Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Acts 2:1-12
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  May 23, 2021

I’ve always wanted to go visit Europe. Now, I’m not terribly interested in foreign cuisine or culture. I have no desire to drive on the other side of the road. I don’t need to spend a Euro. But someday, I’d love to visit some of the historic cathedrals and churches that Europe has to offer. And it’s not just because I have an interest in church architecture. Those European cathedrals communicate the transcendence of God in ways that we just don’t get to experience here. It’s hard to even imagine what a well-trained choir would sound like in one of those places. It gives me goosebumps just to think of what “Jerusalem the Golden” would sound like in one of those magnificent churches. Talk about feeling like you’re in the presence of God! You can almost hear the organ booming with all the stops pulled out, the trumpets and trombones belting out the fanfare of the last refrain. And as you dare to raise your eyes the verticality takes your breath away! It’s as if you’re in the throne room of God himself. The power of those instruments and those voices give a person the feeling, “God is in this place.”

But then you have to leave the building, don’t you? You have to leave the building and go back out into the world where we often find ourselves wondering if God is in this place. That’s the danger of basing our faith on feelings, isn’t it? And that danger exists especially when we celebrate this festival of Pentecost. We can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like to be eyewitnesses of all those miracles this day wrought: the tongues of fire dancing on the heads, the cornucopia of languages emitting from their mouths. And that windless windy sound–all of it brought a crowd together from people of every nation who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks. But what did the tongue speaking, the dancing flames, and the sound of a violent wind actually do? What purpose did those miracles serve?

It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? Ask anyone to remember something that happened on this first Day of Pentecost and they’ll probably be able to come up with at least the wind or the fire or the speaking in tongues. But what did those things really do? Did the Pharisees and experts in the Law fall on their knees in contrition and repentance and beg for God’s forgiveness for killing his Son? No? Did all those who saw the flames and heard the sounds immediately praise God for his saving grace and mercy and go forth from that place and preach the gospel? No? Did the Feast of Pentecost become a feast for thanking God for fulfilling all of the promises of the Old Testament in his Son, Jesus? No? Then what did the speaking in tongues, the flames of fire, and the sound of a violent wind really do? What does Luke tell us? “When this sound was heard, a crowd came together and was confused, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were completely baffled and said to each other, “Look, are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them speaking in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, and of Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own languages the wonderful works of God.” They were all amazed and perplexed. They kept saying to one another, “What does this mean?””

What did they do? They created curiosity. They brought a crowd together. But those great and power-filled signs did nothing more than that! Did they display the power of the Almighty God? To be sure–but so does the sunrise every morning and the sunset every evening. And just like the sunrise and the sunset, those powerful signs of the Spirit didn’t tell the crowd anything about howe those in the crowd from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Cyrene, and Rome could be saved. 

We may feel sorry for ourselves on this day of Pentecost. We may feel sorry for ourselves that we don’t have a more exciting product to put forward. While the sound of the wind always seems to be with us up here on the hill–especially this spring–we don’t have anything that equates with tongues of fire or speaking in tongues. Compared to those cathedrals in Europe, we worship in modest facilities. We have wonderful, dedicated musicians, but in reality, we have minimal instruments. We have pastors who are satis–good enough–but no where near exceptional. And it’s on this Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came in such a demonstrative way to those early disciples, that we long for some of the same, don’t we? We long for the exciting, the flashy, the noteworthy that would bring in the crowds. 

And we’re not alone in that. There was a man who once thought that same way. His name was Elijah. He was dealing with a group of people, who much like the crowd gathered in Jerusalem, were being led astray from the true God. And so Elijah prayed for a great miracle. He prayed that God would demonstrate his power with a great show so that all–even his enemies–would be convinced that Elijah was telling the truth, that he was the prophet for the only True God! And God granted his prayer. He displayed his power as he consumed Elijah’s sacrifice, altar and all, so that not a drop of the 12 large jars of water that had drenched the sacrifice remained. And what happened? Not what Elijah expected. Instead of being convinced that Elijah was telling the truth, his enemies became further convicted in their hatred of Elijah. They threatened his life and forced him to flee. And Elijah just didn’t get it. So God took Elijah aside and gave him a test. He told Elijah to find the presence of God in three different events. The first was an earthquake, but Elijah didn’t find God in the earthquake. The second was a fire, but Elijah didn’t find God in the fire. The third–and you know where we’re going don’t you–the third was a gentle whisper and that’s where the Lord was found, in the gentle whisper of his Word.

On this great day when the Holy Spirit came in such a special way to the disciples in Jerusalem, the greatest of miracles weren’t found in the speaking of tongues or in the fire or even in the violent wind. Those things created interest, but they didn’t create faith. They people were left asking the great catechism question, “What does this mean?” The greatest work of the Holy Spirit, his greatest work and glory is bringing people to faith in Jesus as the Savior. And that also happened on this great Day of Pentecost. For after those dynamic miracles, Peter got up and preached. He recounted the prophecies that God had made to his servant, David. He showed the people how Jesus, the Son of David, was the fulfillment of those prophecies. Peter preached the law. He cut the people to the heart with the truth that it was their sins that had sent Jesus to the cross to suffer and die. And then Peter preached the Gospel. He told the crowd the good news that Jesus’ death was all part of God’s great plan of salvation. He told them that despite their many sins, all was not lost. He told them to repent of their sins and believe all that Jesus had done for them was absolutely true. He told them to receive in the waters of baptism the forgiveness that Christ won for them. Through the gentle breath of the spoken Word of God over 3000 were added to their number on that day. Over 3000 received the forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation as the Spirit worked through water and the Word. 

What should we be praying for: A violent breeze or a gentle breath? It’s obvious isn’t it? WE could have a more exciting product. We could aim to entertain in worship. We could have first-class facilities and top-notch instruments. We could have more dynamic preachers who could really bring in the crowds. We could have the violent breezes that this world seems to clamor for, but it would only create curiosity. Apart from the gentle breath of the Gospel found in Word and Sacrament, all else is for naught. And isn’t it remarkably wonderful that in spite of all our seeming deficiencies in all those other areas, the one place that we abound is in the gentle breath of the Spirit. Every week, regardless of when we worship, how we accompany our songs, what our pastor looks like; we have the gentle breath of the Spirit. We hear that we are sinners who deserve God’s punishment. But we also hear that God had a plan to save us and that plan was code named: Jesus. Every week we hear of all the good things that Jesus did for us: lived, suffered, died, rose, and ascended. And on this day we celebrate that he has kept his promise to send us his Spirit who teaches us all things, who opens our hearts and minds so that we can understand all of the blessings God has granted us in his Son. The violent breeze of the Spirit gets people’s attention, but it’s his gentle breath that creates life. 

One day, I would still love to get to the cathedrals of Europe and experience that feeling of transcendence. But if I don’t, it doesn’t mean that I’ll never know what it must have been like on that first Day of Pentecost. I already know it. You already know it because we’ve felt the Spirit’s best work, the gentle breath of the Gospel. On this festival of Pentecost we pray: “Breathe on us, O Breath of God, that we may see Jesus and long for his coming again. Pour out on us your Spirit that we may be faithful to the Word he speaks as we call on the name of the Lord while we wait. Amen.