The Day of Pentecost was truly one of the greatest days in the history of the Church. We’re celebrating that day today. It’s the last great festival of the festival half of the church year. The church year tells the story of the gospel. It begins with Advent and Christmas. Jesus came into the world to be our Savior. Then with Epiphany he is revealed as the Son of God and our great Prophet, Priest, and King. In Lent we consider his suffering for our sins. Then there’s the joy of Easter where death is conquered, Ascension where he takes up his rule, and finally, Pentecost, where he kept his promise to send the Holy Spirit.
That day was a wonderful day. Fifty days after Easter and ten days after Jesus’ ascension, people from all over had gathered in Jerusalem for this Old Testament festival. In the Old Testament Pentecost is also called the Festival of Reaping or the Feast of Weeks. And some great miracles took place. Jesus’ disciples were all gathered together and they heard a sound like the rushing of a violent wind from heaven. This was a miraculous event. It was the sound of wind, not actual wind, and it wasn’t outside, it was filling the house where they were. This miracle was a sign from God, that what Jesus had promised was taking place. Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit, and wind is a great symbol for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 3:8 “The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Then there were divided tongues like fire resting on each one of them. This might call to mind the Burning Bush, where God made his presence known to Moses by a fire, but it was no normal fire because the bush was not consumed. Fire is also a great symbol for the Holy Spirit. Fire can be an agent of destruction, and Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world about sin, about righteousness and about judgment (Jn 16:8). But fire can also be a good thing, and we couldn’t live without it. It heats our homes. It cooks our food. It powers our cars. It generates our electricity. It illuminates, like the lamps in the temple. It can be said that someone is burning with anger. We pray that the Holy Spirit kindles in us the fire of his love.
The third miraculous sign on Pentecost is the one that is best-known, and that is the speaking in tongues. At the tower of Babel God cursed haughty mankind by confusing their tongues so that they spoke in different languages. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit lifted that curse so that Jesus’ disciples could speak fluently in all sorts of languages that they had never learned. And they spoke in those languages in order to proclaim the wonderful works of God.
Jesus had indeed sent the Holy Spirit, just as he promised. But there was more to the day even than these miraculous signs. There are some people today who would argue that unless you see these kinds of things taking place the Holy Spirit must not be present. They might even try to claim that unless you are given a miraculous gift of speaking in tongues you aren’t even a Christian. But they’re missing the point. Jesus did not promise that these things would happen every day, but the greatest miracle of that day is found after these things in Acts 2. It might not seem so strange and unique and wonderful, but it’s when it says that three thousand people were added to their number that day.
Just think about how big of a change this was. Fifty-three days earlier there was a crowd in this same city jeering at a bloody Jesus and shouting “Crucify him!” Fifty-three days earlier Jesus’ disciples had abandoned him, leaving him to the mob while they hid in fear for their own lives. Fifty-three days earlier Peter denied three times ever even knowing Jesus. But now? They left behind their secret meeting places and locked doors. Peter was standing up and addressing all of Jerusalem, saying, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And the crowd wasn’t gnashing their teeth in anger. No, they were cut to the heart. They were getting baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. They were receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So many people, turning to God for salvation, on fire for the good news of Jesus. So is this where we should look to know if God is with us? Are we filled with boldness and converting the hearts of many? Is that what the true New Testament church is – a revival tent? I think you know that’s not the right answer either. But at the same time, it is very easy for us to feel like we are very far removed from Pentecost. Maybe we don’t expect the sound of wind and tongues of flame and speaking in languages we’ve never learned. Maybe we don’t expect 3,000 people to join our church in a single day. But what is the Holy Spirit doing? Where is he? How can we know he’s here, that Jesus has sent him to be present among us?
Our Lord Jesus has given us the answer. Before going to the cross he told his disciples
“If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24The one who does not love me does not hold on to my words. The word that you are hearing is not mine, but it is from the Father who sent me.
25“I have told you these things while staying with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I told you.
The key is not miraculous signs or mass conversions. It’s the Word. By this Word, our Triune God makes his home in our hearts.
There might be times when we wish that the Holy Spirit would come to us with such flash and excitement as he did on Pentecost. My sinfulness, after all, is right in my face all the time. Like Paul says, I try to do good, but evil is right there with me. And this in turn leads us to despair. What a wretch I am! Who can save me from this body of death!
And so we might think, “If my sin is right in my face, and Satan is pointing to it and mocking and telling me that God must be very far away, then shouldn’t God overcome that by making himself even more obvious? Show me your power, God! Show me miraculous signs! Show me the rampant success of your church!
But no, God has chosen not to work by outward signs. He has chosen not to be in your face, but to be in your heart. This is a wonder we can hardly comprehend. I don’t even like to spend too much time alone with my thoughts, deep in the recesses of my heart. There’s a lot of stuff in there that I’m not too proud of. But this, my heart, is where Almighty God, the Lord of Armies, who is Holy, Holy, Holy and whose glory fills the heavens and the earth—this God makes my heart his home. He couldn’t be contained by any magnificent building of stones and yet here in my small heart, with me, he is pleased to dwell.
By the Word of God, God makes his dwelling in your heart. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit made Peter and the other disciples bold to speak before the crowds in their own languages and in other languages and what they spoke was God’s Holy Word. They proclaimed that God had kept his promise, that Jesus is the Christ, that he died for our sins and rose again for our justification. And it was the Word in the ears and hearts of their hearers that made them cry out, “Brothers, what should we do?” and then filled them with joy to know that they were not condemned for crucifying the Lord of Life, but that same Lord who prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” was living and still interceding for them, still looking on them with his grace and forgiving them by that very blood he shed.
And it’s by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit still gives you peace. Jesus said,
27“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.
Jesus spoke these words as he was about to get up and go to the cross. Should Christians then expect this life to be filled with the excitement and success of Pentecost? Some days in this life might look like Pentecost; other days will look more like Good Friday. But both of those days for us are filled with the peace of Easter.
Christ is risen. Jesus is Lord. He lives forever. That’s the Gospel, the message by which the Holy Spirit is at work in you. He’s made your heart his home, his own holy temple. He gives you a new birth. He cleanses you from sin. He fills you with life everlasting, because the heart in which the Lord of Life dwells can never die.
Don’t look for assurance from God in miraculous signs or outward successes. Instead, hear his word and take it to heart. This is the sure promise of your loving God, the means by which the Holy Spirit works. He comes to us with peace. Amen.