Pentecost Sunday 19th May 2024 | Message by Pastor Rolly Stahl | The Holy Spirit: sending out God’s S.O.S. to the world | John 16:5-11; Acts 2:1-5; 14a; 22b-24; 32-41
What does SOS stand for? Save Our Souls. It’s a distress call when people are in great danger and need rescuing. Like when a ship is sinking.
In 1979, a band called The Police released a song called Message in a Bottle. It’s the story of a lonely castaway stuck on a deserted island. He sends his SOS to the world via a message in a bottle, hoping someone would get it – so he can be rescued.
I wonder: If you could send God an SOS in 15 words or less, what would it say?
What would be your distress call at this time in your life?
Maybe we’d write:
“God please help me in my struggle with… (cancer, health issues, loneliness, grief, depression, conflict, financial stress…).”
Or: “God, rescue me from this mess, crisis, or overwhelming situation.’
Or: “God, deal with those who torment me.”
About 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost, God sent his own urgent message to the world. It wasn’t a cry of distress. Instead, it was God’s reply to all our distress calls.
It was the message of how God Saves Our Souls.
Today on Pentecost Sunday, we see how the Holy Spirit brings the Good News of Jesus to a lost and hurting world – and opens hearts to receive him.
Shortly before his death and resurrection, Jesus told his disciples:
“Now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” (John 16:5-7 NLT).
Jesus’ talk of leaving must have been shocking news for the disciples. I can imagine them asking: “But Jesus, why are leaving us? How will we manage without you?”
Answer: With help from the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls the Advocate or the Counselor. The Greek word (paraclaytos) refers to “one who is called to come alongside”. It can be translated: advocate, counsellor, encourager, comforter, intercessor, helper, or friend.
When Jesus was with them in the flesh, he could only be in one place at a time – with one group at a time. But when the Holy Spirit came, Jesus could be with his disciples everywhere … all the time – including us! It’s how Jesus keeps his promise: “I am with you always – till the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus had to complete his saving work and return to the Father before sending the Holy Spirit. Then at Pentecost, God’s Saviour of Souls was broadcast to the world.
Friends, there are two sides of the Holy Spirit’s SOS to us:
1. The Holy Spirit Shows Our Sin (or shows our stubbornness/selfishness)
Jesus says: “And when he (the Advocate/Counsellor) comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.” (John 16:8-9 NLT).
The Greek word for convict[1] has two meanings:
1. to convict a person of their errors
2. to convince a person of the truth
John probably intends both meanings – because they go hand in hand. Let me illustrate.
Friends, imagine a courtroom where a case is being presented before judge and jury. A legal “counselor” – or prosecutor – is cross examining a defendant who has been pleading: “NOT GUILTY”. As the counsellor presents the evidence, and asks probing questions about the evidence, it becomes obvious to the defendant that he can no longer hide his guilt. The truth of the evidence has convinced the defendant that his earlier denials are futile. He is now convicted to admit: “I did it! I’m guilty! What I did was wrong!”
In our relationship with God, we need the Holy Spirit to convince us of God’s truth AND convict us as sinners. Why? Because our human pride hates admitting our failures! We tend to think we can impress God. That on balance, we’ve done more good than bad – and that should be enough to get into God’s good books.
Our capacity for self-righteousness quickly surfaces when someone points out our faults. How do we reply? We tell them to mind their own business! Or we justify ourselves, make excuses, blame someone else, or compare ourselves with an axe wielding murderer…and claim we’re not so bad after all!
Friends, if you think you’re a righteous person, take a notebook and pen, and one by one interview all your family members – asking this question: “Where do you think I can improve in my character?” Then listen and take notes without interrupting!
Let’s go deeper. How well does God know you? God knows your heart. He not only knows your words and deeds, but your secret desires, thoughts, and motives.
God knows when you’re rejecting him to do your own thing. God knows when you’re cheating, when you’re lying, when you’re lusting, or when you’re coveting. If God were to flash up your darkest thoughts and deeds on the screen in front of us, would you claim to be good enough to impress God with your righteousness? I wouldn’t! I’d die of embarrassment!
Friends, what’s the pass-mark to make ourselves righteous in God’s eyes? 100% perfect, 100% of the time. One selfish, greedy, lustful, or spiteful thought – and BAM, we’ve blown it! One mean or nasty word – and BAM, we’ve blown it. Truth is, I make hundreds of mistakes every single day – in thought, word, and deed. And so do you!
Anyone who thinks they’re good enough to get right with God on their own merits is self-deluded! The Holy Spirit breaks that delusion.
The Holy Spirit Shows our Sin, convicting us of how it is from God’s point of view. It’s not something we like to hear, but unless we do, we will always by-pass the cross of Christ.
The cross is what God thinks of our sin. God cannot pretend it doesn’t matter. Being pure and holy, God must deal with it. He must judge it, condemn it, and punish it. The message of the cross exposes our darkness for what it really is!
In our Pentecost reading from Acts 2, note how Peter reminds the Jerusalem Jews what they did to Jesus:
“With the help of lawless Gentiles (the Romans), you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life… So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” (Acts 2:23-24, 36 NLT).
What happened when the people heard this? Peter’s words pierced their hearts (Acts 2:37 NLT). They were convicted for rejecting their promised Messiah. They knew they deserved God’s punishment. Cut to the heart they asked, “Brothers, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37 NLT). The Holy Spirit convinced them of their need for God’s mercy.
Years ago, a missionary in India was telling the story of Jesus by means of lantern slides projected onto the whitewashed wall of a village house. When the picture of the cross was shown, one of the locals stepped forward, as if he couldn’t help it. “Come down!” he cried. “I should be hanging there – not you!”
Why should the sight of a man crucified in Palestine 2,000 years ago still tear the hearts of people throughout the world today? That’s the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts by Showing our Sin. To open our hearts to Jesus, the Holy Spirit must empty us of ourselves. Then we’re ready for God’s second SOS.
2. The Holy Spirit Shows Our Saviour
Stuck in the mud of our guilt and shame, we need rescuing. Thank God for sending Jesus to save us! Jesus took the blame for our guilt and shame. He suffered and died as our substitute. Paul writes: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).
The Holy Spirit enables us to trust that Jesus has made us right with God. Jesus’ resurrection proves his righteousness. If he were a sinner, he would have remained dead. But through his resurrection, our heavenly Father vindicated Jesus’ innocence, confirmed his claims to be Messiah and the Son of God, and endorsed his promises.
By receiving Jesus’ righteousness as our own – we stand forgiven and innocent before a holy God.
John reminds us of God’s desire to save us – and how believing in Jesus changes our standing with God:
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.[2] (John 3:16-18 NLT).
Jesus promises: “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24 NLT).
In closing, there’s another SOS
Now that Jesus lives in our hearts by faith, the Holy Spirit empowers us to Share Our Saviour with others. It’s what the Holy Spirit did through those first disciples. The Holy Spirit wants to do the same through us: to share God’s Saviour of Souls with the world!
In Jesus’ name, may our heavenly Father fill us with the Holy Spirit, so we can share the love and good news of Jesus with others. Amen. (c.1700)
An audio version of this message is available on St John’s Lutheran Church Tea Tree Gully YouTube page: www.youtube.com/@stjohnslutheranttg
[1] The Greek word is elegcho. In some Bibles, John 16:8 has a footnote letter after convict the world of guilt a suggesting an alternative translation – Or: will expose the guilt of the world. Guilt is exposed by the light of God’s truth shining into our human hearts.
[2] Note again what Jesus says in John 16:9 (NLT): “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.”
St John's Lutheran Church, Tea Tree Gully 
Such a powerful message & well explained. Thank you Rolly…once again
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