"The Point" 5-28-23

Overview

The Point of Pentecost: Reconciliation for All

Pentecost falls fifty days after the resurrection and ten days after the ascension. On that day, the whole gathered church—about 120 believers—was together in one place when the Holy Spirit was poured out with the sound of a rushing wind and divided tongues "as of fire" resting on each of them Acts 2:1-4. Fire in Scripture often signals judgment, but here it is the purifying, sanctifying work John the Baptist foretold when he said the Coming One would baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire" Luke 3:16.

Why did the Spirit empower the disciples to speak in many languages? Not to overcome a language barrier—the crowd in Jerusalem shared Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic in common. The miracle was making a point. The Jewish religious teachers of the day taught that God loved the Jews who kept the rules. But the Apostle John writes, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" John 3:16. If God's love were reserved for rule-keepers, the Spirit could simply have caused everyone to speak Hebrew. Instead, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Egyptians, Romans, Cretans, and Arabs each heard "God's deeds of power" in their own native language Acts 2:8-11. The languages themselves preached the gospel: the reconciliation won by Jesus Christ is for all.

We are tempted to project our experiences of conditional love onto God—to believe his love is doled out only when we perform, achieve, or say the right thing, and pulled back when we fail. But every one of us is a rule-breaker in thought, word, and deed. If God only loved those who kept the rules, we would all be lost. The good news is that on the cross the spotless Lamb of God took our sin and gave us his perfect righteousness. As Paul writes, in Christ "all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things... by making peace through the blood of his cross" Colossians 1:19-20.

In a real sense, every Sunday is a little Pentecost. The Spirit is poured out fresh through Word and Sacrament, and what was won for the whole world was made personal to you in your baptism, when you were washed in the promises of God. The point of the many languages on that first Pentecost remains the point today: Christ's reconciliation is for all—and it is for you.

Transcript

Would you open your Bibles' please on this Pentacos Sunday to the second chapter of the book 3s

of Acts, if you're using a Pue edition, you're going to find that on page 103 in the 8s

New Testament Acts II chapter. 14s

On this wonderful day in the life of the church, it's helpful for us to get our bearings 19s

of where this account falls. 26s

The second chapter of Acts and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Pentacos. 30s

So let's use some numbers to do that. 37s

When it comes to the day of Pentacos, it is 50 days after the resurrection. 41s

It's 10 days after the ascension. 50s

Remember ascension this year was on a Thursday, May 18th. 56s

And I remember what Pastor Malonex Thursday morning devotional was. 61s

It was on the ascension. 66s

Wasn't it? 68s

Count 10 days. 70s

You wind up on the Sunday, Pentacos Sunday. 71s

So 50 days after Easter, 10 days after the ascension. 75s

Here's another number. 79s

120 had gathered. 81s

This is the whole church, all 120 of them. 84s

They had gathered. 89s

Bruce one. 91s

When the day of Pentacos had come, they were all together in one place. 93s

Pentacos. 100s

That's a word that means the 50th. 100s

Well, what's that in reference to? 104s

It's 50 days after the Passover. 106s

This isn't reference here to one of the three annual feasts. 111s

It was a feast of the harvest, in which the people would gather to give thanks to God for the harvest. 114s

So we have our numbers. 123s

50 days after the resurrection, 10 days after the ascension. 125s

All 120 were gathered of the church. 129s

On the 50th, the day of Pentacos, 50 days after the Passover. 134s

And one more number. 140s

And the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, was poured out. 142s

Verse 2. 153s

And suddenly, from heaven, 155s

there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind. 157s

And it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 162s

Now, the house wasn't filled with wind. 168s

Was it? 171s

Because it says, like the rush of a mighty wind. 171s

Isn't credible sound must have given them quite a start. 176s

Then add to that verse 3. 181s

Divided tongues as a fire appeared among them. 184s

And a tongue rested on each of them. 189s

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages 193s

as the Spirit gave them ability. 198s

Divided tongues as of fire. 202s

So often, inscriptions fire is associated with judgment. 207s

Not here. 215s

Remember what John the Baptist said in Luke 3, 217s

he said, I baptize you with water, 220s

but one who is more powerful than I is coming. 223s

I'm not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. 226s

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 232s

So this is the purifying, this is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. 239s

Verse 4. 247s

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, 249s

began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability. 251s

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven, 257s

living in Jerusalem, and at this sound, the crowd gathered and was bewildered, 260s

because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 265s

Amazed and astonished they asked, are not all these who are speaking Galileeans 273s

and how is it that we hear each of us in our own language? 279s

See this phrase is the question here. 287s

What's been communicated by the use of these different languages? 292s

Because there was not a language barrier here. 301s

All of those that had gathered would have spoken Hebrew, all of them. 305s

And most likely most of them would have spoken Greek and eramac. 312s

And yet when the Spirit is poured out, 320s

they're all speaking in different languages. 326s

Well, what assume then that the different languages was so that people could understand here, 333s

because what they were extoling, verse 11, 338s

we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power. 341s

So one would assume then that the Holy Spirit and power them to speak in different languages 345s

so that there would be understanding. 350s

But the issue with that is there was no barrier. 353s

There was no barrier to understanding. 356s

So what's being communicated? 363s

What's being communicated by the Spirit in powering the various languages? 364s

If there's no language barrier to begin with? 376s

In seven or eight, one of my favorite professors, he was an Old Testament proff. 387s

Quiet, kind. 394s

When he would lecture, there were some professors that were rather fiery in their delivery. 400s

Not him. 409s

He was gentle and quiet, kind. 411s

But there were periods of his lectures where he wanted to emphasize in summarizes main point. 419s

And he was very, very easy to take notes for him. 428s

Because when I would come to those times in his sermon or in his teaching, 432s

when he wanted to summarize the main point, he would swallow the tone of his voice just slightly. 437s

And he would raise the volume. 444s

And he would always begin it with this phrase. 450s

So what's the point? 457s

He'd say, so what's the point? 460s

And when he would do that, it was a pens-up moment. 466s

Because you knew, here it comes. 472s

Here it comes. 476s

He's going to take what he's been talking about for several minutes, 478s

and he's going to consolidate it down. 481s

Sometimes, to a few words, sometimes to a sentence. 484s

But it was going to be clear and concise, and you'd get it. 488s

You'd get the point. 496s

So what's the point about the different languages? 500s

What's the point? 512s

The Apostle John tells us in John 3, 517s

for God's soul loved the world that he gave his only son, 522s

that all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 531s

For God's soul loved the world. 535s

But the Jewish religious teachers of the day, 543s

the Jewish religious teachers taught that God loved the world. 546s

And the Jews. 551s

And more specifically, God loved the Jews who kept the rules. 554s

So the Apostle John writes, God so loved the world, 564s

and the Jewish religious teachers were teaching. 567s

God loves the Jews who keep the rules. 571s

And upon this with me, a little bit. 576s

I think of one theologian who writes of this, and he says, 579s

if that were true, then wouldn't the Holy Spirit, 585s

when the Holy Spirit was poured out on pentacost, 590s

wouldn't everybody be speaking in Hebrew? 595s

If it's true, if it's true, that God loves the Jews who keep the rules, 603s

why didn't they all just speak in Hebrew? 621s

Hebrew. 625s

Verse 8 says, 625s

how is it that we hear each of us in our own native language, 628s

pathinians, meds, eelamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, 632s

Judea and Capitosea, Pontius and Asia, Frigia and Pamphilia, 636s

Egypt in the parts of Libya belonging to Syrin and visitors from Rome, 642s

both Jews and Prostlatites, Creetons and Arabs, 647s

in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power. 650s

So what's the point? 660s

What's the point of it? 663s

The point is the different languages communicate, 666s

that the reconciliation, one by Jesus Christ, is for all. 673s

There was no language problem. 688s

It was a communication of a point that the reconciliation, 693s

one by Jesus, is for all people. 698s

But we can be tempted, can't we? 715s

We can be tempted to believe like the Jewish religious teachers of old. 718s

We can be tempted to believe that God only loves some people. 726s

Only loves some people that keep the rules. 736s

That's the temptation. 746s

All of us to one degree or another can give examples in our lives 750s

of the experience of conditional love. 757s

For some, tragically, it's their spouse. 762s

For some, tragically, it's their parents. 769s

We can all give examples of times in our lives when we have experienced conditional love. 773s

When love was predicated on keeping the rule of the dispenser of the love. 781s

As long as you achieve enough, as long as you amass whatever the next hurdle is, 790s

or whatever the next degree is, or whatever that is, then love is told out. 801s

Or if you just perform well enough, you know, if you meet your quota, then you're loved. 811s

But if you don't, if you don't perform just right, 823s

or if you don't just just say the right thing, when you should, to tickle the ears of the dispenser 830s

who doles out the love, then love can be pulled back. 838s

And the temptation for us is to project onto God the experiences in our life. 843s

For those times or people in our lives that dole out this conditionalized love 851s

to project it onto God and to think them that God must only love certain people. 859s

Who keep the rules? Who keep the rules? 870s

Here's the problem with that, right? 880s

We're all real breakers. Every single one of us. 886s

We all transgress the law of God. 892s

If not an actual deed, then in thought, we are profound rule breakers and it's shown. 896s

In our thought, our word, and our deed, what we should have done, but what we didn't do, what we did, 908s

but we never should have done, we are profound. 914s

Rule breakers. 920s

If God only loves those who keep the rules, we're in a spot, and we're done for. 924s

But God who loves the world sent his son and on the cross, the perfect spotless lamb of God, 941s

took all of our rule breaking. All of our sin, all of our transgression. 952s

And he bore it. 961s

The great exchange, he takes our sin and he gives us of his perfect life and the world is reconciled unto God. 964s

Not just those who keep the rules, because nobody does, that's the point. 978s

But all of us, every single one of us reconciled unto God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 987s

What's the point? 1007s

The point? 1011s

Is that the world has been reconciled to God? 1016s

The world. 1023s

Less Sunday. 1029s

We were in Minneapolis, and we were worshiping in the congregation. 1031s

We walked in. 1036s

As I looked around, I noticed that there were red pariments that were up. 1038s

Kind of struck me on because it was the seventh Sunday of Easter. 1046s

And I was like, what's the matter? 1051s

The pastors came in and they had red stones on. 1054s

And the way the red stones on. 1059s

Then I opened up the bulletin and all of the hymns. 1064s

You could kind of see the focus and the theme of the service. 1069s

All of the hymns were about the Holy Spirit. 1073s

And to be honest with you, I had a little moment of panic. 1078s

Because I was thinking there as I sat in the pew and I'm looking at the red pariments here and the red stones on the pastors and the hymns in the service and even the bulletin cover. 1084s

Looking quite spirited on that. 1097s

I thought to myself, did I get the dates mixed up? 1100s

Was the 21st of May was that pentacost and the 28th? 1106s

Isn't going to be? 1112s

And I thought to myself, but on the 28th, I'm preaching a sermon on pedicost. 1113s

And then I thought, well, I wonder what I did then, 1120s

giving the preaching schedule out to Pastor Maloneck here. 1123s

And was she wondering, how come I'm not preaching on pedicost here on May 21st? 1126s

But then, then confirmants walked in, robed and wiped. 1134s

And I calmed down because red can be associated with confirmation. 1143s

But think about that a little bit. 1153s

Every Sunday is really a little panacost, isn't it? 1156s

That was a panacost Sunday last week. 1164s

It's panacost Sunday this week. 1169s

It'll be panacost Sunday next week. 1171s

Because each and every Sunday as we gather, the spirit is poured out. 1174s

It is poured out a new and fresh. 1181s

In Acts 2, it was this unique pouring of the Holy Spirit. 1185s

And each and every Sunday, there is this pouring out of the Holy Spirit through Word and through sacrament. 1190s

Empowering us to be people that proclaim. 1199s

Acts 2 tells us, how is it we hear each of us in our own native language? 1205s

Parthenians, meds, eelamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Capitice, Pontius and Asia on and on. 1211s

It goes. 1219s

The spirit is poured out and why were there the different languages? 1221s

It's Colossians 1. 1226s

For in him, Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 1227s

And through him, God was pleased. 1235s

Here it comes. 1238s

To reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of his cross. 1239s

And beloved, that reconciliation was applied to you and your baptism. 1253s

When you were washed in the promises of God Almighty, washed in the victory of the cross and the empty tomb, 1262s

the all became so personal to you, to you. 1276s

The different languages communicated. 1289s

The reconciliation of Christ is for all. 1297s

So, what's the point? 1311s

That. 1319s