Pentecost Day
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
The birth of the Christian Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and the Church.
First Lesson
Acts 2:1-21
Holy Spirit On The Disciples
Because this is the day of Pentecost, this Acts reading must be the central focus. While the Holy Spirit has always been, we often say that this day was "the coming of the Holy Spirit." This book of Acts has been called, "The Gospel of the Holy Spirit." In the first thirteen chapters there are more than forty references to the Holy Spirit. William Barclay tells us the following were the work of the Holy Spirit:
1. The Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance (Acts 10:19).
2. All the leaders of the Church were people of the Spirit (Acts 7:55).
3. The Spirit was the source of day to day courage and power (Acts 13:9).
4. The measure of the Spirit which a Christian can possess is conditioned by the kind of person he/she is.
Trying to do God's will, a person will experience more and more of God's spirit. This was the fiftieth day (so Pente), a great festive time after the observance of the Passover. All male Jews were supposed to be there. It was a very international crowd in Jerusalem. Originally an agricultural festival, by the time Luke wrote this account, it commemorated the giving of the law.
The disciples' number may have been 12 or 120. Luke was not an eyewitness, so he is passing on a story he had heard about. In some ways these disciples had experienced their lives being flooded with God's presence, which empowered them to speak so people of several languages could understand. Probably Greek and Aramaic would cover the needs of most of the hearers. The meaning of verse 14 may be that they spoke in tongues rather than in foreign languages.
And how about the violent wind mentioned in verse 2? Could this be God's breath such as in the Genesis Creation story and Ezekiel's dry bones? The tongues must be symbolic of the intense spiritual experience which took these cowering, unsure disciples and made them bold proclaimers of the gospel. Of course they weren't drunk! It was too early in the day (vv. 13 and 15)! What great humor is possible here. Share it with your hearers. No, not drunk -- this is Joel's prophecy coming true (Joel 2:28-32).
In Peter's sermon we have an example of early preaching sometimes called Kerygma, which means a herald's announcement. It states plainly the facts of the Christian message. This is the pattern of the New Testament style of preaching:
1. What Old Testament prophets said would take place did happen in Jesus' life and ministry.
2. Jesus is the promised Messiah and the New Age has begun.
3. Jesus who was in the lineage of the great King David did miracles, was crucified and resurrected, and now is with God.
4. Jesus will return again to begin his kingdom here on earth.
5. Then the "closer" -- in Jesus alone can one be saved. And if we believe this, the Holy Spirit comes on us as well.
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Spiritual Gifts
With the Holy Spirit story in the First Reading for Pentecost we now hear Paul's explanation of spiritual gifts and a beautiful description of the Christian church born on this day in Jerusalem (vv. 12-13). Paul makes a plea for unity in the church and says it is like a physical body, where every body part must function well in order to have a healthy body.
Then we have this list of gifts which vary from Christian to Christian. Paul calls them charisma or grace gifts. He emphasizes that there are many kinds, they all come from the same source, and they ought all be used for the good of the entire community. All from the same spirit come:
1. Wisdom -- one who knows God;
2. Knowledge -- wisdom applied practically to situations;
3. Faith -- the kind through which God can do wonderful things;
4. Healing -- (see James 5:14) in the early church this was done;
5. Working of miracles -- perhaps this was exorcism;
6. Prophecy -- prophetic preaching.
Discernment of spirits -- telling the difference between that which was excited delusion and that which was genuine.
Various kinds of tongues and their interpretations -- the ability to tell what was genuine and that which was phony.
I like very much the word "activated" in verses 6 and 11. The Greek here literally means to energize. So the spirit is the one who not only activates but continues to energize the church and these gifts. (The Energizer bunny which "just keeps going" is a natural metaphor or children's sermon object.) It speaks of a vital church where God's spirit starts up many ministries and calls out of members their best God-given gifts.
Then come verses 12 and 13 which plead for a unity of diversity in this Body, which is the alive Christ in the world. What marvelous sermon material, exciting to preach and fascinating to hear and apply to our congregational life.
The Gospel
John 7:37-39
Festival Of Tabernacles
Now complementing this Sunday of the Church's birthday is this quotation of Jesus by John which states that the Spirit will come as Jesus is glorified (v. 39). This was at the Festival of Tabernacles. At that feast the priest went to the pool of Siloam and brought water to the temple where people recited Isaiah 12:3. It was poured out as an offering to God in a liturgy of thanking God for water.
It is with this background that Jesus speaks his words recorded here: "Let anyone who is thirsty..." (vv. 37b and 38). The second part of verse 38b may refer to Christ or to the person who accepts Christ. In either case it tells us of the power purifying and real life which flows from Jesus.
Preaching Possibilities
A. If you have not already used the sermon idea for Easter 4, page 107, it will work here. (Called to Witness, by Jerry L. Schmalenberger, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, pp. 16-23.) However, there are many possibilities for preaching.
B. To use all three readings, one could organize like this:
1. Acts 2:1-21 -- Our Church is born in Jerusalem.
a. Witness was powerful.
b. The spirit came upon them.
c. Baptism was the result.
2. 1 Corinthians 12:3b -- Paul describes the alive church and pleads for unity.
a. We are many parts but one body.
b. We are spirit activated and inspired.
c. We are one in the Spirit.
3. John 7:37-39 -- Jesus invites all into his church.
a. He has that which will quench our thirst.
b. Out of our spirit-filled hearts we can also offer living water -- The Christ.
C. Of course the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians has already made a list of terms which can be explained and tested as to their presence in your congregation. One could almost call them symptoms of the church. And this can be the metaphor around which the sermon can be organized.
1. There is a little white frame church on Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard in Oakland, California. There was a Better Homes and Gardens Realty sign out front. It led me to muse how one would describe a church for sale:
a. Abundance of forgiveness,
b. Precious fellowship,
c. Security in eternal life,
d. Assurance of companionship,
e. Help for difficult decisions,
f. Real presence of Jesus at meals,
g. Life-changing worship,
h. Will throw the building in free!
i. Need not have good credit record or references,
j. No shirt, no shoes, still service.
2. Then list the gifts of the spirit Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians explaining each gift.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. A narrative sermon based on the Acts account of the birthday of the Christian Church will work. Use the first illustration listed under possible metaphors and stories which is a tongue-in-cheek humor about the original Pentecost and how the same experience would be received now. "The first Pentecost must have been..."
2. Now move to talk about what you celebrate in that early church.
a. It was a spirit-filled church (v. 4). (See first metaphor listed below.) Talk of the "breath of God" in creation, in Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones, and here as the spirit comes upon the disciples.
b. It was an international (global) church (see second story below). Gospel was understandable to all kinds of people.
c. It was a church of proclamation and witness. See metaphors 3 and 4 below. Notice Peter's sermon. It says he "raised his voice." Where ought we raise our voices today?
3. Close by returning to your beginning by reversing the order of the three above points and stories. Number 3 would go like this: "Faggart was right when he said, 'The church doesn't preach the gospel, it is the gospel.' And the woman who broke into the church didn't understand that we are a church of proclamation and witness..." and so on.
Prayer Of The Day
God, the Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you sent upon the disciples the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, look upon your church and open our hearts to the power of that Spirit. Kindle in us the fire of your love, and strengthen our lives for service in your kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Lutheran Book of Worship, p. 23)
Possible Stories
The local parish church was on fire and a crowd gathered. The pastor spotted an inactive member and commented: "Joe, this is the first time I've seen you at church for a long time." Joe responded, "Well, Pastor, this is the first time I've seen this church on fire!" Yes -- let the Pentecost fire set our congregations ablaze!
Danny only had one arm. He came to the second grade Sunday school class for the first time. When the teacher thoughtlessly asked the students to fold their hands and sing, "This is the church, this is the steeple," Hannah, next to him, saw his dilemma. Putting her fingers and hand in his, she remarked, "Come on, Danny, you and I will be the church together." Oh, if we could only live it out as adults! Let's put our hands together and be the church.
Richard Fisher in his book Speaking of Jesus (Fortress Press, 1981, p. 117) writes, "I once knew a young woman who regularly every Friday night broke into the church to pray. Many times I offered her a key to the building, but, no, as far as she was concerned churches were for breaking into. I never really understood the dynamics at work in her or in the congregation that caused her to see the church as a citadel to be stormed rather than a community to be joined." I wonder, also, how we are the church in our increasingly hostile culture.
Pastor Brady Faggart told the Iowa Synod Assembly: "The church doesn't just preach the gospel, it is the gospel. We gather to be the gospel." So it is for the church to be defined as the body of Christ alive in and for the world.
Alert for next week: Read now the sermon suggestion for next Sunday. If you go with it, you will need two readers to help in the sermon. One will read the scripture again and the other the Catechism's answer to the meaning of the three articles of the Apostles' Creed. Perhaps you will want to recruit them this Sunday and give them their material.
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
The birth of the Christian Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and the Church.
First Lesson
Acts 2:1-21
Holy Spirit On The Disciples
Because this is the day of Pentecost, this Acts reading must be the central focus. While the Holy Spirit has always been, we often say that this day was "the coming of the Holy Spirit." This book of Acts has been called, "The Gospel of the Holy Spirit." In the first thirteen chapters there are more than forty references to the Holy Spirit. William Barclay tells us the following were the work of the Holy Spirit:
1. The Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance (Acts 10:19).
2. All the leaders of the Church were people of the Spirit (Acts 7:55).
3. The Spirit was the source of day to day courage and power (Acts 13:9).
4. The measure of the Spirit which a Christian can possess is conditioned by the kind of person he/she is.
Trying to do God's will, a person will experience more and more of God's spirit. This was the fiftieth day (so Pente), a great festive time after the observance of the Passover. All male Jews were supposed to be there. It was a very international crowd in Jerusalem. Originally an agricultural festival, by the time Luke wrote this account, it commemorated the giving of the law.
The disciples' number may have been 12 or 120. Luke was not an eyewitness, so he is passing on a story he had heard about. In some ways these disciples had experienced their lives being flooded with God's presence, which empowered them to speak so people of several languages could understand. Probably Greek and Aramaic would cover the needs of most of the hearers. The meaning of verse 14 may be that they spoke in tongues rather than in foreign languages.
And how about the violent wind mentioned in verse 2? Could this be God's breath such as in the Genesis Creation story and Ezekiel's dry bones? The tongues must be symbolic of the intense spiritual experience which took these cowering, unsure disciples and made them bold proclaimers of the gospel. Of course they weren't drunk! It was too early in the day (vv. 13 and 15)! What great humor is possible here. Share it with your hearers. No, not drunk -- this is Joel's prophecy coming true (Joel 2:28-32).
In Peter's sermon we have an example of early preaching sometimes called Kerygma, which means a herald's announcement. It states plainly the facts of the Christian message. This is the pattern of the New Testament style of preaching:
1. What Old Testament prophets said would take place did happen in Jesus' life and ministry.
2. Jesus is the promised Messiah and the New Age has begun.
3. Jesus who was in the lineage of the great King David did miracles, was crucified and resurrected, and now is with God.
4. Jesus will return again to begin his kingdom here on earth.
5. Then the "closer" -- in Jesus alone can one be saved. And if we believe this, the Holy Spirit comes on us as well.
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Spiritual Gifts
With the Holy Spirit story in the First Reading for Pentecost we now hear Paul's explanation of spiritual gifts and a beautiful description of the Christian church born on this day in Jerusalem (vv. 12-13). Paul makes a plea for unity in the church and says it is like a physical body, where every body part must function well in order to have a healthy body.
Then we have this list of gifts which vary from Christian to Christian. Paul calls them charisma or grace gifts. He emphasizes that there are many kinds, they all come from the same source, and they ought all be used for the good of the entire community. All from the same spirit come:
1. Wisdom -- one who knows God;
2. Knowledge -- wisdom applied practically to situations;
3. Faith -- the kind through which God can do wonderful things;
4. Healing -- (see James 5:14) in the early church this was done;
5. Working of miracles -- perhaps this was exorcism;
6. Prophecy -- prophetic preaching.
Discernment of spirits -- telling the difference between that which was excited delusion and that which was genuine.
Various kinds of tongues and their interpretations -- the ability to tell what was genuine and that which was phony.
I like very much the word "activated" in verses 6 and 11. The Greek here literally means to energize. So the spirit is the one who not only activates but continues to energize the church and these gifts. (The Energizer bunny which "just keeps going" is a natural metaphor or children's sermon object.) It speaks of a vital church where God's spirit starts up many ministries and calls out of members their best God-given gifts.
Then come verses 12 and 13 which plead for a unity of diversity in this Body, which is the alive Christ in the world. What marvelous sermon material, exciting to preach and fascinating to hear and apply to our congregational life.
The Gospel
John 7:37-39
Festival Of Tabernacles
Now complementing this Sunday of the Church's birthday is this quotation of Jesus by John which states that the Spirit will come as Jesus is glorified (v. 39). This was at the Festival of Tabernacles. At that feast the priest went to the pool of Siloam and brought water to the temple where people recited Isaiah 12:3. It was poured out as an offering to God in a liturgy of thanking God for water.
It is with this background that Jesus speaks his words recorded here: "Let anyone who is thirsty..." (vv. 37b and 38). The second part of verse 38b may refer to Christ or to the person who accepts Christ. In either case it tells us of the power purifying and real life which flows from Jesus.
Preaching Possibilities
A. If you have not already used the sermon idea for Easter 4, page 107, it will work here. (Called to Witness, by Jerry L. Schmalenberger, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, pp. 16-23.) However, there are many possibilities for preaching.
B. To use all three readings, one could organize like this:
1. Acts 2:1-21 -- Our Church is born in Jerusalem.
a. Witness was powerful.
b. The spirit came upon them.
c. Baptism was the result.
2. 1 Corinthians 12:3b -- Paul describes the alive church and pleads for unity.
a. We are many parts but one body.
b. We are spirit activated and inspired.
c. We are one in the Spirit.
3. John 7:37-39 -- Jesus invites all into his church.
a. He has that which will quench our thirst.
b. Out of our spirit-filled hearts we can also offer living water -- The Christ.
C. Of course the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians has already made a list of terms which can be explained and tested as to their presence in your congregation. One could almost call them symptoms of the church. And this can be the metaphor around which the sermon can be organized.
1. There is a little white frame church on Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard in Oakland, California. There was a Better Homes and Gardens Realty sign out front. It led me to muse how one would describe a church for sale:
a. Abundance of forgiveness,
b. Precious fellowship,
c. Security in eternal life,
d. Assurance of companionship,
e. Help for difficult decisions,
f. Real presence of Jesus at meals,
g. Life-changing worship,
h. Will throw the building in free!
i. Need not have good credit record or references,
j. No shirt, no shoes, still service.
2. Then list the gifts of the spirit Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians explaining each gift.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. A narrative sermon based on the Acts account of the birthday of the Christian Church will work. Use the first illustration listed under possible metaphors and stories which is a tongue-in-cheek humor about the original Pentecost and how the same experience would be received now. "The first Pentecost must have been..."
2. Now move to talk about what you celebrate in that early church.
a. It was a spirit-filled church (v. 4). (See first metaphor listed below.) Talk of the "breath of God" in creation, in Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones, and here as the spirit comes upon the disciples.
b. It was an international (global) church (see second story below). Gospel was understandable to all kinds of people.
c. It was a church of proclamation and witness. See metaphors 3 and 4 below. Notice Peter's sermon. It says he "raised his voice." Where ought we raise our voices today?
3. Close by returning to your beginning by reversing the order of the three above points and stories. Number 3 would go like this: "Faggart was right when he said, 'The church doesn't preach the gospel, it is the gospel.' And the woman who broke into the church didn't understand that we are a church of proclamation and witness..." and so on.
Prayer Of The Day
God, the Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you sent upon the disciples the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, look upon your church and open our hearts to the power of that Spirit. Kindle in us the fire of your love, and strengthen our lives for service in your kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Lutheran Book of Worship, p. 23)
Possible Stories
The local parish church was on fire and a crowd gathered. The pastor spotted an inactive member and commented: "Joe, this is the first time I've seen you at church for a long time." Joe responded, "Well, Pastor, this is the first time I've seen this church on fire!" Yes -- let the Pentecost fire set our congregations ablaze!
Danny only had one arm. He came to the second grade Sunday school class for the first time. When the teacher thoughtlessly asked the students to fold their hands and sing, "This is the church, this is the steeple," Hannah, next to him, saw his dilemma. Putting her fingers and hand in his, she remarked, "Come on, Danny, you and I will be the church together." Oh, if we could only live it out as adults! Let's put our hands together and be the church.
Richard Fisher in his book Speaking of Jesus (Fortress Press, 1981, p. 117) writes, "I once knew a young woman who regularly every Friday night broke into the church to pray. Many times I offered her a key to the building, but, no, as far as she was concerned churches were for breaking into. I never really understood the dynamics at work in her or in the congregation that caused her to see the church as a citadel to be stormed rather than a community to be joined." I wonder, also, how we are the church in our increasingly hostile culture.
Pastor Brady Faggart told the Iowa Synod Assembly: "The church doesn't just preach the gospel, it is the gospel. We gather to be the gospel." So it is for the church to be defined as the body of Christ alive in and for the world.
Alert for next week: Read now the sermon suggestion for next Sunday. If you go with it, you will need two readers to help in the sermon. One will read the scripture again and the other the Catechism's answer to the meaning of the three articles of the Apostles' Creed. Perhaps you will want to recruit them this Sunday and give them their material.
