Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost – Year A
May 15, 2005
Confirmation of a boy named Christian
Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 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!" 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 "’In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Everyone Who Calls on the Name of the Lord Will Be Saved
I. Every single one
II. Whosoever calls on
III. The name of the Lord
IV. Will be saved
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer (cf. Psalm 19:14). Amen.
In the movie of J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous book The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn, who was entrusted with the protection of a little hobbit, named Frodo, asked him, “Are you afraid?” When Frodo said that he was, Aragorn responded, “Not nearly afraid enough! I know what hunts you.” Christian, you’re not nearly afraid enough, either. You have yet to find out what hunts you. Sure, you know the verse, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8), but does the hair bristle on the back of your neck to think that there are spiritual creatures prowling around in the parking lot, just waiting for you to emerge, eager to devour your heart and tempt you to laugh about what you learned in confirmation. Already he’s been chewing at your heart, like a puppy chews on an old sneaker – making you think, “The questioning is over! Now I don’t have to study the Bible anymore or open my catechism again.” And the devil smiles with a gleam in his eyes, because if your attitude is to set aside your Christian growth, he knows that your heart won’t get stronger, little by little he will be able to gnaw away your understanding, your trust, your hope.
He has recruited help too. Friends and relatives, who have no fear of the devil, will influence you to not waste your time on church, to focus on what they consider to be more important: sports, school, making money. And let’s not forget your own rebellious sinful nature. Every time you considered catechism class a waste of time. Whenever you had better things to do than do your memory work or fill out your homework sheet, you were telling God, “You’re wasting my time.” When we so arrogantly disregard the efforts of God to generously give us the tools that we need to wage the war with the enemy of our soul, we would do well to consider whose time is being wasted – ours or God’s?
All of you in the congregation, who have been confirmed, should look at your own lives. Has my attitude changed from the days when I went through catechism class? Did I grudgingly go to class? Do I come to church more under compulsion than a desire to grow in Christ, my Savior? Was catechism a time to practice fighting the good fight of faith, which you continue to do today, or were you practicing doing the minimum to get confirmed, which you continue to do today, thinking, ‘What is the minimum that I can do as a Christian and still be saved?’
Today we celebrate the day of Pentecost, a day when God sent the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem. Through the Gospel message of St. Peter, the Holy Spirit stole 3000 people back from the devil. Today, Christian, we celebrate your salvation. Not that you weren’t saved before this day, but we celebrate your growth… that you have come to understand the basics of what God has done for you. We celebrate the fact that you have the tools to continue in your faith, and we receive you as a member of our spiritual family. We are here to stand beside you in the battle against the gates of hell, and we seek your aid in helping the church grow inwardly and outwardly. Today I encourage you with the last verse of our text: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).
I. EVERY SINGLE ONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Salvation is a tricky thing. For the rich, it’s as hard as a camel squeezing its way through the eye of a needle (cf. Matthew 19:16-27). For those who have eyes or hands that lead them into sin, our Lord tells us it is better that they gouge out the offending eye or cut off the offending hand, than to go into hell with a body fully intact (cf. Matthew 5:27-30). Paul seriously advised the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). We Americans are the rich of the world. Our lifestyle is one of leisure and entertainment, which often lead us into temptation. With such a high level of comfort in this life, we so easily put aside any concern for seeing after our eternal needs. I fear for you, Christian. I fear for all of the catechism students and even all of the members of the church. I fear even for myself. Will we make it? Then God comes with his assurances:
“EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Christ will exclude no one, simply because they are rich, or based on their race, age, or gender. We see that in our text as the apostles preach the Gospel to people from all over the Roman world (Acts 2:8-11). We see it in the prophecy of Joel, who spoke of the Holy Spirit inspiring men and women, young and old (Joel 2:28,29). We don’t even see sin given as a reason to exclude people. Christ died for our sins. He paid the price. All are welcome to call on the name of the Lord. All who do so will be saved. Of all the people, who call on the name of the Lord, not a single one of them will be denied entrance into God’s kingdom. O what joy, Christian! That puts you and me back on the list. God encourages you today to come to his altar and make your vows by telling you, ‘I will not deny you that which my Son has already won for you.’
II. Everyone WHOSOEVER CALLS ON the name of the Lord will be saved.
The next portion of the verse reminds us, though, that not all people will enter heaven: “Everyone (literally) WHOSOEVER CALLS ON the name of the Lord will be saved.” Why does fear spark in us, even though we know that Christ has died for the sins of the world? We know that more people living today are going to hell rather than to heaven. Why? Because they don’t call on the Lord. They either don’t know him, or they trust in a false god, or they simply don’t care. You, Christian, don’t fall under the first two types, because you do know who the true God is. But what about the last one? Do you care about your relationship with God? That’s where the devil will be working… to remove your link with God. But what is he up against?
Luther reminded you: “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith” (explanation of the Third Article of the Creed). Today you will call on the Lord by coming to his table, seeking his forgiveness, trusting his promise that he will give it. Where did this faith come from? Did your mom feed it to you? Did I pump it into your heart? No. God did this through his Holy Spirit. You could no more come to the Lord’s Supper with faith, than could the disciples have spoken different languages that they had never studied before, without the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.
Christian, you probably have heard that the Catholics hope to canonize the late Pope John Paul II as a saint. To be considered a saint, the pope has to perform a miracle after death. What does the Bible say about you? You already are a saint… not based on a miracle that you will perform after you die, but based on the miracle that the Holy Spirit has performed on you, bringing you back from the death of sin. Remember what the father of the Prodigal Son said, “This son of mine was dead but now is alive again” (Luke 15:24)! Christian, you’re so precious to God, that you are worth miracles… and miracles of the highest sort. Sure Jesus restored the sight of the blind, even raised the dead, but all the people he healed physically still died. Greater yet are the miracles that he gives you, that have created and sustain faith in Jesus. For these miracles give to you an open door into heaven, an eternity of bliss, where no one will call you names, no one will make jokes at your expense, no one will hurt you. And even now, the Holy Spirit shields you from the forceful attacks of the fallen angels. Today we honor you as Saint Christian, because we recognize in you the gift of God to CALL on the name of the Lord.
III. Everyone who calls on THE NAME OF THE LORD will be saved.
Christian, did anyone ever teach you that if there is an emergency, you should call 911? Of course they have! Everyone should know that there is help available if they find themselves in a life or death situation and can’t help themselves. This verse today gives us the number to call, when we are in spiritual danger: “Everyone who calls on THE NAME OF THE LORD will be saved.” Why does Jesus warn us about the difficulty of remaining in faith? Why does Paul say that we should live with ‘fear and trembling?’ Though we don’t need to dial 911 every day, God wants us to call on him every day. Not a day goes by that we do not offend our heavenly Father with our sinful carelessness. Every day we should come to him with sincere repentance, asking him to remove our guilt and to come to our aid in resisting our natural attitudes of selfishness and pride.
911 is great, but emergency services can be expensive, and maybe the rescue squad won’t even arrive in time to save you. Not so with God. It is his pleasure to come to our aid. He gave us his name so that we would worship him by leaning on him in every trouble, even when the trouble that we are suffering from was caused by our own foolishness. He is never late in saving us, because the work is already done. The Lamb has been slain. The blood has been poured. The cries of despair have been wept and the woe of hypocrisy has been punished. Your Lord has redeemed you. You will feed on the proof today. Don’t forget it, but take the time to remember it often through the Lord’s Supper.
IV. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED.
Christian, I know what hunts you, and I know that you are not nearly afraid enough. Nor am I. And there is always danger of that, because we might grow careless. We might forget how the Bible describes the devil like a seven-headed dragon. The colossal battle between good and evil, can seem no more real than the books of Tolkien, but that is why God has given you his Word, to fight the doubt, to take the battle seriously, to look at yourself with the precision of God’s Law and shudder at your deficiencies. Knowing the danger will keep you on God’s 911 line, knowing for certain that as FEARsome as the devil might be, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, WILL BE SAVED.” Let your confidence rest in God, not in a foolhardy underestimation of your foe. God has saved you. Take every day with his name on your lips. Operators of the 911 line are instructed to stay on the line, to give victims someone to talk to until their rescuers arrive. That’s how the Holy Spirit works, too. He stays on the line, to comfort us until our Lord finally comes to take us away from the tragedy of this life. Christian, don’t hang up that connection, but make use of it every day. Amen.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 1:24,25).
