Pentecost Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

    The crowd had gathered to the temple, as crowds would do every Pentecost – the holiday that happened 50 days after the Passover, the gathering of the first fruits. Faithful Jews from all over the Roman Empire and even beyond, people who had been scattered to the four winds over the course of history, they would dream about making it to Jerusalem for one of the major festivals like Pentecost. They'd return as semi-familiar strangers – speaking their own new languages or Greek, the Aramaic that was used in Jerusalem being foreign. And they'd go to the temple – and they'd get ready for the sacrifices, and they'd probably be overcharged and cheated by the moneychangers, but they were there.

    And this Pentecost, the faithful who came to the feast were met by strange rumors, happily translated. Strange things had happened 50 days earlier around the Passover. Rumors would have passed in Greek, the common language of the day, or maybe you'd pick up bits in your broken Aramaic – but some Jesus fellow was crucified – and was He raised from the dead or not? Was He a rebellious crackpot or the Messiah? Did He seek to destroy the temple or cleanse it? Imagine listening to those rumors in some other language. What confusion!

    And finally the day of Pentecost arrives, and you are there for all the proceedings. And first, there's a strange, mighty rushing wind – and you go to the temple, because that's the place where everyone would gather – and there are these Galileans, and they are preaching – but you hear them speaking not in Greek, not in Aramaic, but you hear them speaking clearly your own tongue, in your own language, as fluent as a native. And while you're amazed at this wonder, other people mock, deride – they're drunk.

    Then one of them, Peter, begins to preach. No, they are not drunk – this is what Joel spoke of being fulfilled, this is the Spirit of God being poured out – the preparation that comes before the end, before the great and magnificent day of the Lord. And Peter preaches:

     Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know—  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.  For David says concerning Him, “I saw the Lord always before me,  for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with Your presence.”

    Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,  he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.  This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.  Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

    What had happened in Jerusalem 50 days before? You killed the the Christ. Yes, you. On account of your sin, on account of your wickedness, on account of the very sins that you came to the temple today to make sacrifice for, the true Sacrifice was made – the spotless Lamb of God was crucified. It may have been done by the hands of the Romans, it may have been spurred on by the priests – but in truth, it was your sin that placed Jesus upon the Cross.

    Yet Jesus' sacrifice there was not like any sacrifice you had seen before, or that your fathers had seen before. The sacrifices of old simply died. They may have been burned to ashes, they may have been turned into a feast, but they died, and those sacrifices stayed dead, and had to be repeated over and over and over again – the old dies and a new must be brought forth again and again. Now, no longer! For this Jesus whom you Crucified has been raised by God the Father, raised from the dead, raised to life imperishable. David told you this was coming! David spoke to the coming Messiah – indeed, David told us that the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God, and indeed, Jesus has been raised from the dead and He has ascended unto heaven and He sits at the right hand of the Father. Forget all rumors, ignore all mummuring – this is what has happened. Jesus the Messiah has come – and He has died, atoning for your sin, and He has been risen victorious, life restored, never to die again, and He is seated at the right hand of God with all power, with all authority.

    Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”   Of course the people were cut to the heart! Of course they were shocked and worried about what they were to do. This wasn't how people thought the story would go. The Messiah was to bring deliverance, the Messiah was to bring victory and triumph and crush our enemies – and we killed Him. It would be like hearing the story of David, but instead you help Goliath kill David – but worse. And it is my sin, what I have done! What shall we do, what can we do? How do we work our way out of this mess?

    You don't. Jesus gets you out of this mess. And Peter said to 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.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  I'm not preaching this merely to condemn you. I'm not preaching this simply to tell you how lost you are. Oh, you are to see your lostness, your sinfulness, and you are to repent of it, to turn from it, to fight against it – and you'll be fighting against it and repenting of sin for the rest of your life. But the solution is this – Jesus will save you. He will save you by Baptizing you. And when He baptizes you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is making a promise to you. It is the promise that your sins are indeed forgiven before God, a promise that His death on the Cross indeed covers your sin – that no one has any right to pin your sin on you for He has taken it up. It is the promise of the Holy Spirit – the same Spirit who has called you to this faith in Jesus, the Spirit by which I preach, the Spirit by which you hear – the Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of life, not just physical life but life everlasting in the Name of Jesus.

    And having received this promise, know that it is not just for you – it is for your children. They too will be baptized and given this promise. And as for people who are even further removed from Jerusalem than you are, even gentiles and strangers from even farther away – yes, this promise is for them – behold Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

    Thus Peter's great Pentecost sermon. And there were others. All the Apostles would be preaching, this carries on the whole day. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “[Be saved] from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Do you see? Jesus is at work here, Jesus for you. Jesus who saves you out of whatever crooked generation you find yourself in – the same Jesus who calls you today out of the darkness of this present age into His marvelous light. The same Jesus who has you brought to the waters of Holy Baptism, just as He brought 3000 that first Pentecost to the waters of baptism. The same Jesus who put an end to the Old Testament sacrifices but not an end to the feast, who calls you to His table this very day to give you His own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.

    Yes, your sins are real. And as we move into the Trinity Season, we'll get all sorts of teaching that will touch upon how sin and unbelief attack you. But this is not to condemn you, but rather to shape and hone the repentance that Jesus gives you, and to prepare you to hear Christ's salvation again. Jesus says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Indeed, He does, over and over – peace and forgiveness through His Word and Sacraments! The Peace of the Lord be with you always. Amen. In the Name of Christ the Crucified +