Now, in our text for the morning, the Lord keeps his promise. It is the day of Pentecost, that is, the day of the Jewish festival celebrating the wheat harvest, which falls fifty days after Passover and, in our calendar, after Easter. So the apostles and disciples have been waiting ten days for the fulfillment of Christ's promise. During that time, they have been at prayer, praying for the fulfillment of the promise that their Lord has given them.
Jesus Christ always keeps his promises. When Christ's followers are all gathered together in one place, probably in prayer, there are the sound of a mighty wind rushing upon them and tongues of fire resting on each of their heads. And they begin to speak in the various languages that were current throughout the Mediterranean world, telling about the mighty acts that God has wrought in the life of Israel and of Jesus Christ. As a result, the devout Jews from all over the Near Eastern world, who have come to Jerusalem for the festival, hear the disciples speaking to them in their own languages. The miracle is one of speaking and of hearing.
Who can say exactly what happened at Pentecost? We are as amazed by the account as were those Jews who experienced it, and like them, we try to give a naturalistic explanation for the happening. "They're drunk," some of the Jews said, "babbling in their stupor." We like to scale down the miracles recorded in the scriptures to our level of understanding.
Whatever we think about this text, however, certainly it is meant to convey three facts. First of all, its author Luke intends it to be a reversal of the biblical account of the Tower of Babel, in Genesis 11:1--9. In that Old Testament story, God brought his judgment upon the sins of all of us - for it is our story - by confusing our language and scattering us abroad upon the face of the earth. That is, our sin brought upon us the destruction of human community. And we have only to read the morning headlines to see how true that is. We can't get along with one another any more. Nations can't understand one another's language or live in peace with one another.
But now, here in the story of Pentecost, that confusion of language and the strife between nations is overcome by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Acts is telling us that it is the Spirit, prompting the proclamation of the gospel, that can overcome the brokenness of human community and our sinful inability to understand one another and live at peace. As Paul earlier put it, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, so you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). By the work of the Holy Spirit of Christ our warring madness can be overcome.
Second, the author of our text is certainly pointing to the fulfillment of Christ's promise to his followers. Christ has not left us desolate; he has come to us, as the Fourth Gospel would put it (John 14:18). He promised that if we would wait for him, he would send his Holy Spirit to be with us - his abiding presence. And now to his fledgling church, he keeps that promise. The rushing wind and the tongues of fire are symbolic of the Spirit's presence.
But where do we receive the Holy Spirit? Has the gift been given to us, too? Yes, indeed! When each of you was baptized, the water poured upon you was the outward symbol of that gift, and all of you now are recipients of the Spirit of your Lord Christ. The power of God in Christ has been given to every one of us and to this church's congregation.
That has tremendous implications. It means that we now are enabled to be Christ's witnesses to the ends of the earth, obeying our Lord's command to go into all the world and to make disciples of all nations. We have been empowered, as were the first apostles and disciples, and as every Christian since has been empowered to tell of the mighty acts of God - not only through our missionaries, but individually, to our neighbors and families, our social circle and city, our state, and our nation. And we become those witnesses, acting in the power of the Holy Spirit, not only by what we say, but also by what we do everyday - in home and business, school, and social circles. "You are my witnesses," our Lord says to us, and we, in his Spirit, now have the power and the ability to fulfill that role. In the Spirit granted to us, we can live Christian lives and thereby witness to the world what God is able to do for all people.
Third, as our text proceeds, it is also clear that Luke intends this account of Pentecost to be the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Old Testament. The prophet Joel, back in the fifth century B.C., had proclaimed to Israel that the Day of the Lord was coming (cf. Joel 1:15; 2:1--2) - that day when God would bring his last judgment upon all humankind, that day when the Lord would separate the sheep from the goats and do away with his enemies and take into his kingdom those who had been faithful to him (cf. Matthew 25:31--46). But before that fearful day came, Joel had promised, God would pour out his Spirit on young and old, and those of high and low estate, and all in the covenant people. But, the prophet announced, all who turned to God in faith and worship would be saved in the final judgment (cf. Joel 2:28--32).
That prophecy, proclaims Peter in our text, has now come to pass. God has put his Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ. But that means, you see, that the Day of the Lord still lies ahead of us in our history. We have been made recipients of the Holy Spirit. That is a foresign of the final end of our history, of the time when God will, indeed, come in judgment to separate the evil from the good, and give everlasting life to his own. How can we stand before that judgment? In Christ. Through our faith in the love of God in Jesus Christ, who has forgiven us and reconciled us to the Father, and, despite all of our sins and weakness, promised us eternal life in his good kingdom.
So this day of Pentecost brings us a wondrous fact, good Christians - the fact that we have been given the Holy Spirit to enable us to be Christ's witnesses - to take a gospel to all the world that can heal the nations, and that can offer to all persons everywhere their salvation in the final judgment.
