Sermon for Pentecost Sunday 2019
Readings:
There was an extremely famous Baptist preacher in England in the middle of the nineteenth century named Charles Spurgeon. A huge number of his sermons were transcribed and published so they are readily available, even today. In one of his sermons on Pentecost, the feast which we celebrate today, he has one line which just stood out to me out as being quite profound. It could have been just a passing comment or a throwaway remark, but it gave me pause so I want you to hear it.
When talking about the Holy Spirit and the events recounted in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, which you just heard, Spurgeon says:
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
His words strike at the heart of a dilemma that I think all priests and preachers encounter whenever we have to talk about the Holy Spirit, and the Feast of Pentecost, more than any feast other is really an occasion when we must talk about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Holy Trinity, which is the core of our faith. The Holy Spirit is an aspect, it’s a part of our God, it is God, but how do we talk about it? It is much easier to talk about our Lord in the person of Jesus Christ. It is even easier to talk about God the Father, but when it comes to the Holy Spirit, which we in our traditional manner often refer to as the Holy Ghost, how can we talk about that? It is so much more mysterious.
And the day of Pentecost, it is a bizarre story with mysterious sights and sounds. How should we remember that? Should we try and recreate rushing wind and tongues of fire? What is the best way to remember the Holy Spirit on this day?
Well according to Mr. Spurgeon, “the cause is always best remembered by the effect.”
What was the effect of the Holy Spirit on those apostles, because that is probably the best way to remember it? Well let’s look at Peter for a second. Fifty days ago, Peter would not publicly admit that he even knew Jesus. He was fearful of what would happen to him if people knew that he was a follower of this man from Galilee. And now, after being anointed by the Holy Spirit…Peter is standing in the public square and loudly confessing that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
What effect did the Holy Spirit have upon Peter? It changed him. The Holy Spirit took a man that was scared and afraid and unable to witness to Jesus Christ and it transformed him into a man that would boldly proclaim the resurrection in front of any that would listen. The Holy Spirit gave Peter the words that he needed to witness to the power of God. It gave Peter the insight to see how Jesus had been proclaimed and predicted through the prophets of old. It transformed him into a man that would work miracles in Jesus’s name.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
What effect does the Holy Spirit have? The Holy Spirit can change people. It can change fear into boldness. If we want to remember the Holy Spirit today, we will best do it by remembering the effect that the Holy Spirit had upon those disciples, and not just the disciples, but on those who heard the disciples’ proclamation and witnessed the effects of the Spirit on the disciples’ lives.
The Book of Acts continues:
So those who welcomed this 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. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
That is the effect of the Holy Spirit.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
How should we remember the Holy Spirit? Let’s look at the effect that it had on people. People’s lives were changed; they were converted; their priorities shifted. This resurrection, this promise of new life, this wasn’t just some nice idea that they agreed to in their minds, it was something that offered them transformation now. And what did that transformation look like? It looked like devotion to the word of God and the words spoken by Jesus; it looked like fellowship and prayer; it looked like generosity and selflessness; it looked like gratitude and praise. That was the vision that won people’s hearts and minds. That was the vision that converted the masses. That was the real effect of the Holy Spirit. Who cares if you can speak in Parthian or Elamite if you are still singing the same old song you always sang? If what you are saying isn’t good news I don’t want to hear it in any language.
The cause is best remembered by the effect.
The effect of the Holy Ghost descending upon those apostles is that their lives were transformed in such a way that people who witnessed that transformation wanted to know more. Tell me more about this God you worship that gives you hope in the midst of despair. Tell me more about this man who healed the sick and forgave sinners. Tell me more about how he was freed from death and promised to raise his followers up with him. I want to know about this God who shines a light into darkness.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
If we want to remember the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday then let’s talk about lives being changed by God, because that is the real effect of the Holy Spirit. This spirit gives us a new relationship with God, as Paul says: “Not a spirit of slavery or fear, but a spirit of adoption.” In other words this Spirit teaches us that we are loved and wanted by God. This spirit bears witness in our souls that we are children of God. This spirit has the power to transform us and how we live, that is its effect. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul spells out the effects of the Spirit. He says this: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control those are the effects of the Spirit. Those are the real languages it speaks. That is what we need to remember today. If people see the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives, they will listen to what we have to say no matter what human language we say it in.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
You know I hear church leaders and Christians all the time lamenting that people don’t go to church the way they used to and people don’t listen to the church the way they used to, and numbers are declining. And some enterprising church leaders like to write books and develop programs they can market on how to grow your church. Everyone is looking for the silver bullet. Well I think part of the problem is that we have forgotten how the church was born. We say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, but that birth came through the power of the Holy Spirit, it wasn’t through the skill or the cleverness or the goodness of the apostles. It was an effect of the Holy Spirit. The church was born when God demonstrated his power to change people. It was God’s power that converted those three thousand people, not Peter’s. You know, I firmly believe that the secret weapon of the church is the Holy Spirit, but the problem is that it is so secret that most of the time we don’t even know we have it. But when Jesus told us that he would send us the Advocate, or the Holy Spirit, he said that it would be with us forever. So I reckon that it is still here, only maybe we have forgotten it. Maybe we have forgotten what it looks like. Maybe while we were looking for speaking in tongues and parlour tricks, the real Holy Spirit has been here working quietly in our midst healing, converting, convicting, comforting; maybe not speaking Parthia, Mede or Elamite, but speaking the languages of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
How are we to remember the Holy Spirit? I think Spurgeon was right.
The cause is always best remembered by the effect.
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