Pentecost Day
They’re all Drunk
Acts 2:1-21
15 May 2016 – Redeemer
The preacher is drunk. They’re all drunk. That was the accusation on that Pentecost Day from the crowds.
Why did they think they were drunk? Was it because they were all standing up in public, raising their voices and speaking gibberish? It is not hard to spot a drunk – a little loud, a little slurred. They must have started early.
But the Apostles weren’t speaking gibberish. They were preaching Jesus Christ clearly, and not only were they preaching clearly they were preaching clearly in many different foreign languages. Thomas walked into a crowd of Egyptians and started preaching Egyptian. John came across some Persians and preached Persian. James stumbled upon some Romans and preached in Latin. Hardly the kind of skills most preachers gain when they drink too much.
Why did the crowds think the Apostles were drunk? Perhaps it was the fantastic nature of what they preached – this Gospel message. What is the Gospel? Think about that for a minute – you should have an answer for that question. What is the Gospel that Peter and the other Apostles preached on Pentecost and is still preached today in churches that believe God’s Word? This is the Gospel – Jesus Christ died for sinners. God Himself took on flesh. God Himself took your sins. God Himself shed His blood and died to take away your sins. The Gospel isn’t simply that God did this – but that God did this for you. That is the Gospel and its ridiculous any way you look at it. It’s complete foolishness. A drunk might tell you such a wild story – that God Himself would die for you, a sinner, because He loves you, a sinner, and wants you as His child. Started on the Vodka a little early today, huh?
Why did the crowds think they were drunk? I don’t think it was the sermon – this Good News of God’s death for sinners that they preached. The crowds thought they were drunk because that was the only way to explain the miracle of that Pentecost day – that Peter and Andrew, James and John, Thomas and the others actually believed what they were preaching and were boldly confessing it right in Jerusalem.
Just seven weeks earlier – on Passover weekend, that first Easter weekend, Peter had been so afraid of a servant girl he wouldn’t even admit to knowing Jesus. Remember, at Jesus’ arrest. Peter was standing in the courtyard of the High Priest and a little servant girl asked him if he was an acquaintance of Jesus. Peter swore with an oath that he didn’t know Jesus. Now, on Pentecost day, Peter stood up, in the very city that had killed Jesus. In the shadow of Herod’s Palace and Pontius Pilate’s home, in front of the High Priest and Jews who had all conspired to kill Jesus and he preached Jesus. If they killed Jesus what would keep them from killing Peter? But Peter preached – no denial, nothing held back. Peter declared Jesus to be God and Lord. Peter preached that the Jews had crucified and killed God in the flesh. Peter proclaimed that God raised Jesus from the dead. Is it any wonder the crowds thought he had drunk a little liquid courage? He must be drunk if he not only believes this, but preaches it! He’s hanging his life on Jesus – the Jews will hate him, Rome will arrest him, Pilate could kill him, but Peter believes and preaches Jesus.
Peter’s courage, his faith, his preaching, are not his own, but were given to him by the Holy Spirit. Peter is not full of vodka. He is full of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the Holy Spirit’s day in the New Testament. Before Jesus had ascended into heaven He told His men to wait in Jerusalem and He would send the Spirit upon them. Upon the 12 the Spirit would come directly, in special measure. The Spirit would teach Peter and the 12 all things. He would remind them of everything Jesus said and did, so these men could write the books and letters that make up the New Testament. The New Testament is God’s own word, given by the Holy Spirit to these men, to preach Jesus Christ to us.
When you consider the center of the Christian faith it should not surprise you that the world thinks we Christian have started happy hour before lunch. Imagine if some stranger asked you, “What’s so great about your god?” Well, let’s see. Perhaps the two greatest things my god did for me was wear a diaper and die. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man – the God of Holy Scripture took on human flesh and was wrapped in swaddling clothes (a diaper) and laid in a manger. He came Himself for you. Then many years later, He was stripped of all his clothes and nailed to a cross as a common criminal, but there was nothing common about Him or His death. For there at the cross He took on your sin. God took your sin – your complaints about your boss, your lust after your neighbor’s wife, your anger at your kids or parents, the sin that you won’t let go or won’t let you go. Would you forgive you, knowing what you have thought, said, or done? This is what Peter preached in Jerusalem – that Jesus, who had been crucified was both God and Lord and that the very reason He was on the cross was our sin. What’s so great about your God? He wore a diaper and died on the cross to forgive my sins. You believe that? Yes. You’re going to hang your life on that? Yes. You sure you haven’t been drinking? No.
That you are here this morning, that you actually desire to hear Jesus, all of this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Unlike the Apostles, the Holy Spirit does not come to us directly. The Spirit came to that Pentecost crowd through the preached Word of Peter. 3000 people came to faith in Jesus Christ on Pentecost day – not because of a miracle, but because a former fisherman preached God’s Word. By the Word Peter preached, the Holy Spirit cut the crowd to the heart. They repented, and desired baptism because the Holy Spirit worked that faith and desire in them by His Word.
The words of your financial advisor might make you hundreds of thousands of dollars. The words of your doctor might save your earthly life or relieve your pain. The words of your teachers impart knowledge that will enable you to work and serve others. The words of books take you to other places and times and enliven your imagination. Those are all good words, but they will not save you. You are here this morning, listening to this Word, God’s Word, because you love Jesus and therefore you love His Word. You believe that this preaching will give you eternal riches, make you alive even when you die, raise your body from the grave, but above all you actually believe that this preached Word of God gives you the forgiveness which God Himself won for you on the cross. I believe that when the called minister of Christ deal with us by His divine command, this (forgiveness) is just as valid and certain in heaven as if our dear Lord (Jesus Christ) dealt with us himself. Have you had too much to drink? Have you lost your mind?
No, by the grace of God the same Spirit that visited Peter from on high has visited you in His Holy Word. Not drunk, but filled with forgiveness, faith, life, and salvation, delivered from the cross, delivered by the Holy Spirit, to you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
14 May 2016 anno Domini