Spend Time with the Teacher you Cannot See
Acts 2:1-21 Today is Christian Education Sunday. Today is also Pentecost Sunday. Doesn’t that seem like an odd combination? Do Pentecost and Christian Education have anything in common?
On Pentecost Sunday we remember what happened many years ago, fifty days after Easter, as related in Acts chapter 2. We’ll talk more about the details later, but on that day God the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. They saw what looked like tongues of fire sitting on their heads, representing the Holy Spirit. They heard the sound of a violent, once again representing the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they were able to speak in foreign languages that they had never studied before. People from all over the world heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit filled the Apostle Peter with so much courage and so much understanding that he was able to stand up before a crowd and preach a sermon about Jesus Christ to many people. Three thousand people believed and were baptized on that one day. Wow – what an exciting day! Today we celebrate that day – Pentecost.
But what does that have in common with Christian Education? Christian Education is when a group of people spend time in the Word of God. A Sunday like today especially highlights the blessings of organized church programs that help people spend time in the Word of God. Christian Education is Sunday School. Confirmation classes. Vacation Bible School. Bible classes on Sunday morning. Bible classes during the week. Christian Education is Lutheran elementary school education. An area Lutheran High School, like Lakeside, where I currently serve. These are all places where the Word of God is present, where people can gather together and study and think and grow in their faith.
But what does that have to do with Pentecost? Have you figured that out yet? Your hint is the title, or theme of this sermon – “Spend Time with the Teacher you Cannot See.” Who was the teacher that no one could see on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2? It wasn’t Peter. It wasn’t the Apostles – people could see them. Who was it that made the apostles so smart, so courageous, so strong? And who is the teacher you still cannot see who causes all the blessings of Christian education? It’s not the pastors or the Sunday School teachers or the VBS leaders. Who is it, working behind the scenes, in a Lutheran elementary school, at Lakeside Lutheran High School? Who is the teacher that no one can see?
It’s God the Holy Spirit. He was the main character in the story of Pentecost. And he is still the main character in the story of Christian education today. The Holy Spirit is what Pentecost and Christian Education have in common. Today we’re going to think about what happened on Pentecost – the blessings that God the Holy Spirit brought on that day. And we’re going to compare them to the blessings that God the Holy Spirit still brings today, and every time the Word is used in a Christian’s life. May God bless us today, as we spend time with the Teacher that we cannot see.
Verse one of Acts chapter 2 tells us that the disciples were all together in one place. What were they doing together? Other parts of the Bible before and after this account tell us that the disciples were spending time together praying, focusing on God’s Word, discussing God’s Word, and applying it to their lives. And as they did that, God the Holy Spirit blessed them. He came to them in a very amazing way. He took away their fear, their confusion, and turned them into strong, courageous, knowledgeable Christians who knew the Word of God, and were able to apply it to their lives and the lives of others. They were able to share their beliefs. And as they did, people noticed…
People from all over the world were there, from every nation under heaven, because of the festival of Pentecost. It was a United Nations situation – the Olympics – people from every nationality were in Jerusalem – and they noticed the Christians. The Holy Spirit enabled the disciples of Jesus to speak in foreign languages, and people heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the first time in their lives, people were hearing that the Messiah had come, that their sins had been forgiven, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus would be saved. No one could see him, but God the Holy Spirit was very busy on that day, blessing the disciples and everyone who heard them.
The same is true in Christian education. Whether it’s a Bible class for adults, a Sunday School or VBS, the teacher no one can see is there, blessing everyone involved. Our Lutheran grade schools and Lutheran high schools are filled with blessing after blessing, as God the Holy Spirit does the same thing he did on Pentecost. The students hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They hear that their sins are forgiven, as they hear these things the Holy Spirit takes away their fear, their confusion, and turns everyone who is there into strong, courageous, and knowledgeable Christians. If you peek your head into a classroom at Lakeside or into a church Bible class or VBS class here at church, you might not see tongues of fire or hear the sound of rushing wind, but you can be confident that God the Holy Spirit is present, filling everyone with faith and love and hope.
It’s a wonderful thing when you can see the blessings that God the Holy Spirit brings into a person’s life. On that first Pentecost – there was Peter – once upon a time someone who was confused and scared, denying Jesus three times. But now confident and knowledgeable – speaking to a large crowd about Jesus Christ. Sometimes you can see the blessings of God the Holy Spirit in a Christian education too. A couple years ago, a Lakeside student lost his brother in a car accident. He was angry, sad, and confused all at the same time. But the Word of God was a big part of his life in high school. The teacher no one could see was there, working with him. There were no tongues of fire, no sound of a violent wind, but the Holy Spirit was working through his Christian friends and Christian teachers. Just a few weekends ago he spoke at Lakeside’s graduation because he was one of the valedictorians. He talked to the crowd about the lessons he had learned from losing his brother a couple years earlier. He wasn’t angry or sad or confused. He was confident and spoke with authority about how God gave him comfort and faith and hope. There you could see the blessings that God the Holy Spirit had worked in that student’s life.
Spend time with the teacher you cannot see, and he will give those same blessings to you. Spend time in the Word and Sacraments, there you find him.
(If baptism…) Today, you saw a baptism. The Holy Spirit was there, working through water and the Word, causing someone to be reborn as a child of God, someone who didn’t know Jesus before, but does now – someone who didn’t have hope before, but does now. What a blessing, to be able to spend time with the teacher you cannot see!
Do you consider Christian education a blessing in your life? Do you spend time in the Word? Sometimes we get into the mindset that Christian education is just for kids – they make their crafts, and they sit in a circle and learn their little Bible stories – kid-stuff. But not true! Christian education is a life-long activity for every follower of Jesus Christ. You are never done being a student of God’s Word. You never graduated from studying the Bible.
Spend time with the teacher you cannot see, and he will fill your life with blessing upon blessing. What gets in the way of this? It’s ourselves – our own lack of priorities. I don’t want to make the sacrifice of time. I don’t want to make the sacrifice of effort. If it costs me money – like a Lutheran grade school or high school – I don’t want to do that. It’s not worth it, our sinful nature says. The less time we spend in God’s Word, the more quickly our faith in Jesus starts to die, just like the cell phone that never gets plugged in and recharged – slowly but surely, without God’s Word, we begin to lose our love for Jesus, our trust in his promises, our appreciation for the forgiveness of sins. The less time we spend in God’s Word, the more quickly our faith in Jesus wilts and shrivels up, like the flower that never gets any water.
Don’t believe the lie that it’s not worth it, because it is. If you haven’t gone to a Bible class in a long long time, then taste and see that the Lord is good. If your children haven’t heard God’s Word in a long long time, let them spend time with the teacher they cannot see, and watch how God blesses them. Do you know what the most important lesson is, that any of us could ever learn? It’s this - that God loves you, and forgives you of all of your sins. Of all the lessons that were learned on that Pentecost many years ago, and of all the lessons that are still learned today – the most important one is to know that Jesus Christ has taken away all of your sins, and that God has prepared a place in heaven for you, and today he is watching over you, and blessing your life, as you walk that road to heaven. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The lesson of Pentecost. And the lesson of Christian education today.
Spend time with the teacher you cannot see. And support those others who are also spending time with the teacher they cannot see. Support those young people who attend the Sunday School and VBS and confirmation classes. Support them by volunteering to help! Support them with your prayers, just as the disciples prayed in Acts chapter 2. Support them financially, just as those Christians did in Acts chapter 2.
One of my colleagues at Lakeside had a great way of simplifying the purpose of Christian education. How do we explain to parents the purpose of Lakeside? The purpose of the Lutheran elementary school? The purpose of Sunday School and VBS and all other Bible classes. What’s the purpose of it all? A colleague of mine at Lakeside put it very nicely and simply – tell parents that the ultimate goal of al of this is that their children would someday be with their parents in heaven. Isn’t that the ultimate purpose? Parents want their children to be happy and healthy and to someday grow up and have a nice adult life. But ultimately – parents – don’t you want your children to be with you forever in heaven? Isn’t that the most important thing? Spend time with the teacher you cannot see, and let God the Holy Spirit do his amazing work.
Why is red the color of the festival of Pentecost? There are all kinds of reasons. Red reminds us of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Red also reminds us of the tongues of fire resting on those disciples’ heads. Red reminds us of the invisible fire of faith that’s burning inside of all of us. If you were to give the Holy Spirit a color, maybe the best color to describe him would be red, the color of fire. Every time you come into contact with God’s Word and his Sacraments, Pentecost happens, Christian education happens, a fire of faith sparks and comes to life and grows stronger and stronger. May God the Holy Spirit continue to work in you and bless you, as you spend time with him. Amen.
