Pentecost Sermon – What shall we do? (Please read the book of Joel & Acts 2)
My Dear Friends, I am conscious that another great day in the Christian calendar is upon us, and that, yet again, we will have to celebrate at a distance (physically at least) from one another and do so from the seclusion of our own homes. You will have to enjoy your own “private Pentecost” which seems ironic (and challenging) because the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon that first church was such a powerful and very public event. We will, as we’ve become all-too aware, have to wait patiently. Again I am struck by the fact that, before ascending to His Father in heaven, Jesus also instructed his disciples to ‘lock-down’ in a “room upstairs” in Jerusalem and to wait there. All 120 or so devoted themselves to prayer until the promised gift of the Father (John 14:16) finally came. Those disciples were all together in one place (Acts 2:1) when the Spirit came. We’re not, but I want us, together, to go back to that very first Pentecost and hear the story again.
{We now read about the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2: 1-12...}
What a day it must have been when Peter stood and preached his first public sermon to an audience of thousands from all over the known world, a Spirit-endued message that fulfilled Joel’s ancient prophecy that God would in the last days pour out his Spirit upon all flesh – a sermon that led to the saving of 3000 souls in a day and the birthing of the new church. (v41). It occurs to me that some of the people in this crowd may also have gathered in another crowd, a little more than seven weeks before; the crowd which shouted “crucify him!” as Jesus stood silent and bloodied before Pilate. Maybe they’d been in another crowd and seen Jesus weighed down by a cross taking that lonely walk to the hill where he died. Maybe they’d watched him die; maybe they recalled celebrating a “good day out” and they walked away untouched. Who knows? Maybe someone felt they were part of a terrible crime that day. At any rate the stage was set...
There were people from all over the world gathered that day, essentially for an annual festival in a major city. And many of them were saved because the Holy Spirit miraculously allowed a bunch of ignorant Galileans to share the gospel with them in their own languages. But Peter’s address is fundamentally an appeal to his own people (Acts 2:14; 22, 29).
The things you see and hear today have been predicted by the prophets and by our ancestor David. (Read Vs. 16-21 & 29 – 35)
Peter speaks to the culture and in the language his fellows will understand. That doesn’t mean it will be easy for them to hear. Peter certainly does not “pull his punches”. He’s not concerned about offending people. His concern is to reach the lost. (Are you?) Peter sets the tone for all preaching: he’s not drunk on cheap plonk, not mad, but filled with the Spirit and the focus of this sermon is about Jesus Christ and his death...
It’s never easy to be confronted with our sins. But with a bravery that could only come from God Peter says, “...this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and (you) killed him. But God untied the ropes of death and raised him up...” (Acts 2: 23 -24, Message)
As if to hammer home the point: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear...(be in no doubt)...”God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus who you crucified.” (Acts 2: 32-33; 36, NRSV)
As I write this I hear the plaintive tones of the African-American spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” And Wesley’s hymn, “All you that pass by, to Jesus draw nigh; to you is it nothing that Jesus should die?”
There are thousands of people in the crowd. But God cares for individuals. Tongues of fire rested on individual men and women. The Spirit is a gift to you, so that you would know God more intimately. The Lord spoke through Peter to the individual man and woman. TO YOU! It’s like when the visiting preacher brings his message and you just know he’s talking about you. How does he know my story, my situation, my sin? Remember, Peter himself was terribly lost and more than once, until Jesus found him and forgave him and asked Peter if he loved him and called him. This love, this forgiveness, informs the whole of Peter’s life and ministry. It should, ours, too...
And so to the question that forms the title of this sermon...”Brothers, what shall we do?” Some, perhaps unsurprisingly, thought the disciples were “off their faces”; but others began to see and hear and believe. I suppose what they’re asking is, how then can any of us be forgiven, if our sin is so great? When they heard this, when the really saw themselves before a good and holy God, they were “cut to the heart”; they felt wounded. The Word of God preached in the power of God; God’s voice spoken through weak vehicles changing lives, touching hearts. Some of you are proof that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We are reminded of what Jesus said:
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Here is convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
This (being cut to the heart) is the place where we all started. Peter doesn’t answer by saying, “You seem like you’re a good person, you’re okay” or, “you don’t have to do anything, just say a sinner’s prayer and Jesus will come into your heart...” or, “say three Hail Mary’s and your sins will be forgiven...” No! Peter’s is: “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 2:38).
Peter would give this answer to the people because Jesus Himself gave this instruction in the Great Commission. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16).” The people had already heard Peter say that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2: 21) But the Lord (as he has always done) is looking for a people who will not only cry out to him who but will return to him with all they have – for a people who will not only lament the wretchedness of their situation but who will repent of their sins - a people who will turn their backs on their old ways and turn, return to God and face him. Repent is the answer to the great question, “What shall we do?” More than one Jesus warned, “Unless you repent, you will perish.” (Luke 13)
For in the day of disaster our God is the only hope. In the time of Joel there was a disastrous epidemic (a plague of locusts) which affected the people, the land, the animals, and the economy - every bit as much as the plague we face today hurts us. Sackcloth and ashes are only the beginning. “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God…” (Joel 2:13)
There is no situation in life, ever; that the Word of God doesn’t speak powerfully into. This is not some ancient message of dubious relevance. It is a message from the Spirit for today, for the world and for the church, especially for us. Repentance always starts with the people of God. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly, gather the people…” (Joel 2:15) We will not see a repentant country until we see a repenting church. We don’t see much evidence of spiritual fruit; maybe just a few religious nuts here and there!
But seriously…
I’m not the only person who has been thinking and praying and reflecting on these days over the last 3 months. But one thing has been clear to me. Every disaster, ever pandemic, every catastrophe (biblical or otherwise) brings with it another opportunity to turn back to God or to turn to God for the first time if you’ve never done so. “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart…” (Joel 2: 12). It’s not too late to save yourself from this corrupt generation.
Return to the Lord in a new commitment. Maybe we will when we come back together again. Maybe you will return to the Lord what belongs to him; maybe you will turn up next time. If you want to succeed in any of that it won’t be by your might or your power that makes it happen but it will be by God’s gift of his Spirit… “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord calls to him…” (Verse 39)
Maybe, as the Lord said through Joel, you will find (like all God’s returning people) he will make good on his promise to restore the wasted years and “repay you for the years the locusts have eaten!” (Joel 2: 25)
MFR 28/05/20
Come down, Holy Spirit, hover like a dove.
Seek the lost and lonely; fill them with your love.
Fly to our souls where doubts and questions dwell,
Till by faith and hope we know that all shall be well.
Pastoral Prayer (inspired by Joel 2: 23-29)
We, the children of Zion, are glad.
We rejoice in you, O Lord.
You have poured out upon us blessings like abundant rain.
Our threshing floors are full of grain;
our barrels overflow with the wine of your goodness.
We rest in your providence, your generosity, your loving kindness.
We delight in your presence.
Time and time again,
you have shown us that you are present in our midst.
Whether we have had little or much,
whether we have suffered or prospered,
you have been our faithful and sustaining God.
When we … you were there.
(Add specific ways God has been faithful in your congregation’s experience.)
Since you have been faithful in times past, we can ask in confidence that you minister to our current needs….
(Name them as appropriate.)
We, the children of Zion, are glad.
We rejoice in you, O Lord.
You have dealt wonderfully with us.
You have redeemed us.
You have led us by your hand.
From the call to Abraham and Sarah,
to the birth of the church at Pentecost,
to the birth of our congregation,
you have led us. You have provided leaders and faithful members,
who by God’s Spirit have nurtured us and cared for us.
And now, we ask that you call out from among us new leaders
on whom you will pour out your spirit.
Anoint our sons and daughters to prophesy,
to dream dreams and see visions.
Give them courage to dream your dreams.
Give them eyes to see your visions.
Give us willing hearts to follow those dreams and visions.
Mold and shape us by those dreams and visions
to be faithful and passionate witnesses
of your love, grace, and truth in the twenty-first century.
May it be so, in the name of our Lord. Amen.