CMLC 2026-05-24 Sermon

Well, howdy. We live in strange times. When our

church president was in South Korea, I was able

to text him on my phone, and he could text me

right back as though we were sitting across the

room from each other. We can superimpose someone's

face and body into videos and scenes that they

were never actually stepping foot in. And we

have translation apps where someone can speak

into a microphone and their words instantly appear

on your phone in their own language. We're gonna

even be trying it out later today too. Just clip

that on, grab your phone. You can even hear it

speaking to you through your little Bluetooth

if you want. And, you know, you can wear VR,

virtual reality headsets, and attend meetings,

but you don't have to attend them as yourself.

You can attend them as your favorite cartoon

character. And even find ways to summarize all

the unread messages from people that you forgot

to text back. TLDR, too long didn't read, that's

okay. It'll tell you all the main points. And

honestly, during COVID, How many of us were grateful

that zoom meetings only showed us from the waist

up? Do not pretend it was not you you know who

you are? Shorts were very very nice during many

of those meetings You know humanity has learned

how to teleport digitally and communicate almost

anywhere with anyone But loneliness has quietly

become the true epidemic of the modern world

humanity Our problem is not merely whether we

can talk. The problem is whether we truly understand

one another anymore. And part of that struggle

is that we no longer even know who to trust to

tell us what the world is really like. When we

look at the world, we often interpret it through

the lenses that we've carried over the years.

We search for voices online, on television, throughout

culture that reinforce the lenses. Right back

to us. Some people turn to comedians and comic

relief because the world feels exhausting. And

even if the joke is unfair, well, at least laughter

will help us survive while life keeps kicking

us in the ribs. That's the first few parts on

Facebook is just five little short clips of some

comedian telling us the next big joke. Now...

Others, though, they may gravitate toward outrage

and conflict and constantly being told who the

enemy is and who deserves our anger. But honestly,

some of us are just scrolling through dog videos

and cat memes. We just want the world to feel

a little lighter for 30 seconds. It doesn't matter

how often it is. If it's a tiny little kitten,

I'm going to watch for the next 15 seconds. Okay,

the next three minutes. Okay. But you see, Eventually

though, something begins to happen. Humanity

becomes louder, but still more disconnected.

We speak constantly, but we rarely listen. We

react instantly, but we rarely understand. And

that's why Pentecost matters so much, because

Pentecost is not merely a story about miraculous

speech. It is a story about God breaking into

a fractured world where people can no longer

truly hear one another. And what God gives them

is not merely noise or spectacle. He gives them

a message that they can actually understand.

Into confusion, into fear, into division, into

isolation, God is speaking. The Holy Spirit speaks.

through people who at first may not seem very

much like them at all. But the Holy Spirit did

not merely come for the spectacle. The Holy Spirit

came to bring understanding. That's why Pentecost

is still so important today. Now Pentecost was

originally a Jewish festival held 50 days after

Passover. It celebrated the harvest and Thanksgiving.

It also became connected to remembering when

God had met His people at Mount Sinai and gave

them His law. At Sinai, God descended in fire,

wind, thunder, and holy power. God formed a covenant

people and gave them His word. And now in Acts

2, it happens again. God descends, wind, fire,

divine speech. At Sinai, God wrote His law on

stone tablets. At Pentecost, God writes His truth

on human hearts through the Holy Spirit. At Sinai,

one nation gathered around one mountain. At Pentecost,

many nations gathered around one Savior. And

humanity is brought together around what God

has done in Christ. Because Pentecost is not

primarily about the miraculous speech. It is

about God making sure that people truly hear

the gospel. And that matters because people often

trust voices that they've been trained to trust,

even when those voices may mislead them. We see

it all the time. How often is it that people

lose money to scams because something sounds

believable? A voice that sounds familiar, a promise.

that sounds personal. Somebody sends an email

and we think, oh well, you should ignore the

Nigerian prince with seven million dollars. Well,

yes. But what if they've convinced you that they

are someone who cares for you, who loves you,

who thinks that you matter? And what was false

gets received as truth. We know that people lost

over $1 billion to scammers in the U .S. in 2024

trying to convince them that they had found true

love. We even know that this year two people

lost their lives when someone thought they were

helping Tom Selleck out of a money jam and giving

him away all of their savings. And spiritually

it has been the same. is that people often have

been led by those who merely want to use others

while promising them hope, love, and a future.

The people in Jerusalem, they had been shaped

by expectations about the Messiah. What He should

look like, how He should rule, what power should

be. Jesus had spoken time and time again about

the religious leaders and what it is that they

kept telling them they should expect. and what

they should hold as valuable. And many missed

Jesus because He did not arrive in the form or

with the speech that they expected. So at Pentecost,

God does something stunning. He ensures that

the truth of Christ is heard in the native languages

of the people gathered there. Not because the

message has changed, but because God wants people

to truly understand all that He has done. The

Gospel was never meant for only one group, one

culture, one background, or one kind of people.

It was meant for all people. And that is still

the mission of the Church today. Yes, it is wonderful

for us to have the Gospel in ways that Lutherans

enjoy, along with our bratwurst and our sauerkraut.

But let's be honest. God intended it for many

different peoples. So how do we speak faithfully

to the grieving, the skeptical, the anxious,

the younger generations, the wounded, the spiritually

exhausted? Especially when so many people have

spent years listening to distorted voices about

who God is. People standing from pulpits just

like this, telling them ideas of what truth is.

when they're just wondering whether grace could

be real. Because the Holy Spirit did not merely

come to create spectacle, to have an energetic

voice that just made it sound more appealing.

But rather, the Holy Spirit came to create understanding.

And that is still the mission of the church today.

When we see Pentecost, we see the Parthians,

the Medes, the Egyptians, the Romans, Many peoples

gathered together. Different histories, different

cultures, different assumptions. Yet they're

gathered around one Christ. Because Christian

unity, it's not about being the same. As we mentioned

last week, it's not forcing one culture, one

personality, one emotional expression. The Holy

Spirit speaks in the human experiences itself.

And we're honest, different people often carry

very different burdens and questions through

life. The baby boomers, shaped by building and

preserving institutions yet wondering why it

is that so many of these youngins keep tearing

down what they spent so long building up. Gen

X, shaped by distrust and disillusionment as

they are left at home to watch their television

sets and... wonder who will be there. Millennials

shaped by instability, shame, loneliness, especially

even wondering if this picture on their phone

is what they're actually supposed to look like.

And Gen Z shaped by fractured certainty and insecurity.

And we haven't even gotten to Gen Alpha and trying

to figure out what their issues are. Some generations

carry frustration and exhaustion, wondering what

happened to the world that they were trying to

build while others have the skepticism of watching

it all fall apart with loneliness and shame and

anxiety, not even knowing what their identity

really is, and then being afraid when they're

not sure what that is for themselves or for others.

If the church refuses to acknowledge the realities

of our world, then eventually, we stop speaking

to people and we just start speaking at them.

But Pentecost reminds us that the Gospel was

never meant to stay trapped with just one way

of doing it. The church cannot simply sit comfortably

in one room, speaking one familiar language,

and expect the entire world to somehow find its

way inside to us. Sometimes faithfulness means

learning how to walk toward people with compassion,

even when their experiences are so unfamiliar

to us. Even when it's uncomfortable. Even when

we have to listen longer and we want so bad to

just interrupt all the stupid things we think

they're saying. To be patient. to lay aside the

instincts to win the argument. Because witness

is not about starting with here is my argument.

Witness starts with I see you. I hear you. Let

me walk with you toward Christ so that you're

not just left in all the things I know God never

intended for you. And yes, some mocked the disciples.

They are drunk. Let's be honest. Sometimes we

try to express ourselves and it doesn't come

out that well. And even my own attempts at learning

Spanish are a lot like, yo necesito this and

yo quiero that. Do not tell my dad's family.

They actually do know how to speak it. But even

so, the church was no longer afraid of the misunderstandings.

because the Spirit had come to make them faithful

witnesses. The point of Pentecost was not actually

about the languages by themselves. The languages

were the vehicle. The true power was always the

Word being proclaimed through them. At Mount

Sinai and all throughout the Exodus, God had

gathered the people to Himself. He delivered

them from slavery. He called them out of darkness.

He formed a covenant with them. A promise. The

new land. A new life. A new identity. And He

spoke His Word to them. That was where life was

found. And so now God is gathering people to

Himself. But this time, the gathering centered

upon Christ crucified and risen. There was divine

fire, a holy proclamation, and God forming people

through His Word. But now, instead of gathering

into one nation, instead the promise was meant

to be extended outward to all nations. And that

matters because sometimes we become distracted

wondering whether Pentecost is mainly just chasing

something miraculous in our life. But the church...

has always been grounded in something deeper.

Being grounded in God's Word, what He is doing

inside of us, and making sure that others understand

when we speak it. Earlier this week, I was talking

with Pastor Jose Flores from the Spanish congregation,

and he reminded me of something that Martin Luther

had said. It's always amazing. You spend that

many years away from seminary and you start forgetting

a few things. But Luther had said that the Holy

Spirit does not come merely to make us speak

about Christ, but to make us live in Christ.

It's more than just religious information. It's

spiritual transformation. As Pastor Flores reminded

me, the Spirit is not simply decorating people

with religiosity. The Spirit is about making

dead hearts alive. Even theologians like John

T. Pless reminding the church that the Spirit

always points us back to Christ crucified and

risen. Look at Jesus. And any message that doesn't

communicate that is not the message that the

Spirit intends. Dr. Joel Bierman, one of the...

theologians at Concordia Seminary, a brilliant

man who kept driving me nuts by giving me an

A - instead of an A. Great guy though. Spoke

about the Christian life as a daily dying and

rising with Christ. Perhaps the greatest miracle

of Pentecost was the fact that dead people were

being brought to life through the Word of God.

And every day, we are surrounded by voices calling

us from the darkness that they want us to join

them into. Fear and pride, outrage, despair,

self -centeredness, shame, hopelessness. But

every day, the Word of Christ speaks to our dead

hearts and forgives, calls, restores, makes alive.

And then we become people who carry that Word

to others. Not because we're impressive. Not

because we've mastered every answer. Not because

we've never felt uncomfortable. But because the

Spirit continues to speak life through the Gospel.

And even as Dr. Arthur just had pointed, the

Church brings us back to the Word proclaimed.

To the water to wash us into His body. And to

receive His body and blood as the bread and the

wine. To continue to gather us together. Because

where we are gathered in His name, with His Word

being proclaimed, we have Him with us. Gathering

us, forgiving us, sustaining us, remaking us.

And every time that God's Word has spoken into

human hearts, another miracle happens. And that's

where Peter leads the crowd at Pentecost. Because

the prophets... the promises of God, the words

of Christ Himself, Peter brings us back to seeing

that the prophecies, they're not always meant

to be about the future. Because prophesying is

speaking truth about past, future, or present.

And that's why Peter reminds us what Joel has

to say. that 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

prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your

old men shall dream dreams. My male servants

and female servants, in those days, I will pour

out My Spirit and they shall prophesy." The Spirit

creates the whole people to carry the Word. Not

just the leaders. not just the officials, not

just the visibly religious, but all people. The

Word is going to reach because of what God is

doing. And that's why it is that He says, the

wonders in the heavens above, the signs on the

earth below, blood and fire, vapor of smoke,

the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord shall come. the great

and magnificent day. Because it's not about more

signs to look for some day. It's about announcing

that the world has been changed so much that

everything, even the sun itself, has been flipped

on its head. Because the wonders are invitations.

The day of the Lord is not wondering whether

or not we're going to see an eclipse in the sky.

The point is that God has already acted in a

way that goes beyond anything you could imagine.

And it has already happened today. The language

of the cosmic shaking of the world is to show

that the old way of seeing the world as stable,

closed, self -contained, it's done. The Spirit

has been poured out because Christ is crucified

risen and exalted, and God has already acted.

So what is Pentecost to be? It's not about the

display. It's the proclamation of Christ going

outward into the world. You can see it in Acts

1. You can watch it in Acts 3 -28. Pentecost

is the beginning of a church remembering its

calling to bring the word of God of hope, life,

forgiveness, renewal to all people, all places,

no matter what they expect when they are used

to voices of fear, outrage, exhaustion, ambition,

despair. Telling people who they are, what they

should trust, what they should reject. Because

into that noise, God is sending us as His church.

Into offices and workplaces, homes and friendships,

conversations between co -workers that your pastor

will never have access to, and places where theology

is not debated, but life is lived. The young

people will speak the Gospel simply and clearly

to other young people. They may not get every

moment right, but they will have the Word of

God upon their hearts. And we who are just a

bit older, remind the church not to lose itself

in the novelty, but to take joy that His Word

is present. Because God today, whatever it may

look like, in whichever language we may be using,

is still breathing life into dead and weary hearts,

speaking into confusion, and lighting us with

the holy fire. For the lonely, the skeptical,

the wounded, the exhausted, the guarded, the

ones who say, I cannot risk being hurt again,

and the ones who say, how can I believe anything

I cannot control? And not just for them, but

also for you. Because Christ is crucified and

has been risen for you. So may we remember that

we are not forgotten, that none of us are beyond

His reach. and that Christ has come because this

is Pentecost. Thanks be to God.