A Rushing Wind: Pentecost Sunday (Resurrected Witness – Part VI)

Sermon Title: A Rushing Wind: A Spirit Filled Life

Good News Statement: The Spirit that Changes Us

Preached: Sunday, June 05, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): John 21:15-19 Today’s scripture reading comes from the Book of Acts chapter two verses one thru eight. Listen to the great words of Luke, the great physician…

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷ Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews^[a] and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵ Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. ²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. ²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

A preacher went into his church and he was praying to God. While he was praying, he asked God, “How long is 10 million years to you?” God replied, “One second.” The next day the preacher asked God, “God, how much is 10 million dollars to you?” And God replied, “A penny.” Then finally the next day the preacher asked God, “God, can I have one of your pennies?” And God replied, “Just wait a second.”

Be careful what you ask for! After Jesus ascends into the clouds, the Disciples are left asking a lot of questions: “What do we do now? Where do we go? How are we supposed to live without Jesus physically here on earth? Who do we go to when something doesn’t work?” The Disciples, like us at times, are lost when they realized that the one they always counted on was no longer around. In times like this, we tend to ask a lot of questions and demand answers right away; but we must remember, that God’s answers always trump our wants and desires. God will provide us with more than enough to do his work (2 Corinthians 9:8). Sometimes, we just have to wait a second before we get further instructions. Sometimes, we have to wait until the Holy Spirit descends upon us and moves us. Sometimes, we will have to wait and listen to the cry of the people before we are guided toward our next mission. Sometimes, we just have to wait.

Over the course of Jesus’ resurrection, we have found ourselves waiting for further instructions from Jesus. During this time, we learned that Jesus recognizes us when we don’t recognize him; that it’s never too late to notice the important people in your life, and it’s certainly never too late to recognize Jesus in your life; we recognized that with Jesus in our life, the doubt that we experience can be removed by acknowledging our doubt, asking God for help, and then listening to what God offers us in return; we recognized that Jesus will fill our nets if we are willing to do the work he has called us to do; and last week we recognized that our love for Jesus is the most important thing in life. How did you answer when Jesus asked you, “Do you love me?”

Today, all of our recognitions are called to action. Jesus has ascended into heaven, the Disciples are perplexed and lost, and the Holy Spirit has stirred their spirits. What does this all mean for us today? Today is Pentecost Sunday, the fiftieth day after Easter: it is the day by which all the Disciples, us included, are drenched with the faith, grace, and love of the Holy Spirit. Today, is the day we ask ourselves as a church, where do we go from here? Today is the day, we ask God for directions. Today is the day, we gather as a church—as faithful followers of Jesus Christ, as doers of the Word, as evangelists of the good news, and as disciples in training—to allow God to direct our footsteps (Proverbs 16:9) and tell us where to go and to whom to meet. Today is Pentecost Sunday, and the time has come to allow the Holy Spirit to stir your own spirit. If God can change the world in a blink of an eye, in just a second, just think what we could do during the span of our life.

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray… Dear Merciful God, we have been waiting for this day to come, so help us not to let this day pass without following Your instructions. Lord, I pray you allow the Holy Spirit to stir our own spirits today so that we are all motivated to do Your work here on earth. May my words fall to the ground as Your words settle in the hearts of all those before me. In your Resurrected name we pray, Amen.

Body:

Today is Pentecost Sunday—usually represented by the color red— and to begin this message, I thought it would be beneficial to offer you some information regarding this day. Luke begins the second chapter of Acts by providing us with a visual representation of Pentecost: he writes, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they [the disiciples] were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:1-4, NRSVUE). Pentecost fills our life with the Holy Spirit.

The word Pentecost comes from a Greek word meaning fiftieth. The Jewish Festival of Pentecost (called Shavuot, meaning “weeks” in Hebrew) falls on the fiftieth day after the original Passover. The Christian festival of Pentecost falls on the 50th day after the resurrection of Jesus. On Pentecost Sunday, we remember the day the disciples received the Holy Spirit in a special way (Acts 2). To Christians, Pentecost refers to the down-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the early church in Jerusalem as recorded in Acts, chapter two. Pentecost is an experience. It is an experience every child of God can receive according to Peter. Peter stated, “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:39) shall receive the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the day we experience the down pouring of the Holy Spirit as we continue to fulfill the work of Jesus Christ in our lives and in our church.

Scripturally, Pentecost continues after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Luke writes in Acts 1:6-9, “So when they [the disciples] had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’  When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.’”

But what does Pentecost mean for us today—as disciples and as a church? Pentecost is constructed on promise, prophecy, and experience. It also stems from the three offices of the Holy Spirit. The first office of the Holy Spirit is that of Advocate. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:7,  ” Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.” In accomplishing this work, the Holy Spirit comes unto the individual as one who will be an advocate for Christ.

The second office of the Holy Spirit is that of Indweller. Galatians 4:6 says, ” And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Additionally, this indwelling of the Holy Spirit functions as a sealing of the believer. Ephesians 2:13-14 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” To accomplish these works, the Holy Spirit comes into the believer.

And the third office of the Holy Spirit is all about Pentecost. We shall see that the glorious power that was manifested on Pentecost came as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon the early church. It is in the third office of the Holy Spirit that we begin to see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as it was prophesied, then promised, and now experienced.

 

PENTECOST PROPHESIED

The prophet Joel took it upon himself to prophesy about the miraculous out pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the people of the Old Testament. Joel experienced moments of doubt and uncertainty in his life, but he knew that with the Holy Spirit in his life, God was directing him to do great things. Joel wrote, “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29). In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:14-36, Peter declared that the events of that day were a fulfillment of the prophecy that was uttered by Joel more than 800 years earlier. Joel has given us the reminder that the Holy Spirit is not something new: it is not something foreign or alien to our lives. The Holy Spirit as a matter of fact, has been present since before the day of creation. And Luke wants us to know that. He wants us to live into this realization.

The Holy Spirit that poured upon the flesh during the time of Joel is the same Holy Spirit that is guiding us to do great things, to experience dreams of God’s great news, and to see visions of where our church needs to serve, to grow, and to fill the needs of all God’s people. We must not stop prophesying about the work of the Holy Spirit. When was the last time you prophesied about the Holy Spirit in your life? What sort of visions have you received? What dreams has God laid on your heart for this church? How can the Holy Spirit be prophesied beyond these doors?

PENTECOST PROMISED

After nudging us to realize that the Holy Spirit has been prophesying in our lives since the day we were born, Luke provides us with a promise. This promise is the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Luke writes in his Gospel, “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Being “clothed with power from on high” is what Paul describes as our way of growing and building the body of Christ. Paul writes, “[S]ome are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers…” (Ephesians 4:11). Through the receiving of the Holy Spirit, God has promised to use us as we are called to help build the Body of Christ—the church.

Each and every one of are called—by your gifts and graces—to build the church of Christ—to build this church, to build this community. And by building what God has called you to build, we, together, can create something in which we are proud to call a home to and for all of God’s children. It will take work, it will take sacrifices, it will take commitment, but with the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit anything is possible. The question becomes, how are you going to use your gifts and graces to build what God has called you to build? We have all been clothed with the power from on high to do great things.

The Disciples were asking themselves the same question: “What are we to do now? Luke writes, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Disciples have forgotten that they have already received the Holy Spirit. John 20:21-22 states, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus has breathed upon you. You have received the Holy Spirit in your life. And now Jesus is calling you to go out into the world and make “disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that [he] [has] commanded you” (Matthew 289:19-20).

You have received the Holy Spirit. This church has received the Holy Spirit. And the time has come to fulfill the works of Jesus Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to all ends of the earth—teaching all of God’s children to obey the promise of the Holy Spirit. The world can only change if you allow God to direct your heart, mind, body, and soul. You have received the Holy Spirit so what is holding you back from becoming the disciple that Jesus needs you to be? A disciple who seeks change for the better?

PENTECOST EXPERIENCED

Lastly, Pentecost is experienced. According to Acts, Pentecost took place in Jerusalem, in an upper room (1:13) in the presence of about a hundred and twenty people (1:15), who were “all with one accord in one place” (2:1). While in this upper room, “there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2) and they saw “divided tongues, as of fire,…on each of them” (Acts 2:3).

It should be no surprise that wind symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ’You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8). In this upper room in Jerusalem, those gathered were born again; they received the Holy Spirit. Just like when Jesus appeared to the eleven Disciples in the closed room, the Holy Spirit has the power to enter any room and any heart and any church. Nothing will stop the Holy Spirit; and nothing will stop our church from experiencing and proclaiming the power of the Holy Spirit.

Nothing stopped the hundred and twenty in the room from proclaiming the Holy Spirit so then why should we stop doing what the Holy Spirit has called us to do. Luke indicates, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4). The Scripture makes it quite clear that these were not “unknown” tongues (languages). The one hundred and twenty disciples spoke in languages that were unknown to them but known to those who came to hear. Those who heard were Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together. When we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our speech, love will conquer hate, light will conquer darkness, peace will conquer chaos, comfort will overcome abandonment, hope will overcome hopelessness, and the spirit will overcome the works of the flesh. When we come together and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will be able to do extraordinary and great things for the kingdom of God: we will be able to grow His church. But are we willing to do so?

Conclusion:

The best thing about Pentecost is that the blessings continued: and those present continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42). Those present received the Holy Spirit and continued to do the work of the ascended Jesus Christ. On the Day of Pentecost there were a hundred and twenty disciples who were baptized with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed the gospel in a tongue (language) unknown to themselves but known and comprehended by the multitude that represented every nation on earth (Acts 2:5). The glorious result of Pentecost is this “about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41): three thousand souls were added to the already one hundred and twenty disciples. The time has come to proclaim the good news of Christ. The time has come to build our church. The time has come to receive the Holy Spirit and be clothed with power from on high. The time has come to be the disciple that Christ needs you to be. The time has come to reach three thousand plus souls. The time has come to prophesy and experience the promise that Jesus has breathed upon you. The time has come to allow the Holy Spirit to be active in your life.

Don’t wait to exercise the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Christ needs you—your gifts and graces—to build his church and kingdom now; and it all begins by allowing the Holy Spirit to direct your footsteps. So what is next for you? What is next for our church? Have you received the Holy Spirit?

 

Communion Transition:

In an Upper Room in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit was present with twelve Disciples who needed directions on what to do next. They listened to Jesus, they heard Jesus, and they wanted to be like Jesus, but they were stuck waiting for advice. But then through the breaking of the bread and the receiving of the wine, Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit. Through his body and blood, the Holy Spirit entered their hearts and clothed them with power from on high. Around the table today, we pray to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may go out into the world and eat with three-thousand plus people around a common table. May the Holy Spirit be present during our meal together.

 

Benediction:

Have you received the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday? What is the Holy Spirit calling you to do in your life, in this church, and in this community? Receive the Holy Spirit and do the work of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go, transforming lives as you live well and wisely in God’s world. Amen. Amen. Amen.