What Does This Mean?
Text: Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 25:1-15
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” What Does This Mean? Got your attention, didn’t I? Hopefully, because this message is for you. And for all the rest of you too. I know I told you that there wouldn’t be a pop quiz this morning, so I don’t expect you to answer that question like I expected you to over the past three years as you would recite your learning by heart assignments. I’d say, what is the 8th Commandment and you’d respond, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” And then I’d ask What Does This Mean? And you would confidently reply with “We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander, him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” All of that was important. We wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t. But it was important because it taught you to ask that question, What Does This Mean? And even more importantly that it taught you where to find the answers to that question. Where do we find them, Tyler. That’s right. In the Bible.
And today, in our Gospel reading, we have a group of people asking that very question. The text says, “All of them were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another,
‘WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?’”
So, we’ll use that same question this morning to explore what it means that the followers of Jesus were all gathered together in one place. To determine what it means to hear of the mighty works of God in our own tongues. And to consider what it means for each of you that God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.” The disciples were still reeling from the loss of their teacher, but also emboldened by the promise that Jesus had given them that “[He would] not leave [them] as orphans.” Jesus had promised that He would send them a Helper, and Advocate. So, as they gathered together as the people of God, just as many others would have been doing as they celebrated the Jewish observance of the Feast of Weeks, God came to them in a miraculous way. The Holy Spirit was delivered to them “from heaven, a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” Their sitting posture meant that they were listening to one of the apostles, hearing the Word of God.
“What Does This Mean?” for us today? This is what we do right here every week. We gather together in one place as the people of God, listening to His Word and receiving the gifts He so graciously gives to us. Because this is the place that we come when we’re weary and when we’re tired. It’s where we come when we’re happy and when we’re sad. It’s where we come no matter the circumstances of our lives. Next to our own homes the church is the one place where we know that we are going to receive exactly what we need. And sometimes when we come we don’t even know what it is that we need, yet God provides the very things that our hearts long for. It happens in worship as we confess our sins and receive forgiveness. It happens as we’re strengthened for this life by the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament. But it also happens outside of this sanctuary as the church comes together to fellowship, and learn, and grow together. This is the place where God meets us where we are and provides us with all we need for this life.
So, keep coming back. And parents, sponsors, church members, continually be both a model and an encouragement for these confirmands to see that this is the place for them to live their lives. I had a vision on Thursday evening after our rehearsal for today. I mentioned to the class that at the end of the service today, after we greet you all and take some pictures that they would remove their robes and lay them over the pews in the chapel. As I walked through the chapel that evening, I saw a picture of those empty robes laying over the pews, each bearing the name of the confirmand who wore it. And I thought to myself, what a cool thought that those robes represent the robe of Christ’s righteousness that was placed on them in their baptisms. And you know, confirmation is nothing other than each of these young people taking the faith given to them at their baptism and claiming it as their own. Putting on that pure, white robe of Christ’s righteousness. And then I thought, maybe they should just wear those robes all the time.
But, then I had another thought as I saw the vision of those robes with each of your names on them. What if we left them there over those pews and you put them back on each time you returned to this place? I know that many of them would be worn on a weekly basis. But then as life happens, how many of them might go weeks, or months, on end, never being worn. Would there be any that were never worn again? As Paul says so emphatically when poses rhetorical questions, “Let it not be so.” Life might seem like it gets in the way of you being here to receive the gifts of God, but I would challenge you to look at it the other way around. Let the commitment to your faith that has grown over these past few years and that you’ll stand up and proclaim today be what gets in the way of the other, less important, things in your life. Make this faith your priority and I guarantee that God will bless your path.
And because this faith is to be the most important part of your lives, God has given you His Holy Spirit to allow you to hear and to understand of His mighty works in your own tongues. Your own language. In our text it’s described this way. “And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.” And what was their response to this miracle of interpretation? And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” For the “Parthians and Medes and Elamites,” and so on it meant that God was clearly putting His Word into their ears in a way that they could understand it. And He’ll do the same for you. Now, you might read the Word of God and wonder “What Does This Mean?” and that’s a great question to be asking. But don’t allow your curiosity to end there. Don’t be satisfied with not understanding. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to make it clear to you. Come to hear the Word of God read and preached. That’s why we’re here. Ask your pastor questions. Tell Him you need it explained to you. Come to Bible Class where you can dive even deeper into the Word. God wants you to know and to understand and He’s given you the resources to learn and to grow. Use them. And remember that in the end it’s ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit that opens the eyes and ears of the believer to know and to love Him even more.
Throughout the year I’ve been amazed at the way that this year’s confirmation class has come together. It’s perhaps the most diverse group to come together here in quite a while. We have students from 6th through 11th grades. 6 girls and 2 boys. Athletes and scholars and musicians. Carter, Emma, and Tyler were baptized right here at Emmanuel and bring their lifetimes of experience with this specific church. Ellie, Lily, and Aliyah have come to us just this year from other local churches due to a variety of circumstances, and have added much in the way of thoughtfulness and maturity to the class as they’ve engaged with he material and the rest of the class. And Kari and Greta have made the rounds of churches in New York, Indiana, Illinois, and here throughout their young lives and have contributed to the class from that variety of experiences.
Which brings us to our final point which is set up by our text where “Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words.’” We could just as easily stand up today and say, “Men and women of Adell and the surrounding communities.” Or even more specifically, “Tyler, Emma, Greta, Kari, Aliyah, Lily, Ellie, and Carter,” because this message is for all of you. “Let this be known to you and give ear to my words…And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” What Does This Mean?
I don’t know if any of you will be prophets, or see visions, or dream dreams. But what I do know if that God has a plan for you. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us all that God has a plan for each of us. In the 29th chapter of that book he says to the people of Israel who are in exile in Babylon, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.” And as we know, the words of the Lord aren’t only for those to whom they were originally spoken. They’re recorded in Holy Scripture because those words are for you. You might not know what those plans are right now, but God does. He’s been preparing you every day for what He has in store for you. Maybe it’s to use those athletic, or musical, or scholarly talents you’re already exhibiting to be a witness for Him by using the gifts that He’s given you. Or maybe it’s something that you haven’t even become aware of yet. Whatever the plan is, God’s desire is that you would allow yourself to be used mightily by Him for the good of His kingdom.
And the best way to be used by God for the good of His kingdom is to remain faithful. Faithful to His command to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…To fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” Faithful to His Word, interpreted in the language you can understand by the Holy Spirit, for “He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.” And faithful in whatever calling God places on your life. To remember that whether a husband, wife, parent, child, or worker that your life is to be ordered by the Law of God which is summarized by Jesus when He says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And to always remember that the Law is fulfilled through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. His life for yours so that your sin would be forgiven. Freeing you to live the life of worship and service that He has created you to live.
As you ask, “What Does This Mean” for the rest of your lives, I hope that it won’t ever be a fear-inducing question like perhaps it was some of those times you came to class less than fully prepared. I pray “What Does This Mean” would be a question that inspires a healthy quest for solid answers to the questions you’ll face. And you will face questions, and difficulties, and heartaches. It’s all a part of the life of a believer. Your boldness in standing up and proclaiming your faith today is but a stepping stone along this journey of faith you’ll be on for your entire life. As the Psalm appointed for today says, ““Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” I pray that this would be your desire. To know the way of the Lord. To remain faithful to the One who is always faithful to you. And to end this journey, however far down the road that might be being able to proclaim the same words of faith you’re about to stand up and confess. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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