The Gospel of Pentecost

Today is one of the most important days in the Churches Calendar.  For today, is the day that the Church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of every believer. The Advocate as St.John call’s the Holy Spirit that will guide us into all truth; that glorifies Jesus in us and helps us understand Jesus’ ministry. All of this is fantastic news for us as Christians that God actually dwells within us to help us, to inspire us and to guide us.
Today, though, I want to talk you through how the disciples came to Pentecost to help show its significance to us today.
The disciples had travelled with Jesus for some time. They were always challenged and confused by Jesus as he went around Galilee and Judea performing miracles and teaching. The miracles were amazing, but his teachings were confusing. They were able to work out that this man Jesus they were following was the Messiah; though, they did think that the Messiah was going to come reclaim the Kingdom of Israel for God and in doing so kick the Romans out of their land.
Jesus’ teaching was different, he spoke in riddles, but when he spoke plainly he spoke of dying rather than killing, he spoke of love and forgiveness rather than hate and revenge. Jesus was different to every other would be Messiah. He though never saw his death as the end; he would always speak of rising to life again. Which at one level made sense to the disciples, for everyone knew that the one of the biggest theological argument of the day was between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the Sadducees who argued that the there was no resurrection that when you died it was all over and the Pharisees who argued that on the Last Day, God, would raise all people back to life to be judged and that God would then rule over Israel and the World would be redeemed. However, Jesus when he spoke of the resurrection spoke differently he spoke both in a singular and plural sense of it. This of course didn’t matter all that much to the disciples anyway, Jesus was the Messiah, and as long as he restored Israel he was allowed to have some strange theology.
Things were going well, in about the March of that year, the disciples were following Jesus up to Jerusalem, Jesus spoke more of death; but it was obvious that the people were seeing in Jesus someone who would redeem Israel and kick the Romans out. And so as Jesus entered Jerusalem back on Palm Sunday the Crowds cheered for him. However, as that week continued it all went horribly wrong, Jesus was arrested and on the Friday he was put to death on a Cross. Jesus was buried and the disciples thought it was all over and for a good reason too, their leader was dead and buried. However, on the third day Jesus rose from the dead; God raised him to life again. Then for forty days he appeared to the disciples. Then after forty days, Jesus left them but promised them it would be ok.
And now today nearly two thousand years ago, the disciples having waited in Jerusalem came to the Jewish feast of Pentecost.  Something amazing happen, the Holy Spirit descended on them and suddenly they were inspired onto the streets speaking in many different languages and started to tell the people of Jerusalem about Jesus whom 50 days earlier, just before the last great festival, had been put to death. Those hearing them, thought that they must be drunk, why mention a dead Messiah; he obviously had failed.
 However, they started to speak saying that he was not dead but alive and that they had seen him. That the resurrection that the Pharisees taught the people about was real and that Jesus actually was the Messiah and that he had been raised first and now that they had to tell everyone the Good news.
You can see why some people would have said “they are filled with new wine.” It sounds like the type of story that you might hear from people who are drunk and getting carried away in a fantasiful story.
However, St.Peter stood up and started to proclaim to those that had gathered and spoke plainly to those who would listen that they were not drunk but that it was prophecy being fulfilled. He continued after our reading to say:
22“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
Peter’s Sermon went on and those that listened like us had not seen the risen Jesus, they listened as Peter spoke them through parts of the Old Testament to show that Jesus was the Messiah. We are told:
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
 Now you might, wonder why I have recalled the story of Christian faith to you today, it is because, today is the day we celebrate the first Christians who like us did not see the risen Jesus, but had simply heard the witness of others and had the Holy Spirit within us confirm that it is true. We are challenged today, again, as the Church, to proclaim Jesus’ death and his resurrection. To say with St.Paul as we heard in his letter that we had read, that “we with the whole of Creation groan” for the coming of Jesus again, for the Resurrection to be completed, for the whole of Creation to be renewed and made new, for the redemption of our bodies. So that we with Jesus and all God’s people can indeed, not live in Heaven as is so commonly thought, but live on God’s new Creation, the Creation as God always intended it to be.
    So today, I want you to hear that there is more to this life, that God intends to redeem all of Creation. I want you to hear, that God indeed loves you and that God has shown this through Jesus.
    May the Holy Spirit, quietly, inspire and challenge you to share our faith in the risen Lord. May the Spirit, not let you feel comfortable unless you have told others about God’s love for them. Amen.