Jesu Juva
Acts 2:1-21
May 24, 2026
The Day of Pentecost
Dear saints of our Savior~
You heard the highlights of Pentecost a few minutes ago from Acts 2: The wind and fire of the Holy Spirit, and the words delivering the good news about Jesus to all who heard them. The Word of God preached and proclaimed in all the languages of the known world. A day full of grace.
Some refer to Pentecost as the church’s birthday, but that’s not completely accurate. It’s more precise to say that the church was born on Good Friday from the wounds of the crucified Jesus. The blood and water, the cry, “It is finished,” the temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom—these tell the story of the birth of the church. So, there was already a church before there was a Pentecost.
We heard about that pre-Pentecost church last week from Acts chapter one: It included the Twelve apostles (with the newly minted Matthias), and Mary the mother of Jesus. They were all together in one place—a congregation of about 120—about this size—the entire holy, Christian, apostolic church all packed into someone’s living room.
Pentecost was actually an Old Testament festival—occurring 50 days after Passover. Jews came to Jerusalem at Pentecost to present the first fruits of the winter wheat harvest to the Lord. They came to Jerusalem to do something for God. But on this particular Pentecost, God turned the tables on those pilgrims. God poured out on them the gift of the Holy Spirit—doing far more for them than they could ever do for Him!
In fact, the Lord stole the whole show that day, so to speak. There was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. Fifty days earlier the risen Christ had breathed on His disciples. That was a little breath—a gentle breeze. On Pentecost comes a fresh gust of gospel good news. And then comes the fire. As John the Baptist had said concerning Jesus: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Tongues of fire come to rest on the members of that congregation, and they aren’t burned or singed in the slightest.
Now with the fire and the wind come the words—words given by the Holy Spirit. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He’s in the word delivery business. He is the UPS man of the Holy Trinity—taking the words of the Lord and delivering them personally to us. The forgiveness and life that Jesus died to win for all can only be delivered by way of mouths speaking words.
And those words must be understood! And that’s been the perennial problem ever since God confused the languages way back beneath the tower of Babel. On that day God jumbled up our nouns and verbs and we’ve been straining to understand each other ever since.
On Pentecost, God undoes the curse of Babel in a most unexpected way. He didn’t create one, new language for the church. Instead, the Spirit preached in many languages all at once, and each person heard the good news about Jesus in his own native language and dialect. St. Luke lists them off, so we get the point: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, not to mention the good folks from Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya and Rome. They all heard the mighty works of God for their salvation in their own mother tongue. It’s an audible object lesson, teaching that what Jesus said and did, He said and did for you personally—for you, whatever your nouns and verbs sound like. This Jesus who is for all, who lived for all, who bore the sins of all, who died for all, who was raised up for all and who will raise all on the last day—He is also for you as your own two ears can testify (thanks to the Holy Spirit).
The fire, the wind, the words: It was a Pentecost to remember. But I always like to say that we’ve got Pentecost every Sunday. Today, here and now, we’ve got the words of God being delivering by the Holy Spirit into your ears and heart. Each Lord’s Day the good news goes forth: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The trouble is we don’t believe it. The truth is we’re bored.
You see, the Old Adam in us loves the religious special effects of the first Pentecost. We like our religion with a dose of fireworks and maybe some special lighting and a fog machine thrown in for good measure. We like it when religion sends a chill down our spines and puts a lump in our throats. Somehow just listening—just hearing the works of God declared in our own English language just doesn’t seem to satisfy. How easy it is to be bored—to despise preaching and His Word rather than hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it (even on a holiday weekend).
Many churches have recognized this spiritual boredom among their members. They’ve sought to up the ante by doing whatever seems novel, whatever seems relevant to pop culture, whatever will get people talking and create a buzz. But whatever you do, the conventional wisdom seems to say, don’t subject people to hearing and learning the Word of God. It’s almost as if the Holy Spirit just can’t get the job done without our creativity and marketing skills.
But here’s the truth: Do you know what would happen if every Sunday were as spectacular as that first Pentecost? Do you know what would happen if I preached every Sunday with a tongue a fire on my lips and the sound of a rushing wind blowing through the room? Do you know what would happen? We’d get bored with that too.
Beloved in the Lord, the problem isn’t with the Spirit-delivered good news about Jesus. The problem is human hearts from Mesopotamia to Milwaukee are afflicted with sin. By nature we hold sacred what is profane; and we denigrate what is holy. We prefer being entertained to being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit’s special work is to turn us from that sin—to create in us clean hearts. This is why we need Pentecost every Sunday—to call and gather and enlighten and sanctify the likes of us, and keep us with Jesus Christ in one true faith.
Beloved in the Lord, whether we hear a mighty rushing wind or not, whether we see tongues of fire or not—we have Pentecost every Sunday. In the humble words preached from pulpits like this one, in the humble water of Holy Baptism, in the simple bread and wine that is His body and blood—there is the power—there is the wind in the sails of the church.
That wind is still blowing in our sails right here at Our Savior. For over 90 years the Holy Spirit—the Lord and giver of life—has been at work among us. The Spirit’s work has not been for Parthians, Medes and Elamites, but “for you”—working the miracle of faith in your heart and keeping you with Jesus—doing for you what you could never do for yourself.
Here’s some history for you: Eighteen years ago this week our congregation did not gather between these four walls to celebrate Pentecost. I wasn’t standing here. You weren’t sitting there. We were not in this sacred space. . . because we were worshipping in the fellowship hall downstairs. . . because we were building a choir loft and installing a pipe organ in this space. Eighteen years ago not everyone was thrilled with that decision. Some felt it was unnecessary and too expensive. Today we enjoy the blessings and benefits of that project every time we gather. It happened only because the Holy Spirit led the saints of Our Savior to respond to God’s love in Jesus Christ with generosity.
In a few more weeks we’ll be moving again—back down into the fellowship hall. And once again, God the Holy Spirit will “outgive” us all. And the important work of the kingdom—which kicked off on the Day of Pentecost—will continue here long after you and I have entered the Kingdom of glory with Jesus Himself, and all the company of heaven.
That “kingdom work” happens here every Sunday. If you’re looking for fireworks you’ll miss it. But here’s what to look for: the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread in the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s liturgy of life, and the fellowship. Where these are going on, where the Gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered according to Jesus’ words, there is the Spirit. There’s the wind in our sails. There is forgiveness, life, and salvation. For you.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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