Day of Pentecost May 31, 2020
The Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21 & John 14:23-31
May 31, 2020
“Part of Something Big”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When Tim Matzke was going through some of his dad’s books he was gracious enough to let me go through and see if there was anything I wanted. One book Pastor Matzke had was a copy of The El Paso Story. I’ve always wanted a copy of that book. Now I’ve just barely started it but already I’ve been hit with just how much history there is on this land we’re sitting on here. It’s easy to think, “Ah, what’s El Paso or Gridley or Panola or Kappa in the big picture? Just some small Midwestern towns. They’re a dime a dozen.”
But does God think of it that way? No, of course not. Very important things have happened on this land. There is a story here in El Paso and Secor and Panola. People have been born on this land. People have lived their whole lives and died on this land. Food has been grown on this land. Love and mercy and grace have been given on this land. Babies have been baptized on this land. People have heard the Word of God. People have been saved on this land. Churches and schools have been built on this land. And all of us here this morning are part of the great story and history of this land. Even if it’s only a small part for you. Even if it’s only ten years for you. Or twenty years. You matter to this history. You’re part of it. You’re part of this story of this land. An important part.
Now go out a little further. Last Monday was Memorial Day. A very important day and we usually have a beautiful service out at the cemetery but everything is different right now. Memorial Day reminds us that we’re also part, not only of the history of this land right here, but of an even bigger history. The history of America. And you all are part of that history. Your name might not be recorded in every grade school history textbook. But your name is everywhere in this American history. Your name is in church baptismal records. In marriage records at the courthouse. In deeds at the courthouse. In family genealogies. In yearbooks. In newspapers. In the El Paso Journal or the Gridley Times. On high school diplomas. On birthday cards, Christmas cards. Your name is everywhere in this history.
And that’s why on Memorial Day we usually hear all the names of those who served their country in the military. Or why those names are written on the veteran’s memorial here in El Paso. Because every one of those men and women is part of our American history. Now that history isn’t perfect by any means. There have been many problems. Many sins. Much evil. But also much good. And it’s all part of a history that matters. And you’re part of that history. You matter. You’re an American.
Now go out even further than that one more time. To the history of the Church. This morning I hope you will see that you’re also part of something big called the one, holy, Christian Church. You are part of a great history. Your name is written all over this one as well. And it all started just about 2,000 years ago in a room in Jerusalem on this Day of Pentecost. And it’s still continuing right on this Sunday, May 31st, 2020. We’re making history right here. God is recording this Sunday down in His book of Acts, chapter 725,255. He’s recording your name. You were here at a drive-in service. You heard the Word of God. You prayed. You received His forgiveness. And what good will you do in His name this afternoon? And what prayers will you offer tomorrow morning? And what work will you do for others on Tuesday? Because all of it matters to God. You’re part of the Church’s grand history.
You’re part of something big. In fact, the problem most of the time is we don’t realize how big our part is. I don’t know if it’s the mass media today or the internet that’s so big it swallows us up, but most of us are very prone to think we’re nothing in the big picture, in the big history. We don’t see ourselves as God sees. God sees His great, grand, beautiful Church and sees every little piece of that big puzzle. He sees you and me and the part we’re playing in the story. He sees us alongside St. Peter and St. John and St. Augustine and Pope Gregory and Martin Luther. You’re part of something big.
Listen to Jesus’ words in the Gospel today, “If anyone loves Me, He will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to Him and make our home with him.” Do you understand? If God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has made His home with you (and He has in Holy Baptism) then how could you ever say truthfully that you don’t matter? Do you love Jesus? Do you keep His Word? You are here this morning after all at this drive-in service on May 31, 2020 to hear God’s Word. And if you love Jesus and keep His Word, God makes His home with you. You are part of the Church. The work you are doing is God’s work. The work of praying for others, forgiving others, caring for others, caring for God’s creation, learning, giving God glory, teaching others about Jesus.
And if the Holy Spirit is doing this work in you and in me, how can we ever say that what we’re doing doesn’t matter? How could we ever say that we don’t matter? That our history doesn’t matter? That this Sunday morning doesn’t matter? That tomorrow morning when we serve our neighbor doesn’t matter? In fact, friends, I think if we realized just how much we do matter in God’s eyes and in the history of the Church, I don’t think we’d spend nearly as much time watching TV or scrolling social media or shopping or playing video games. Don’t hear me wrong—it’s not a sin to do those things. But it is a sin to do those things TOO MUCH. It is a sin if we’re not doing the work God has given us to do.
You are part of a great history. The Holy Spirit has been working for the past 2,000 years in the Church. It’s not like there’s a bunch of different churches or a bunch of different holy spirits or a bunch of different faiths. No! There is one history. One Holy Spirit. One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism. And you are part of it. We’re all part of it together. Every one of us playing our part through the work of the Holy Spirit.
[Now I need to make one clarification. Yes, the history of the Church goes back all the way to Adam and Eve. I’m not saying it doesn’t go all through the Old Testament as well. But today we’re focusing specifically on the New Testament Church. The Church after Jesus ascends into heaven.] Now this New Testament Church started that Pentecost Day in Jerusalem. We heard it in Acts chapter 2 today. The disciples of Jesus were all together in one place there. Peter. John. James. Matthew. All of them. And there was a loud wind. And tongues of fire. And they began to speak in many different languages the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was the beginning of the New Testament Church. Day One.
Other people said, ‘These guys must be drunk.” But Peter says, “No. We’re making history here. The Holy Spirit is doing His thing. This is what God said would happen from the prophet Joel, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh…And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
And when you get down to verse 41 of Acts chapter 2, it tells us, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” Day One. 3,000 souls! God making His home with 3,000 people. 3,000 people becoming part of this great history of God’s Church. 3,000 people becoming part of the One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism! That’s where it started and it hasn’t stopped even now 2,000 years later.
I know that all of us aren’t going to be church historians with doctorate degrees in church history. But we should all have a general idea of church history and what God has been doing over these last 2,000 years. Those first disciples started to spread the Word about Jesus. Philip went to Samaria. Peter went to Caesarea. Paul went all through Asia and all the way to Rome. The Word of God spread rapidly.
In the bulletin I put a very basic timeline of Church history for you. The year 325 was a very important year. That’s when the Church held the Council of Nicea from whence came our Nicene Creed. Over time the Church kept having to defend the true doctrine from all kinds of heresies. Many claimed that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Or that He taught others things. And the Church kept teaching and defending.
Then came many years of challenges and divisions. Islam became a great threat to the Church. The East and West divided in the Great Schism of 1054. The West was essentially the Roman Catholic church while the East was essentially the Eastern Orthodox. Then came the Reformation in the 16th century. Then came the challenges of Rationalism and modernism. Then the Church spread to America. Then Lutherans settled in America. Then some Lutherans settled in El Paso along with other Christians—along with Methodists and Baptists and Catholics. They started St. Paul’s Lutheran Church which later closed her doors. Then in 1947 they started Trinity Lutheran Church and eventually bought this land we’re sitting on right here.
And now the history of the Church continues today. It’s the same Church. The one holy Christian Church. For instance, when you get to heaven one day, yes, you will see other members of this Church that you will recognize. Yes, we will all see each other and rejoice. But you will also see people like St. Peter and he’ll say, “Hey, there you are! We go to the same Church! I know you! You’re my sister.” And you’ll see St. Augustine and he’ll say, “Hey, my fellow Church member!” And you’ll see Mary Magdalene and she’ll say, “It’s so good to finally meet you, another one of my Church family.”
You see? You’re part of something big. Really big! The Holy Spirit is working in you right now at this moment as you hear the Word of God just as He worked also in St. Peter and St. John and St. Mary Magdalene and every other saint of God. The Holy Spirit will be working in you later today when you serve your neighbor, when you serve your family, when you feed someone who’s hungry, when you visit someone who’s sick, when you call someone who needs encouragement, when you go to work tomorrow morning and produce goods and services for others, when you pray tomorrow evening for those in need. Do you see? You’re part of something big. This is Pentecost Day! The Holy Spirit is working in you.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.