In the Old Testament Scripture today we heard about the story of the Tower of Babel.  The humans were congratulating themselves on their achievements.  They had become smarter and better equipped.  They were devoted to success.  They had learned to cooperate and capitalize on one another’s interests and abilities.  They came together to build a great city and decided there was nothing that was beyond the scope of their expertise.

They wanted to go down in history.  They wanted to make a name for themselves.  As a monument to human ingenuity they were going to build a tower that would reach high into the heavens.  They were going to find out what was up there and conquer it, too. 

With high hopes and great dreams and plans, everyone went to sleep one night and woke up unable to communicate.  They no longer all spoke the same language.

Engineers could no longer talk to contractors.  Decorators could no longer talk to artists.  Teachers could no longer talk to students.  Those who spoke and understood each other went off in groups to form smaller communities.  Some communities had too many decorators and no artists to create.  Some had students and no teachers.  Some had contractors but no one to mill lumber. 

The humans had to reorganize, and the Tower and the dream to conquer even heaven faded.  The humans were divided by language.

In today’s New Testament Scripture, people gathered from various parts of the known world, speaking various languages, were gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival that celebrated the first fruits of the year’s crops.

At just the right moment, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles, and they were able to preach the Good News of God’s love so that all could understand regardless of their native language.

We may think that is remarkable, but God still sends the Holy Spirit at just the right time, and people are still able to understand the Good News of God’s love given to us in Christ Jesus. 

You see, the Holy Spirit not only enables the one who is devoted to Christ in telling the Good News, the Holy Spirit enables the one listening to understand that Good News.

It is the Good News of God’s love that draws us together as students and teachers, scholars, doctors and nurses, musicians, lawyers, business persons, laborers, children, young people and adults, even those retired, because of our connection to Jesus Christ.

The great mystery to us is that this plan of God is not on some schedule we can predict or control.  The Holy Spirit is working at the pace God has set, according to the timing God has set.

The part we are to deal with is not about how or why God is working in the manner God is working, but how we are dealing with the fact that the Holy Spirit comes to us, moves us to talk to others about Christ, invite them to worship, or serve them in some special way that only we can serve.

Just as the Holy Spirit drew those first disciples of Jesus together in that place on that first Pentecost, you and I have been brought together in this place.  I don’t know about you, but I did not have as one of my life’s goals to live in Oskaloosa, Iowa.  Some of you were born here, some of you came here because of a job, or some of you married someone from this town.  However we got here, we are all here at this time on this day, not by accident, but by the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

God can divide people and give different languages, interests, geography and abilities.  But God can also bring people together by their common love and devotion to Jesus Christ. 

In the lectionary Scripture for last Sunday, Jesus is praying.  He is praying that we would be united not in our politics, not in our religious doctrine, but he is praying that we would be united in our faith in him.

We can talk about what divides us, our convictions and opinions, but we must always remember that what unites us is our faith in Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who was executed in a Nazi prison camp during World War II, while in prison wrote a little book called, Life Together.  He wrote that there are two things that bind all of us together:  our common sinfulness and the uncommon love of God.

It is only the uncommon love of God that can deal with our common sinfulness.  That is what binds us together as this part of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are bound together because the Holy Spirit has called us.  We are called first to hear the Good News and believe in the Lord Jesus as the payment for our sins.

Then we are sent out to tell this Good News. 

Often churches think that they are called together to have a good time and love and support one another.  Fellowship is certainly a big part of the life of any growing congregation.

However, we are not called together primarily for our benefit, but for the benefit of those whom God is calling to himself.  We are here for those outside our walls.  We are here for those who have not yet found their way to Christ.

The Holy Spirit has called us together for a purpose of giving us connections to others at our work, in our homes, in our neighborhoods, at the school, so that we can invite them to be a part of God’s family.

If we only allow the Holy Spirit to call us to God and then we don’t let God’s love flow through us to those we know, we become like the Dead Sea.  The water flows into the Dead Sea, but it doesn’t flow out.  The water only evaporates, and the water becomes so salty that nothing can live in it. 
 
Today I want to point out that because the Apostles allowed the Holy Spirit to work through them, three thousand people put their faith in Christ and were baptized.
 
I want to read again those last two verses that were read earlier, verses 41 and 42 of Acts 2:   “So those who welcomed this message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
 
The early church grew because the people devoted themselves to learning from the Apostles, to fellowship with one another, to meeting together for worship and sharing the sacrament of Holy Communion, and they met for prayer.

Today, many denominations and many churches in our denomination lament the fact that they aren’t attracting any new members and they claim they don’t know why.

But when they are asked to examine what it is that they have devoted themselves to, they become very uncomfortable and claim that teaching requires material, and materials are so expensive, fellowship means someone has to organize something, and everyone is just so busy.  As far as worship goes, there are just a few loyal members who actually attend every Sunday and many of them are now getting older and have poor health; many have died. 

Prayer?  Well, fewer and fewer want to hear about prayer because they believe prayers aren’t answered.  They only praying they do is on the highway when something is slowing them down, or when they aren’t feeling well.

How did those Apostles get the Holy Spirit?   Jesus told them to go
to Jerusalem and wait.  They waited and prayed and worshipped God.  Then on Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and they were able to tell the Good News in the language that people would understand.

How do you and I get the Holy Spirit?  We have it.  The Holy Spirit has already worked in our lives to present Jesus as the Son of God, our Savior, the payment for our sins.

The Holy Spirit has brought us to this place today.  The Holy Spirit has given you relationships with people who do not know Christ or who have drifted away from him and don’t have a church family.
 
Churches can’t grow today because they are devoted to the budget, or to the building, or to their history, instead of to Christ. 

God is not going to equip the congregation and the Holy Spirit is not going to draw people to a congregation that is not devoted to Jesus Christ.

As we become more devoted to learning the teachings of Jesus, the fellowship of God’s people, to worshipping every Sunday, and to prayer, we will see this congregation grow beyond our best dreams.

So then why don’t congregations grow?  Is it because the Holy Spirit isn’t working?  Let’s look at the center of our devotion.  Are we so devoted to Christ that we want to share him?
 
Today is Pentecost.  God has poured out his Holy Spirit on us, just as Jesus promised. 
What are we devoted to that is at that center of our lives?  What do we believe in that is worth sharing?
 
That day, three thousand were added to their number.


                                                          Amen.

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