirit of truth through the washing in the blood of Jesus Christ through the waters of Baptism. We may rejoice and know that the Spirit moves in us, often quietly, so that we may know and confess that Jesus Christ is our lord and savior, that through love and grace he died on the cross, was laid in the tomb, and rose eternally defeating death, the devil, and all the powers of sin and darkness. All this he did for our sake. AMEN.
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