May 23, 2021 Sermon

Sermon title:  "Pentecost"

Scripture:  Acts 2:1-21

 (Other lectionary choices include Psalm 104:24-34, Romans 8:22-27, and John 15:26-27 and 16:4-15.)

 Acts 2:1-21

 The Coming of the Holy Spirit

1When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean? 13But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

 Peter Addresses the Crowd

14But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:  17"In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. 21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

  First of all, I want to send the church secretary a big THANK YOU for typing the very long Scripture reading we had for this morning. The longer the Scripture, the shorter the sermon! (Not really!) Another name for the sermon could be "The Birthday of the Church", because what we heard today tells of how those tongues of fire descended on those assembled believers in Jerusalem. What that means is that the Holy Spirit had now come upon those early followers of Jesus, and they were now "commissioned" with authority from on high to go forth and preach the Good News.

  The coming of the Holy Spirit on the assembled believers happened 50 days after the Resurrection, or 7 weeks of 7 days after the Resurrection. What is 7 times 7? Forty-nine, which is VERY close to 50! Count with me: April 4th was Easter this year. So, 7 days after Easter is April 11th, and another 7 days makes April 18th, plus 7 days equals April 25th. Seven days after April 25th is May 2nd, and another seven days equals May ninth, and another 7 days makes May 16th, and another 7 days makes today, May 23rd. Seven weeks of 7 days, or 49 days ago was Easter. I hope all those calculations didn't put you to sleep!

But the word "Pentecost" means 50, and I mention all this so that you may get some idea of what Pentecost was and is. And WHY it is called "Pentecost". Not every Jewish person knows this, but the Hebrew community had a festival called "Pentecost", or the Feast of Weeks. It came 50 days after Passover. According to the Scottish scholar William Barclay, it had two significances, if I may use that word. First, it celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and second, it was an agricultural festival. "At the Passover, the crop's first omer of barley was offered to God, and at Pentecost two loaves were offered in gratitude for the ingathered harvest."

  And something else, says Barclay: the Hebrew Law says in Leviticus and Numbers "that on that day no servile work should be done." That means it was a holiday for practically everybody, and there would be huge crowds in the streets. And William Barclay says this:  "What happened at Pentecost we really do not know except that the disciples had an experience of the power of the Spirit flooding their beings such as they never had before. We must remember {{and this is important}} that for this part of Acts Luke was not an eyewitness. He tells the story as if the disciples suddenly acquired the gift of speaking in FOREIGN languages." And, says Barclay, that is unlikely.

  Why? Two reasons. Christianity has always had an aspect to it - uncomfortable to me and probably to you as well - of some person being filled with ecstasy and making unintelligible sounds. As I said recently, the Apostle Paul was not a fan of this type of religious experience because it could be "faked" too easily. Also, Paul thought that the message should be delivered in a language that could be understood by those present. And look at what Peter said today:  these folks are not DRUNK as you think! In I Corinthians 14:23 Paul says that a stranger who happened by might make the same assumption, or that he had stumbled on a congregation of madmen!

  Reason # Two:  To speak in foreign tongues was unnecessary because virtually all of those who were present knew Greek. Remember, the New Testament was written in what is called Koine Greek - "truck driver Greek", as a professor of mine in college called it! We might say Common Greek.

  So did Luke, the assumed author of Acts, make a mistake? Barclay says YES! "It seems most likely that Luke, a Gentile, had confused speaking with tongues with speaking with FOREIGN tongues." And Barclay goes on to say, "What happened was that for the first time in their lives this motley mob was hearing the word of God in a way that struck straight home to their hearts and that they could understand. The power of the Spirit was such that it had given these simple disciples a message that could reach every heart."

  Near the end of today's Scripture reading, the Apostle Peter quotes from Joel, one of the minor prophets. Let me back up a bit. The ancient Hebrews believed in the Day of the Lord, sometimes called in Latin, Dies Irae, or Day of Wrath. On that day, the Hebrews believed, God Himself would intervene, and the Chosen People would be put on top and NOT on the bottom. But Old Testament prophets had urged the people NOT to look forward to that day, because it would be a day of darkness for them, and not of light. What Peter was saying by quoting the prophet Joel is that that day has come, and God HAS intervened in human history, and he has intervened in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter's sermon goes on, and he even says that YOU (his audience) crucified Jesus! But God raised him up. And, said Peter, "....let all the house of Israel certainly know that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified Lord and Christ." We are told that Peter's audience "were pierced to the heart", and they said, "What shall we do?" And Peter said to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's further than our text went today, so let's stop there.

 Pastor Skip