230528 Sermon on Pentecost being a great Christian festival

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

Today I would like to speak with you about why Pentecost is a
great Christian festival. Pentecost is one of the three great Christian
festivals. Christmas and Easter are the other two. Among these three, there is
a tendency for Pentecost to be overshadowed. Every Christian knows the meaning and
importance of Christmas. It’s when the Son of God was born as a baby boy. Every
Christian knows the meaning and importance of Easter. It’s when the Son of God
defeated death. Because he lives, those who believe in him will live also.
Folks are probably not as aware of the meaning and importance of Pentecost.

So what is the meaning and importance of Pentecost? You
heard about the events of Pentecost in our second reading. There was a mighty
rushing wind. Something like tongues of flame appeared above the heads of the
disciples. They were able to speak in such a way that people could understand
them even though they spoke a different language. What they spoke about were
the “mighty works of God.”

Then the Apostle Peter stood up before the crowd of Jews,
many of whom were hostile to him and to Christ. At least some of those in the
crowd had been involved in crucifying Jesus. Prior to Pentecost the disciples
had been so afraid of these Jews that they had been hiding behind locked doors,
and Peter had denied that he knew the Lord three times. After the coming of the
Holy Spirit, Peter and the other disciples speak plainly and courageously. They
no longer fear what man can do to them, because they know that God is for them.
Many of these disciples are going to keep on preaching that Jesus is Christ and
Lord until they are eventually put to death for it.

You can see, therefore, that the Holy Spirit changes the
disciples. He gives them faith that Jesus Christ is their Lord. He gives them love,
joy, peace, and his other fruits. He gives them courage to say things that are true,
good, and right, even though the powers of darkness gnash their teeth and start
plotting their revenge.

So the meaning of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit is given
to the disciples; he is given to the Christian Church. The importance of
Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit causes people to believe in Jesus as the
almighty king who saves sinners. The Holy Spirit additionally gives Christians
spiritual gifts.

Without Pentecost, and without the coming of the Holy
Spirit, Jesus’s work of salvation would lie in the dust. It would not be known.
It would not be believed in. It would not spring forth into life and growth. The
Holy Spirit causes life by applying what Jesus has done. The Holy Spirit brings
to completion Jesus’s work of making us holy.

Because of its great importance, Pentecost deserves its
place as one of the three great Christian festivals. It is just as important
for our salvation as Christmas or Easter. And yet, despite my best efforts, I wouldn’t
be surprised if I have failed to create any great love for this festival in you.
There’s something about this festival that doesn’t capture the imagination like
Christmas or Easter. Maybe it’s the stories and the customs. Maybe Pentecost
just isn’t grand enough, impressive enough. After all, the main thing that
Pentecost seems to accomplish is talking. Talking can be awfully boring.

So maybe if we were God we would do things differently. What
if instead of causing the disciples to speak about Jesus as the Christ, as the
great King, the Holy Spirit would make lightning come out of our fingertips? Or
maybe he could make our eyes be like lasers, cutting through steel and stone.
Then everyone in the world would be terribly impressed with us.

Or what if we could just have some of those miracles that we
read about in the Bible? What if we could heal people? What if we could raise the
dead? Or if all of this is too much trouble, what if we could just speak in
tongues like they did on Pentecost? That sounds like it would be a lot more
interesting than listening to a sermon like the one I am speaking to you today.
It seems like these unusual things would make the church grow too. People might
come from far and wide if we could drum up a little razzle dazzle instead of
all this talking.

But all of this “I would do it differently if I were God”
talk sounds familiar. I’d like to compare it to the complaining that the
Israelites did in the wilderness. When God led them out of Egypt they eventually
ran out of food so that they grew hungry. So each day God gave them their daily
bread with the manna that would come with the morning dew. At first, they were
happy enough with it. Eating manna was a lot better than starving to death. It
didn’t taste too bad either. It was sweet and nutty. Each morning it came like
clockwork. Eventually, though, they got sick of it. They actually say, “We loathe this worthless bread. If only we could go back to
Egypt. Sure, we were slaves in Egypt, but at least we’d get a cucumber or some
garlic every once in a while instead of always having this miserable manna.”

Whenever I read about the Israelites in the wilderness I am
always struck by how we are just like them. If anything, though, we Christians
are worse than them. The manna that we have as Christians is a much higher and
better thing than what the Israelites ever had. Our manna is Jesus. Pentecost
gives us Jesus.

Jesus speaks about how our bread as Christians is better
than any manna that the Israelites ever ate. Jesus says to the Jews, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. I
am the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not
die.” Jesus then says, “I am the living bread
that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live
forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my
flesh.”

Some of the Jews who were listening to Jesus grumbled at his
teaching. Some of you might be inwardly grumbling too: “What is this mumbo
jumbo? How can Jesus give his flesh for the life of the world? How does that even
work?” But it is not hard to understand what Jesus is claiming. You might not
agree with what Jesus is claiming or see how it is possible, but the words are
clear. Jesus is greater, better, more life giving than the manna. Whoever eats
of him has eternal life.

What Jesus is speaking about is the Gospel, the good news. This
is what is extraordinary about Pentecost. These words about Jesus are what was
spread abroad by the power of the Holy Spirit beginning at Pentecost. The
Gospel is greater than any sign or miracle we might read about in the Bible. As
Jesus says, he gives eternal life. This Gospel is among us.

And let me briefly mention the Sacraments which are also
among us with the power of the Holy Spirit. We are given baptism. The
Scriptures tell us that this baptism unites us with Christ. By this baptism we
die with Christ and we rise with Christ. By this baptism we are born again by
the water and the Spirit so that we may see the kingdom of God. Again, you
might grumble inwardly and say, “What is this mumbo jumbo? How can water do
such great things?” But that’s your problem. You aren’t believing his words.
You aren’t appreciating what he says.

And on the night when Jesus was betrayed he gave us
disciples his body and blood. He says, “This is my body
which is given for you.” He says, “This cup is
the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your
sins.” I didn’t say those words. Jesus says them. Again you might
inwardly groan and say, “I hate this worthless bread. Church is so boring. Communion
only makes it longer. Where’s the razzle dazzle?” Such a reaction doesn’t
surprise me because we are just like the Israelites. They, too, grumbled. They,
too, failed to understand what God was doing. They, too, would have done things
differently if they were God instead of the Lord.

Despite their faithlessness, though, God was faithful. Jesus
prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.” I think we could apply those words to ourselves
if we are at all lackluster about what is given to us at Pentecost. We know not
what we do if we think Pentecost and the works of the Holy Spirit’s church are
just words—just a bunch of talking. Sure, there is talking, but what
magnificent talking it is if you will only believe it!

For example, Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water.’” Wow. Again, in the portion of Scripture we were referencing
earlier, Jesus says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day. For my
flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood abides in me, and I abide in him.” Magnificent.

The only way that anyone can fail to appreciate these words
or to regard them as worthless is through unbelief. Unfortunately, there is
nothing that comes easier or more naturally to us than unbelief, just as it came
so easily and naturally to the Israelites too. If I were God I’d have given up
a long time ago and moved on, but God is long-suffering, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love.

God doesn’t change either. The manna that he kept sending
down upon the Israelites day after day was just as sweet and nutty as it ever
was regardless of whether the Israelites loved it or loathed it. So it is also with
the work of the Holy Spirit, the greatness of Pentecost. It is just as
forgiving, cleansing, healing, sanctifying, and eternal-life-giving as ever. It
is not God or his promises that need to change. What needs to change is our
faith in the stupendous things that God says and does through his Holy Spirit
in his church with the Gospel.

There will always be those who will say, “We loathe this worthless food.” Not everybody was
converted even on Pentecost as you heard. There were some there who said, “These disciples have had a little too much grape juice.”
So it is also among us. It is not hard to find people who have so many other things
that they would rather be doing than listening to a talk about Pentecost. They
are so preoccupied with the cares, concerns and pleasures of life that the work
of the Holy Spirit in his church is about the furthest thing from their minds.

May it not be so with you. Even if heaven and earth were to
pass away, Jesus’s words will never pass away. They will always do what they
promise. They will always bless those who believe in him.