Acts 2:1-21—
The Epistle lesson is the entire story of the events of Pentecost. Pilgrims
from every corner of the globe had descended upon the city of Jerusalem to celebrate.
On that day Christ was preached to the nations and the nations were brought to
the church. Pentecost is not the birthday of the church – it existed well
before the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is the birthday of missions when the
church is reminded that we are to go out into the world with the message of the
Gospel.
The familiar, but always
exciting story of the day of Pentecost is our second lesson. Early in the book
of Acts, Luke sets the tone which he carries throughout the rest of the book. The
Spirit works upon and acts upon the heart and mind. In powerful words that spring to life as we
hear them Luke describes the coming of the Spirit into the room where the
disciples were gathered. Notice that there is an immediate reaction to the
Spirit’s work. The disciples speak in languages that all the various and sundry
nationalities present in Jerusalem can hear and understand what they said. When
God wants to, He makes it possible for all those who understand different
languages to get meaning from the disciples’ words, unlike his action in the
Genesis lesson where he created the various languages to put humanity in its
place.
The Savior Himself predicted
the events of Pentecost. Look up Matthew 24:14. The gospel was preached to the
nations on the first Pentecost. For centuries the gospel message has encircled
the globe. It has been preached on every continent. But specifically on
September 15, 2001 from the National Cathedral in Washington DC the message of
Christ and Him crucified was beamed literally around this planet through radio
and television as the world watched and listened. Some may ask, “When will the
end come?” Pentecost gives us the answer. The end will come - when the last
pagan is converted.
In the Pentecost portion of
the church year we pray for the Spirit to used God’s word to produce a harvest
of souls. Likewise we pray that the seeds recently planted might grow and
mature into an abundant harvest.
[1] Holy Spirit Dove, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[2] Collect for Agriculture, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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