Pentecost Sermon May, 2008
Únited in Understanding, Truth, and Love
By the Rev. John Donnelly
There is an old joke that says,” God so loved the world—THAT HE DID NOT SEND A COMMITTEE.’
· Indeed, God so loved the world that he did not send a committee—He sent His So, Jesus Christ.
· But after His son ascended to heaven, he left a committee in charge .
· This committee included not only the original 12, but also hundreds of other followers of Christ---most of whom had abandoned Him in his hour of need.
Fifty days after the first Easter, Christ had ascended to heaven and these paragons of courage were hiding together, for fear that what happened on Good Friday to Jesus might happen to them.
· If we could see slide # 1—God released the Holy Spirit from heaven, which descended upon the disciples like a tornado of wind.
· Slide # 2 There space was invaded by something ---
· Slide 3 & 4---They were filled with joy and excitement, and they left that room as totally changed people…as people who were no longer afraid, but as people fired up for the Lord.
HOW DID THIS CHANGE COME ABOUT? WELL, WHEN WE EXAMINE THE SCRIPTURE READINGS, WHICH WE JUST HEAD TODAY, WE SEE THREE SPECIFIC ACTIONS THAT OCCURRED WHICH BROUGH ABOUT THAT CHANGE.
· Would you please get out your gray insert from your service sheet, and look at page one?
PENTECOST SUNDAY SERMON NOTES
One of the most incredible works of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, was that the Holy Spirit supernaturally facilitated mutual understanding between people who spoke different languages.
UNDERSTOOD ONE ANOTHER
A.) GREAT DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE
Let’s look at the scripture verse in Section A of the “Understood one another “ section. “Now there were staying in Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from all nations under heaven.”
· So, the setting is that hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world had come to Jerusalem for the Jewish Thanksgiving Holiday called Pentecost, from which our Christian celebration of Pentecost gets its name. gets its name. This was the central holiday for thanksgiving, and the town was packed like Disney World.
· These people most have spoken twenty or more different languages.
· The Holy Spirit falls upon the disciples, they ran out into the streets, and they are yelling and jumping and telling everybody that Jesus had risen from the dead. BUT, they were speaking in Aramaic, a language not understood by thousands of the tourists.
B.) HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS THEM TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER
So, as we read in the verse in point B---“…a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”
· Notice that they came together not because of the fire, not because of the wind, and not even because the disciples were talking about Jesus. They came together because they could understand what the disciples were saying. They could understand one another. Mutual understanding is a key work of the Holy Spirit.
Next, the 2nd major work of the Holy Spirit was that the disciples were unified in the truth.
· On the night befoe he died, Jesus spent about 4 hours teaching the disciples about the Holy Spirit. Now, even after all that, most of them were still clueless.
· But Jesus predicted exactly what would happen.
Would you a’’ please join me in reading the scripture verse in point # 2, part A?
UNIFIED IN THE TRUTH
A.) JAD reads JESUS MAKES A PREDICTION Now together, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
B.) So, HOW IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?? Verse B Point #1 1.) "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
· Okay, Bible scholars---this is the night before Good Friday. Can one you, in the congregation, tell us what Jesus is talking about???? In Verse B point # 1??
So, Jesus then goes on to explain the truth in point # 2)--- “ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.” You will grieve…… “ then moving to point# 3) “…..but your grief will turn to joy.”
· And appropriately enough, on this Mother’s day, Jesus describes this joy as being similar to the joy of motherhood, saying ---- A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So it will be with you, and moving to the underlined section, Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy
On the Day of Pentecost, unlike no previous time, disciples were totally unified by the miraculous Good News that Jesus had died and risen from the dead, so that Jesus might love us forever…and that truth is the foundation of eternal joy, which cannot be taken away. Being united in the Truth of Christ meant they were united in joy.
So, they were understanding of one another, they were unified in the truth, and finally, as the 3rd work of the Holy Spirit, God united them in love. Please turn to page 2 of the insert----
UNITED IN LOVE
A) VALUED BY GOD After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me
B) JESUS’ TEACHING CREATES COMMUNITY . 1.) “…..and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
Now, in order to save sometime here, lets move down to Jesus’ prediction in part B, point # 2, and read that together in unison:
2) "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one.
C) LOVE THAT IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO MAKE THEM ONE IN THE SPIRIT 1)”Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. “
2). “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity ….” AND WHAT IS THE BASIS OF THAT COMPLETE UNITY??? LET US READ TOGETHER Jesus words in point # 3) “…to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
So God’s love, or agape as it is translated in the Greek, created unity within the body of believers----
· unity not only among the fellowship of the disciples,
· but unity of purpose and conviction to go forth into all the world to teach the Truth of Jesus Christ.
As potential converts head and accepted God’s love, the love among the believers increased
· and created greater unity in an ever-expanding circle of love, which was big enough for all.
· This all happened through that little committee that eventually became the Christian church.
Then, as now, people are attracted to Churches, empowered by the Holy Spirit in these ways. Indeed, St. Michael’s is one such church. We are not perfect, but God the Holy Spirit is empowering us to
· better understand one another, especially when we disagree about the conflicting issues in our denomination or parish;
· We have found that when we can focus less on issues, which could divide our church, and focus more upon the Truth of Jesus Christ, who unifies our church.
· When that happens, then we can truly love one another, as Jesus commands us.
Therefore, St. Michael’s is NOT a business as usual church.
· By and large, St. Michael’s welcomes God-the Holy Spirit to empower us in the present and to lead us forward into the future.
· Many of us are growing to believe that we have a God-given potential and destiny to become a Light House Church—but it seems to me that we of St. Michael’s need to more intentionally cooperate with the work that the Holy Spirit needs to do among us.
So, for example: I would guess that everybody in this room spoke to at least one other person during the course of this past week. If you did not talk to anybody, then please raise your hand.
· Okay, well if you spoke to somebody, then you spoke so that that person would understand you. Very few people speak to others to intentionally confuse them. No, we all have an innate need to be understood. Otherwise, we would not bother to speak. So we all want to be understood.
· When people really feel like they are understood, then they are more receptive to hearing the Truth that Jesus Christ loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives.
· So, we need relationships where we can speak and learn and reflect upon the love of Christ----and guess what happens as we do that? His love grows in our midst, and we become united in his love. And then, that love just pours out into the world around us. Then prediction of Jesus, which we heard in today’s Gospel, will be fulfilled, as He prayed to the Father, asking quote, “that the world would believe that you sent me.”
If we go forward in the Holy Spirit in this way, God can change lives—just as He did on that first Pentecost. Once non-believers really understand this, they are amazed.
An early writer in the 2nd century tried to tell unbelievers about those unique Spirit-led people called Christians. I’d like to conclude my remarks by paraphrasing what he said, for it is my prayer that one day, people will likewise say this about St. Michael’s.
“Who are these Christians? Out of devotion to Jesus Christ, these Christians reach out to help poor people, orphans, the homebound, prisoners, and the sick. It is mainly because of these noble deeds that many observers say,” See how they love each other. They are ready to die for one another. They call each other “brothers” and “sisters” because of their mutual affection. United one in mind and soul, they do not hesitate to share worldly goods with one another. Each week they feast together. And that feast is called “agape,” [which means love in the Greek]. Whoever listens to them, will find God in them; whoever takes pains to understand, will be compelled to believe.”
