HOW SHOULD WE CELEBRATE PENTECOST?
Pentecost – May 24th, 2015 (s666.doc)
177 – 176 – 183 – 181:1,3,5
Pastor Thomas Fricke
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 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.” –Acts 2:37,38
If I were to ask you, “What are the three great festivals of the Christian faith?” I’m sure you’d be able to come up with at least two. The first one is easy. It’s Christmas—the festival of the Incarnation. It’s the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the fact that God came to be with us and became one of us. It’s a joy to celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ is both God and man; he understands us and loves us.
The second of the great Christian church festivals is easy, too. It’s Easter—the Resurrection of our Lord, when our crucified Savior came to life and appeared to his disciples to prove that he was alive. It proves to us that our sins have been forgiven, that Jesus is God, that his Word is true, and that we, too, one day will rise. Easter reminds us that there is another life—a better life—to come.
But the third great festival of the Christian faith is more difficult to come up with. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because there’s no hoopla about it. There are no cookies or special treats for the season…no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. The third great festival of the Christian faith is what we celebrate today—the Day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. It’s the birthday of the Christian church…and it’s a festival that deserves more attention than it gets. It’s the one day we set aside specifically to celebrate the Holy Spirit’s work.
The Spirit’s work is vitally important for the life of the church. With Luther, we confess, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.” We need the Holy Spirit. Not only is the Spirit the one who gives us faith, he is the one who feeds that faith and keeps it alive in our hearts through the Word. He is the giver of life, our Comforter and Counselor. He is powerful, and he is actively at work in our hearts.
But does it always look that way? If he’s active in our hearts, do we let it show? What would somebody looking in from the outside see?
As we take a look at the events of Pentecost today, let’s examine our lives. And let’s ask ourselves the question:
HOW SHOULD WE CELEBRATE PENTECOST?
1. Repent for the forgiveness of your sins
2. Recommit yourself to growing in your faith
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Someone has called the Holy Spirit “the shy person of the Trinity.” He doesn’t call much attention to himself. What he really does is direct our attention to Jesus. That’s what he did on the day of Pentecost.
The disciples had gathered in Jerusalem in obedience to the Lord’s command. He had told them to stay in Jerusalem and “wait for the gift my Father promised….” And he said, “In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4,5). So they came together and waited for something to happen. And on the day of Pentecost, it did.
They were all gathered together in one place when suddenly there was the sound of a violent wind. Then something like tongues of fire came to rest on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. It was unique—the sound of a wind, the tongues of fire, speaking in languages they had never heard before. But the greatest miracle of that day was none of those. It was the coming of the Spirit to the troubled hearts of timid men who had no idea what to make of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Spirit enabled them to speak the gospel with great power and conviction.
A crowd had gathered. They were astonished and perplexed. “How can these unschooled fishermen speak so fluently in all these languages?” they said. “What does this mean?” Some said, “They have had too much wine.” (Acts 2:12,13). So Peter stood up and addressed the crowd.
He reviewed all that Jesus did. Peter said that through his miracles, Jesus had shown himself to be the promised Messiah, God’s Son in the flesh. And he described how they, the Jewish people, had rejected him. With the help of wicked men, they had put him to death on a cross. And he said, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). How would they react to his message?
On their own, without the Holy Spirit, there’s only one way they could react. They would have blown it off. “We did this? No. Pilate did it. The chief priests did it. Not us. We had nothing to do with it. How can you blame us?” And perhaps that’s what many did think on that day.
But not all did. Luke tells us that “they were cut to the heart”—deeply troubled by Peter’s words. They didn’t make excuses. They didn’t avoid taking responsibility for their unbelief. They didn’t try to pin the blame for their sin on somebody else. They felt anguish in their hearts. And in deep distress over their sins, they asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
That was the Holy Spirit’s work. He is the One who works repentance in a sinner’s heart. The message of this day—Pentecost—is this: Let the same Spirit go to work in your heart.
We know that Christ was crucified…and we know why. We know that he came to take away the sin of the world…and we know that it was your sins and mine—our guilt—that put him on that cross. Can we really say, “It’s okay, because I didn’t have anything to do with it”? Can we argue, “I’m really no worse than the next guy…I mean, I know I sin, but hey, I’m sure God understands”?
· “I know that he says drunkenness is a sin…but hey, I didn’t drive…”
· “I know that he says sex outside of marriage is wrong…but everybody’s doing it…”
· “I know that he says I need to honor those in authority…but I won’t give anyone my respect until they’ve earned it…”
Like the people in the Pentecost crowd, we know, don’t we, that it was our words, our thoughts, our behavior that put him on the cross.
It’s the Spirit who breathes into our hearts the message of the Law so that we can’t just shrug it off. Through his Word he cuts us to the heart so that today and every day we despair of ourselves and throw ourselves entirely on the mercy of our God. It’s the Spirit who leads us to ask, “What shall we do?” It’s the Spirit who answers in the words of Peter, “Repent…for the forgiveness of your sins.” And it’s the Spirit who leads us to our knees…and brings us to embrace the sweet, sweet message of God’s forgiving grace in Christ.
If the Spirit were not working in our hearts, we would be stuck in our blindness, lost forever, and headed for hell. How should we celebrate Pentecost? We can begin with an honest self-examination, and prayer of confession, and an appreciation of our Lord’s saving grace. Thank the Spirit today for working repentance in your heart.
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And then recommit yourself to growing in the faith.
If you’re like most Christians, the day you were baptized in the name of the Triune God is the day you became a Christian. But today is the day to remember that your responsibility to keep on growing in your faith didn’t end there. You need to fan into flame the gift of the Spirit. To do that, you need to give the Holy Spirit a chance.
The Holy Spirit works, but not without means. He works through the gospel, which comes to us in Word and Sacrament. Through these instruments or tools, the Holy Spirit causes us to grow in faith and enables us to serve God and others. He will do it in your heart as you draw closer to him in his Word. Give the Holy Spirit a chance.
· Do you have a Bible at home? Do you know where it is…and do you open it up and use it?
· Do you understand what you’re reading…and if not, do you know how to find out?
· Do you love the fellowship of believers and get together with others who believe?
· Is their faith an encouragement to you…and is your faith an encouragement to them?
Do people see the “Christian” in you? Can they tell it by the way you live…by the things you do…by the way you speak…in the way you dress…or the way you drive? Is your Christianity a one-hour-a-week affair? Or is it a daily, every-minute part of your identity? Is it evident enough for others to see? Let the festival of Pentecost be a reminder: God has given us a Bible. He wants us to use it!
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Let’s go back to that the day of Pentecost for just a moment. The believers were all together in one place. Why? What were they dong there? They were gathered, first, in obedience to the Lord’s command. They got together to give encouragement to each other’s faith. And as a result, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. He gave them a stronger faith—joy and conviction in the hope that they shared! It was the birthday of the Christian church.
As we gather, the same purposes are there. We gather in obedience to the command of our Lord. We give encouragement to each other’s faith. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the strengthening of our faith. And with that, we have greater hope, and joy.
How should we celebrate Pentecost? Repent…and recommit yourself to growing in your faith. AMEN.