Acts 2.14–47
A sermon preached at Geraldton Anglican Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday 5th June 2022
Special days in Christianity are all about great things God has done to save us: Christmas celebrates the coming of the Son of God into the world; Good Friday marks Jesus’ death for us on the cross. Easter is the day of his resurrection. Ascension comes forty days later, marking the time Jesus spent with his followers before returning to his Father. Ten days later comes Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the first Christians. Because it was the great feast of Shevuoth, the Jewish harvest festival, Jews from all over the world were in Jerusalem to witness the miracle of Galileans speaking their languages. Peter explains to the crowd what was happening and three thousand become Christians that day. The Holy Spirit was present in power—first in the Pentecost miracle, then in Peter’s preaching, in the response as thousands of people are “cut to the heart”, repent, and are saved, and in the great outpouring of joy that accompanied it, and then the coming together of the first Christian church.
I want us to think about Peter’s message. It’s about the Holy Spirit, of course, but also about the meaning of what happened to Jesus, and about what this means for us. It’s about salvation. I want us to think about the meaning of salvation.
“Brother, are you saved?” It sounds oldy-worldy and extreme. Most of us in our everyday life don’t much feel we need saving. But many of us have stories about being saved from something or other. A mate and I were fishing off the coast at a lonely place north of Jurien Bay. Our motor conked-out, and the off-shore wind was blowing us out to sea. We had none of the safety equipment the law requires today, not even oars. There was no one on the shore and no other boat in sight; we were scared, and knew we needed to be saved. I guess we prayed. A small boat rounded the end of the headland. We were not sure they would see us. We jumped up and down and waved. When the boat changed course we knew we had been seen. “We’re saved,” we cried to each other. Thanks to God we were. These things don’t happen to any one of us every day, but hardly a week goes by that someone is being rescued off our coasts. Ambulances are screaming back and forth carrying people to hospital. People die because they take too long, or get ramped in front of a hospital. Parents long for their children to be rescued from the grip of an addiction. Somalia has run out of food again, and is asking if anyone will save their children. The people in Ukraine are crying out for the salvation of their country. This world is not a fun-park; life is serious.
Salvation means your life is in danger and you can’t do anything about it yourself. Someone from outside needs to come to your rescue. Salvation means a new situation where you are safe and happy.
Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem that salvation had come for them:
It shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The miraculous coming of the Holy Spirit that had just taken place was what had been predicted by the prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people … The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
What was imperiling their lives that they needed saving from? Peter is thinking of “the great and glorious day of the Lord,” when all will be judged, when the wheat will be separated from the chaff—forever. John the Baptist warned of it; so did Jesus. We are all in danger! What would they be saved for? Peter is thinking of the new world—the kingdom of God Jesus proclaimed—which God has promised for all his people to live with him forever. Who will be the rescuer? God himself: the Lord. Except, at the end of his speech Peter is calling them to trust in the Lord Jesus. Jesus is God’s agent, but he is also God’s Son; he is God himself becoming a man to save us. So, what do we have to do? We have to call on the name of the Lord. There is nothing else we can do, we must ask God/Jesus to save us.
We baulk at this: surely there is something else we must do! There is nothing else we can do. Only God can save us. That is what salvation means.
Four years ago, a party of boys climbed into a long cave in Thailand. It started raining outside and the low areas of the cave were flooded—I am sure you remember. The whole world watched the drama, as rescue teams flew in from around the world to attempt to save them. It was not certain they could be saved.
Between the boys and the open air was a long section of cave that was full of water. Few of them could swim. Their air supply was running out. More rains and more flooding were expected. There was no doubt they needed to be saved. Thank God they all were. I watched it on TV in Johannesburg. What a relief it was; they whole world shared it. Joy always follows salvation.
So, how were they saved? What did they have to do? Nothing! You can imagine how it was when they got their final instructions. “Boys, two divers are going to swim you out. You will have a breathing mask. You will be attached to one diver in front and one behind. You don’t have to do anything. Just trust the divers.” If the boys tried to do anything themselves—if they panicked and tried to swim on their own, they would have drowned themselves and their rescuers. “Do nothing; just trust. That’s a simple message, isn’t it? Though doing nothing is never easy. But it worked! And it’s just like that with us and God.
Think about it! Their instructions were simple. Does that mean it was a simple thing to save them? No, of course not! Half the experts in the world were there for weeks before, studying the situation and preparing to save them. It was a highly organized and difficult rescue operation—very dangerous for the men who would lead the boys out. In fact, one diver died during the operation, and another later from a disease he caught in the filthy water. The reason it was simple for the boys was because of how difficult it was for the rescuers.
Peter went on is his sermon that day to explain what God had already done to prepare for our salvation. God had worked on it from the beginning of creation, of course, but in the listener’s time he had sent Jesus, who had done all manner of miracles to convince them he had come from God to save them. Some of these miracles had been witnessed by Peter’s listeners. But they turned against him, and had him killed—all part of God’s plan, Peter added—and then God raised him from the dead. Peter showed them how this had all been prophesied in their own Scriptures. And now many people could testify that they had seen Jesus alive. Next God exalted him to the place of highest authority in the universe, confirmed him as Messiah-King, and gave him the position of Lord of the Universe. All these preparations were for our salvation. Jesus died, rose, and was glorified as King of God’s kingdom for us. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of human beings ruled by God’s human king. We are able to enter that kingdom because Jesus died in our place.
When we talk about the simple gospel, we don’t mean it was simple for God. Everything had to be done carefully and painstakingly, and that took thousands of years. And when everything was ready Jesus came into the world to do the main job and swim us out.
For we are all trapped in a long cave. For the moment we are in a dry area and can breathe—but our air is running out. These rescue stories we hear every day should warn us that we are in danger. There are two flooded caves lying between us and life. I am talking about true life, eternal life, life that will not be cut short by death, happiness that will never end, in a new world which will not be spoiled by evil and suffering, life with God; I’m talking about salvation. There are two flooded caves which lie between where we are now and the open air of God’s kingdom. The first cave is called “Sin”; the second is “Death.” Jesus came to get us through both those caves alive. How does he do that? First, he needed to come into our cave. Jesus is God’s Son. He has lived for eternity in heaven. But he came to us in our cave. He entered our world and become a human being. The way to do that was through a woman’s birth canal—a bit like sliding through a flooded cave with lots of obstructions.
That was the first thing. The second thing was to deal with the cave called “Sin.” How did all that dirty water get in there? When I was in South Africa I had to empty a six thousand-litre sewerage tank at the bottom of a garden, that all the toilets and sinks ran into. I set up a pump to move all that stinking water to another tank near the road, so a truck could come and take it away. I didn’t know much about pumps, and got into difficulties with the priming. I would fill the pump with water, but it ran out as I ran to the switch. I had several unsuccessful attempts. Then I saw a little plug on the top of the pump. I removed it, turned the pump on, and began pouring water into the hole. All of a sudden it jolted and started to pump. A fountain of pooey water shot about three metres into the air and landed all over me. I must have set a record, running for the shower, stripping my clothes off as I went.
The first cave Jesus had to deal with was full off all the filthy water from all the crimes of us and our ancestors—our personal and accumulated guilt. It needed to be dealt with. The Bible says our sins cry out for judgement. If we don’t somehow get safely through that cave our guilt will drown us. Jesus went into that mess and atoned for it—that is the technical term. As he hung on the cross, all our sin and guilt rested on him. He accepted it as though it was his own. The Bible says “he became sin, though he knew no sin.” The punishment owed to us came on him. All God’s anger at human evil—he bore it all.
The second cave he had to deal with was the Death cave. This he did again by going into it. I don’t mean he just went through it. He actually died. He went into death itself for us, but broke out into eternal life which he wants to share with us. “I am the good shepherd,” he once said, “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
And now he wants to swim us out. This is where we get involved. What does he ask us to do? He asks us to trust him—nothing more: simple gospel!
Many of the people who heard Peter that day were afraid, because they realized they had been involved in the killing. They had murdered the one God sent to save them; they couldn’t see how there could be any hope.
You may feel you have put yourself beyond reach. A young man told me he thought he had dug a hole so deep he could never climb out of it—those were his words. He had been a Christian worker, but had left it for the gay life of the university. He had grabbed at all the arguments against God to prop up his decision, but now he realized his gay lifestyle was fake and miserable. Could he ever escape? Certainly not by his own efforts, but Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Wherever you have been, whatever you have done—the good Shepherd came to save you.
So, they said to Peter that day, “What shall we do?” And he said, “Repent, and be baptized, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
You are probably thinking that repenting and being baptized, and receiving the Holy Spirit is not like doing nothing. Repenting sounds like living a good life, and that’s difficult. But that is not correct. Repenting is deciding you want a new life. Repenting will open your way to a good life, and that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in; he will enable you to become the person you cannot be unaided. But that is not salvation. At the beginning all you can do is let Jesus save you. You are walking away from God, you need to turn around and face him. Repenting is another way of talking about believing.
A man asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” And Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Believing in Jesus and repenting are the same thing. It is the way we come to God.
“Will you come with me?” That is the question the Lord Jesus is asking. Peter said to the people that day, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” I’m saying to you today in God’s name, “Save yourself from this crooked generation or you will die as this crooked generation will surely die in the judgement that is coming.”
A lot of people think they don’t need Jesus. They think it can’t be that bad. They can find their own way out. Well, you can try your luck, if you want to, but I tell you, you will never get through the Sin cave, and you will never get through the Death cave alive. A little bit later in this book of Acts Peter says to the leaders who thought they didn’t need Jesus, “There is no other Name given under heaven by which we may be saved, than the name of Jesus.” There is only one person who can swim us out. If you think there is another, tell me who.
Jesus has done it all. For us it is very simple. Put yourself in his care and let him swim you out. Of course, once you are out, once you are forgiven and in God’s presence, you will not be doing nothing. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. Peter says the Spirit is God’s gift to all who believe in Jesus. How those boys must have enjoyed running around in the sunshine when they were out, but as far as getting out was concerned, they could do nothing, only trust. When it comes to saving us, Jesus does it all.
Pray with me!
God, you made me, but I have not walked with you. I have resisted your claim on my life. I see it now and want to return. Thank you for sending Jesus to save me from my fate. I acknowledge that I am a rebel. I deserve nothing from you. But please save me. Thank you for sending Jesus to make that possible. I want to put my life in his hands. Help me.
Amen.