ACTS 2:1-12  When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Utterly amazed, they asked:  “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  Parthians, Medes and Elamites;  residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene;  visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism);  Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Years ago, a Lutheran Pastor entered a tavern in his town. There was a man there who wanted to embarrass the Pastor, so he stood up and shouted, “Es gibt keinen Gott!”  For those of you whose German is rusty, that means “There is no God.” Upon hearing this, the Pastor went calmly over to the man, laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, “My friend, what you have just said is not at all new. The Bible said, ‘There is no God’ over 2000 years ago.” The skeptic was taken aback and said, “I didn’t know the Bible said that!” The Pastor continued, Psalm 14:1 tells us, ‘The fool says in His heart THERE IS NO GOD. However, there is a great difference between that fool and you. The fool in the Psalm was quite modest–he only said it in his heart. He didn’t show what a big fool he was by going around and yelling it in a tavern.”

We live in a world of fools. And it is not just the drunks in a tavern who say “There is no God.” People both inside and outside of the church have no problem these days loudly asserting “There is no God!” And having made that assertion, they then declare that there really is no such thing as sin, and they criticize the church for condemning sin and sinful  behavior.

People deny their sinfulness because that allows them to deny their need for a Savior. They reject the truth of God’s Word and deprive themselves of its promises. They do not experience God’s love and cannot respond to it. And this problem I am describing is not just outside the Church, but in many denominations and congregations. The end result is that much of the church has become cold and lifeless–a dramatic contrast to the vibrancy of life in the early church.

In our lives as God’s people, we should be His instruments in bringing warmth and life into what might otherwise be a cold and lifeless church. Through the ministry of Word and Sacraments, through the proper use of our gifts, we have learned that God does indeed equip us to be his caring people. It is our mission to reach out and touch others with the message of the wonders of God.

The passage above is describing the first Christian Pentecost. That day started with believers gathered together, and then the Spirit manifested himself in an extraordinary manner. Wind and fire were the visual signs that something beyond the normal was happening. A crowd gathered to investigate. The promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. The disciples were enabled to speak in foreign languages, and they did so in order to share the Good News of Jesus. They spoke of the Spirit’s power given to them. They declared the wonders of God’s love, the truth that Jesus Christ, crucified by sinful men, has been raised again to life by the power of God. They revealed that He was not just a man from Nazareth, but the Son of God and the Savior of all men. They spoke of how He took the sins of all men on Himself. They told the people that all who would repent and be baptized would be saved. They declared the wonders of God: Jesus Christ, and salvation only through His Name. Forgiveness not because of our deeds, but by the grace of God.

To be continued…