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John 16:7-14 (Jesus is speaking.) 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Today is Pentecost. The day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Christian church. It has been said that the Holy Spirit is the least understood member of the Trinity. A serious six-year-old was saying his prayers, “in the name of the Father, who is God, and the Son, who is Jesus, and the Holy Spirit…who is an aunt or uncle or a cousin or something.” So let’s consider who the Holy Spirit is and what the Spirit does in our lives.
I’m going to start with a story this morning that will serve as an analogy. Several years ago my car battery died. My car wasn’t going anywhere without a working battery. The engine worked, I had gas in my gas tank but without the battery to start the engine my car was dead and useless. It was basically a green lump sitting in my driveway that wasn’t going anywhere. Yet, that’s the purpose of a car, to get you from here to there and there to here. Transportation. Nope, wasn’t happening for me that morning, I missed the entire church service. My son came over later that day and gave me a jump.
Once my battery got the jump, success, I had a working car again, I could now go where I wanted in my car. Much better than walking everywhere. Now, why have I told you this story? Just as the battery supplies the power to start a car so does the Holy Spirit supply the power for us to do ministry. The Holy Spirit is the power behind our witness. The Bible, Jesus’ teachings, our knowledge of God, these are all parts of our faith, they are all necessary but just like an engine we need a spark, that spark, that power is given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. The The secular world doesn’t celebrate this holiday. There are no “Happy Pentecost” cards in the stores. I can imagine them though. They would say “Happy Pentecost” on the front and when you opened them it would say, “May the Holy Spirit be with you!” There would be a pop-up of a paper flame. We could make a cake to celebrate the birthday of the church but it would need over 2,000 candles and would probably be a fire hazard! I’m actually glad this holiday hasn’t been hijacked like many other Christian holidays. There’s no pressure to buy anyone presents or throw parties.
Most of our American holidays remember an historical event. The 4th of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thanksgiving celebrates the Pilgrims’ first harvest in the new world. Tommorow we will celebrate Memorial Day when we remember those who died while serving their country in the armed services. Pentecost is not to be just the remembrance of an historical event! It is an ongoing reality, it is still happening.
Just think for a minute. What was the defining moment of the Christian church, the moment that gave it birth? It wasn’t Christ’s birth. His birth gave us God’s revelation in a person. Jesus came to free us from our sin and to reconcile us back to God. He taught us the truth of God’s kingdom and how to live in it. Still, Jesus’ birth was not the defining moment of the Christian church. Neither were Jesus’ death and resurrection the defining moments. His death and resurrection showed us how deep God’s love is for us and they are the basis of Christian faith but they are not the beginning of the church.
The defining moment of the Christian church was the day of Pentecost. The disciples and other followers of Jesus, one hundred twenty of them, were gathered in the Upper Room praying and waiting as they had been doing since Jesus’ ascension. They weren’t sure what was going to happen but they were following Jesus’ instructions to stay in Jerusalem until they received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
Remember, at the Last Supper Jesus had said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)
We heard in our reading from John 16, also at the Last Supper, that Jesus said it was better for them that He went away because unless He did the Holy Spirit wouldn’t come. Jesus promised to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit when He went to the Father.
Just before His ascension Jesus had given them some final instructions. He told them He was sending what His Father promised and they had to stay in the city until they received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The power was for witness because they were to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8)
On the day of Pentecost, in the upper room where everyone was gathered, “suddenly there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
This, this was the moment, Pentecost was the defining moment for the Christian church, the moment when the disciples went from being followers of Jesus to being the church, the community of Christ. The moment they were filled with the Holy Spirit is when the church became a living, breathing body of people, just as Adam came alive when God breathed the breath of life into him.
Remember Genesis 2:7, ‘then the Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.’ God breathing God’s breath, God’s Spirit into the first human is what sets us apart from the animals. This is what happened at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit breathed new life into the disciples and the other followers of Jesus and the church was born in power!
Let’s look at the immediate result of the disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit. Before this they had been hiding behind locked doors. Now the disciples went out into the street speaking about God’s deeds of power and everyone heard them in their own language. That’s power for witness. Peter stood up and preached the good news for the first time, led them in repentance and baptized them, all three thousand. That’s power for preaching. Those who heard him were cut to the heart and said, “Brothers, what should we do?” There was conviction of sin in the audience. This power is still needed today.
As we follow the growth of the early church through the book of Acts we see boldness in preaching Jesus, many healings, people coming together and sharing everything in common. All of this is evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit. We need this power, the Church universal needs this power.
Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is an Advocate who teaches us about sin and righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who will guide us into all truth, The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit abides with us, both individually and corporately. This abiding is very personal and relational. The Holy Spirit gathers us and makes us one. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. The Holy Spirit will encourage, empower and witness through us if we are open to the Spirit’s nudging.
Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. If they needed that power why would we think we are any different? Of course, we are Presbyterians; we do everything decently and in order. Rushing wind and tongues of fire doesn’t seem to be very orderly, does it? Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t need to happen the same way it did then, it just needs to happen. It can happen quietly over a lifetime or it can come suddenly in a single moment. It isn’t the experience that is important; it is the filling, the result.
Jesus was only here for a time in one place. He has entrusted us with the mission of spreading the gospel to the far corners of our world. We are His hands and feet in this world. Sometimes we get hung up on the idea of world mission, we only think in terms of lost people in foreign lands. There are lost people right here in Aston, our neighbors, friends and family. They need Jesus, they need salvation just as much as those in other countries. We will find ourselves bolder witnesses for Christ when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Just like a flashlight that won’t shine without batteries, we are unable to shine the light of Jesus on the world when we try to do it without Holy Spirit power. We need the power or we will fail in our mission.
Adam Hamilton in his book “Becoming a Blessed Church” said, “Unfortunately too many of our churches, by ignoring and remaining closed to the Holy Spirit, have developed respiratory failure. Since we no longer breathe with the breath of the Holy Spirit, we neither aspire to become open to the Holy Spirit nor allow ourselves to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. As a result, our churches eventually expire.”
I don’t think any of us want that for our church! I think we want our church to be a place where people are filled with the Holy Spirit, growing closer to God, loving and following Jesus. A place where the worship fills our hearts with love for God and God’s people and where we are so filled that God’s love spills out onto those we meet. I think we want to be a church that people enter and say, “This church is alive!” If we want to be alive we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That can’t happen unless we are open to the Holy Spirit, willing to be filled, asking to be filled, longing to be filled. Let us pray.