Pentecost Answers Our Prayer, “Thy Kingdom Come”!

Pentecost, 6/5/22 Acts 2:1-4 Pentecost Answers Our Prayer, “Thy Kingdom Come”! I. God’s kingdom comes to us. II. God’s kingdom comes through us. We noted as worship began today that we’re celebrating the Festival of Pentecost. Among the Jews of the Old Testament and at the time when Jesus was on this earth, it was a celebration of the harvest of crops. It was one of the three annual festivals that required all Jewish males to journey to Jerusalem. Thus, as our sermon text from Acts 2 relates, there were Jews from all over the known world in Jerusalem on this date. This festival was known as Pentecost because it occurred 50 days after Passover. As New Testament Christians, however, we celebrate it as the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Christ’s followers and the New Testament Christian Church on earth began. What happened on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people came to faith and were baptized continues to happen today whenever a person is brought to faith in Jesus. And it will continue to happen until the day that Jesus returns to this earth. That’s what we pray for every time we speak these words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.” When we speak those words, we’re not praying for us to go to heaven or for Jesus to return to this earth. We’re praying for his kingdom to come to us and others. But just what is God’s kingdom? Jesus once stated that the kingdom of God is within us. It’s not something visible. Instead, it’s his invisible, gracious rule in our hearts by faith. In a very blessed way, Jesus rules in your heart and mine. And we want that kingdom to continue to come to us and to others. We want his rule—his influence—in our hearts to increase each day. We want it to come to people who currently don’t belong to his kingdom. They have no faith in Jesus as their Savior. So, how does his kingdom come? That’s the work of the Holy Spirit and that’s the connection between our celebration of Pentecost and these familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer. Pentecost answers our prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” Let’s examine that truth more closely as we ponder the account of Pentecost here in Acts 2. I. Have you ever expended a great deal of time and effort all to no avail? I’m sure it’s happened to all of us at one or more times in our lives. You plan a special dinner or party for a loved one, and, at the last moment, for one reason or another, the loved one can’t attend. You put months into a project at work. You’re ready to present it to your boss, but he tells you that the company recently decided to go in another direction. He thanks you for your work, but it’s all for nothing. About two months prior to this Day of Pentecost, Jesus had finished his work of redemption, the greatest and most important work in the history of sinful human beings. If Jesus had failed to complete that work, it would have meant eternal death in hell for every human being. But his resurrection from the dead is the divine stamp of approval that Jesus had indeed completed his work. But that greatest of all accomplishments would have gone for nothing without the sending of the Holy Spirit. That event was so critical to the Christian Church on earth that Jesus frequently referred to it at the close of his time with his disciples. He told them that he would send them the Holy Spirit to empower them and remind them of everything he had said. He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Without the coming of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus would sit on the corner of God the Father’s office desk, unused and waiting to be filed away, out of sight. It was critical for the Holy Spirit to bring the blessings of Jesus’ work to sinful people. That began in a spectacular way on Pentecost. Listen to the account once again, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Representations of wind and fire—how appropriate! You can’t see wind, but you can tell what it does. You can’t see the Holy Spirit, but you can see what he does. Fire has several beneficial uses. One of them is that it purifies. The Holy Spirit’s work is sanctification. He purifies us. He brings us the forgiveness of sins and makes us holy in God’s eyes by faith in Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit to do that saving work in us every day. Every day of our lives is a day marred by sin. That means every day we need the forgiveness that Jesus won for us. The Holy Spirit brings it to us. As members of the Holy Christian Church by faith in Jesus worked by the Holy Spirit, we live in the forgiveness of sins. And we need him to strengthen our faith in Jesus every day because the assaults against our faith by Satan and our evil world are relentless. We need the Holy Spirit to bring God’s kingdom to us., Pentecost answers that prayer—Thy kingdom come. It comes to us by the working of the Holy Spirit. Each day of your life is an opportunity for you to celebrate your own little Pentecost, to celebrate the truth that the Holy Spirit’s desire is to come to you each day to assure you of your forgiveness and to bolster your faith in Christ. But what’s your reaction to that truth? Are you silently cheering or hiding an embarrassing yawn? Is the Holy Spirit’s work in you even on your daily thank-you list? Every day of your life he wants to bring you closer to Jesus, and he does that solely through the good news of Jesus in God’s word and in the sacraments. So, what’s your attitude toward that opportunity to grow stronger in your faith, to increase your place in the kingdom of God? Well, we’re busy people. We have things to do, opportunities in life to enjoy. So, since we’re already in God’s kingdom by faith in Jesus, we tend to put our focus elsewhere. That’s backwards, isn’t it? Because there will come a day in your life when the only thing that will matter is your life in God’s kingdom. On that day, you’ll depart the Church militant and enter the Church triumphant. So, spend your days basking in the love your Savior showed you when he sacrificed himself on the cross to redeem you to his kingdom. Spend your days immersed in that good news of Jesus through which the Holy Spirit continues to come to you. Make Pentecost your daily celebration. It’s the answer to our prayer: Thy kingdom come. II. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers on this day. He arrived with the sound like the blowing of a violent wind and what looked like tongues of fire on their heads. Then they began speaking in languages they hadn’t previously known. Imagine if the believers’ reaction to these miracles had been different. Imagine if they had considered the event more than a little weird and completely surreal. Or worse yet, imagine if they had despised the gift of the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in other languages. Imagine if they were thinking, “This is all well and good, but I was looking for him to bring me something else. I’m not sure how or when I’ll be able to use the gifts he’s given me.” Unthinkable, isn’t it? If the believers had despised the gifts of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, where would the Church on earth be today? We shudder to even think about it. But they didn’t. They immediately began using the gifts the Spirit had given them. And the crowd of people in Jerusalem noticed. They stated, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” The wonders of God can mean nothing other than his plan of salvation as carried out by Jesus. And then they went from there to places near and far doing the same. They spent their lives and lost their lives sharing the gospel of Jesus. And the world hasn’t been the same since. The kingdom of God has spread to every nation, tribe, language, and people. It’s worldwide. The kingdom of God came to others through them. And it still does through us. One of the reasons the kingdom of God has come to you is so that you can enjoy life in it eternally. The other reason the kingdom of God has come to you is so that it can come to others through you. Think about it. We live in a world full of trouble. War. Violence. Murder. Prejudice. Hatred. Greed. Immorality. And that’s just our short list. I don’t think anyone, other than Satan, is happy with the way things are in our world. So, what does our world need more than anything else? It needs the kingdom of God to come to every person. That’s God the Father’s saving will. God the Son paid the price to redeem every sinner for life in that kingdom. God the Holy Spirit does that through the gospel in word and sacrament. And that’s where we come in. It’s our privilege to be messengers of God’s grace, to change sinful, unbelieving hearts one at a time. Think about the people you know who don’t know Jesus as their Savior. This week pray for them. Ask the Lord to give you opportunities to speak a word of encouragement from Jesus to them. You don’t have to preach a sermon like Peter did here in Acts 2. Just speak a sentence or two of spiritual truth to them. And then pray for another opportunity to do the same, and another, and another. In doing so, you’ll be the instrument of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, you’ll bring them their day of Pentecost. You’ll be their answer to the prayer, “The kingdom come.” The Holy Spirit promises to empower you and to bless the kingdom work you do. Amen.