PentecostJesse JacobsenTypeset
Last Modified: "Sat May 10 21:31:35 2008" |
1 The Spirit blesses us with true unity.
In the Beginning, God created Man as a special creature.
Adam and Eve had bodies of flesh, like the animals
yet they could speak to God with words of reason.
The gift of speech has endured to this day,
Though Man fell into sin, we also have this gift.
But in our spirit of rebellion,
Men spoke to one another long ago, saying (Gen. 11:4)
“Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.
Let us build ourselves a city,
and a tower whose top is in the heavens.
Let us make a name for ourselves,
lest we be scattered abroad
over the face of the whole earth.
This was contrary to God’s command (Gen. 9:1):
Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Mankind was united at the Tower of Babel:
united in rebellion against God,
which is death.
But God did not want death to be our end.
He said: (11:7) Come, let Us go down
and there confuse their language,
that they may not understand one another’s speech.
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there
over the face of all the earth,
and they ceased building the city.
The Confusion of Language may seem like a curse,
but it served God’s gracious purpose for our good.
He thwarted Man’s evil rebellion,
and provided for our salvation.
Jesus Christ was born, lived, and died,
and doing this, He redeemed fallen Man.
After that, God reversed the confusion of languages
in service again to His own gracious will.
He reversed the confusion of languages on one day,
to bestow the greatest blessing upon all nations:
His Word of reconciliation,
of forgiveness and peace with God through Jesus Christ.
While sin has united mankind in death,
God Himself now unites mankind in His Word of Life.
In this way, the Holy Spirit blessed His Church at Pentecost
and blesses us also now, with true unity.
2 Acts 2:1–11
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then
there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were
dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were
confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are
not all these who speak Galileans? “And how is it that we hear, each in
our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites,
those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene,
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs — we
hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
2.1 Sin unites mankind in death.
The part of our text that you may understand the least
is a part we should think about:
that list of places
from which the men in Jerusalem had traveled.
This was one of the chief festivals for the Jews.
It was the festival of Shavuot, or Weeks.
Three times a year every male Jew
was to travel and gather in Jerusalem.
The Feast of Weeks came at the beginning of wheat harvest,
and corresponds for the Jews with the giving of the Torah.
But many Jews had made homes in distant lands.
They were citizens of foreign countries:
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites from the direction of Iraq.
Mesopotamia and Judea near the Mediterranean.
Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia in present-day Turkey,
as well as Phrygia and Pamphylia.
The Africans from Egypt and Cyrene in modern Libya,
Those living in Rome, the Mediterranean island Crete,
and even Arabs from the southern deserts.
Yet all of them were either Jews or proselytes to the faith,
whom our text calls “devout men.”
They came to celebrate Shavuot.
You might know enough geography to see in your mind’s eye,
how these devout men came from far away, all around Judea,
from Libya to Iran,
from Turkey to Saudi Arabia.
It’s a large area, and full of war.
Think of how rarely men from all those places gather in peace.
But there they were, gathered for Shavuot.
Now, there seems to be so much war and bloodshed:
terrorism,
mad dictators jealous of our freedom,
twisted, murderous zealots bent upon our destruction.
Much of it seems to come from that same area.
Who can understand them?
We understand better when we look closer to home.
Our homeland is blessed.
So blessed that people come here to make their fortune,
to support their families,
to raise families in the freedom to do their best.
But there is much strife in this very land:
between native-born Americans and native Mexicans,
between descendants of Europeans, Africans, and Asians,
between those living on opposite sides of the mountains,
or of the city,
or of the tracks, the street, or the fence.
Though this land is blessed,
it holds men and women with that same sinful heart:
the fallen heart of Man.
Capulet versus Montague,
Crip versus Blood,
Sackett versus Bigalow,
Hatfield versus McCoy,
Catholic versus Lutheran,
Christian versus Mormon,
Brother versus Sister,
Husband versus Wife…
and the bitter strife goes on and on.
People wonder why.
Some offer help, like Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura.
Some want to blame God.
It was He that confused our languages at the Tower of Babel.
It was He that drove mankind apart to fill the earth.
But He’s not really the cause of our suffering.
It’s us.
We are divided by the very thing that united mankind at Babel,
by the thing that all earth-bound humanity still has in common:
our sin.
Mankind is united by its opposition to God;
Mankind is united in death.
At Babel, Man sought his glory
through the blessing of his own language.
But the words of man are short-lived,
and have only limited power.
Our words speak of earthly things, and of evil.
Our words are words of sin, uniting mankind only in death.
2.2 God unites mankind with Himself in His Word of Life.
At Pentecost, God brought about a miracle.
Hear it again:
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then
there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
There are really two things happening here of great importance.
One was the special miracle of speaking in foreign languages.
These were human languages,
specifically those from the areas we heard about before.
The disciples had not learned them,
but they suddenly spoke in them,
reversing the effect of Babel.
This shows that God was no longer driving humanity apart,
but drawing us together.
Jesus had predicted the same thing (John 12:32):
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all peoples to Myself.
But this was no circus act, only for entertainment.
The point was not the speaking in tongues:
it was what they were saying!
Our text tells us that the disciples spoke
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
In other words, they said what He wanted them to say.
Now, they might have used their own figures of speech.
They might have spoken with their own accents,
but they said what He gave them to say.
So the second thing of great importance
is that God’s Word was spoken
for the hearing of many people.
Those disciples weren’t giving their testimonies,
or asking their hearers for a commitment or a prayer.
They weren’t speaking the old message of mankind,
the words of sin and death.
They were speaking God’s Word.
What word from God did they speak?
There are some who hold the Ten Commandments
as the most important Word from God,
because anyone who keeps them will obtain eternal life.
The Ten Commandments are as important as any other part,
and they would grant eternal life to those who keep them.
But they demand the good works we owe to God.
The Commandments demand good works from us.
The devout men who heard the disciples said this:
we hear them speaking in our own tongues
the wonderful works of God.
So the Word from God on Pentecost
was not about what Man must work,
but about what God has worked,
and what He continues to work:
the wonderful works of God.
We’re not speaking in tongues — as far as I can tell,
but the Holy Spirit is still gathering His Church.
In fact, we could celebrate Pentecost
as the birthday of the Holy, Christian Church.
The Holy Spirit is gathering us the same way:
through the Word of God about His wonderful works.
Our sinful nature may rebel against it,
but every Sunday, the Holy Spirit works among His people,
in places like this.
He gives us the message,
and charges His ministers to speak as He directs.
We’re not inspired like the Apostles were then.
But we have His Word recorded in Holy Scripture.
It says:
we all must repent of our sins both inwardly and outwardly.
Our penalty is death,
but it was suffered by God’s Son in our place.
We are forgiven, justified,
and now sanctified as God’s own adopted children.
He washes us pure and clean in Baptism.
He feeds us with the body and blood He gave for us.
He guides us with the beacon-light of His Word.
He comforts us with the promise of salvation.
Jesus has atoned for the sins of the world,
so that we all stand redeemed.
Now, all who believe in Him are counted righteous
not because of our testimonies,
or our commitments, or prayers,
or even our obedience.
But because of God’s love for us in Christ.
Those are the wonderful works of God.
Now, we have a true Father in God,
and we have a true mother in the Church,
which gives us birth through the watery womb of Baptism.
What a great time to celebrate Pentecost, on Mother’s Day!
Once, we had only sin and death in common.
Now, the Holy Spirit has given us forgiveness and life.
Now, we are united with God and with each other
by strong ties that bind our hearts in godly love.
God has brought us together by His Word of life.
For your sins —
our sins are forgiven.
Now, the Holy Spirit truly unites us.
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HEVEA.