The Spirit Speaks Your Language

Transcript

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[0:00] All right, our sermon text today comes from Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 21. 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 flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

[0:38] At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came out running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. How can this be? they exclaimed. These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages.

[1:06] Here we are, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene. Visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, and we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done. They stood there amazed and perplexed. What can this mean? they asked each other. But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, They're just drunk, that's all. Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and Gentiles, and residents of Jerusalem, make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o'clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below,

[2:41] blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red, before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[2:58] Let's pray. God, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. God, we pray for your blessing upon this word. We pray that you would speak to us, that you would move in us, that you would transform us with your words today. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[3:24] Okay, so I think I got to all of you, and I think I got to all of you, and each of you has a paper and crayons and stuff to make a pinwheel. We are making party favors today, because today is the church's birthday. So what we want to do is have these finished by the time we do our last songs, so that you can wave them while we're doing the song, just like a party favor should be waved.

[3:51] But I want you to write or draw something particular on your pinwheel. And I think the question, is in a slide, is that correct Hans-Erik? Oh, that's okay, that's okay. So the question is not in a slide, but it's fairly straightforward. I want you to write or draw on your pinwheel about a part of your own testimony. And specifically, I want it to be a time that God did a mighty work in your life. This can be over a long period of time, it could be just a short moment in time, but a time that God did a mighty work in your life that you can talk to someone about as part of your testimony. Right now, we're going to take five minutes to draw on your pinwheels. And then at the end of the sermon, we're going to have Andres come along with a microphone, and if you want to share, you can, about this part of your testimony. But we will take five minutes, and just work on your pinwheels. Some of you may take longer, some of you may take shorter, and if you need help putting your pinwheel together, let us know. And Hans-Erik put one together, and I can help put them together. And if someone else helped put them together already, then you can join in with helping people. So I'm going to start the timer now.

[5:33] . . . . Thank you. Thank you. All right. The time is up, but does anyone need help putting theirs together if you do raise your hand? Barbara, do you have yours? Do you need help? Okay. All right. So Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit's entry on the church of Jesus Christ. In his final hours with his disciples on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus told his disciples that his departure would actually be a blessing to them. I don't know how they felt hearing that. Maybe stunned. Maybe confused. Maybe they were hurting too much to really take it in.

[12:05] But he told them it would be a blessing to them. The Spirit was coming. Or the word used, the paraclete was coming, he said. It would only come to them after he had left. That Greek word paraclete is tricky.

[12:25] We don't have a direct translation for it. Literally it means something like the one called to be by your side. It's been translated as counselor, comforter, helper, and advocate. And they all sound good.

[12:43] The one called to be by your side. This advocate, Jesus said, would only come after he had departed. So that's why it's a blessing for him to leave. We don't want to think, as the disciples, we don't want to think about Jesus leaving this earth. They were not ready for it. They were being persecuted. They were scared.

[13:10] But Jesus says, only when I leave will the paraclete come to you. The one called to be by your side. Now, this Spirit came on Pentecost. The Jewish holiday of Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover. It was one of those Jewish holidays where the devout Jews were called to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

[13:40] And on this particular Pentecost, there were Jews in Jerusalem from many, many far lands. There were Jews visiting from many far lands. And there were Jews from many far lands that had decided to make a home and live there in the city of Jerusalem.

[14:00] And so, this is the story. And so, this is the story. Aramaic and Hebrew were not their primary languages. They'd adopted the languages of their new homes. And they were assembled in Jerusalem using probably what you can imagine was a broken tourist version of Aramaic to make their way around.

[14:21] The disciples were waiting in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost. And that's when the promised advocate breathed. Breathed among them. It was a sound like a mighty wind filling the house. And now, I want you to blow as hard as you can on the count of three on your pinwheels to make the sound of a mighty wind.

[14:47] One, two, three. It was the sound of a mighty wind and coughing. It wasn't just above them. It was in them. They were filled with this spirit. And how amazing must that have been to all at once be filled with this spirit. All at the same time.

[15:20] And there were tongues of flame that came and rested on their heads. But the tongues of flame weren't just above them. Their own tongues were loosened and now filled with other languages. So here were these very common, simple people from Galilee. We would equate them with the simple country folk.

[15:46] And maybe we wouldn't think too much of them. We might pass them by. But suddenly they were speaking in every language. The spirit moved them outward. It can't be contained and used within an exclusive community. It's expansive.

[16:07] It's wild. And it can't be harnessed. What's interesting is that there were many, it's not that there were many languages. But that throughout those many languages there was only one message. And it wasn't like the speaking of tongues that would be described by the Bible. You know, the speaking of tongues is almost understood as a babbling. That can only be understood by certain people. But this was every single language. And not speaking in tongues. Every person distinctly heard their own language being spoken. And this is important to note because the spirit was not forcing a single language on one group of people. God was not in control. He was not insisting that all of his children become the same. Rather he was empowering them to celebrate within their differences.

[17:08] If God had wanted, he could have made everyone speak the same language in that moment. But instead he empowered everyone to hear the gospel in their own language. Peter explained that this was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Not just some flesh, but all flesh. That wild and uncontainable spirit that can't be harnessed crosses every human established boundary. It crosses the divisions of gender. It crosses the divisions of age. It uses men and women, old and young, rich and poor. There was a time when only kings and certain prophets were understood to be able to grasp these special gifts and understandings from God. But the joy of Pentecost is that it is for absolutely everyone. No boundaries whatsoever. There is no Jew or Gentile. The spirit is for all. It speaks through the cries of mere babies. It works through the wisdom of the elderly. It proclaims through the enslaved and the dispossessed. It speaks a prophetic word from the mouths of those ignored by those who are in power. The disciples must have spilled out of the house and into Jerusalem because the foreign visitors in the streets could hear them. If you've ever traveled to a different country that doesn't speak English,

[18:54] you know what it's like. I've noticed this in every country I've traveled to, maybe less so in Poland where quite a few people spoke to us in English, but other countries where English is not common at all. And then all of a sudden, through the background noise of a language you don't know, you hear it. Somebody is speaking your home tongue. Somebody is speaking English. And your ears have been listening to the background sounds of this foreign language all around you for hours, days.

[19:32] But suddenly, in the midst of the background noise, you hear your own tongue. You start positioning your ears like a satellite dish so that you pick up the signal a little better. And all of the background chatter drops away and you focus in on this language because you understand it.

[19:54] And so they were especially attuned to hear the message of the Gospel. That's what it was like for those pilgrims in Jerusalem. Suddenly, in the midst of the drone of Aramaic, they heard their own native language. Their ears settled in on it. And what they heard was powerful testimony. The word of God was coming directly to their ears, specifically for them.

[20:23] The word of God was coming directly to their ears, specifically for them. There was no nation that was disregarded. It was for every nation and every person in that nation specifically. The disciples were testifying, or rather the Holy Spirit within them was testifying. It was speaking a word directly to the hearts of these listeners.

[20:46] It was directly to their imaginations and their souls. In multiple foreign languages, these Galilean disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, were sharing to the world the mighty deeds of God's power. God's deeds of power. And what greater deeds of divine power than those of Jesus?

[21:12] At the new community of Jesus, they were the first tongues of proclamation. They bore witness to the power of the divine light, that no darkness could overcome. They told the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. They told the story of Jesus' power over life and death itself.

[21:33] They voiced the healing power of his forgiveness over sin. They testified to the power of his love over all hatred. The power of hope over despair. And the power of joy over sadness. The Holy Spirit filled the disciples that day. He filled them to the point of overflowing. Joy in the Lord was too great to keep to themselves. The word, the good news, just spilled from them. It issued from the mouths of the disciples and fell on the ears of the great crowd in Jerusalem. And they brought the good word of God's power to people in Israel. And therefore he called the angels to the church in Jerusalem.

[22:22] Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem.

[22:39] Righteous people called the angels to the church in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. Know that faith and that understanding that we have comes from something greater than ourselves. It comes from the Holy Spirit and that was the powerful gift that God gave to the people that day. The gift to simply have faith. We often take that for granted. We think my faith is my own or we think I have faith by my own power. But that faith was given to us as a gift on this day. That is why it's the birthday of the church. That we can have faith in Christ was a gift from God himself.

[23:26] The Spirit called to Martin Luther and it calls to us just as it called to that crowd gathered in Jerusalem and the Spirit Luz de Luz speaks of the mighty and loving acts of God through Jesus Christ. Luther said, the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel. It's enlightened me with gifts. It keeps me in true faith. The Holy Spirit speaks directly to our souls. It's the word the soul has waited to hear. The Holy Spirit speaks the primary language of each of our souls. It's the message of grace. When we hear it, our ears prick up and pay attention. It cuts through the babble and the chatter of the world's conversation that's surrounding us. It calls and it gathers. It gathers across the nations. It gathers across economic status. It gathers regardless of gender. It gathers beyond age. It gathers across the world. It gathers across the world. It gathers across the world. And when we hear the enlivening word, a little flame lights within us. Where the world's babble holds us down and takes away our our power and our strength, the gospel frees us and liberates us. It sparks hope in the face of adversity and when that word claims and affirms us, a fire begins to start in our hearts. It emboldens us and it makes us stronger. It makes us stronger.

[25:03] It gives us strength in our actions. It calls us to action. This is also why it's so important that we don't keep it to ourselves because it was always meant to be shared with everybody. The very design of Pentecost showed that barriers were meant to be broken down between all people and all people were empowered to understand the gospel message and all people were empowered to wildly proclaim the gospel.

[25:34] And it's not always through words. Sometimes it's through art, like what you took a few minutes to do today. Sometimes it's through music. Sometimes it's through teaching. Sometimes it's through making coffee. Sometimes it's through changing a million light bulbs in the church. Always though, it is proclaimed through the love and compassion of Christ, which the Spirit empowers us to love. And it's not always through words. Sometimes it's through the love and compassion of Christ, which the Spirit empowers us to love. And it's not always through So now we're going to take a moment and share how the Spirit has empowered you and share that mighty work that we talked about earlier. So if you have a part of your testimony, a mighty work from God that he's done in your life, we'll have Andres come around with a microphone and we'd love to be empowered by God's work through you.

[26:40] I was trying to figure out the exact length of time I needed to wait until I started because then you get other people to start if you start. But I was reminded because of camp today that I really had some amazing experiences as a young person at Bible camp. And the Spirit did move. And it was really was the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning and active and there was power not of our own power but there was power all around us and so my my testimony is that it was at Bible camp that I had the first strings that I wanted to be a pastor myself you know so that's my

[27:47] that's a bit of my testimony there is that Bible camp was important and the spirit moved at Bible camp I think we should clap for a mess that's too cheesy I think we should clap for for the over continuing on a theme of camp so it was at a Christian camp which I came to faith for the first time when I was about 10 or 11 and Yoshi is going to his first overnight camp and so he's oh I know this is on YouTube but I'll share sort of confidentially that he's been a little anxious about it but through that experience I see him maturing through that so it's been I think I think it'll be a good experience for him to grow personally and spiritually too so looking forward to that too Oh Andres did you oh sorry yeah I did feel that there was something missing about that part of my life. And so when I did my master's degree in Scotland, I attended a church that turned out to be a cult church.

[29:32] And they believed in all sorts of things, one of which is actually Pentecost related, in that they thought everyone speaks in tongues. And that is evidence that the Holy Spirit has descended upon you, or that you're filled with the Holy Spirit. So if you don't speak in tongues, in contrast, that also meant that you did not have the Holy Spirit, which I now know is not correct. But anyways, I think because of that experience, it made me look more seriously about what is it that I truly believe, and is it just people telling it to me, or do I really believe it in my heart? And so from that moment, I actually came back, because I realized that this is something that's so important to my own identity, and also...

[30:19] the meaning behind all the things that I believe. So even though it was a very strange experience to be in a cult church for like three, four months, I'm grateful that God has brought me back as a result of that.

[30:41] Yeah, so the Holy Spirit spoke to me when I went to see Billy Graham, when I was in college. I was in middle school. I actually thought Billy Graham was a baseball player. I thought we were going to a baseball game. And so it was quite a surprise to hear his talk. And I really felt called to go down and give my life to Christ in front, you know, when they do the altar call, but I did not.

[31:09] I did not because I was embarrassed with my family to do that. And so when I got home, I still had this... stirring within me. And it wasn't until I went to a Bible study and that the Holy Spirit would actually... I mean, he would come on me. I'd be shaking and crying. I did not know what was going on. Someone had to explain it to me later that it was the Holy Spirit. And just to move forward, at that time I became, over time, with debilitating depression. It consumed my entire life. And... in a few years, God just completely healed me of that. And that was the Holy Spirit too. So that's part of my testimony.

[32:00] Right here on the stage Right here on the stage Right here on the stage Right here on the stage Right here on the stage Right here on the stage Right here on the stage and things would come to me. So I would sit right at the edge of this little woods and a field and just be quiet and watch. And when I would sit there, I would have this really strong feeling that as a child, I think the only way I could describe it was God's pleasure just in me. And it wasn't anything I was doing because I was doing nothing, literally. I was just sitting. And watching what would come and what I could see. And I discovered that feeling was portable. That I could carry that feeling of God's love with me if I thought about it.

[33:02] And even as an adult, I can remember sitting in that field. I can get that feeling. And so I had these odd experiences where people would say, I would like to... I would like you just to come and sit as I'm defending my PhD thesis. Something I had no idea what it was about. Just because then God's love is there. And I hadn't even said anything to them. Or a friend who asked for a key to our house because she was going through a difficult time and felt like just coming into our house, she could feel God's love. And so I realized I'd been taught how to tune in through the Holy Spirit to God's love.

[34:01] So that same spirit that worked through each of these stories and works through your story, too, continues to this day to call and shape us. To gather us and enlighten us and sanctify us. It's not a one-time thing. It's a lifetime of changing with the Holy Spirit. And the whole Christian church is involved in this from the beginnings of the Christian church.

[34:32] The little flame grows within us. And it stirs within us the gifts of faith and hope and love. So, come Holy Spirit, come to your people. Fan the flame of your hope and your vision deep within our souls. We ask that the Holy Spirit would speak his discerning truth to us. May we be the vessels of his promise, the mouthpieces of his truth. May we be called through the Spirit to live this empowering message of the Gospel.

[35:17] And may we pray this week, come Holy Spirit, come. Let's pray. God, thank you for the mighty works that you do in each of us as individuals, and as Foothill Covenant Church, and as the church in the Silicon Valley, and as the church of the United States, and as the church in this world.

[35:45] God, would you use this moment, would you unify us, would you boldly, would you help empower us to boldly speak your message through the gifts that you have given to us. These things we pray in Jesus' name.