Sermon for The Feast of Pentecost, 2025

The sending of the Spirit on Pentecost Sunday was nothing other than the sending of preachers to proclaim the holy Gospel into all the world, beginning at Jerusalem. 

And it never stopped. That fire of the Spirit spread to the four corners, the four directions of the world: north, south, east, and west. It has spread even to this place at this very hour. We would not be here; we would not be gathered here this day, were it not for the sending of the Spirit on that Pentecost Sunday. 

Hear, now, the words of the Spirit: Jesus said to His people, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I go unto to the Father.’ ” These words of comfort from the Lord Jesus now sound forth in your ears, in your language, in your time and place. And they fill this house, as well. 

True, they are not accompanied by a loud rushing wind or divided tongues as of fire, nor any of the awesome events as they were on that Pentecost Sunday. Yet, they are, nevertheless, every bit as extraordinary. This Gospel, this preaching of the holy Gospel, which I and ministers like me proclaim from Sunday to Sunday, from service to service, in and out of season, these are not the words of men; they’re not the orations of great speakers. They’re the words of the Spirit; they’re nothing less, which means that they’re the words of Jesus: translated over language and over time into your ears. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Genesis 11:1-9

• New Testament: Acts 2:1-21

• Holy Gospel: John 14:23-31

Sermon: