The Day of Pentecost May 24, 2026
“Reclaimed” Acts 2:1-21
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
I wonder. Can you lose your faith? Can I lose my faith? Can we begin to go through the motions of church and religion and find our souls in danger? Yes. When speaking to some religious people Jesus gave this warning, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)
Is there any hope for anyone who once believed and now find themselves empty and unbelieving? Yes. Today, on Pentecost, we talk about the Holy Spirit and the job that He is supposed to do. Do you know what His job is? We know the work of the God the Father. The Father created all things. He is Almighty in His actions and He continues to hold all of life together, including ours. We know the work of the Son, the Savior, Jesus Christ. By His sacrificial death and mighty resurrection He has restored our life, soul and body, now and eternally. His blood paid the price of our sin and now we are bought back and made children of God. We call His work redemption. We call Him our Savior.
But what about the Holy Spirit? What is His work? What does He do in you? Jesus promised the gift of His Holy Spirit to His followers. In John 7 Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39) On the day of His Ascension, 40 days following His resurrection, Jesus spoke about this great event of Pentecost, which would only be 10 days after His ascending into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” (Acts 1:8)
This is what is given us in the Holy Spirit, “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.” (Acts 2:1-4) It was just like John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
The Spirit is not asleep on the job. The work of the Holy Spirit? Conversion. The Spirit makes believers in Christ. “Once you who were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13) That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’, except by the Holy Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:3b) Do you trust in Jesus for your eternal salvation? Do you trust in Jesus? Then, the Holy Spirit has laid hold of you!! Or, do you have no faith and your heart is not settled in Christ? Then the Holy Spirit is not present in you.
The work of the Holy Spirit? He works to make us holy – sanctified. He works to make our life one that delights in doing the will of God. The Bible says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
Today I am using the word, “Reclaimed” to talk about work of the Spirit. Reclaimed in the sense, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.” In Acts 2 the whole list of folks from all those foreign countries is given. “Parthians, Medes and Elamites…” (Acts 2:9) I have no idea who those people were, but I do see that all these people who were so different from each other were all brought together by the work of the Holy Spirit. All of those groups were amazed and perplexed and said, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.” (Acts 2:11) The disciples of Jesus weren’t talking gibberish, they were speaking in known languages about the mighty saving acts of Jesus Christ. Thousands of people that day were reclaimed as God’s own people. They were given the Holy Spirit. They believed in Jesus as their Savior. They were filled with God’s Spirit so that Jesus would also be their Lord and would direct their life in new and holy ways. They were reclaimed.
When I read the history of the church in the Book of Acts, I see the work of God reclaiming people on purpose for a purpose. Please see clearly that that is still what God’s Spirit is doing. On purpose He reclaims us for a purpose. On purpose He gave you the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. Peter’s sermon that begins in our reading and continues on through the rest of the chapter had great effect on this diverse crowd. It says, ‘they were cut to the heart’ and asked the question, ‘what shall we do?’ And Peter answered them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
He reclaimed you when you were baptized. He reclaimed you when He made your faith certain and sure in Jesus, your only hope. He reclaims you when you live in the promises of God daily – His forgiveness, His grace, His faithfulness given you. When you are fed with divine food in Holy Communion you are reclaimed over and over again. Just as God on that first Pentecost reclaimed those folks, “residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia”, so on this Pentecost He has claimed you. On purpose!
For a purpose! In Luther’s Small Catechism we read this word, “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.” (Section of the explanation to the Second Article)
This is where we need the fullness of the Spirit in our life. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6) There are many obstacles to living faithfully as one reclaimed by God’s Holy Spirit. Pastor Herb Mueller, wrote a letter to pastors a while back titled “Guard Your Heart.” That phrase is taken from Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
I like that phrase – guarding hearts and minds. The unguarded can be hurt, even destroyed. The unguarded are the unprotected. Pastor Mueller warned us pastors of the pitfalls that bring down pastors and their congregations. Often shepherds and sheep seem to fall together. When I read the list of ways that we can fall – hard – I saw me but I also saw you. The devil is an equal opportunity deceiver. He lists these seven:
- He almost always takes our pride and twists it to his purposes. We say, “It won’t happen to me.” “I’m immune to these temptations.” “I’ve progressed beyond that.”
- Sex is like a powerful river. Within its proper banks, within a marriage of one man and one woman for life, it is a glorious gift from God. Outside these boundaries, it quickly becomes destructive, narcissist.
- Sometimes those with great intellect are tempted to think they can solve just about any problem if only people will listen to them.
- Great wealth, or lack of possessions, take your pick. The devil can use either one of them to consume our hearts and minds.
- The devil tempts us with the fear of man. We know the right thing to do or say, but we are afraid people will not like us if we say it, so we soft peddle. We compromise. We give in.
- Can pastors develop a haughty spirit? They say, “This church is growing because of me.”
- We can also write volumes about the tongue. “It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
7 deadly sins, right? (Proverbs 6:16-19) Guard your heart against such things. Or, should I say, the Holy Spirit should guard my heart and yours against such things!! The Holy Spirit will turn us to Jesus whose word of forgiveness is greater than our sin and failure!!
Can you lose your faith? Yes. Can I lose mine? Yes. But God’s hand is strong. Thank God for that! He has reclaimed us as His very own people. He has filled us with a power far beyond our own to live in lively faith. He has filled us with the Spirit’s power to live a full and right life. God – fill us with your Spirit!! Amen!!
(The majority of this sermon came from the archives of my former sermons. This one was originally preached at Ascension on May 24, 2015)
