WEBVTT 00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:08.439 Well, howdy. We live in strange times. When our 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:12.039 church president was in South Korea, I was able 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:15.240 to text him on my phone, and he could text me 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:18.120 right back as though we were sitting across the 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:22.179 room from each other. We can superimpose someone's 00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:26.160 face and body into videos and scenes that they 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.640 were never actually stepping foot in. And we 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.560 have translation apps where someone can speak 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:36.100 into a microphone and their words instantly appear 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:39.000 on your phone in their own language. We're gonna 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:41.200 even be trying it out later today too. Just clip 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.799 that on, grab your phone. You can even hear it 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:45.359 speaking to you through your little Bluetooth 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.380 if you want. And, you know, you can wear VR, 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.479 virtual reality headsets, and attend meetings, 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.560 but you don't have to attend them as yourself. 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.380 You can attend them as your favorite cartoon 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:01.259 character. And even find ways to summarize all 00:01:01.259 --> 00:01:04.379 the unread messages from people that you forgot 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:08.500 to text back. TLDR, too long didn't read, that's 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:11.739 okay. It'll tell you all the main points. And 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:16.609 honestly, during COVID, How many of us were grateful 00:01:16.609 --> 00:01:19.670 that zoom meetings only showed us from the waist 00:01:19.670 --> 00:01:22.829 up? Do not pretend it was not you you know who 00:01:22.829 --> 00:01:26.409 you are? Shorts were very very nice during many 00:01:26.409 --> 00:01:29.590 of those meetings You know humanity has learned 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:33.150 how to teleport digitally and communicate almost 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:36.890 anywhere with anyone But loneliness has quietly 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:41.209 become the true epidemic of the modern world 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:45.060 humanity Our problem is not merely whether we 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:48.879 can talk. The problem is whether we truly understand 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.019 one another anymore. And part of that struggle 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:55.200 is that we no longer even know who to trust to 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.700 tell us what the world is really like. When we 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.799 look at the world, we often interpret it through 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.859 the lenses that we've carried over the years. 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:07.019 We search for voices online, on television, throughout 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:11.520 culture that reinforce the lenses. Right back 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:16.180 to us. Some people turn to comedians and comic 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:19.419 relief because the world feels exhausting. And 00:02:19.419 --> 00:02:22.740 even if the joke is unfair, well, at least laughter 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:25.800 will help us survive while life keeps kicking 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.599 us in the ribs. That's the first few parts on 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:33.500 Facebook is just five little short clips of some 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:37.759 comedian telling us the next big joke. Now... 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:41.159 Others, though, they may gravitate toward outrage 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.099 and conflict and constantly being told who the 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:47.819 enemy is and who deserves our anger. But honestly, 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.919 some of us are just scrolling through dog videos 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.639 and cat memes. We just want the world to feel 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:56.759 a little lighter for 30 seconds. It doesn't matter 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.439 how often it is. If it's a tiny little kitten, 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:04.000 I'm going to watch for the next 15 seconds. Okay, 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.400 the next three minutes. Okay. But you see, Eventually 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:11.879 though, something begins to happen. Humanity 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:16.020 becomes louder, but still more disconnected. 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:20.960 We speak constantly, but we rarely listen. We 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:24.099 react instantly, but we rarely understand. And 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:26.759 that's why Pentecost matters so much, because 00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:30.960 Pentecost is not merely a story about miraculous 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.340 speech. It is a story about God breaking into 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:37.300 a fractured world where people can no longer 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:40.120 truly hear one another. And what God gives them 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:45.520 is not merely noise or spectacle. He gives them 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.780 a message that they can actually understand. 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.960 Into confusion, into fear, into division, into 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:59.379 isolation, God is speaking. The Holy Spirit speaks. 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:02.360 through people who at first may not seem very 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.120 much like them at all. But the Holy Spirit did 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.039 not merely come for the spectacle. The Holy Spirit 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:12.099 came to bring understanding. That's why Pentecost 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:17.000 is still so important today. Now Pentecost was 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.399 originally a Jewish festival held 50 days after 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.980 Passover. It celebrated the harvest and Thanksgiving. 00:04:24.509 --> 00:04:27.050 It also became connected to remembering when 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:30.449 God had met His people at Mount Sinai and gave 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:35.949 them His law. At Sinai, God descended in fire, 00:04:36.389 --> 00:04:40.790 wind, thunder, and holy power. God formed a covenant 00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:44.069 people and gave them His word. And now in Acts 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:50.069 2, it happens again. God descends, wind, fire, 00:04:50.769 --> 00:04:54.750 divine speech. At Sinai, God wrote His law on 00:04:54.750 --> 00:04:58.529 stone tablets. At Pentecost, God writes His truth 00:04:58.529 --> 00:05:02.790 on human hearts through the Holy Spirit. At Sinai, 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:06.889 one nation gathered around one mountain. At Pentecost, 00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:12.149 many nations gathered around one Savior. And 00:05:12.149 --> 00:05:14.810 humanity is brought together around what God 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:18.670 has done in Christ. Because Pentecost is not 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:22.110 primarily about the miraculous speech. It is 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:25.470 about God making sure that people truly hear 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:30.810 the gospel. And that matters because people often 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.670 trust voices that they've been trained to trust, 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:38.009 even when those voices may mislead them. We see 00:05:38.009 --> 00:05:40.790 it all the time. How often is it that people 00:05:40.790 --> 00:05:46.189 lose money to scams because something sounds 00:05:46.189 --> 00:05:50.629 believable? A voice that sounds familiar, a promise. 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:54.769 that sounds personal. Somebody sends an email 00:05:54.769 --> 00:05:58.750 and we think, oh well, you should ignore the 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:02.110 Nigerian prince with seven million dollars. Well, 00:06:02.110 --> 00:06:05.029 yes. But what if they've convinced you that they 00:06:05.029 --> 00:06:08.829 are someone who cares for you, who loves you, 00:06:09.089 --> 00:06:11.910 who thinks that you matter? And what was false 00:06:11.910 --> 00:06:15.839 gets received as truth. We know that people lost 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.300 over $1 billion to scammers in the U .S. in 2024 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:25.600 trying to convince them that they had found true 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:30.319 love. We even know that this year two people 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.620 lost their lives when someone thought they were 00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:35.939 helping Tom Selleck out of a money jam and giving 00:06:35.939 --> 00:06:40.079 him away all of their savings. And spiritually 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.449 it has been the same. is that people often have 00:06:43.449 --> 00:06:47.230 been led by those who merely want to use others 00:06:47.230 --> 00:06:50.550 while promising them hope, love, and a future. 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:54.189 The people in Jerusalem, they had been shaped 00:06:54.189 --> 00:06:57.410 by expectations about the Messiah. What He should 00:06:57.410 --> 00:07:00.689 look like, how He should rule, what power should 00:07:00.689 --> 00:07:05.009 be. Jesus had spoken time and time again about 00:07:05.009 --> 00:07:07.269 the religious leaders and what it is that they 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:10.449 kept telling them they should expect. and what 00:07:10.449 --> 00:07:13.569 they should hold as valuable. And many missed 00:07:13.569 --> 00:07:17.410 Jesus because He did not arrive in the form or 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:21.730 with the speech that they expected. So at Pentecost, 00:07:22.089 --> 00:07:25.569 God does something stunning. He ensures that 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:29.009 the truth of Christ is heard in the native languages 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:32.490 of the people gathered there. Not because the 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:35.589 message has changed, but because God wants people 00:07:35.589 --> 00:07:40.540 to truly understand all that He has done. The 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:44.939 Gospel was never meant for only one group, one 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:49.439 culture, one background, or one kind of people. 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:53.980 It was meant for all people. And that is still 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:59.139 the mission of the Church today. Yes, it is wonderful 00:07:59.139 --> 00:08:03.220 for us to have the Gospel in ways that Lutherans 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:07.600 enjoy, along with our bratwurst and our sauerkraut. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:12.279 But let's be honest. God intended it for many 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:16.259 different peoples. So how do we speak faithfully 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:19.379 to the grieving, the skeptical, the anxious, 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:23.899 the younger generations, the wounded, the spiritually 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:27.160 exhausted? Especially when so many people have 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.860 spent years listening to distorted voices about 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:34.519 who God is. People standing from pulpits just 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.679 like this, telling them ideas of what truth is. 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:42.139 when they're just wondering whether grace could 00:08:42.139 --> 00:08:45.720 be real. Because the Holy Spirit did not merely 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:49.679 come to create spectacle, to have an energetic 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:52.740 voice that just made it sound more appealing. 00:08:53.299 --> 00:08:57.360 But rather, the Holy Spirit came to create understanding. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.399 And that is still the mission of the church today. 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:05.179 When we see Pentecost, we see the Parthians, 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:10.360 the Medes, the Egyptians, the Romans, Many peoples 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:14.139 gathered together. Different histories, different 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:18.299 cultures, different assumptions. Yet they're 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:21.679 gathered around one Christ. Because Christian 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:26.720 unity, it's not about being the same. As we mentioned 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.100 last week, it's not forcing one culture, one 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:34.340 personality, one emotional expression. The Holy 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:37.440 Spirit speaks in the human experiences itself. 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:42.179 And we're honest, different people often carry 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:46.159 very different burdens and questions through 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:51.039 life. The baby boomers, shaped by building and 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.700 preserving institutions yet wondering why it 00:09:53.700 --> 00:09:56.519 is that so many of these youngins keep tearing 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:00.139 down what they spent so long building up. Gen 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:03.460 X, shaped by distrust and disillusionment as 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:06.679 they are left at home to watch their television 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.519 sets and... wonder who will be there. Millennials 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:14.919 shaped by instability, shame, loneliness, especially 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:18.480 even wondering if this picture on their phone 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.059 is what they're actually supposed to look like. 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:26.240 And Gen Z shaped by fractured certainty and insecurity. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.600 And we haven't even gotten to Gen Alpha and trying 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:34.080 to figure out what their issues are. Some generations 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.600 carry frustration and exhaustion, wondering what 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.600 happened to the world that they were trying to 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.019 build while others have the skepticism of watching 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:45.480 it all fall apart with loneliness and shame and 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.620 anxiety, not even knowing what their identity 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:52.620 really is, and then being afraid when they're 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:56.519 not sure what that is for themselves or for others. 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.519 If the church refuses to acknowledge the realities 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.480 of our world, then eventually, we stop speaking 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:08.460 to people and we just start speaking at them. 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:12.919 But Pentecost reminds us that the Gospel was 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:16.519 never meant to stay trapped with just one way 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:20.159 of doing it. The church cannot simply sit comfortably 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.480 in one room, speaking one familiar language, 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.740 and expect the entire world to somehow find its 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:30.320 way inside to us. Sometimes faithfulness means 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.980 learning how to walk toward people with compassion, 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.320 even when their experiences are so unfamiliar 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:41.980 to us. Even when it's uncomfortable. Even when 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:45.500 we have to listen longer and we want so bad to 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:47.720 just interrupt all the stupid things we think 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:52.250 they're saying. To be patient. to lay aside the 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:55.070 instincts to win the argument. Because witness 00:11:55.070 --> 00:11:58.370 is not about starting with here is my argument. 00:11:59.470 --> 00:12:04.169 Witness starts with I see you. I hear you. Let 00:12:04.169 --> 00:12:08.070 me walk with you toward Christ so that you're 00:12:08.070 --> 00:12:11.629 not just left in all the things I know God never 00:12:11.629 --> 00:12:16.250 intended for you. And yes, some mocked the disciples. 00:12:16.509 --> 00:12:22.049 They are drunk. Let's be honest. Sometimes we 00:12:22.049 --> 00:12:24.230 try to express ourselves and it doesn't come 00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:28.509 out that well. And even my own attempts at learning 00:12:28.509 --> 00:12:33.009 Spanish are a lot like, yo necesito this and 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:38.289 yo quiero that. Do not tell my dad's family. 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:42.950 They actually do know how to speak it. But even 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:47.649 so, the church was no longer afraid of the misunderstandings. 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:50.639 because the Spirit had come to make them faithful 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.820 witnesses. The point of Pentecost was not actually 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:57.580 about the languages by themselves. The languages 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:01.460 were the vehicle. The true power was always the 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:05.899 Word being proclaimed through them. At Mount 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:08.559 Sinai and all throughout the Exodus, God had 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.720 gathered the people to Himself. He delivered 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.000 them from slavery. He called them out of darkness. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.000 He formed a covenant with them. A promise. The 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.120 new land. A new life. A new identity. And He 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:23.379 spoke His Word to them. That was where life was 00:13:23.379 --> 00:13:26.820 found. And so now God is gathering people to 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:31.159 Himself. But this time, the gathering centered 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:36.460 upon Christ crucified and risen. There was divine 00:13:36.460 --> 00:13:40.639 fire, a holy proclamation, and God forming people 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:44.240 through His Word. But now, instead of gathering 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.820 into one nation, instead the promise was meant 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:51.700 to be extended outward to all nations. And that 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:55.460 matters because sometimes we become distracted 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:59.179 wondering whether Pentecost is mainly just chasing 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:03.840 something miraculous in our life. But the church... 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:06.950 has always been grounded in something deeper. 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:11.230 Being grounded in God's Word, what He is doing 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:15.129 inside of us, and making sure that others understand 00:14:15.129 --> 00:14:18.730 when we speak it. Earlier this week, I was talking 00:14:18.730 --> 00:14:22.389 with Pastor Jose Flores from the Spanish congregation, 00:14:23.049 --> 00:14:25.809 and he reminded me of something that Martin Luther 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:28.830 had said. It's always amazing. You spend that 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:31.370 many years away from seminary and you start forgetting 00:14:31.370 --> 00:14:34.740 a few things. But Luther had said that the Holy 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:37.179 Spirit does not come merely to make us speak 00:14:37.179 --> 00:14:42.320 about Christ, but to make us live in Christ. 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:46.179 It's more than just religious information. It's 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:50.360 spiritual transformation. As Pastor Flores reminded 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.679 me, the Spirit is not simply decorating people 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.960 with religiosity. The Spirit is about making 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:00.620 dead hearts alive. Even theologians like John 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:02.960 T. Pless reminding the church that the Spirit 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.399 always points us back to Christ crucified and 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:12.500 risen. Look at Jesus. And any message that doesn't 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:15.659 communicate that is not the message that the 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:21.279 Spirit intends. Dr. Joel Bierman, one of the... 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.659 theologians at Concordia Seminary, a brilliant 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:27.220 man who kept driving me nuts by giving me an 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:33.179 A - instead of an A. Great guy though. Spoke 00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:35.659 about the Christian life as a daily dying and 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:40.080 rising with Christ. Perhaps the greatest miracle 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.840 of Pentecost was the fact that dead people were 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:47.759 being brought to life through the Word of God. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.720 And every day, we are surrounded by voices calling 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.340 us from the darkness that they want us to join 00:15:56.340 --> 00:16:00.539 them into. Fear and pride, outrage, despair, 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.139 self -centeredness, shame, hopelessness. But 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:07.759 every day, the Word of Christ speaks to our dead 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:12.820 hearts and forgives, calls, restores, makes alive. 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:16.559 And then we become people who carry that Word 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:20.320 to others. Not because we're impressive. Not 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.460 because we've mastered every answer. Not because 00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:26.899 we've never felt uncomfortable. But because the 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.500 Spirit continues to speak life through the Gospel. 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:35.519 And even as Dr. Arthur just had pointed, the 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:38.440 Church brings us back to the Word proclaimed. 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:43.220 To the water to wash us into His body. And to 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:45.539 receive His body and blood as the bread and the 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:49.549 wine. To continue to gather us together. Because 00:16:49.549 --> 00:16:53.309 where we are gathered in His name, with His Word 00:16:53.309 --> 00:16:59.210 being proclaimed, we have Him with us. Gathering 00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:02.690 us, forgiving us, sustaining us, remaking us. 00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:06.130 And every time that God's Word has spoken into 00:17:06.130 --> 00:17:11.269 human hearts, another miracle happens. And that's 00:17:11.269 --> 00:17:15.490 where Peter leads the crowd at Pentecost. Because 00:17:15.490 --> 00:17:19.089 the prophets... the promises of God, the words 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:23.170 of Christ Himself, Peter brings us back to seeing 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:26.089 that the prophecies, they're not always meant 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:29.829 to be about the future. Because prophesying is 00:17:29.829 --> 00:17:34.309 speaking truth about past, future, or present. 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:38.329 And that's why Peter reminds us what Joel has 00:17:38.329 --> 00:17:42.039 to say. that in the last days it shall be, God 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:44.960 declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.359 flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.440 prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.759 old men shall dream dreams. My male servants 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.920 and female servants, in those days, I will pour 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:02.759 out My Spirit and they shall prophesy." The Spirit 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:06.980 creates the whole people to carry the Word. Not 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:10.920 just the leaders. not just the officials, not 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:15.440 just the visibly religious, but all people. The 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:19.460 Word is going to reach because of what God is 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:24.420 doing. And that's why it is that He says, the 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:27.640 wonders in the heavens above, the signs on the 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:31.059 earth below, blood and fire, vapor of smoke, 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:34.039 the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood, 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.569 before the day of the Lord shall come. the great 00:18:37.569 --> 00:18:41.910 and magnificent day. Because it's not about more 00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:45.029 signs to look for some day. It's about announcing 00:18:45.029 --> 00:18:47.849 that the world has been changed so much that 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:50.730 everything, even the sun itself, has been flipped 00:18:50.730 --> 00:18:55.150 on its head. Because the wonders are invitations. 00:18:56.430 --> 00:18:59.670 The day of the Lord is not wondering whether 00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:02.109 or not we're going to see an eclipse in the sky. 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:06.359 The point is that God has already acted in a 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:09.880 way that goes beyond anything you could imagine. 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:16.180 And it has already happened today. The language 00:19:16.180 --> 00:19:19.960 of the cosmic shaking of the world is to show 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:22.640 that the old way of seeing the world as stable, 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:28.579 closed, self -contained, it's done. The Spirit 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:32.000 has been poured out because Christ is crucified 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:37.380 risen and exalted, and God has already acted. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:43.660 So what is Pentecost to be? It's not about the 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:47.039 display. It's the proclamation of Christ going 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.940 outward into the world. You can see it in Acts 00:19:49.940 --> 00:19:55.220 1. You can watch it in Acts 3 -28. Pentecost 00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:57.779 is the beginning of a church remembering its 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:01.900 calling to bring the word of God of hope, life, 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:05.740 forgiveness, renewal to all people, all places, 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:08.759 no matter what they expect when they are used 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:13.279 to voices of fear, outrage, exhaustion, ambition, 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:17.720 despair. Telling people who they are, what they 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.839 should trust, what they should reject. Because 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:26.160 into that noise, God is sending us as His church. 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:31.440 Into offices and workplaces, homes and friendships, 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:34.819 conversations between co -workers that your pastor 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:38.940 will never have access to, and places where theology 00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:44.460 is not debated, but life is lived. The young 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:47.880 people will speak the Gospel simply and clearly 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.079 to other young people. They may not get every 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:54.160 moment right, but they will have the Word of 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:58.160 God upon their hearts. And we who are just a 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:02.230 bit older, remind the church not to lose itself 00:21:02.230 --> 00:21:06.109 in the novelty, but to take joy that His Word 00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:11.009 is present. Because God today, whatever it may 00:21:11.009 --> 00:21:14.509 look like, in whichever language we may be using, 00:21:15.210 --> 00:21:18.509 is still breathing life into dead and weary hearts, 00:21:19.390 --> 00:21:23.069 speaking into confusion, and lighting us with 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:27.349 the holy fire. For the lonely, the skeptical, 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:32.319 the wounded, the exhausted, the guarded, the 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.880 ones who say, I cannot risk being hurt again, 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:38.559 and the ones who say, how can I believe anything 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:43.640 I cannot control? And not just for them, but 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:48.460 also for you. Because Christ is crucified and 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:52.799 has been risen for you. So may we remember that 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:55.880 we are not forgotten, that none of us are beyond 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.960 His reach. and that Christ has come because this 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.440 is Pentecost. Thanks be to God.