Pentecost

It was 10 days after Jesus Ascended into heaven. The 12 obeyed the words of Jesus that he spoke just before he was taken up – they went back to Jerusalem and they were waiting for him to come and send them his Spirit as he said he would. They were gathered together in the upper room and suddenly they heard a sound like a loud rushing wind. They saw flames of fire separate and take their place on the head of each of the 12. The Holy Spirit had come just as Jesus said. Jesus promised that they would receive the Holy Spirit and Power and here is the fulfillment of Jesus’ Words.

What happened next is absolutely amazing. These 12 men, these Galileans, men of mixed background, made their way out into the street and began to preach. They began to speak to the crowd that was gathered in Jerusalem at that time. The day was a feast day – the Jewish feast of Pentecost – a feast Commanded by God from the Book of Moses to commemorate God’s gifts to them in their harvest. As such the city of Jerusalem was filled with religious pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire – from parts of what is modern day Europe and Italy, Asia Minor, Turkey, Northern Africa – both Jews and converts to Judaism. Many whose native tongue was not the customary Aramaic that these Galileans would have been used to speaking. Yet each person, each foreign pilgrim residing in Jerusalem during the days of the feast heard his native tongue being spoken by one of these 12 men. Truly this was a miracle!

What followed was the preaching of Peter and conversion of three thousand of these devout Jewish pilgrims to the Christian faith. They repented of their sins, they were baptized. They were believers in the crucified and risen Jesus. The Christian church was born. In one day, through the bold and outspoken actions of the 12 the Christian faith exploded from a small seed planted into the hearts of a handful of men to a veritable harvest of thousands. The Hand of God was certainly at work in the preaching of Peter and the Apostles.

As we, the people of God, read these texts we can’t help but see the actions of Peter and the others, we can’t help but be impressed. We can’t help but be excited by the tremendous number of conversions to Christianity. We can’t help but be inspired and awed by this wonderful and miraculous event. We can’t help but wonder if such an event could occur in our day and in our time. If only we could see such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

From there, our thoughts often will turn to ourselves – our own actions, our own words. Peter spoke. Why can’t we? Peter boldly stood up before a crowded city and called them murderers – he held them responsible for the death of Jesus, the Son of God. He went out on a limb, he took a risk speaking such things to such a mixed audience. He was not exactly safe or conservative in his preaching. His message was bold and risky. And then we remember that Peter himself later even went on to write that we “should always be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in you.” (1 Pt. 3:15)

“If only,” we tell ourselves. “If only I was bold enough.” “If only I had the confidence to speak.” “If only I had the Words to say.” So often we hold our tongues and cower away from giving witness and speaking the reason for our hope. So often we are afraid to offer a clear confession of the Christian. So often we lack the boldness that was displayed by Peter and the Apostles.

In some ways that is only natural. After all, God has not given to each person the call to preach. Not every man is a pastor. That is a duty that God gives to some. Others he calls to many other areas of service in His creation. Some who God has called are pilots and college professors, executives and farmers and engineers and managers and accountants. They have not been given to preach. Likewise God has given to women their callings – as teachers, as doctors, as lawyers, professional workers and technicians, house mothers. Not everyone is a preacher. There are some God has called to this task, whom he has commanded to do this work. Certainly Peter and the apostles had this work. Certainly Pastors have been placed into the office given by God to do this work. Not every one is a pastor.

Perhaps no. But Peter has still written to you that you should always be prepared to give a ready defense for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus. In your relationships, with your friends and your family members, with your coworkers or classmates and with your acquaintances you carry with you the Christian Faith that you are to confess with your mouth and believe with your heart. Words of faith are given into your heart and these words should be on your lips.

That is a frightening prospect for so many us. We are intimidated when it comes to giving a confession of our faith. We are intimidated to speak the words of faith and to let people know what we believe. We are after all Christian people, who have received the gift of the one true faith but we are often afraid to let people know what that faith is. All kinds of fearful thought run through our heads. What will I say? What should I say? What if I say something wrong? What if I offend someone? Won’t I sound ignorant? Ironically Christians know the gospel, Christians are assured of their faith yet they are so often so intimidated to speak this thing that they know to be true.

Peter and the apostles shared these same fears. After all, when they still thought that Jesus was dead they locked themselves in the upper room for fear of the Jews. They were terrified of what the world around them would do to them because they were followers of Jesus. They were afraid that they would be arrested and locked away or worse, that they would be beaten or even murdered because of their faith. It was only a matter of weeks before the day of Pentecost that the apostles were too afraid to confess their faith. It was after they received the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on them that they were emboldened to preach about Jesus publicly and openly.

As we are looking to come to grips with these fears, the first thing that we need to remember is that if we truly want to erase our fear of speaking up and giving the reason for our hope, we need to be prepared. We need to have done our homework and our study ahead of time. Often people make the mistake of assuming that on the Day of Pentecost the disciples climbed up on this very public stage and opened their mouths to speak without any previous study or education, without any preparation. People will claim that they were simple men of little training and they just stood up and the Spirit gave them the words to say. This is not entirely true.

The apostles were students of the Scriptures. They studied the Old Testament and knew the |Word of God. In fact, they had the benefit of studying this Word under the instruction of the Word made flesh. Their professor was none other than Jesus the Son of God and Author of the Scriptures. They called him “Rabi” which means teacher. The apostles studied under Jesus for three years. Every day he taught them and instructed them from the Word of God. They learned how to read it and how to interpret it, they learned to see that the scriptures were written to testify about Jesus. By the time the Apostles stood up on Pentecost Day to preach they were well studied and well versed in the Word of God and were well prepared to give evidence for their faith.

As such, when Peter preached his Pentecost sermon, he did not simply open his mouth to speak from the heart. These days people often believe that true speech, sincere speech is that which comes from the heart. Jesus tells us that what comes out of our heart is slander and hatred and sin. Peter did not speak from his heart. He spoke from the scriptures. In his sermon Peter quotes the Prophet Joel, he quotes the Psalms all as authoritative evidence that Jesus was the Christ and that the events of that day were foretold in the Scriptures.

The new testament records for us that Jesus claims that the scriptures were written to testify about Him. The entire Bible is the story of Jesus. As Peter quoted the word of God he was sure to talk about Jesus. The entire message that he preached was about Jesus; Jesus who they crucified, with their guilt and their sin; Jesus who because of his death took away their sin – Jesus who died so that they could live.

Because he was well prepared and well versed in the Scriptures Peter’s message was the same message as the Biblical message – that Jesus was the Son of God sent to save sinners. Peter’s sermon was what all Christian dialog should be – Christ centered and Cross focused.

We need to keep these things in mind. We can anticipate that we will have opportunity to give confession of our faith. We too ought to be prepared. We ought to study the scriptures just as the Apostles did. We ought to learn it as we read it and study it. We ought to learn to understand it. We ought to learn to read it as the Word of God that testifies about Jesus. We ought to learn that our speech should confess Christ crucified to forgive us for our sin and wash us clean from all of our guilt.

But so often, even when we are prepared, even when we have read and studied the Word of God, even when we have immersed ourselves in the language of faith – all of our study and all or our preparation doesn't make us bold. We still are afraid. We still are not sure what to say, we still hesitate to open our mouths and speak. We still feel foolish and unprepared.

And that's okay. We are fools. We are weak. We are fearful. Christ did not call us to faith because of how smart and well spoken we are. It was not our intellect or our eloquence – far from it.! Christ called us to faith, to believe in Him because we are fools. Because we have weak hearts and stammering tongues. Christ called us to faith because he loves us. He called us to faith because we have nothing to give and nothing to offer. He calls us to faith not because of our words but because of His Word – His Promise. His truth. He has called us to faith by His Power spoken by the Holy Spirit in His Word. He has bound up our weakness and opened our Lips that our mouths might show forth His Praise.

That is joy of Pentecost. When Christ has work for you to do, when He has words for you to say he will speak through you. He will work through you. He will even speak in spite of you.

How often has it occurred that you have been sitting in church and the words of the sermon were exactly what you needed to hear? Do you think that is me? Do you think that I have been following you around watching your every move and then tailoring the sermon specifically to your situation. No! That is the work of the Holy Spirit speaking to you through me.

And likewise, as you are at your job, with your friends, in your classroom the Holy Spirit who has been poured out on you in your baptism is with you. His Words of faith are in your heart. He has pointed you to Jesus and He has given to you faith. When He feels that the time is right He will open you lips for you to confess the reason for the hope that is in you.

In His Name. Amen.