Text: John 7:39

Theme: “The Spirit is Poured Out”

Date: May 10/11, 2008; Pentecost Sunday; Mother’s Day

Place: Immanuel, Altamont, IL

            Today is that day when families gather together to remember with fondness the love of their mother. Each one of us has had a mother in our lives. Many of us have not been mothers. That seems like a strange statement. After all, those of us who are male have never been a mother. We could not understand what it is like to be a mother. Nor do we want to be one. At the same time, those young women who have never been married have not been mothers either. And then there are women who are married who have never been a mother – for one reason or another. So you see, there are many that are not mothers. We cannot understand things from that perspective.

            But we have all had mothers. Someone carried us for those 9 or so months. They nurtured us as we grew in life. They loved us in ways that only a mother can love us. And for that, we are thankful. So it is on this day that we take time to thank those women who are our mothers. We tell them how much we love them. We let them know that we appreciate those things that they have done for us in our lives.

            But perhaps you don’t know your mother. Or maybe your birth mother is not the person who raised you. Or maybe your birth mother did raise you and yet it was not such a pleasant experience. Perhaps she was not the mother that she should have been – for whatever reason. What we remember at this point is not that it takes a perfect woman to be a mother. If that was the case, then there would be no mothers – not even for Jesus – for no woman was ever perfect after Eve fell into sin. What we do is we take those hurts, those pains, those frustrations and we give them to the Lord. We let Him give the power of love for us today. It is not about us, about how we feel, but about what He does and how He helps us to overcome those failures and shortcomings and love anyway.

            Isn’t that exactly what He does for us? None of us are the perfect children that we should be. None of us have loved as we should have loved. None of us have actually lived the perfect life of a Christian that we should live. And yet He still loves and cares for us. He doesn’t just wash His hands of us because of our sinfulness, our anger or hatred, our selfishness and the like. Instead, we are told, “While we were still sinners, Christ Jesus died for us.” While we were lost, He cared and loved us. While we were doing those things that are so wrong, He still cared for us. That love He has for us is to be the model for the love we share. Today, on Mother’s Day, it isn’t about having the perfect mother. It is about sharing the love of Christ with that person that we call mother. So when we say, “Happy Mother’s Day,” we are saying that we love that person we call mother with the love of Christ. We accept her as she is and continue to love her, just as Christ loves us.

            So “Happy Mother’s Day” to all you who are mothers. And may God bless and strengthen you as you live your life as His child, as a mother, a grandmother, a woman who is loved by God and therefore also loved by us.

            Besides being Mother’s Day, today is also Pentecost Sunday. It is that which is going that which captures the rest of our time together during this sermon. We are going to talk about the impact of Pentecost upon our lives today.

            We know the day of Pentecost. It comes 50 days after Easter. For those of Jewish origin, it was 50 days after the Passover Sabbath. It started the Feast of Weeks. It was a time of celebration. It wasn’t nearly as big as Passover but it was still one of the religious days that many people would celebrate. It is for that reason that there were so many people from different nations in Jerusalem at the time.

            That Sunday morning rolled around. The followers of Jesus were still waiting for whatever it was that Jesus had promised to them. On the day He ascended into heaven, He had told them to return to Jerusalem until He sent them the Holy Spirit. I am sure that they had no idea what He was meaning. In our Gospel reading, Jesus also refers to that very day when He would send that power from on high. He tells us, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

            Jesus spoke of sending the Holy Spirit. He told them over and over again that when He returned to His Father in heaven, He would send the Spirit, the Comforter. This One would guide them and show them the way of truth. Yet they had no idea what that really meant. After all, they had Jesus. They followed Jesus. What else would they need?

            But that Sunday dawned. And something amazing happened. A great wind blew through Jerusalem. This wind caused many people to come out of their houses to see what was taking place. They wondered about the sound of the wind that they were hearing. And then, something even more amazing happened. The disciples and all those who were with them, received what appeared to be tongues of fire. It rested on their heads and yet didn’t burn them. (You might think about what happened at the call of Moses. There a bush was burning and yet did not burn up. The fire would bring the sacred into the event even as the sacred was with Moses at the bush.)

            Then they began to talk in other languages. They began to speak in ways that others would hear what they were saying. The Medes could hear in their language. The Persians could hear in theirs. The people from Pontus and Phyrgia could hear in their native language. All of them could hear that which was being said. It was amazing! It was beyond anything that they had encountered before.

            And you know what this was taking place? It all happened in order to share the message of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is poured out upon the disciples that they might be able to share the message of life and hope with those that they come in contact with. We are told that the people were amazed at this event. We are told they said, “We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” (Acts 2:11 ESV) The disciples were proclaiming the very faith that they held within their hearts. The whole of the day was not about the wind, the fire or even the speaking in tongues. The whole of the day is about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon them all.

            This is the fulfillment of what Jesus said in the Gospel reading. “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.” On this day in 33 A.D. the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. Peter goes on to show that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. He goes on to quote that at the beginning of the sermon. The Spirit would be given to all people. That day of Pentecost, this event happened.

            So what does that have to do with any of us? What does an event that took place on May 25, 33 A.D. have to do with people sitting in Immanuel Lutheran Church, Altamont, IL on May 11, 2008? After all, it doesn’t seem as though the Spirit is at works that way anymore. No one hears a great wind. No one sees tongues of fire. Sermons are not preached on the Word of God. Thousands of people are not brought to faith, baptized, and given the gift of eternal life.

            And yet, is any of that really true? Are you so sure that the Spirit doesn’t work so powerfully today? Are you certain that these amazing events don’t happen today? The reality is that the Holy Spirit is still powerfully at work in today’s world, in Illinois, in Altamont, in Immanuel Lutheran Church, and in your heart and life. Pentecost is the day when we realize that the Spirit is still at working a powerful way in our lives.

            Let’s look at it this way. How many of you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior? How many have heard of the wonderful work of God in this world? How many have come to understand that the Son of God died upon the cross? Those seem like easy questions for us to answer.

            But look at it from another point of view. Let’s pretend that you had never heard of Jesus Christ before except when someone was upset. Let’s suppose that you have never had a relationship with the Lord and haven’t had the opportunity to attend worship, Sunday School or any other activity where you would come in contact with the name of Jesus. Now what would you think? How would you answer the question, “Have you ever heard of the wonders of God?” You would probably shrug your shoulders and walk away without much of an answer.

            That is how it was in Jerusalem that Pentecost Sunday. So many of those people had never heard of Jesus. When the wind blew, the fire appeared and the preaching started, they wondered what was going on. What happened is that the Spirit was being poured out – not just upon the 120 believers but upon many people in the crowd. The Spirit was working in an amazing way. He was working faith in the heart of many of those people. In fact, we are told that around 3000 were added the Christian church that day. That is a mighty pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

            That same things happens right now. Each one of us that confess Jesus as our Savior do so by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every one of us that knows the forgiveness for our sins does so through the working of the Holy Spirit. It is through the pouring out of the Spirit upon us that we believe.

            I asked you to think as one who does not know Jesus. That person is lost in his trespasses and sins. There is no salvation in the heart and life. But through the working of the Spirit, that person can be brought to faith. How? Through the Means of Grace. It is as the Holy Spirit works through the power of the word – spoken, preached or read – that faith can be worked. 3000 heard Peter preach and were brought to faith. Many hear the words of pastors, teachers and missionaries and are brought to faith. The Spirit is poured out upon them.

            In fact, the Spirit is poured out upon us here today. As we hear the Word of God, as we listen to the sermon, as we sing the songs of praise, as we confess our sins and receive absolution, as we offer up our prayers and petitions, the Holy Spirit is at work and active. It is through His power that we do all those things. If it was left up to us, we wouldn’t be involved. Our sinful nature would take over and would lead us away from Christ. But the Spirit works in us to not only bring us to faith but to keep us in that faith.

            Today, as you hear the Word of God, the Spirit is at work in your heart. As you come forward and receive the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit works to keep you strong in that faith. As you go out from here, the Spirit goes with you. He will guide your life, if you let Him. He will show you the way to live, if you listen to Him. He will lift you up in the midst of the struggles of your life, if you will only allow His hands to slide under your arms. You see, the Spirit is still being poured out upon each one of us. It didn’t stop that Pentecost Sunday. The Spirit has been working every day since.

            The Lord promised to send the Spirit when He ascended into heaven. He fulfilled that promise on Pentecost. He has kept that promise alive as each and every day He sends the Holy Spirit to us – converting us from sinners to believers, and regenerating us from fallen sinners to people following the will of God. Today the Lord is pouring out His Spirit upon each of us, the Spirit of power and love, the Spirit of peace and strength, the Spirit of hope and the Spirit of salvation. Pentecost was a powerful day 2000 years ago and it is still just as powerful in our lives today.

Amen.