Worship Theme: He Lives to Pour Out His Spirit
Sermon Theme: Jesus Pours Out His Spirit (to bring)
Jesus is the great unifier of people throughout the world. The account of Pentecost from Acts 2:1-21 shows us that “Jesus Pours Out His Spirit to bring Confession, Conviction and Connection.” May 28, 2023.
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Ten days was a long time to wait. Jesus had told his disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” But what did this mean? What would this look like? The disciples weren’t exactly good at patience or following instructions.
Ten days had passed since Jesus’ glorious ascension into heaven. Were they tired of waiting? Were they getting stir crazy? Certainly the city was astir that morning. It was the harvest festival, one of three great festivals God established when everyone was supposed to gather and worship in Jerusalem. The markets were newly opened, the sun starting to shine, and the hustle and bustle of global visitors filled the city with a busy buzz of business.
Then the miraculous happened. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (It was actually wind but sounded like one.) They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” (Their hair wasn’t actually on fire but it looked like little tongues of fire.) “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (They weren’t speaking in some babbling, ecstatic spirit talk, but real known languages of the world they previously hadn’t studied.)
It was enough to catch the attention of thousands. “A crowd came together in bewilderment.” They were “utterly amazed.” “What does this mean?” they asked. (They must have been Lutherans and not known it yet.) “These guys must have been tailgating for the Jerusalem Giants and are already drunk at 9am!”
That’s when Peter stood up to explain to all those gathered. “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” This was exactly what Jesus had promised and what God had foretold. The Lord was pouring out his Spirit. There would be prophesying and preaching, signs and wonders, and by the Spirit’s power (verse 21) “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If we would keep reading in Acts 2, Peter’s great Pentecost sermon goes on to proclaim that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, but they crucified him. However, he didn’t stay in the tomb. Just as God had foretold, he raised his Son from the dead, seated him in glory at his right hand, and he now reigns as both Lord and Messiah.
The response was incredible. The last time we heard from a crowd of Jews in Scripture they were shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” But this time the response was much different. We are told, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter told them, “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.”
Incredibly, they did. They turned from their sin in repentance. They turned to Jesus in faith. They were baptized and were forgiven. And an astounding 3,000-some people became Christians on that first Pentecost day.
How is this possible? How could this be? How could stony hearts of unbelief be smashed and build a foundation on Jesus instead? The answer is God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Pours Out His Spirit to bring Confession. The Holy Spirit worked powerfully in their hearts to bring confession of their sins, but then also a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior from sin.
When was your great day of Pentecost? Some were baptized as infants or children and probably don’t remember. Some of you may recall a time when you first heard the good news of Jesus and the Holy Spirit opened your heart and your mind to know the truth.
Just like on that day of Pentecost there were people from all over the world present, there are people in this church from all over. Each of us has a different family history, a different story. Yet incredibly, Jesus has graciously poured out his Spirit on us in different ways and at different times. The apostle Paul said in the second reading, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” At just the right time, in just the right way, using just the right people, Jesus poured out his Spirit on you through his Word and Sacraments to bring confession—a confession of sin and then a confession of faith in Jesus as your Savior. God worked in your heart so that you can say with confidence, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Josh was a man who had been struggling for a while. He was lost but didn’t quite realize it. His family attended a community children’s event put on by a church—a free kids carnival. That local church seemed to be pretty nice, so his wife signed the kids up for Vacation Bible School too. The kids sang in church at the end of VBS week and Josh’s wife loved the service. She told Josh to check it out. But he refused. Finally after a few weeks of begging, Josh begrudgingly attended. He couldn’t believe what he heard. He was cut to the heart with his sinful ways, yet so comforted to hear of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Josh hardly missed a service or Bible study after that. About two months later, his family joined the church and Josh told me, “Pastor, before that day when I first came, the last time I was in church was 10 years ago. It was Christmas Eve and I was sitting in the back row drunk and cursing God. But there was something so different when I came here.”
I know what it was. Jesus Poured Out His Spirit to bring Confession— confession of sin and confession of faith. Just as on that first Pentecost, just as with Josh, so also with us—miraculously by the power of the Spirit everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
If you’re tracking on the timeline and storyline for Pentecost, maybe something else strikes you as amazing in this account—who’s preaching on this day. Fifty-one days earlier the disciples ran in fear and abandoned Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter was calling down curses on himself, swearing that he didn’t even know Jesus. And now these same disciples are speaking in tongues and preaching to people from all over the world? Peter is now preaching a fiery sermon to more than 3,000. How is this possible? How could this be?
The answer is God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Pours Out His Spirit to bring Conviction. In verse 4 we are told, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Peter quoted the prophet Joel through whom God said, “I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy,” which means not just foretelling the future, but more preaching and proclaiming. The Holy Spirit filled Peter and the disciples with conviction, confidence, and courage, and he will for you too.
It’s certainly not an easy task to let your light shine. Who knows who might rip you apart on social media? Who knows how you can get around workplace rules and regulations? Who knows how a friend or neighbor might react? What if you’re unfriended on social media and in real life? What if you don’t have the right words? What if you don’t know the answer? What if . . .? “This little light of mine . . . I’m not sure I want to let it shine.”
But that’s when the Holy Spirit goes to work. He works confession in our hearts again to see our sinful worries and doubts and fears. He works trust in our hearts to know that Jesus paid for those sins too. Though we often deny him like Peter did, we are forgiven like Peter as well. The Spirit leads us to say “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” He gives us that confession, and the conviction, confidence, and courage to share it.
Jessica had a horrible childhood. Her mother was an alcoholic and a mess. Her step-father she called her step-monster because he did unspeakable things to her. Growing up in pain led to acting out as a teenager in all kinds of wild living. She finally found an older man (after lying about her age) and eventually married him. She wanted something better for her kids so wanted to put them in a private school that was safe. But those kids kept coming home talking about these strange stories about this guy who lived and died and rose again. And when she came to watch her kids sing with their class in church, she couldn’t believe how nice everyone was. The Holy Spirit worked a confession in Jessica’s heart and soon she and her two children were baptized. But Jessica was so on fire for the Lord that when we hired her in our preschool, she couldn’t stop inviting preschool families to church. “You just have to come. This church is amazing. You have to come and see.” She didn’t know a lot about what to say, but she knew others needed Jesus.
I know what it was. Jesus Poured Out His Spirit to bring Conviction—a conviction and courage to share her faith with others. Just as on that first Pentecost, just as with Jessica, so also with us—the Holy Spirit will give you conviction and courage to say, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”
It was a turning point in world history, and an awful one at that. Even after the Flood, humans still rebelled against God. In pride they tried to build a giant tower to heaven to glorify and exalt themselves. God wasn’t having it, so he confused their languages. Suddenly people couldn’t understand each other, and you know what happens when you don’t understand someone else—frustration, confusion, anger, fear. So the people scattered from that tower we call Babel. It was physical, verbal sign. Humanity was fractured and disjointed because of sin and the different languages proved it.
Fast forward to the day of Pentecost. God could have sent his Holy Spirit on any random day of any random month. But the Lord in his wisdom specifically chose a day when there would be Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem—people from Italy, Asia Minor, Arabia, Africa, and more. Even though they were all Jewish, certainly there were problems with the cultural, racial, and language barriers. Yet we see a crowd of some 3,000 people captivated by the Word, confessing their faith, baptized and now part of the Christian faith.
How is this possible? How could this be? The answer is God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Pours Out His Spirit to bring Connection. That day was a great reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babel. The disciples were all speaking different languages to the peoples, yet they were all talking Jesus. Jesus is the great unifier of people throughout the world. Peter quoted the prophet Joel who proclaimed the God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people . . . everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We live in a very disjointed country. Sin has fractured relationships and Satan is having a field day among us. Politics, culture, race, and pointed opinions divide us. If you’re from the area surely you know that Milwaukee is often cited as perhaps the most segregated city in the country. Division is hurtful. Division takes away opportunities for the gospel. Division fills my brain with all kinds of frustration, confusion, anger, and fear about people I might not understand because of politics, culture, race, or opinion.
But that’s when the Holy Spirit goes to work. He works a confession of faith in Jesus Christ into my heart and a conviction and courage to share it. Then he goes to work in that person’s heart and works a connection that is absolutely incredible. He has worked in your heart to say “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting,” and Jesus blesses us by connecting us to those Christians all over the city, the country, and the globe.
Something to think about and pray about the next two Sundays: Six days from now one of our Grace teens will be hopping on a plane and flying to the other side of the world to Thailand. With a group of nine students they’ll be sharing the gospel with about 150 Buddhist school children for a week. That same day, my father is going to be hopping on a plane and flying to Korea to meet with brothers and sisters in the worldwide conference of Lutheran churches we are in fellowship with. And two days later, eight days from today, my family of four, another grace teen, and 10 others will be flying to Africa to do VBS work in Zambia with 700 children and visit our medical mission clinic. Over the next two Sundays, as you are confessing your faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and your belief in the Holy Christian Church, know that your own brothers and sisters here at Grace will be doing the same with hundreds others in Thailand, in Korea, and in Zambia. How can this be? How can this be possible? In love, Jesus Pours Out His Spirit in power and for you. Amen
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