Ah, the good ol’ days. When you hear those words, what comes to mind? What do you think about when you hear the phrase, “good ol’ days”? Do memories of your childhood spring back to life? What about the days when you had your first taste of freedom, as you attended college, or graduated from high school? Do memories of raising a family come to mind, or just becoming married? Perhaps thoughts of first becoming retired, or becoming a grandparent appears.
The good ol’ days were something, weren’t they? It can be easy to become enamored with them. What is not to like about a time that was cheaper, safer, joyous, more familiar, seemingly more religious, and as the name suggests, good?
In the Acts reading, we see one of the good ol’ days of the Church: Pentecost. The first Pentecost was a great time in the church’s history. The apostles were still around, the Church was growing, the Spirit was poured out generously, and there was a passion for mission. Could you think of better days? You would be hard pressed to. Today, we’ll take a look at that good ol’ day of Pentecost.
Pentecost was an Old Testament feast. The word Pentecost means “50”, and it was a feast celebrated 50 days after the Passover Sabbath. It was the second great festival of the Jewish church year, and many Jews would try to make this feast. That explains the variety of people in our text. Pentecost was a feast where offerings were given and the first fruits of the barley harvest were brought before the Lord. But on this day, we see something special happening. We see the outpouring of God’s Spirit.
Luke describes the scene for us. He says, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
Fire commonly represents the presence of God’s Spirit. It is appropriate that we see tongues of fire above the believers since the Holy Spirit works through the Word and will work through their speech. The fire shows that. As a result of this outpouring of God’s Spirit, the believers are able to speak new languages that they never knew before. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and with His power and strength. What a day and time!
This event creates curiosity in the people. A crowd gathers to come check out the noise of wind that they heard. As they approach the scene, they are bewildered. They see normal, ordinary Galileans speaking in languages that would be foreign to them. They see them not speaking in Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew, but in their own language and tongue. They hear them proclaiming the mighty works of God in their own language. I have had a relatable experience.
In 2010, I had a chance to go to Oberammergau in Germany to see their world renown passion play. It is an impressive play that is done with over 2,000 people that portrays the life of Christ up to His death and resurrection. This play is held every ten years and was started in response to God sparing their village from the plague some 400 years ago. When I saw the play, there was one little problem: I didn’t know any German. I could only watch and imagine what they were saying. I tried to follow along in the 90 page booklet, but that proved to be impossible. I was able to see the greatest and most important story in the world but couldn’t understand a word! How unfortunate! But on Pentecost, this was no longer a problem for people. People could hear God’s mighty works in a language that they could understand and comprehend. We had a taste of this this morning when he read the text read in different languages.
The people were amazed, but some doubted this miracle. They thought that these believers were drunk to the point that they were babbling. Peter of all people, stands up to refute and quiet those claims. He announces that the words of the prophet Joel have been fulfilled from the good ol’ days of Israel’s history, the days when they had a country. These people are not drunk, but rather Scripture has been fulfilled. Peter says, “in the last days,” that is, right now, the time between Christ’s death and resurrection and His Second Coming, “God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”
God’s Spirit is being poured out! Picture pouring a glass of water. The water spills out fast and goes forth with fury. It is hard to stop and control once it is poured. It is the same with God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh. God isn’t stingy or selective with Him. He is given to all kinds of people, of all ages, of all ethnicities, and of all sexes. He gives Him to the important and to the unimportant. He gives Him to those who are free, and to those who are slaves. The Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh!
Peter continues: “And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The decisive stage and climax of history has arrived with Christ and the Church. These signs and wonders demonstrate the arrival of the last days, which began in Jesus’ ministry. These things will happen before Christ’s return, the Day of the Lord.
Peter calls it a great and magnificent day, and it is for Christians! For no person, no flesh, that cries out in faith in the crucified and risen Lord will be turned away. Peter says that these things were shown and beginning on Pentecost. What a marvelous and great day! Certainly, this is one of the good ol’ days. How can it not be?
But in Christ, we see that these are the good ol’ days, just like Pentecost was. For we see the same things going on now! God’s Spirit is poured out generously on all flesh. His Spirit is given to the young and to the old, to the big and to tall, to male and to female, to the significant and to the small. This room shows the diversity of God giving His Spirit and is the proof of it. His Spirit is given through baptism, where the Spirit renews, forgives, empowers, and equips us for service. It is given through the Word that is spoken and read. God is revealed to all through His Word, and His gifts are given through it.
We see that Christ’s great and magnificent return is near! All of history is ramping up and heading towards this climatic and wonderful salvation event for Christians. History continues like a drum beat, a heartbeat, getting ever closer to this event.
And all people who call on God’s name will be saved. Having an opportunity to teach kids, one of the more common question that I get asked is something like this, “Do murderers go to Heaven?” Or “Do bad people, like fill in the blank, go?” And I answer, if they are repentant and believe in Jesus, then yes! God turns no one away who comes to Him with a repentant heart burdened with guilt, shame, and sin. He turns no one away who want His mercy and grace, and pardon for their sin. Because of Jesus, all who call on His name in faith will be saved!
God still does His mighty works today in these good ol’ days. Our Lord still works through His Word in bringing people to repentance and creating faith. He still transforms the hearts and lives of those whom we deem hopeless and lost with the Gospel. God does mighty works today by providing for us, watching over us, protecting, and sustaining us. The good ol’ days provide great examples of God doing this, and these past acts of His can strengthen, comfort, and encourage us. They can help us through our current times and open our eyes in seeing how God is with us and working in our lives, right now. All of His mighty works though point us to His greatest work for us, His Son’s death and resurrection. This is the work that all of the others flow from, and even, to which they ultimately point to. In Christ, these are the good ol’ days.
While it is easy to become enamored and enwrapped in the good ol’ days, we need to be careful! For if we dwell on the past too much, we can miss what God is doing right now for us! His Spirit is poured out generously, His return is near, and He is still doing His mighty works today. IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
