Acts 2:1-13
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
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 the 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?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. ”
John 16:12-15
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
“You Will Receive Power and Be My Witnesses”
I don’t know about you, but I love films like The Lord of the Rings. I love the book, I love the films, and one of the great things about them is that it is really easy to tell who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.
If you’re an orc, you’re a bad guy. If you’re an elf, you’re a good guy. And guess what happens at the end? The good guys win, there is a wonderful victory, and everyone lives happily ever after.
But there is something deeply frustrating about that, isn’t there? Because that is not what real life is like. Real life is much more difficult and much trickier than that. It is a lot harder to tell who the good guys and bad guys are. There is not often that wonderful fairy-tale ending. It can be frustrating watching films or reading books like that and thinking, That’s just not real life.
And when we read the book of Acts, we can sometimes feel something similar. We read about amazing miracles, thousands of people coming to faith after one sermon — that might happen this evening, we’ll wait and see! We read of extraordinary miracles taking place, and even joy when the apostles were imprisoned and put to death. And we look at our own day and think, That’s a bit frustrating, because life just doesn’t seem like that for us.
So we are going to look at three things from our passage describing that first Pentecost together, to see how the Holy Spirit might begin to do something similar in our own day.
All together in one place.
In chapter 2, verse 1, it says:
“When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were together in one place.”
So — they were all together in one place.
God is, of course, everywhere. But there are situations where he is especially present to bless his people. That was the case in Eden. We are told that Adam and Eve walked in the presence of God in the Garden. But when they sinned, his special presence departed. Much of the beginning of the Old Testament is about preparing for God once more to dwell among his people — first in the tabernacle, then in the temple. But again, the Lord’s people turned away from him, and his special presence to bless departed.
The amazing thing about Pentecost is that this is round three. This is when God’s Spirit returns to bless powerfully — never, ever to leave again.
The Bible calls Christians God’s temple because we are all bricks, as it were, in the spiritual temple of God. God’s temple today is not a place; it is a people. And it is the Holy Spirit in us that makes us that temple. If you read the book of Kings, you will see that God’s presence did not appear in the temple until King Solomon had finished putting every stone in place. So it is no surprise that the first time the Holy Spirit came to dwell in believers was when they were all together — all the living bricks of this new temple united.
Near where I grew up in Wales was a place we often took visitors — a huge hydroelectric dam with a beautiful reservoir behind it high in the mountains. Would the water company have begun filling up the reservoir if the dam wall were incomplete? Of course not. Every brick had to be in place. Then — boom — the power starts flowing.
Perhaps we wonder why the Spirit seems less powerfully at work today than he was in the time of the apostles. But the book of Acts consistently links the unity of believers with the Spirit doing amazing things.
Of course, we cannot force the Spirit to do anything. But equally, we should not expect him to work wonders in our day if we are not unified as believers. This is why our first Sunday benefice service is so important. It is not just a pleasant opportunity to catch up with people. It is exactly the sort of place where the Spirit is at work — when we, as a body of believers, are all together in one place.
So, we have seen unity as one way the Spirit works powerfully.
The images of wind and fire.
We are told:
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house.”
And then:
“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire.”
These physical manifestations of the Spirit at Pentecost are not merely special effects. They are not God showing off. They are crucial symbols of the power of the Spirit.
Wind and fire are elements of nature that provide power, aren’t they? Wind powered ships in the ancient world. Fire heats houses and cooks food.
These images tell us something profound about the Holy Spirit: like wind and fire, he provides power for the church.
That is a good thing. He is capable of surging his power into us as Christians, especially when we are all together working for the gospel. He provides power over sin, despair, fear, and doubt. But like wind and fire, he is not to be trifled with.
I think there are two opposite mistakes we can make when it comes to the Holy Spirit. The first is not to plug into his power at all. This is like somebody refusing to use any source of naturally generated power. No wind power. No fire. No solar. No nuclear. Instead, they say, “I shall power my house with my own exercise bike.” Perhaps the village as well!
But of course, you cannot do that. It is ridiculous. We all rely on power generated beyond ourselves.
And the opposite error is to think of the Holy Spirit as an endless power source we can simply switch on and off at will: “Zap — power — boom — healing!”
Now, no offence, but if some of our friends across the pond can occasionally lean towards that second error, we are certainly guilty of the first. We ask: Why does the Holy Spirit not seem to do those amazing things now as in the book of Acts?Perhaps much of the answer is that we are trying to power our spiritual lives ourselves rather than plugging into what the Spirit can do.
What does that look like? First, expecting him to do amazing things. He can still heal today. He can still do miracles. Secondly, asking for his help. After all, he is a person. Unlike wind and fire, he is not an impersonal force. He is the third person of the Trinity. And thirdly — perhaps most difficultly — not being afraid of losing control.
This is the big one, isn’t it? We do not like handing over the steering wheel of our lives to somebody else. We fear what might happen if we really allow the Holy Spirit to empower us.
But that is a bit like saying: “Well, either I generate electricity on my own exercise bike, or else Chernobyl will happen.”
There is a happy middle ground — letting the Spirit empower our ministry and lives.
So, we have seen the Spirit works through unity, and through these images of wind and fire.
Tongues.
We are told:
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
Why do you think the first sign of the Holy Spirit coming in power was the ability to speak in lots of different languages? To answer that, we go back to Acts chapter 1, verse 8 — really the motto verse for the whole book of Acts. Jesus says:
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
You see; the Spirit came with an express purpose: to empower the early church to bear witness to Jesus throughout the whole world.
Think of a charity set up for one purpose — perhaps famine relief. Over time, perhaps, it becomes involved with all sorts of fashionable causes: climate change, social justice, gender issues. This is known as mission drift. And it nearly always results in donations declining, because people want their money to support the purpose the charity actually exists for.
We still ask ourselves: Why does the Holy Spirit not seem to work as powerfully now as he did in Acts?
Well, think of the Holy Spirit not only as the major donor but the only donor of spiritual power to the church. The Spirit gives power to the church for the purpose it exists for — witnessing to Jesus Christ and him crucified.
So, we should not be surprised if, when the church experiences mission drift, the Spirit appears less interested in donations.
Climate change? Important.
Saving the parish? Important.
Fundraising? Important.
Regular communion? Important.
But if those things become so central that they distract us from the church’s primary purpose — bearing witness to Jesus — we cannot be surprised if the Spirit’s power is less tangibly at work in our day.
Conversely, when we begin to make witnessing to Jesus our personal and communal priority, we may expect to see the Spirit provide power in extraordinary ways.
I will end by relating something that happened last weekend. I was at a men’s conference at which our own Stephen Blake was speaking. He was talking about his time as a prison chaplain at Long Lartin prison — a very difficult place. High security. Men who had committed truly heinous crimes. It was difficult because, as a chaplain, he could not be seen to be proselytising or converting anyone.
And yet he said something remarkable. Every week, miracles happened. Every week, some murderer came to faith. Every week, someone shared the gospel with another inmate, and three more men came to faith. Every week, impossible obstacles seemed to stand in the way — and yet the gospel advanced.
Why is it that miracles happen in Long Lartin, and yet we do not seem to see them happening so often in our own lives? Could it be our expectations? Could it be that the Spirit provides power when we are outside our comfort zone?
I have certainly experienced that. When I was training as a vicar, on mission, the Holy Spirit seemed to do amazing things in the most uncomfortable situations. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The Holy Spirit will be with us when we fly the flag for Jesus — when we courageously share our faith, and when we fulfil the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. So let us pray that the Holy Spirit would give us that strength, even in our own day.