“The Church in Full Bloom - Pentecost!”

Scripture: Acts 2:1-21

For the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the characteristics of the Church – what it is, how it works in faith, why it is instrumental and vital in our relationship with God, why a depth of involvement is required on our part, and that a life in Christ, a life that comes through the Church, is no longer about us or the things that come to us from earth – that everything must be about Jesus.
Last week, we began to tie the power and promise of the Church together. In our reading, the Lord said “I am going to send you what my Father has promised;” (Luke 24:49), and unless we had the background surrounding the Church’s life and purpose, these words could be construed as a simple blessing, when it would be anything BUT simple!

Today, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit – not only into the world, but into our lives and into the life of the Body. It would complete a transformation within the remaining few followers of Jesus from terror filled, uncertain men and women, into faithful, spirit-filled, confident and prepared witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. So with that, let’s take a fresh look at the coming of God’s promise and what this means for his Church.

Read Acts 2:1-4

Until this time, Jesus had been the only focus for teaching, prophecy, and healing. The disciples had been able to do a few things in the name of Jesus, but theirs was a very limited scope in faith. But Jesus was gone from their view now, and even though uncertainty had left them, there were still many questions in their lives. What will we do without him? Who will teach us? Where are we to go? What will our lives become now that the Lord is gone? And oh, by the way, who is this Holy Spirit?
As Jesus was preparing to return to heaven, we read in Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” They may not have known it yet, but every question that they ever had was about to be answered, and not as a simple reply either, but in the most dramatic way! And that answer was that now they will do the teaching, they will know where to go, their lives will be the one who touch the lives of earth, and that they will come to know this Holy Spirit in a way that will fill them, and enable them, and inspire them, and will bless them in wonderful ways.

On this festival of Pentecost, the time that occurs 50 days after Passover - a celebration of First Fruits, the first harvest, and also approximated the period when Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai - the city of Jerusalem was filled to overflowing with faithful Jews who had come from the far flung corners of the known world. What a perfect time for the arrival of the long promised Holy Spirit; what a perfect time for the birth of Christ’s Body, his Church.
And contrary to some thought, this Spirit came, not as a wind, but as the “sound like a blowing wind”, and not as fire, but as what “seemed to be tongues of fire”. The house was filled with the sound and vision of God, the faithful were filled with the Lord’s glory, and the power of the Spirit began to work in each and every one of them.

Read Acts 2:5-13

All too often, we focus our understanding of the arrival of the Spirit on its settling on the lives of those gathered in the house. And certainly, it was an amazing entrance, but there is so much more to it than that.

First, scripture tells us that there were “God-fearing Jews from every nation” there that day, and the Spirit not only fell on the faithful, but it called many more to come to hear the message. Acts 1:15 tells us that there were only about 120 believers at that time, but several thousand more would be added to their numbers that very day. People from literally the 4 corners of the world would respond to the presence of the Spirit. Faith in Jesus Christ as God and Savior would no longer be centered in Jerusalem and in Judea itself. The Spirit came to establish and grow the Church of Christ in ways and in places that the 120 could never have accomplished, or even imagined, on their own.

Second, it would no longer be the Incarnate God who would be speaking to the world – it would be common, everyday men and women who would assume that responsibility. The men who received the call of God to preach this day were Galileans – everyday folks who would be commissioned by God to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, that they might become part of his kingdom. They were fishermen, tax collectors - sinners all. They were the old and the young, the wealthy and the poor – they were the people who would never be expected to be used by God in such a powerful way. And as we read though Acts, we discover that women would also be called, and Gentiles would be called, and the Spirit would begin to work in the lives of anyone who would follow and believe.

Third, faithfulness would no longer be based in the 1,000+ years of tradition that had always been Israel’s legacy. Verse 12 tells us that the people were “amazed and perplexed”, and wondered what it could possibly mean. For many, there was no question that this was something that they had to pay attention to, even though it was new, and unusual, and totally unexpected. But then, that had been Jesus’ approach all along, hadn’t it! Faith was taking on a whole new mantle, an entirely new face, and while it was based in the tradition of Israel, the message would bring a completely new hope to their lives.

And fourth, opposition to the Spirit’s working would continue to grow. This new Way would, for some reason, be threatening to some, and mockery and scorn would arise as the first level of antagonism, and from there the resentment toward this new approach to faith would grow and eventually erupt into violence toward the believers, just as it had toward their Lord Jesus.

And so it was that first day.

Read Acts 2: 14-21

The prophet Joel was one of a few Messianic prophets of old. Messiah was not a foreign concept for Israel, but he was greatly misunderstood. Messiah was generally thought of being a warrior savior, not a gentle one. He was supposed to defeat the enemies of Israel, not the sinful ways of the people. He was to make Israel a great and powerful and respected nation once again, but not to be an advocate for the likes of the poor, the meek, the merciful and the hungry.
Joel prophesied that the Spirit would come into the faithful of the world; that the wonders of the Almighty would astound and amaze; that anyone, everyone, who called on the name of the Lord would be saved. In Acts 4:12, this concept is repeated – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” And all of it reinforces the gospel message, that Jesus is the only way, the only truth and the only life, and that he is the one and only way to the heavenly reward. (John 14:6)

And this is only the beginning of Peter’s incredible sermon on that first Christian Pentecost. The message that we read in Acts is only a portion of the power and glory that he exhibited that day. The Spirit worked in a mighty way that day, flowing through disciples and listeners together; inspiring, and invigorating, and opening hearts and minds to the truth and glory of Jesus Christ. He would preach repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus, and 3,000 souls would hear the truth, and would believe, and would be saved that day.
And the Church was on The Way with Jesus. There would be difficult days ahead, and, quite honestly, they will continue until the day of the Lord’s return. Remember that man who suggested that the Galileans were all drunk that morning? He, and those like him, would never go away, and his followers are still with us 2,000 years later. But the power of the Holy Spirit that became so evident that Pentecostal morning is also still with us, and still awaits us, and still fills us, and will fill all who will faithfully believe and proclaim the salvation of Jesus.

But there must be a caution, nonetheless, and I call your attention once more to Jesus’ parable of the Talents. (Matthew 25:14-30) The two servants who faithfully followed the Master’s commands were rewarded far beyond any reasonable way, while the servant who foolishly refused to do anything to glorify the Master’s position would lose everything, including his place in the household.
Jesus can only save us if we truly believe in him. The Holy Spirit can only work in and through us if we are willing to follow. The Church can only survive if the faithful will share the message of Jesus with the world – that there is forgiveness and redemption waiting for all, but that it can only come to them when they raise up the name of Jesus.
Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The only thing that can separate us from the Lord is our own stubborn refusal to claim him as Lord and Master of our lives.

There is no other way than Jesus, and that must be the way of the Church. Amen.