June Epistle: Pentacost
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
Can you imagine yourself there in Jerusalem that day? You’ve made the journey to the great city, perhaps from far away, to celebrate the harvest feast of Pentecost that God had established. Imagine that you’re a convert to Judaism from Asia. It might be that you struggle to make yourself understood as you barter for bread or try to find lodging among the huge crowds of pilgrims.
And then you hear it – the familiar sound of a great wind, tearing through the streets – but there is no wind! Everyone around you stops to listen. Then, as one, everyone runs to where the sound is coming from, and there you see a group of men who have come out of their house and are milling around in the street. There is a tongue like fire over each one’s head. What a strange sight!
But stranger still is the fact that these obviously simple and uneducated men are speaking in what you recognize as all kinds of languages! Out of the cacophony of sounds you can even hear your own language being spoken, and the mighty works of God being told! And in everyone’s eyes you read the same question: “What’s happening?”
I’m always intrigued by Pentecost. The miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, their speaking in other languages, Peter’s sermon to the great throng of people that have come together witnessing the event, the repentant hearts and faith bestowed resulting in three thousand people being baptized and added to the Church! What an exciting and emotional day that must have been!
But Pentecost is about much more than human emotion or excitement. The heart of Pentecost is not found in the miracle of tongues, or even in the three thousand baptized! Pentecost is the fulfillment of Christ’s promise that He spoke to His disciples before he ascended into heaven ten days prior. Jesus had said, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). Just before Jesus ascended He said, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24;48-49).
The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Church, poured into the Church, so that the Holy Spirit dwells within the Church – in each one of the children of God. And that same Holy Spirit is active in the Church today. He testifies to Christ, pointing us always to Him. Wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, there the Holy Spirit is at work! The Holy Spirit is not found in our excited feelings. Rather, He works through external means – through the Scriptures, holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar.
For example, St. Paul writes, “Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). And in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 he writes, “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit….” When we read or hear Scripture, the Holy Spirit is at work, pointing us to Christ and strengthening our faith. In the external rite of baptism, the Holy Spirit works forgiveness and faith, and is given to dwell within us. In the external rite of holy Communion, the Spirit works again the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus, strengthens our faith, and unites us together with Christ and with one
another.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit worked through the Word preached by Peter and gave three thousand people the faith to believe in Jesus as their crucified and risen Savior. Luke writes in Acts 2 that Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached to that great crowd that had gathered together. He told them that God had sent Jesus to be their Messiah and Savior, but they crucified Him. Three thousand repented and were baptized that day. The Holy Spirit was at work, growing the infant New Testament Church!
Paul links the Old Testament people of God with the New Testament Church when he says, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far og and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:17-22).
Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, speaks about the work of the Holy Spirit which continues today. Luther writes in his explanation to the Third Article of the Creed (“I believe in the Holy Spirit…”):
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
The Holy Spirit is indeed at work in the life of the Church today!
Pentecost is not just a remembrance of a miraculous event that occurred two thousand years ago. Rather, it is the celebration of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to you, His Church. The Holy Spirit continues to work within us as the Church on earth, granting us repentance and pointing us to Christ our Savior, sanctifying us in the true faith, proclaiming Christ crucified and risen from the dead through Word and Sacraments, and adding daily to the number of souls being saved.
Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord,
Be all Thy graces now outpoured
On each believer’s mind and heart;
Thy fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Thy light
Thou in the faith dost men unite
Of ev’ry land and ev’ry tongue;
This to Thy praise, O Lord, be sung.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord LSB 497:1
- Pastor
Art: “The Descent of the Holy Spirit” by Titian