Pentecost Sunday (Memorial Day, U.S.):
Unity of the Spirit
27 May 2007

Scripture reading: Romans 8:14-17:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Sermon text: Acts 2:1-21: 1When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and 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, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on 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 on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Introduction

Today is Memorial Day in America: the day we commemorate those who have given their lives to defend our nation and our values. In the Church, we celebrate Pentecost today, the day the Holy Spirit descended into the believers in Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

These 2 celebrations have far more in common than most perceive. In both, we celebrate those who sacrificed everything they had dreamed to pass on a future we have inherited. In both, we celebrate those who surrendered to a higher calling than ordinary life could give. In both, we sit here today because of the success of the efforts of those we remember.

And, in both Memorial Day and Pentecost, we remember that the best efforts come in unity. Our nation survived the world’s greatest challenge — World War II — because North and South united into one nation to defeat common enemies. We experienced another great moment of unity in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Church today hardly looks united; one source I found (The World Christian Encyclopedia), covers 33,830 different Christian denominations (Source: Adherents.com, http://www.adherents.com/misc/WCE.html). Can we really claim that we stand united in the calling to spread the gospel to the nations?

The early Church could teach us a great deal about unity. Note the early believers faced the same difficulties, the same challenges, we face today. They overcame the difficulties and met the challenges because they understood the source of their strength: the Holy Spirit Himself. When we submit ourselves to God, the Holy Spirit empowers us to accomplish great things in His name. One hundred twenty believers at Pentecost, A.D. 33 laid the foundation for a faith that today claims more than 2 billion followers.

Sermon

First, these believers were united in obedience to Jesus Christ, their Lord. In Acts 1, Jesus told His followers to remain in Jerusalem to “wait for the promise of the Father” (v. 4). This promise, Jesus elaborated, would give them the source of the power they would need to accomplish their mission: They would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””

When Acts 2 opens, the believers had gathered in one place in Jerusalem and begun praying for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. Would Jesus have blessed His followers with the Holy Spirit had they gone to Bethany? What about to Bethlehem, the place where it all began? Not likely. Jesus had told them to remain in Jerusalem.

Actually, the people would have stayed in Jerusalem anyway for Pentecost, one of the greatest annual feasts of the Jews. Pentecost marked the beginning of the harvest for the Jews. All Jewish males were required to attend worship at the Temple.

The believers received the Holy Spirit that day because they had obeyed Jesus and remained in Jerusalem. Most likely, they had gone to the Temple that day anyhow; the Temple was the best place for a large gathering to meet and pray, and the complex contained numerous ceremonial baptismal pools (very important at the end of the chapter).

If we want Jesus’ blessing today, if we want Him to use our church, we, too, must obey Him. Jesus has called us to holy living and to bring other people to the faith. Jesus blesses congregations who obey these callings.

Secondly, the believers were united in their message. Don’t mistake the multiplicity of languages for multiple messages! Although everyone present heard the gospel in their language, the believers all preached the same message: Christ had come, Christ had risen, Christ will come again. Some misunderstood the miracle they witnessed, but so far in my life I’ve never seen a drunk person speak another language he didn’t know. These believers spoke in many languages they had never heard before, much less studied. They all spoke the common message the Holy Spirit had given them to deliver.

This remains the mystery of our faith and the one message the world needs to hear. The world needs to hear that sin separates us from God. God, in His mercy and love, sent Jesus Christ His Son to die for our sins and rise again for our victory over death. Christ will return to the earth to gather His believers and judge those who have not accepted His message of salvation and calling of Lordship in their lives.

Our denomination faces serious times right now. Many in our leadership have determined that the unity of our message must include unity in political and personal issues that threaten to detract from our message. We must unite to proclaim the message of salvation. As John Newton, the great Anglican preacher and author of Amazing Grace once said, our message is that “I am a great sinner, but Jesus is a great Savior.”

This congregation must remain united as well in our message. It is a blessing of God that we have experienced the blessing of unity over the past several years. Regardless of what comes in the days and years ahead, we must maintain that unity as we press forward in preparation for fulfilling our calling to this community.

Lastly, the believers accepted new believers into their unity. At the end of St. Peter’s message, St. Luke tells us, 3,000 people joined the Church. What a blessing: 3,000 people born again in one sermon!

However, growth this big brought immense challenges. The first challenge was opposition from the Jewish authorities. Jewish leaders who had crucified Jesus could pretend His movement had died with Him — or, after hearing of His ascension (as they had), that it had disappeared with Him. However, you can’t add 3,000 people to a movement in a public place as prominent as the Temple without attracting attention. St. Luke tells us that at the end of chapter 2, the Church had grown; in chapter 3, only a short time later, St. Peter and St. John faced off with the Sanhedrin itself.

The next challenge came from within the Church itself. Greed and pride infiltrated the Church, as it does any organization that includes fallen humanity. Ananias and Sapphira died in chapter 5 because of sin.

Then, in chapter 6, the Hellenistic believers complained their needs were ignored. The Apostles appointed deacons to fill this need.

The greatest challenges were yet to come. In chapter 9, the Church experienced its first large-scale persecution in the stoning of Stephen and the person of Saul the Pharisee. Then, when the Church scattered throughout the Empire, Gentiles accepted Jesus as Lord and received the Holy Spirit. How could the Jewish Christians accept those they had been taught were unclean?

Fortunately, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Gentiles united them with the Jewish believers. The Holy Spirit accomplished what human efforts could not: The unification of Jew and Gentile into one body, the Church of the living Christ. In all the growth the Church experienced, the Holy Spirit led the Apostles and guided them in building a living body that continues to thrive and grow today.

I really believe that God is looking for obedient believers to experience spiritual renewal. These believers will receive the blessings of seeing their congregations grow and successfully face the challenges that accompany that growth. Will you be the believer that God can use? The Holy Spirit resides in every believer. If you submit yourself in obedience, proclaim the common message, and guide new believers in their spiritual growth, God can use your congregation to accomplish His will that the world may proclaim Jesus as Lord.