05/31/2026
FATHER STEPHEN'S SERMON FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2026
It was the most intense experience of their lives. A Jewish carpenter and Rabbi had called each of them out from where they were. Five were fishermen, one was a tax collector, the rest were of unknown occupation. And each of them followed Him, fascinated by His character, amazed by His grace, drawn by His love, emboldened by the miracles He performed in response to human suffering and need. They were captivated by His words. Simple words using familiar things to describe profound truths about humanity and spirituality.
Twelve men and an unknown number of women followed Him everywhere, beholding His miracles, absorbing His incredibly gracious words. Despite the fact that He was becoming a threat to the authorities, they kept close to Him. But now the authorities were starting to use and twist His words to discredit Him.
The Disciples followed Him into Jerusalem and joyfully served as His entourage as Jesus was celebrated as King. He told them He would be killed, but He also told them that He would not leave them alone. He promised them a Comforter. Life with Christ was an intense experience...and then He died. After, He rose; they saw Him, and He told them to wait in the city. He said: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit descends on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Now they are in Jerusalem, waiting. On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish festival which celebrated the harvest, they are together and they are waiting. Pentecost was not, as many believe, “The Birthday of the Church.” The Church existed since the Angels, and the Angels came into existence before the creation of the world, and they have always been members of the Church.
Pentecost, therefore, is better defined as the ordination or the commissioning of the Apostles. And there are some valuable things we can learn from these, our earliest brothers and sisters in the Lord. The first thing is that they were not splintered different directions. They were together. Praying, eating, worshiping together.
They were doing what Jesus commanded, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised.” These are two of the hardest things in life to do: to simply be together and to wait. It’s hard to be together. People have differences. We can offend one another. We can develop differing ideas about what’s going to happen, what’s supposed to happen. It’s hard to be together and it’s hard to wait. To wait for inspiration, to wait for direction. Direction always comes because God loves to lead His people.
When we get impatient, when we don’t wait, we miss the leading of the Spirit, we miss God’s direction because we’re simply not waiting, not listening, not quieting our souls so that we can be attuned to God’s voice. The good news is these early Christians were together, they were waiting, trusting, anticipating that God would do what He said He would do. He would fulfill His promise. The Holy Spirit came and uniquely enabled these Apostles to testify with one voice for the glory of God.
This troubled, quirky group of disciples became empowered by God, set on fire for God. Specifically, they and all those around them were witness to a unique event. “…we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
And this miracle of God where people heard the disciples speaking in their own diverse tongues foreshadowed the passion the Church has always had to take the gospel into new lands to
share the message of Christ, the message of God’s grace for all.
These disciples had seen Jesus alive again. Their hope had been completely restored. Those who doubted, like Thomas, were convinced that Jesus was alive again because they saw Him, they touched Him. If we just try to put ourselves for a moment into the mindset of the disciples, the incredible emotional roller-coaster they had been on, we may get a little glimpse of what life was like for them.
The Holy Spirit comes on this first Pentecost, and those who had walked with Jesus found new confidence because of their faith in God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Those people that Jesus had gathered from scattered places, those people Jesus had called out of their livelihoods now proclaim the wonders of God. Remember, they had cowered, none more so than Peter. But now, having seen Jesus risen from the dead, having waiting patiently for the Holy Spirit to come, these Disciples are now transformed into the Apostles who would each lay down their lives so that the gospel would be known, so that the good news of Jesus Christ would reach more and more people. They were willing to risk everything if it meant that the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ would reach you and me. And thank God they were willing!
So, this is Pentecost. This is how you came to hear the message of the gospel. It started with the Holy Spirit filling the people of God and empowering them to share the hope of the gospel to this broken needy world. And it comes back around, back to you and me.
So, here’s the question: What is your calling: in the light of the resurrection of Jesus, in the light of the coming of the Holy Spirit in your life? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. He lives in us collectively as the body of Christ, and you have a calling to fulfill.
Wherever you are right now, that is where you are called to share your life and to live and share the gospel of Jesus.
This is so important, and this is tricky. Why is it tricky? There’s always a two-way flow of information and influence no matter who or where we are. We are always getting input from others. We always have the opportunity to give input to others. The call to mission-living is the call to have the truth of the gospel always in front of you, and to realize the trust that God has commissioned us to share the faith with others, with the power He has given us through the Holy Spirit.
And in order to be faithful we must always guard our hearts against any influence that might flatten our faith, that might compromise between what we know to be right and wrong, that might pressure us to think that Jesus is just one option among many. That was the pressure that the first Christians faced constantly.
So, what is your calling from God in the light of resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit? It has to do with what you love. Simply put, do you love the will of God more than you love the things of this world? This day in history Jesus’ promise of sending the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. This day, the Church received her mission. This day the Old Testament promise of God to pour out His Spirit on all people was fulfilled.
Let us open ourselves to all that God would have for us and all that God would do through us. Let us agree with God that we are His people, won by the precious sacrifice of Christ. For God has given us a heavenly calling and an earthly responsibility to love people to Jesus.
May He Who poured out the grace of the All-holy Spirit from Heaven upon His holy disciples and apostles in the form of fiery tongues for our salvation, even Christ our true God, have mercy upon us and save us! Amen!
