The Festival of Pentecost – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon

Festival exordium:

When children are counting the days to their birthday, the days leading up to it go so slow. The anticipation builds and builds until finally… the day is here!

Just before His ascension, Jesus told the disciples, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Act. 1:5). What would that baptism be like? Jesus said it was not like the baptism that John administered with water. John had said of Jesus that He would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luk. 3:16).

The disciples’ anticipation grew with each passing day. Now it had been one day since the Lord’s ascension, then two, three, four, five. What did the disciples do while they waited? Filled with joy at Jesus’ promise, they together devoted themselves to prayer in Jerusalem (Act. 1:14). They also frequently worshipped in the temple, blessing God (Luk. 24:53).

Day six passed, then seven and eight and nine. Finally on day ten—a Sunday—the baptism promised by Jesus happened. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. If the candles on a birthday cake cause excitement, this fire was infinitely more exciting. Tongues of fire rested on the disciples, but we are not told where. Artists often depict it above their heads, but it may well have flashed from their mouths.

That’s where the power was—it was in the Word, God’s Word, the glad tidings spoken by the disciples. That’s where the power still is. We don’t see the fire, but the Holy Spirit still shines the light of salvation through the Word of God, which He has recorded for us in the Bible. This light flashes forth to enlighten our minds and gladden our hearts—even more gladness than little children feel on their birthday.

In celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian Church, let us rise to sing our festival hymn, #399:

O Light of God’s most wondrous love,
Who dost our darkness brighten,
Shed on Thy Church from heav’n above,
Our eye of faith enlighten!
As in Thy light we gather here,
Show us that Christ’s own promise clear
Is Yea and Amen ever.
O risen and ascended Lord,
We wait fulfillment of Thy Word;
O bless us with Thy favor!

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Sermon text: Acts 2:1-13

In Christ Jesus, who sent out the Holy Spirit from the Father to bear witness about His saving work to the whole world (Joh. 15:26), dear fellow redeemed:

It’s amazing how the same message can be heard in completely different ways depending on who the listener is. The disciples on Pentecost were speaking in other tongues, languages they had never known or spoken before. Some who heard them said, “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” But others just heard gibberish. They mocked the disciples and said, “They are filled with new wine—they are just babbling incoherently!”

This statement showed their ignorance. They did not understand what was being spoken, so they immediately brushed it aside. These skeptics were the first ones Peter addressed, when he spoke just after today’s reading. “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” he said, “let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day” (Act. 2:14-15)—9:00am!

They were not full of alcohol at this time of day. They were filled with God the Holy Spirit. He had been poured out upon them by God the Father and God the Son. Peter continued by quoting the words of the prophet Joel, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (v. 17). The Holy Spirit had come just as Jesus promised. The Holy Spirit had come to distribute the gifts that Jesus won for all sinners.

The Holy Spirit still works among us today. He works today in the same way that He worked on Pentecost. No, not with the sound of a “mighty rushing wind” or with “divided tongues as of fire,” as awesome as that would be. He works among us through words. That is especially what got the people’s attention. They heard about “the mighty works of God” in their own language. Their hearing of this powerful Word is what led 3,000 people that day to believe and be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mat. 28:19).

You have also been baptized in this way, and the Holy Spirit was poured out on you through the powerful Word. It is interesting to note that the evil spirits, the demons, hate the water. Jesus said, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none” (Mat. 12:43). But the Holy Spirit has been tied to water since the beginning. Genesis 1 says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (v. 2). And now the Spirit fills us—He is poured out on us—through the water and Word of Holy Baptism.

The apostle Paul encourages us to continue to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). He wrote this in his inspired letter to the Ephesians, again highlighting the contrast between the consumption of alcohol and the pouring out of the Spirit. He writes, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (5:17-18).

“Debauchery” is a word that refers to wild parties, carousing, the excessive indulgence of ungodly appetites. That is the door that drunkenness opens. The over-consumption of alcohol impairs good sense, it dulls the conscience, it makes us more willing to do what we know we should not do. It puts ourselves and others at risk physically and especially spiritually. That is foolishness and not the will of the Lord.

The Lord’s will is that we are filled with the Spirit, and Paul outlines what this results in. He writes that those who are filled with the Spirit “[address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” This is why we sing in church, even if we don’t think we can sing very well. We’re not singing to win any competitions. We sing to encourage one another. We sing the message of salvation to each other. We Lutherans have the best hymns ever produced, because we believe, teach, confess, and sing the pure Gospel by the grace of God.

We who are filled with the Spirit also “[sing] and [make] melody to the Lord with [our] heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 19-20). This has to be the Spirit’s work, because our hearts are not always filled with a song of praise toward God the Father. We do not give thanks “for everything” to God. But we should.

We were created by God the Father and redeemed by God the Son to praise Him through our actions, words, and thoughts. This praise should never stop, no matter what pain or sadness or turmoil we are feeling, because there is no goodness and no mercy apart from our God.

But as willing as our sanctified spirit may be, our sinful flesh is weak (Mat. 26:41). We focus on the troubles more than the blessings. We see what is going badly instead of what is going well. This perspective leads many to look for help in the wrong places, to temporary fixes that create lasting problems, like the bottle. These temptations only leave us more parched and more desperate than we were before. Only the Spirit can quench our thirst for help and salvation.

Jesus once told a woman at a well, a woman who had filled up her life with sin, that everyone who drinks regular water will be thirsty again. But He had a different kind of water to give, living water (Joh. 4:10-14). On another occasion, Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (Joh. 7:37-38). This “living water” is the Holy’s Spirit work to bring us the salvation of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is poured into believers through the Word and Sacraments. This is where we drink deeply of the Spirit, where we are filled with the living water of Jesus that washes away our sin. We come thirsty, parched from our wandering in the world’s wilderness, desperate for forgiveness. We come with our ears wide open and eager to hear the truth. We come to hear in our own tongue “the mighty works of God.”

We want to hear again and again what Jesus has accomplished for us, how He saved us from our foolish behavior, from our desire for what harms us, from our addiction to sin. He died for all these sins, and He rose again to declare that none of them is counted against you or me anymore.

The Spirit fills you with the forgiveness and life of Jesus. He covers you in His righteousness. Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Joh. 16:13,14). This is what the Holy Spirit does for you. He refuels your faith. He refreshes your spirit. He brings you the fruits of Jesus’ perfect work, so that you are comforted and strengthened in this life and prepared for the eternal life to come.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

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(picture from stained glass at Saude Lutheran Church)