Day of Pentecost A

Todd Cook

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Day of Pentecost, Year A

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

“Easter is the central feast of the Christian year. Christmas and Epiphany are preparations for it; Pentecost is its culmination. Lent prepares for Easter and the seven weeks of Easter celebrate the rich mystery of life out of death, cross and resurrection, renewal by the Spirit of God. Every Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s mighty rising ‘on the first day of the week.’ It is a time of glad and joyful celebration marked not by obligation and duty but by willing and eager participation in the recreation of the universe. The centrality of Easter leads to the primacy of Sunday over other days and other festivals.” [Pfatteicher & Messerli, Manual on the Liturgy (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1979), pp 13-14.]

Our celebration of the greatest festival in our faith: the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is now completed, and we continue our church year by recognizing the event [that] is regarded by Luke as the birthday of the Church: the Day of Pentecost. [Eduard Lohse, “Πεντηκοστή,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 50.]

The word itself: “pentecost” comes from the Greek word for “fifty” or the “fiftieth day”. Pentecost was originally a Jewish festival, celebrated 50 days after the Passover. As Easter is now our Christian Passover, and the Easter season is a “week of weeks” or 49 days, the 50th day is what we celebrate today. “The risen Christ, having shown himself to his disciples and hanving ascended, sends the promised gift of the Spirit to the expectant church. The coming of the Spirit gives the church the power and the necessary gifts to carry the glad news of the resurrection from Jerusalem to Galilee to the ends of the earth. The color of the Day of Pentecost is bright red, symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit.” [Pfatteicher, pg. 26]

“Why fire for the Holy Spirit?” you might ask. Certainly, the easy answer is because of the “divided tongues as of fire” in Acts 2. But that is just one example. In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit appeared in fire (in the burning bush to Moses, in the pillar of fire, guiding the people through the Red Sea…). In Matthew and Luke, John the Baptist describes Jesus as “…he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

With that in mind, let’s talk about today’s Old Testament reading for a moment. Here we see God responding to a complaint from Moses: “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.” [Numbers 11:14] Imagine that, one person trying to do everything, and he gets burned out. Can any of you relate? So God has him gather 70 elders, and they all receive the Holy Spirit. Now, when you heard that story, did you imagine that Moses’ gift of the Spirit was diminished by being shared between 70 other men? That would make sense to our brains. That’s how sharing works…normally...

But that’s not how the Holy Spirit works. “the Spirit of God is not something material, which is diminished by being divided, but resembles a flame of fire, which does not decrease in intensity, but increases rather by extension.” [Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 697.]

In other words, the Spirit increases as it is shared. Just like when we do a candlelight service, we start with one small flame, and we share it with other candles - the first candle does not get smaller, nor does its flame grow dimmer. But the overall light in the room grows brighter as the flame is shared with more and more candles. So, fire is a perfect metaphor for the Holy Spirit!

In the reading from Acts, as Luke describes the scene, those who received the Holy Spirit “began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” So these Galilean men - who were not known for their academic achievement - were all of a sudden hearing “the mighty works of God” in a wide variety of foreign languages. It was not gibberish or some secret language. What happened was that God gave these disciples the ability to share the Gospel to everyone gathered in that crowd, and those in the crowd heard the Good News in the language they could best understand it.

The Holy Spirit equipped the disciples with exactly what they needed to share the Gospel and grow His Church. The gift of tongues is just one kind of gift we can receive from the Holy Spirit. It was the gift that was most needed for that occasion. And it resulted in 3,000 new Christians being converted that day.

Just like that day when the Church of Christ was born, “The Spirit fills every single believer in the church, uses every one in his mighty and blessed work. Pentecost raises all to the same level.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 59.] And that is just as true today as it was 2,000 years ago.

Every baptized Christian is a recipient of the Holy Spirit: “____, child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” From that very moment, the Holy Spirit is working on us. Remember your Small Catechism? “I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church he daily and abundantly forgives all my sins, and the sins of all believers, and on the last day he will raise me and all the dead and will grant eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true.” [Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 345.]

The Holy Spirit calls us to gather together as a church, to worship, to do Kingdom work, to support each other, and to help our neighbor.

The Holy Spirit enlightens us - He opens the Scriptures to us, to help us understand the meaning of the Word for us. He teaches us the life of faith

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us - He makes us holy. He does this through the church - living among the communion of saints, we encourage each other in faith, we study the Scriptures and receive the Sacraments. In the Church we receive the forgiveness of sins. In the Church, we hear the Good News that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that one day we, too, will be resurrected and enjoy life everlasting with the Triune God.

The Holy Spirit preserves us in true faith. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of saving faith; it is not something we must generate on our own. Paul tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) When we hear the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is there, to “kindle hearts so that they grasp and accept [God’s Word], cling to it, and persevere in it.” [Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 416.]

And what does the Holy Spirit give us? Wisdom (good judgment), understanding (intelligence and insight), knowledge (ability to study and learn, and put it to good use), counsel (good advice, ability to teach, inform, and guide), fortitude (moral strength & courage, unwavering commitment to God), piety (personal holiness, ability to live a life free of sin & devoted to God), fear of the Lord (awe, reverence, and respect for God).

The Holy Spirit works on us and in us whenever we are willing to let Him in. I submit to you, brothers and sisters, that if we’re not letting the Holy Spirit in, we are in danger of letting other spirits in. Pastor White talked a lot about that last week. There are definitely other spirits out there in the world, and they want to work on us, too. They have a kingdom that also wants to grow. They are also trying to win hearts and spread their message. Unfortunately, it is not a message of life, but of death. It’s important to recognize the difference.

Look no farther than what the other spirits embrace and celebrate. Abortion? It’s no longer “safe, legal, and rare” - now it’s “shout your abortion loud and proud.” Euthanasia? Look at Canada - if your medical care becomes a burden on society (as judged by a government panel), they want to offer you a quick and easy death, to end your suffering. Even entertainment is a part: what are the most popular movies and shows in recent years? Vampires, zombies, and ghosts. This is a cult of death, and it’s growing. Our youth and young adults are too often captivated with death and eager to get there. They become convinced to reject the life that God has given them and either twist into something unrecognizable, or look forward to throwing it away…all without any hope of something beyond the “here and now”. Is it any wonder suicide rates are as high as they are?

And all the biggest businesses appear to be contributing to the effort. Beer companies, department store chains, tech companies… all pushing the idea that life is disposable, that the way God made you isn’t good enough and you either need to change it or drown it with material things…and if you don’t you’ll be miserable and alone. Do you think there’s not a spirit or spirits at work behind all that? Of course that’s what’s behind it. The gifts of these spirits are quite different from the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. Look around: society can’t tell right from wrong. People don’t understand each other, they don’t give good advice. They don’t fear the Lord. They don’t live their lives in obedience to God.

This is why today is so important. It’s not just for our own hope and faith. It is the Spirit given to us so that we can share Him with the world around us. The world very much needs the Holy Spirit as much as it ever has before. The Holy Spirit equips us to do the work that God wants us to do because the world needs it.

Before He ascended to the right hand of the Father, Jesus promised that He would send a “Helper”:

“16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

“26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

Jesus assured us that we will never be alone. The Holy Spirit ensures that Jesus’ promise has been kept, and will continue to be kept, until we are all reunited with Him in eternity. It is the Holy Spirit Who helps us in all the good that we do, and Who makes us a little better each day, a little more holy, a little more like Christ. As we grow in faith, let us share that same Holy Spirit with those around us, fulfilling our baptismal promise to “let our light so shine before others that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.” Let’s all let that light shine and drive back the darkness.