Written by Pastor John Eich
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI
Acts 2:1-21
Because of the length of the text it is not printed here.
What Does Pentecost Mean?
How many times have you had a conversation with someone where they were talking extensively about things that you didn’t really understand? But the time you realized you didn’t really grasp the core concepts of what was being discussed, you felt too embarrassed to ask. There are a few ways out of that situation. Maybe you keep listening hoping that you’ll catch on. Maybe, if it’s not work- or family-critical you hope that it won’t be something that comes up again after this. Or, you just swallow your pride and ask the questions that you need to have answered. Maybe you say something like, “Ok, before we go on, could we back up to what you said before?” What does that mean?”
That’s actually a good Lutheran question. Those of you who went through Luther’s Small Catechism as children or adults will remember that repeated question, “What does this mean?” It accompanies each of the Ten Commandments, each of the parts of the Lord’s Prayer, each article of the Apostles’ Creed, and so on. Luther’s goal in writing those short explanations to those sections of Scripture or of the confessions of the Christian church were meant to make sure that we didn’t miss the core concepts of the faith. He hoped that we wouldn’t just nod along, oblivious to the true meaning of God’s Word, but dig in to understand what God has said and promised on a fundamental level.
Of course, Martin Luther was not the first person to ask that question. We have it here before us on Pentecost, some 1500 years before Luther. The people gathered around the apostles that day saw and heard some dumbfounding things. The sound of a wind blowing with no actual wind, tongues of fire over the apostles’ heads, and then these mostly uneducated men speaking in many different world languages that they had never studied. So many vocalized the question everyone there was thinking, “What does this mean?”
“Pentecost” is the Greek word for fifty. It was a Greek name for the Feast of Weeks outlined in the Old Testament because that festival took place fifty days after Passover. This Jewish festival was one where they spent time thanking God for the early harvest that had just come in. This festival is why there were godly Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
But why do we observe this festival? Is it anything more than the birthday of the Christian church? As we see this account freshly again this morning, we’re left asking, what does this mean?
First, Pentecost means Jesus’ work is done. He has suffered and died to pay for the sins of all people, and his resurrection was the seal of victory, the assurance that the Father had accepted his sacrifice. He spent 40 days proving his resurrection to his disciples so that there was no doubt of his victory. At his ascension, Jesus made clear that he was passing the torch of his proclaiming His work to His disciples. He would continue his work through us. And Pentecost is the beginning of that work.
Pentecost also means Jesus’ promises are trustworthy. As we consider the crowd gathered there at the first Christian Pentecost day, we can’t help but remember what Jesus’ directions were. At his Ascension Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses, “beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). Here’s the start. A crowd of people from all over the world get to hear the gospel message. The Holy Spirit allows the confusion of Babel to be undone. And as these people went back to their homelands, some would undoubtedly share what they had heard from Peter and the others. From Jerusalem, this message would spread around the world.
But there’s an even bigger promise here. Jesus had told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them. He would come to be their comforter, to remind them of everything that he had said, to speak through them the words that God had for them to share.
It is an amazing story to hear again, isn’t it? The miracle of Pentecost. But don’t you wonder a little, when you hear this story, whether we are missing something today? After all, I doubt that our celebration this morning will include a violent wind, or fire, or miraculous speech. So are we missing something? Where is the wind and the fire today? Where is the excitement of that first Pentecost?
Where Is the Holy Spirit Today?
The better question to ask is: where is the Holy Spirit today? After all, isn’t that the point of Pentecost? To give us the Holy Spirit? So the question to ask today is not, where is the wind and the fire, but where is the Holy Spirit?
And if we ask the question in that way, then we do, indeed, have a pretty exciting answer, if you ask me. Because the Holy Spirit is without a doubt here with us today, in some very amazing and powerful ways. Let me share three of those ways.
The Word of God
First, the Holy Spirit comes to us today, through the Holy Word – the divinely inspired, faith-producing, life-changing Word of God – which connects us to all Christians going all the way back to that first Pentecost, and connects us to the God who inspired and guided its every word.
Those who heard Peter that day heard him speak in their own language. And so do we. Just as many Christians around the world today are hearing this in their own language. It may not seem as miraculous, but I think it is pretty incredible to think of Christians around the world today hearing these words in their own language – over 3,300 different languages! That’s even greater than the first Pentecost!
Isn’t that amazing? The Pentecost miracle continues, and through the Word of God proclaimed here and around the world, the Holy Spirit continues to be poured into the hearts of listeners, producing faith and trust in our God.
The Called and Gathered Church
The second way that the Holy Spirit comes to us today is through the gathered congregation. As Martin Luther put it in his Small Catechism:
The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith.
The Holy Spirit is the reason we are here today. The Holy Spirit called and gathered us here, just as He has done for centuries all around the world. The Holy Spirit brings us together and gives us a variety of gifts, all for the common good.
The Pentecost miracle happened when the apostles were all together in one place. And it happened when devout Jews from every nation under heaven were present. That’s not a coincidence. The Holy Spirit likes us to be together. That why in Scripture we are called a family, a gathering, a congregation. Something important happens when we are together. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is present when we gather in his name, which we do whenever we worship together. He binds us together with the love of Jesus and the truth of His word.
The Sacraments
And we come together in Jesus’ name, there is a third way in which the Holy Spirit comes to us. And that is through the Holy Sacraments.
When Peter finished his sermon on that first Pentecost, those who heard it asked him, “what should we do?” And Peter responded, “Repent, and be baptized … and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38). They will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit not through wind and fire, but through holy baptism. And it is in baptism that we too received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And right after those who heard Peter’s sermon were baptized, what did they do? The very next verse says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). In other words, they gathered together as a community, to hear the Word and celebrate Holy Communion.
That is where the miracle of Pentecost continues to be enjoyed and realized in the Church. Then, and now. When we gather in the name of Jesus. Remember our baptisms. Devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to communion, and prayer.
We may not have wind and fire today, but we are here, gathered in the name of Jesus. Doing those very things that the Church has done since that first Pentecost. And that means that the Holy Spirit is present among us now, just as He was then.
It’s always tempting to think that we need more – we need more excitement, more enthusiasm, more emotion; we need more wind and fire on Sunday mornings. But we Lutherans are at our best when we refuse to believe that the church needs anything more than the Word, the Sacraments, and the congregation gathered in Jesus’ name. Because we believe, teach and confess that it is through these means of grace that God gives us all that we need for our salvation.
The point of Pentecost is not the wind and the fire – it never was. The point of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who brings to the church all the gifts of God, all that we need, for life and salvation.
Finally, Pentecost means that God wants others to know about what he’s done for them. It was never the point for God’s free forgiveness in Jesus to be a secret, known only to a select few. No from the first promise in the Garden of Eden, the work of God was always meant to be shared. For generations, the temple in Jerusalem stood as a beacon to all nations to come to hear God’s Word from those to whom he had given it. Now, the beacon is the Church drawing people to the truth by sending Christians into the world to share this truth in every place.
We are here today because the Holy Spirit has drawn us to that truth. He worked faith in us which clings to Jesus as the certainty of our eternal life. The Holy Spirit makes us ever-confident that Jesus’ work is completed, that Jesus’ work is for the whole world, that Jesus’ work is even for us. Even if we feel all alone on an island in the world around us, we are never alone. Our ascended Savior is ever with us, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom he promised and sent, is with us as well.
The Holy Spirit may not always come with outwardly impressive signs among us today. But that doesn’t mean that he is silent or absent. He is active in our home devotions, our Bible classes, in our worship. Here the Holy Spirit brings his comfort. Here the Holy Spirit reminds us of everything that Jesus has said and done for us.
And just as the Holy Spirit was with Peter and the other apostles as they began this massively important work, so too he is with us, today, as we live our lives to glorify him at the grocery store, as we invite our neighbor to come to church with us, as we explain ever-so-briefly the core of our Christian faith to a curious coworker. He’s there, working through us, working even in spite of us. As he uses us to point people to Jesus.
What does this mean? This whole scene at the first Christian Pentecost day, the whole of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives means one eternally important thing: we will be with our God and Savior forever!
Thanks be to God! Amen.