Sermon for CATM – Pentecost Sunday – May 31, 2009
It had been the most intense experience of their lives. A Jewish carpenter and Rabbi had called each of them out from where they were. Some were fishermen - 5 of them actually; one was a tax collector; most were of unknown occupation; some were standing around talking, one was just sitting under a tree.
And each of them followed Him, fascinated by His character, amazed by His grace, drawn by his love, emboldened by the miracles He performed again and again in response to human suffering, in response to human need.
They were captivated by His words. Simple words using familiar things to describe profound truths about humanity and about true spirituality.
It had been the most intense experience of their lives. 12 men and an unnumbered amount of women followed Him everywhere, still beholding His miracles and His incredibly gracious words.
And each of them followed Him, knowing that He was becoming a threat to the authorities, they still kept close to Him, knowing they were becoming associated with One who was breaking down barriers, cutting across cultural norms in order to reach people with His love. They were captivated by His words, but now authorities were starting to use and twist His words to discredit Him.
They followed Him into Jerusalem, feeling pretty queasy, and they joyfully served as His entourage as Jesus is celebrated as King.
It had been the most intense experience of their lives. He told them He would be killed. He told them that He would not leave them alone, however. He promised them a comforter.
One who would lead them into all truth. Jesus told them: [PPT] John 16:7-8 “7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…”
It was an intense experience…life with Jesus. And then He died. And then He rose again. They saw Him alive again. And then He told them to wait. To wait in the city.
He said: [PPT] “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
And now they are in Jerusalem, waiting. On the day of Pentecost, the festival celebrating the harvest. They choose someone to replace Judas, Judas who had betrayed Jesus. And on the day of Pentecost they are together and they are waiting.
[PPT] Show Video: Pentecost (Acts 2:1-24, the Message)
You get a sense of how monumental that first Pentecost was in the life of the church. It WAS actually the birth of the church. And there are some valuable things to pick up from these, our earliest brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The first thing is that they were not splintered off in many different directions. They were together. Praying together. Eating together. Worshipping together. And they weren’t busy doing stuff, trying to accomplish things on their own strength.
They WERE doing what Jesus commanded: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about”. Acts 1:4
These are two of the hardest things in life to do: to simply be together and to wait. It’s hard to BE together. People have differences. We can offend one another unintentionally. We can develop differing ideas about what’s going to happen, what’s suppose to happen.
A lot of the history of the church for the past 2000 years has been just that…people getting distracted and off-mission because they start to focus on things that matter far less than God’s purposes.
It’s hard to be together and it’s hard to wait. To wait for inspiration, to wait for direction.
Now direction always comes because God loves to lead His people.
When we get impatient, when we DON’T wait, we can sometimes perhaps miss the leading of the Spirit, we can miss God’s direction because we’re simply not waiting, not listening, not quieting our spirits so that we can be attuned to God’s voice.
The good news is these early Christians WERE together, they WERE waiting, WERE trusting, WERE anticipating that God would do what God said He would do. He would fulfill His promise.
And what happened? The Holy Spirit came and uniquely enabled the disciples to testify with one voice for the glory of God.
This troubled, quirky group of disciples became empowered by God, they were set on fire for God. Specifically, they and all those around them were witness to a unique event as recorded in Scripture:
[PPT] Acts 2:5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
Pretty cool, eh? And this miracle of God where people heard the disciples speaking in their own diverse tongues…this really foreshadowed the passion the church has always had to take the gospel into new lands, to learn new tongues and new cultures and to share the message of Christ, the message of God’s grace with all peoples and all nations.
Now these disciples had walked with Jesus, had talked with Jesus, had been through the crucifixion of Jesus, had been completely depressed and depleted at the death of Jesus.
Then they had seen Jesus ALIVE again. Their hope had been restored completely. Those who doubted, like Thomas, were completely convinced that Jesus was alive again because they saw Him, they touched Him.
If we just try to put ourselves for a moment into the mindset of the disciples, the incredible emotional roller-coaster they had been on, we may get a little glimpse of what life was like for them.
But they were waiting, not now for Jesus, but for what their calling was to be in the light of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus told them in Matthew 28 that they were to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”.
That one question: one is our calling in the light of the resurrection of Jesus…that’s a question that all disciples, all followers of Jesus, have asked and sought God for. More on that later.
So the Holy Spirit comes this first Pentecost, this birthday of the church, and those who had walked with Jesus found new confidence because of their faith in Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Those people that Jesus had gathered from scattered places, those people Jesus had called out of their livelihoods, now proclaim the wonders of God.
Remember, these were the fellas who had turned on Jesus, every one of them, save perhaps St. John, and had tucked tail and run when it became clear that Jesus was going to trial for blasphemy.
They had cowered, none more so than St. Peter, who we talked about last week.
But now, having seen Jesus risen from the dead, having waiting patiently for the Holy Spirit to come, these people were now transformed into the Apostles who would each lay down their lives so that the gospel would be known, so that the good news of Jesus Christ would reach more and more people.
They were willing to risk everything if it meant that the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ would reach you and me. And thank God they were willing! Amen? Amen!
We heard some of what Peter said earlier on this first birthday of the church, this Pentecost.
To get an idea of the transformation Peter went through, let’s listen to some more of what Peter said that day.
Remember, this is the same Peter we talked about last week who denied Christ three times and who was eventually restored, reinstated by Jesus.
Let’s listen to the words of this transformed man: [PPT – “Peter’s Message”] Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
So this is Pentecost. This is the day the church was birthed into being by the Holy Spirit. This is how you came to hear the message of the gospel.
It started with the Holy Spirit filling the people of God and empowering them to, against the grain, against what was popular, against all cultural norms, share the hope of the gospel to this broken needy world.
And so it does come around, back to you and to me today. This question:
What is your calling in the light of the resurrection of Jesus, in the light of the coming of the Holy Spirit both on this original day of Pentecost when the church was born but also in the light of the Holy Spirit at work in your life?
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you have received Him as your Lord and Saviour, then the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. He lives in us collectively as the body of Christ, And YOU have a calling to fulfill.
For some, you may have the calling of a missionary on your life. That’s why I’m here. A long time ago God called me to be a missionary and over time I learned that the mission field I was called to was my own backyard.
But…and this is important…I was planning to go to Africa. I was entirely willing to leave everything here and live in Liberia and the Ivory Coast if it meant I could share Jesus with people.
The calling to missions is much broader than we commonly think. Some ARE called overseas, or to the First Nations peoples in Canada and the US, or….you name it. Here’s the rub:
Wherever you are right now, that is where you are called to missions. That is where you are called to share your life and to live and breathe and share the gospel of Jesus.
This is so important, and this is tricky. Why is it tricky? There’s always a two-way flow of information and influence no matter who or where we are. We are always getting input from others. We always have the opportunity to give input to others.
The call to mission-living is the call to have the truth of the gospel always in front of you, and to realize the trust that God has given us to share faith with others, and the power He has given us through the Holy Spirit.
And in order to be faithful we must always guard your heart against any influence that might flatten your faith, that might relativize right and wrong, that might pressure us to think that Jesus is just one option among the gods.
That was the pressure that the first Christians faced constantly, and we’ve seen through Jan’s reading of Peter’s powerful testimony that to be a follower of Jesus is to lovingly and graciously and passionately live this truth: Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to God except through Him. That is the simple teaching of the Bible.
So what is your calling from God in the light of resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit? Here’s something cool:
It has to do with what you love. Do you really enjoy being around people? Meeting new people? That has something to do with your calling?
Do you really love to learn? Do you love to teach? That has something to do with your calling? Do you grieve over injustice, over the modern slave-trade, over poverty? That has something to do with your calling.
Do you LOVE music…are you a gifted musician or someone with a deep and abiding passion to learn an instrument, to write songs? That has something to do with your calling.
Do you care for seniors? Does it grieve you that there are so many shut-ins, cut off from the church and the world? That has something to do with your calling?
Do you have a heart for immigrants and refugees? Do you believe that politics is a way to address real issues that affect real people? That has something to do with your calling.
I could go on and on. But I won’t. [Aren’t you glad?] Church. Friends in Christ. This day in history Jesus’ promise of sending the Holy Spirit was fulfilled.
This day, the church came alive. This day the Old Testament promise of God to pour out His Spirit on all people was fulfilled.
Let’s open our hearts and our lives and our minds and our bodies to all that God would have for us. All that God would do through us. Let us agree with God that we are His people, won by the precious sacrifice, the precious blood of Christ.
Let us say yes to God who has given us a heavenly calling and an earthly responsibility to love people to Jesus. And all God’s people said: Amen!
Let’s pray. Come, Holy Spirit. Rushing Wind of God, touch each person here. Fill each person in this place to overflowing with the goodness of the Spirit of God. Living Water, flow over your people. Revive us, O Lord. Drench us with your love, with your grace and mercy. And let us be bold. Let us be convinced. Convicted. Determined to serve you with every second we have left to live. Father God, let us embrace Your plan and Your good purpose for our lives, to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
