For those of you at home, I’m telling you this was not rehearsed. It may have looked like we just planned this, but we did not. My next part of my sermon is surprise. Yeah, surprise. Okay, well, did you ever wish that you had known when something was going to happen? I’m telling you, that’s what’s written right here. An unexpected gift or maybe a phone call from a friend. Or maybe it was just that mysterious flame that appears on your head. Okay. Well, maybe not that. So I think it’s fair to say that most parents are so excited to hear their child’s first real words, right? Where it changes from babble to actual English. And you just want to have your camera ready for that moment. And then you realize. They don’t just talk on cue. And it’s good that you realize that early, because for the rest of their lives they don’t. So my oldest, his first word was dad. Okay, why couldn’t it be mom? But, oh well. But then my youngest, who was actually sitting over there, his first word was horse. I’m like, what does it mean? Where did he learn this word? Well, come to find out, it just meant horse. And he was speaking English. And we were just really surprised. In today’s reading, we’re going to learn about the gift of language by the Holy Spirit and how it’s received.
And some are going to be really excited, and some are going to be very confused, and they’re going to look for some kind of hidden meaning or ulterior motive. This gift of language by the Holy Spirit, just like all spiritual gifts, It appears in God’s perfect timing, and often it is a total surprise. So I invite you, if you brought your Bibles, to open them, or your devices, and we’re going to read first from the book of Acts, and then we’re going to read from 1 Corinthians. Acts chapter 2. We’re going to look at verses 1 through 4. On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like tongues or flames of fire appeared and settled on each of them, and every one present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages. As the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Now we’ll look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 1 and verses 4 through 11. Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities that the Spirit gave us, I don’t want you to misunderstand this. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it’s the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service. But we all serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it’s the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us, so we can help each other. To one, the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice. To another, the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.
The same Spirit gives great faith to another, And to someone else, the Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives, one, the power to perform miracles. Another, the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still, another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages. Which we call speaking in tongues while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said It is one and the same spirit who distributes all these gifts He alone decides which gift each person should have. This is the word of the lord Will you please join me in prayer. Good and gracious god Help us to be used by you as your disciples to go out into the world as you commanded You And share the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection and forgiveness of all our sins. We have each been given unexpected gifts from the Holy Spirit. We never know when we’re going to receive them, and we need to rely on you for how we should use them. Lead us to not boast about our gifts or hide our gifts, but to use them to love our neighbor. To the glory of your holy name, grace to you and peace from God, our father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So today the church celebrates Pentecost, which is the celebration when the Holy Spirit descended like flames upon those who were gathered in Jerusalem, but we didn’t invent Pentecost.
No, as a matter of fact, during the time of Jesus. Jews were gathered in Jerusalem from really all over the world to celebrate Pentecost. It was a day of thanksgiving. And so that’s why they were pilgrimaging from all over and Luke tells us there were thousands gathered in Jerusalem. Pentecost is a Greek word and it means 50. So the celebration of Pentecost for the Jews was celebrated 50 days. After Passover, now for us, Pentecost is 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus. So remember, Jesus died, he rose again from the dead, and he stayed 40 days on earth. Then he ascended into heaven, and it’s 10 days later that the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. So I am thinking that the apostles had no idea. What to expect when Jesus said, stay and wait and the Holy Spirit is going to come and give you a gift. They were told they had to wait to receive it because this was nothing they could do on their own. It’s not like they could have their cameras ready to capture that moment when flames were going to come out of their heads because they didn’t know that was going to happen.
It was a very surprising and unexpected gift. And Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit was poured out on about 120 of Jesus followers. Now, these same disciples were the ones that just 50 days earlier were quaking in fear to be associated with Jesus. And yet, here they are now, totally empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they are boldly, boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. And thousands who were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost got to hear the gospel message in their own language. Now I have a treat for you. My friend Ben is going to read part of the Pentecost story that I just read to you. He’s going to read it to you in Navajo, so have a listen, Pente. He was so excited that I had a camera ready to capture that moment. And he couldn’t wait to share the gospel message with you in his native language. While Jeff and I were up there, we also got to experience worship with the Navajo in their chapel. And we had our Navajo hymnals in front of us, and they sang Jesus Loves Me. Now, Jeff and I were able to sing Jesus Loves Me in Navajo, not because we speak Navajo, but the Holy Spirit was like, you know the words, you know this sound, you know this message. It was music to our ears. And I think that’s what Pentecost must have been like. On that day, perhaps a hundred and twenty different languages were being spoken simultaneously.
So everyone received the unexpected gift of the message of the gospel in their own native language. We know that faith comes through hearing. And that day, thousands heard the gospel message, that their sins were forgiven. And they heard this message, language. And because of this, Luke says, that day, over 3, 000 came to believe. This promise of salvation, it was an unexpected gift. It was unexpected for those who heard the promise, and it wasn’t something they asked for. those who It wasn’t something they were looking for. They didn’t have their cameras ready for that moment. It just came to them. They did nothing to deserve it. It was an unexpected gift freely given by the Holy Spirit. Those upon whom the Holy Spirit descended like flames were given the gift of language. And Luke, you know, he’s such a detailed author. He tells us that most of these people who were given this gift of language were from Galilee. And that’s important because Galileans were considered kind of backwoods people and therefore assumed to be less educated. And Luke gives us this sentiment because he tells us, therefore, that some people who heard them talking made fun of them and assumed the only way that these uneducated Galileans could be doing this was if they were day drinking. It had to be drunken babble and nonsense, but it was the unexpected gift from the Holy Spirit given to uneducated men who could not have come up with this on their own.
It had to be a gift from the Holy Spirit. Now some, on that glorious day, were amazed and believed. But just like today, some received that message with disdain. It Perhaps some were envious that these uneducated men suddenly were able to speak in all of these languages and assumed the only way that they could be talking like this was if they had been day drinking. Others heard the message and still walked away thinking, it’s complete nonsense. But these disciples, they were undeterred by any negativity. They used that gift of language. To share the good news. Now I read from Paul that he said that there’s different spiritual gifts, but it’s all from the same spirit. He said, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues. So we say speaking in unknown languages, interpretation of those languages. They’re all what we call gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now in Paul’s letter, he tells us that there were some who were bragging about their spiritual gifts. Go figure. And then there were others who were envious about which spiritual gift was maybe better than the other. And Paul says, God works through all of us. And it’s his Holy Spirit that gives a gift, a gift, not a gee, gives a gift to each of us. as he sees fit. Remember, now, the Holy Spirit has been with us since the beginning.
The Holy Spirit was with us at creation. But this is now a new thing that the Holy Spirit is doing. The Holy Spirit is giving us spiritual gifts, just like Jesus said it would happen. And Paul explains that these spiritual gifts are special abilities or talents or capabilities given to an individual. by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving God and building up the church. These are not natural talents or skills, they’re supernatural blessings provided by God’s grace in His perfect timing meant to build up the body of Christ, not to be superior against one another. The spiritual gifts have been given to us by the Holy Spirit Not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the neighbor. We did nothing to deserve these gifts. We didn’t ask for these gifts. We didn’t know to ask for these gifts. They’re gifts freely given by the Holy Spirit. Each believer’s strengths and abilities. Now, they might seem large or small when compared to others, but they’re all to be used in God’s service. Not to flaunt. But to humbly serve God by loving our neighbor. And God doesn’t want us to be ignorant of our spiritual gifts. He wants us to pray about when and how we should use them. There’s a funny story about a pastor who stood before his congregation. He’s like, guys, I have a confession to make. I did not prepare a sermon this week, so I’m just going to wait on the Holy Spirit.
But I promise I’ll do better next week. You know, I think that rings true for a bunch of us. We just want to have our cameras ready for that time and the Holy Spirit’s just going to show up so we can be ready to receive whatever He’s going to give us. And we tend to think that we can decide when He’s going to speak and the timing of when He’s going to give us a particular gift. We need to be ready at all times. The Holy Spirit is here, and He’s speaking and working in and through us for the glory of God right here, right now. Yes, I do depend on the Holy Spirit when I’m preparing and delivering a sermon, but the Holy Spirit is also working within you right now. So, as you listen, even if I stumble, Even if my falter, even if my mic isn’t working, if my words aren’t clear, you wonder what language am I speaking, you wonder if I’ve been day drinking, you’re still going to receive a blessing because it’s not my voice. It’s the small, still voice of God reminding you, you’re His. And you hear this message, not in your perfect timing, but in His. So, I guess what I’m saying is You should, metaphorically speaking, always have your camera ready, because you never know when the Holy Spirit is going to surprise you with a spiritual gift, or He’s going to say something really important to you. And when He does, He’s going to be speaking in your own language.
