230528 Sermon on Pentecost being a great Christian festival

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

Today I would like to speak with you about why Pentecost is a great Christian festival. Pentecost is one of the three great Christian festivals. Christmas and Easter are the other two. Among these three, there is a tendency for Pentecost to be overshadowed. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Christmas. It’s when the Son of God was born as a baby boy. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Easter. It’s when the Son of God defeated death. Because he lives, those who believe in him will live also. Folks are probably not as aware of the meaning and importance of Pentecost.

So what is the meaning and importance of Pentecost? You heard about the events of Pentecost in our second reading. There was a mighty rushing wind. Something like tongues of flame appeared above the heads of the disciples. They were able to speak in such a way that people could understand them even though they spoke a different language. What they spoke about were the “mighty works of God.”

Then the Apostle Peter stood up before the crowd of Jews, many of whom were hostile to him and to Christ. At least some of those in the crowd had been involved in crucifying Jesus. Prior to Pentecost the disciples had been so afraid of these Jews that they had been hiding behind locked doors, and Peter had denied that he knew the Lord three times. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the other disciples speak plainly and courageously. They no longer fear what man can do to them, because they know that God is for them. Many of these disciples are going to keep on preaching that Jesus is Christ and Lord until they are eventually put to death for it.

You can see, therefore, that the Holy Spirit changes the disciples. He gives them faith that Jesus Christ is their Lord. He gives them love, joy, peace, and his other fruits. He gives them courage to say things that are true, good, and right, even though the powers of darkness gnash their teeth and start plotting their revenge.

So the meaning of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit is given to the disciples; he is given to the Christian Church. The importance of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit causes people to believe in Jesus as the almighty king who saves sinners. The Holy Spirit additionally gives Christians spiritual gifts.

Without Pentecost, and without the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’s work of salvation would lie in the dust. It would not be known. It would not be believed in. It would not spring forth into life and growth. The Holy Spirit causes life by applying what Jesus has done. The Holy Spirit brings to completion Jesus’s work of making us holy.

Because of its great importance, Pentecost deserves its place as one of the three great Christian festivals. It is just as important for our salvation as Christmas or Easter. And yet, despite my best efforts, I wouldn’t be surprised if I have failed to create any great love for this festival in you. There’s something about this festival that doesn’t capture the imagination like Christmas or Easter. Maybe it’s the stories and the customs. Maybe Pentecost just isn’t grand enough, impressive enough. After all, the main thing that Pentecost seems to accomplish is talking. Talking can be awfully boring.

So maybe if we were God we would do things differently. What if instead of causing the disciples to speak about Jesus as the Christ, as the great King, the Holy Spirit would make lightning come out of our fingertips? Or maybe he could make our eyes be like lasers, cutting through steel and stone. Then everyone in the world would be terribly impressed with us.

Or what if we could just have some of those miracles that we read about in the Bible? What if we could heal people? What if we could raise the dead? Or if all of this is too much trouble, what if we could just speak in tongues like they did on Pentecost? That sounds like it would be a lot more interesting than listening to a sermon like the one I am speaking to you today. It seems like these unusual things would make the church grow too. People might come from far and wide if we could drum up a little razzle dazzle instead of all this talking.

But all of this “I would do it differently if I were God” talk sounds familiar. I’d like to compare it to the complaining that the Israelites did in the wilderness. When God led them out of Egypt they eventually ran out of food so that they grew hungry. So each day God gave them their daily bread with the manna that would come with the morning dew. At first, they were happy enough with it. Eating manna was a lot better than starving to death. It didn’t taste too bad either. It was sweet and nutty. Each morning it came like clockwork. Eventually, though, they got sick of it. They actually say, “We loathe this worthless bread. If only we could go back to Egypt. Sure, we were slaves in Egypt, but at least we’d get a cucumber or some garlic every once in a while instead of always having this miserable manna.”

Whenever I read about the Israelites in the wilderness I am always struck by how we are just like them. If anything, though, we Christians are worse than them. The manna that we have as Christians is a much higher and better thing than what the Israelites ever had. Our manna is Jesus. Pentecost gives us Jesus.

Jesus speaks about how our bread as Christians is better than any manna that the Israelites ever ate. Jesus says to the Jews, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. I am the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” Jesus then says, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Some of the Jews who were listening to Jesus grumbled at his teaching. Some of you might be inwardly grumbling too: “What is this mumbo jumbo? How can Jesus give his flesh for the life of the world? How does that even work?” But it is not hard to understand what Jesus is claiming. You might not agree with what Jesus is claiming or see how it is possible, but the words are clear. Jesus is greater, better, more life giving than the manna. Whoever eats of him has eternal life.

What Jesus is speaking about is the Gospel, the good news. This is what is extraordinary about Pentecost. These words about Jesus are what was spread abroad by the power of the Holy Spirit beginning at Pentecost. The Gospel is greater than any sign or miracle we might read about in the Bible. As Jesus says, he gives eternal life. This Gospel is among us.

And let me briefly mention the Sacraments which are also among us with the power of the Holy Spirit. We are given baptism. The Scriptures tell us that this baptism unites us with Christ. By this baptism we die with Christ and we rise with Christ. By this baptism we are born again by the water and the Spirit so that we may see the kingdom of God. Again, you might grumble inwardly and say, “What is this mumbo jumbo? How can water do such great things?” But that’s your problem. You aren’t believing his words. You aren’t appreciating what he says.

And on the night when Jesus was betrayed he gave us disciples his body and blood. He says, “This is my body which is given for you.” He says, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” I didn’t say those words. Jesus says them. Again you might inwardly groan and say, “I hate this worthless bread. Church is so boring. Communion only makes it longer. Where’s the razzle dazzle?” Such a reaction doesn’t surprise me because we are just like the Israelites. They, too, grumbled. They, too, failed to understand what God was doing. They, too, would have done things differently if they were God instead of the Lord.

Despite their faithlessness, though, God was faithful. Jesus prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” I think we could apply those words to ourselves if we are at all lackluster about what is given to us at Pentecost. We know not what we do if we think Pentecost and the works of the Holy Spirit’s church are just words—just a bunch of talking. Sure, there is talking, but what magnificent talking it is if you will only believe it!

For example, Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “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.’” Wow. Again, in the portion of Scripture we were referencing earlier, Jesus says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I abide in him.” Magnificent.

The only way that anyone can fail to appreciate these words or to regard them as worthless is through unbelief. Unfortunately, there is nothing that comes easier or more naturally to us than unbelief, just as it came so easily and naturally to the Israelites too. If I were God I’d have given up a long time ago and moved on, but God is long-suffering, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

God doesn’t change either. The manna that he kept sending down upon the Israelites day after day was just as sweet and nutty as it ever was regardless of whether the Israelites loved it or loathed it. So it is also with the work of the Holy Spirit, the greatness of Pentecost. It is just as forgiving, cleansing, healing, sanctifying, and eternal-life-giving as ever. It is not God or his promises that need to change. What needs to change is our faith in the stupendous things that God says and does through his Holy Spirit in his church with the Gospel.

There will always be those who will say, “We loathe this worthless food.” Not everybody was converted even on Pentecost as you heard. There were some there who said, “These disciples have had a little too much grape juice.” So it is also among us. It is not hard to find people who have so many other things that they would rather be doing than listening to a talk about Pentecost. They are so preoccupied with the cares, concerns and pleasures of life that the work of the Holy Spirit in his church is about the furthest thing from their minds.

May it not be so with you. Even if heaven and earth were to pass away, Jesus’s words will never pass away. They will always do what they promise. They will always bless those who believe in him.