Sunday
05/20/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “When the Advocate comes!”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
New Testament
Scripture: Romans 8:22-27
Gospel Lesson:
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Happy Pentecost! Welcome my friends, my sisters and
brothers in Christ on this the birthday of the Christian Church! Nearly
two-thousand years ago the first disciples of Jesus Christ were in that Upper
Room awaiting the Holy Spirit, or “the Advocate” as Jesus called the Holy Spirit
this morning (Jn. 15:26, NRSV). Before Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the
right hand of God of the Father, Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit,
or “the Advocate” would be coming soon to fill and guide them to carry the
gospel to the world (Jn. 15:26, NRSV). As it turns out, our monthly Upper New
York Annual Conference newspaper or magazine is called “The Advocate”, as well.
Today is also one of the few times during our liturgical
Christian calendar that we see alters, pulpits, lecterns, and even some of us,
clothed in red. No this is not a Communist Party Meeting, nor is it a
Republican Party Convention, or Cornell University event. The red represents
the fire of the Holy Spirit or “the Advocate”. The red represents the power and
presence of God on the day of Pentecost.
So what happened nearly two-thousand years ago on this the
day of Pentecost? Well before getting into this scripture from the Books of
Acts that many call “The Pentecost Scripture”, let me provide some context.
First off, what is “Pentecost” and why does it matter? Well
here is what one source I read says:
“The Christian holiday of Pentecost, which is celebrated on the 50th day after the weekly
Sabbath during the Feast of
Unleavened Bread (Leviticus
23:15), commemorates the descent of
the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while
they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks,
as described in the Acts of the
Apostles. Some Christians believe
this event represents the birth of the Catholic Church” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost).
Further,
there are also other Old Testament or Hebrew Bible Scriptures that describe
Pentecost as a feast of the harvest. This holiday is also celebrating that God
gave to the Jewish people the Torah, or the first five books of the Old
Testament.
So on this Jewish holiday, or better yet this celebration
of the harvest, there is feasting and the celebration of the gift of the Torah,
or the first five books of the Old Testament. This holiday also takes place in
the holy city of Jerusalem or Zion, as that is where the great temple and the high
priest were.
Since this holiday takes place only in Jerusalem at this
time, this meant that all Jews from the Roman Empire, and perhaps even farther
would travel to Jerusalem for this holiday. This means that there were peoples
of various races, ethnicities, languages, cultures, and etc. All of these
people believed in God though, and were all connected somehow to the Jewish
faith.
In the midst of all of this, the first Disciples of Christ,
the Apostles, and maybe other followers of Christ, were once again in that
Upper Room during this holiday or celebration. This very well could have been
the same Upper Room that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper in with his disciples.
I can imagine that the Disciples likely shared communion, or the bread and cup
together, they were likely discussing Jesus, and were praying.
The real question to ask then, is why Pentecost? Why did
the Holy Spirit show up? Further, why were the disciples expecting the Holy
Spirit to show up? Did someone tell them to expect this?
The Answer is yes. To better explain this before getting
into our reading from the Book of Acts for this morning, let us briefly revisit
our reading from the gospel of John for this morning. Once again the gospel of
John reading says, which has Jesus speaking to his disciples:
“When the Advocate comes,
whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the
Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have
been with me from the beginning”
(Jn. 15:26-27, NRSV).
Jesus is telling his disciples, be
ready, the Holy Spirit is coming soon. Jesus then says:
“I did not
say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I
am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you
going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled
your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I
go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if
I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong
about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not
believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you
will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has
been condemned” (Jn. 16:4b-11, NRSV).
So
Jesus is going to be with God the Father. The incarnation of God, Jesus Christ,
the second person of the Holy Trinity is about to ascend to God. Yet, before
the disciples fully “get it” as the term goes, they must be filled with the
Holy Spirit, or “The Advocate”. This makes the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit that I will be preaching on next Sunday, very important indeed.
This
morning’s gospel of John reading then ends with Jesus saying to his disciples:
“I still
have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit
of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on
his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the
things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine
and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said
that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:12-15, NRSV).
So the disciples are told to wait
for the Holy Spirit, or “the Spirit of truth,” or the “Advocate” (Jn. 16:12,
NRSV). It is also interesting that Jesus says of the Holy Spirit the following:
“for he
will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will
declare to you the things that are to come”
(Jn. 16:13b, NRSV).
So the Holy Spirit was needed by the
disciples to fully understand God, fully understand Jesus, God’s Son, and was needed
to fill and guide them. This means that encountering and knowing God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as I just said, are all important for us
a Christians. Further, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would “speak whatever he hears,” as he hears
from the Father and the Son. This trinity is the three persons of God, three in
one, and one in three.
So Pentecost, or the “Feast of
Weeks” is a Jewish holiday historically celebrated in the holy city of
Jerusalem, and on this particular Pentecost the disciples of Jesus Christ are one
again in the Upper Room awaiting the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come.
The city once again is filled with believers from all over the known world, who
are of different races, ethnicities, languages, and etc.
So what happened on Pentecost then?
Let’s look again at Acts 2:1-21. Once again it says:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all
together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like
the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were
sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested
on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability”
(Acts 2:1-4, NRSV).
So
on this day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, or “The Advocate” that
Jesus promised the disciples showed up in a powerful and a mighty way. We hear
of tongues, “as of fire,” and these
tongues “rested on each of them,” or
the disciples. We hear that the disciples then spoke in tongues through the
power of the Holy Spirit, and that people of all different nations gathered
below heard this.
The
scripture then says:
“Now there were devout Jews from every
nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered
and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language
of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians,
Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,
and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were
amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But
others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine” (Acts
2:5-13, NRSV).
So all the people below heard in their
own languages of:
“God’s
deeds of power” (Acts 2:11b, NRSV).
The
Apostle Peter then goes on after this to give a sermon that is powerful and
filled with the Holy Spirit. So what was the outcome of this sermon on the
birthday of the Christian Church?
It
says in Acts 2:41-42 of those who heard Peter’s sermon:
“So those who welcomed
his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were
added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers”
(Acts 2:41-42, NRSV).
The promised Holy Spirit, “The Advocate”
arrived on this day of Pentecost, nearly two-thousand years ago. God’s word and
God’s glory is heard in an abundance of tongues or languages as the wind of the
Spirit moves. Tongues as of fire descend over the disciples, and the Apostle
Peter then preaches a sermon that is powerful and Holy Spirit filled. On this
day nearly two-thousand years ago, Peter’s sermon results in 3,000 converts of
Christ, and the church is born.
The first Disciples of Christ, or
the twelve, then go to various places preaching, teaching, loving, forgiving,
and transforming the world for Jesus Christ. The church grows like wildfire,
and nearly two-thousand years later, we are the fruit of the life, teachings,
love, healing, forgiving, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This all
officially started though on this day, the day of Pentecost, nearly
two-thousand years ago.
With all of this said though, as a
church, as a worldwide church, do you think that the Holy Spirit is flowing in many
of our churches in 2018, like it was on that first day of Pentecost? I am
worried sometimes that it is not. As a result, I believe that we need a fresh
outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit, and I am praying that this fresh outpouring
will fill us all anew with Holy Fire, so that the universal church of Jesus
Christ may be renewed, revived, and we will again tell of sermons bringing in
one day three-thousand people to Christ. For Christ and his gospel are the hope
of the world.
It is my prayer then that in this time
of pastoral transition, in this time of struggles in our country and in our
world, that the Holy Spirit of God would move in a new way to restore us, fill
us, revive, and renew us. I pray that this may begin with us today. May it be
so, and Amen.
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