The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 10, 1984. The title is Saturated by the Spirit, and the scripture reference is Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. 

I suspect that if we could somehow think our ways back into the minds of the disciples in that strange period between the resurrection and the day of Pentecost, we, like they, would be absolutely baffled, wondering what it is we're waiting for. We've been told to wait, but what is it we're waiting for? It's very hard to think back to that because we see it all in retrospect, but I want to just remind you that some of the disciples, especially those of the innermost circle, had been with Jesus for the full three years of His earthly ministry, and they'd not only observed it, but they'd participated in it.

They'd not only seen what He did, but they experienced His empowering to do it likewise. When He sent them out two by two, their commission was preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out evil spirits. And they did it.

They knew His empowering. They came back. It says in Luke 10 that the 70 returned it with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.

They experienced miracle-working power. They knew something of His empowerment. So what was lacking?

Now it's true that most of them defected, or at least they shrank back into the darkness and were quite unwilling, unable to be identified with him as the time of betrayal and crucifixion drew near. Peter denied he even knew the Lord. This was something they couldn't understand and they couldn't accept, but that's long since passed.

One of the first things he did after he rose from the dead, Jesus went to see Peter. forgave him, restored him. He had a private meeting with James and converted him.

He had a private meeting with Thomas and convinced him. He met with the ten. He met with the eleven.

He met with the two on the road to Emmaus. He met with the women in the morning. He cooked breakfast on the beach one day.

At one point, more than 500 people saw him together at one time. For 40 days, under all kinds of differing circumstances, He showed Himself alive with undeniable proof to all different kinds of groups of people. So that what they couldn't understand before it happened, namely that the Christ must suffer and die and on the third day be raised again, was now transparently clear.

They understood it now. They had experienced His enlightenment. So what was lacking?

on Easter evening you remember that the disciples were gathered together in an upper room hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews and the scripture says Jesus himself suddenly stood among them and he breathed on them and he said receive the Holy Spirit and they were born all over again that of course was a deliberate recapitulation of the creation of Adam. You remember it says in the book of Genesis, God breathed into him and he became a living soul. You may know that that's a sort of a play on words.

Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the same word can be translated either breath or wind or spirit. So God spirited into Adam of his own spirit and Adam became a living soul. And in the day you eat of that forbidden fruit, you're going to die.

and he ate of it and he died. His body didn't die. But something awful happened to his spirit, and so he needed to be born all over again.

That's what Jesus said to Nicodemus. You need to be born all over again. Not your body, your spirit.

Nicodemus says, how can that happen? And Jesus says, the wind. It's the same word.

The pneuma blows in the trees, and you see the effects of it. You don't know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's going.

But in the same way, the spirit, the pneuma, It needs to blow into your life. And on that Easter evening, He spirited into them. He blew into them His Holy Spirit.

And they were born again. They knew what it was to be reborn. So what was lacking?

Jesus said to them, I'm sending you out into all the world to make disciples of all nations. Your commission is exactly the same that mine was when I was sent from the Father to bring the whole world into submission to God. That's what I'm sending you out to do.

Now, wait a minute before you go. Just wait. They've experienced His empowerment.

They've experienced His enlightenment. They've experienced regeneration. And He says, wait.

What's lacking? I say again, they had to be absolutely baffled as they waited. those additional ten days after He was ascended into heaven.

What were they waiting for? I think the best way to answer the question is to see what they got. Suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

This was not some momentary thing that just happened occasionally here, there, sporadically. It filled the house. it became the context in which they lived and moved and had their being.

They were surrounded by the Spirit of God. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributed and resting on each one of them. Could I put it to you this way?

They became incandescent. Just like the burning bush. They were aflame without being consumed.

think about that Jesus said you are the light of the world but they weren't really they were the wick and the Holy Spirit not only surrounded them but he saturated them and he became the fuel for the light of the world to burn I don't know if you've ever heard the phrase ministerial burnout but it's used of clergy because most of us experience it from time to time, some devastatingly, and just change that slightly, talk about spiritual burnout. I suspect all of us experience it from time to time. Do you know what I'm talking about?

You get burned out trying to serve the Lord. I'd like to suggest to you that the reason for that is very simple. It's when the oil of the Holy Spirit stops saturating us, we ourselves begin to burn out.

When the oil is flowing, we're a light. We're a flame without being consumed. God never intended you or me in and of ourselves to be the light.

Just be a flame with the light. The Holy Spirit is its fuel. They became literally turned on to God.

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance they spoke but the language that was coming out of their mouth was one that they'd never learned in fact different ones that they'd never learned many different tongues and languages and a lot of people misunderstand what happened at this point they say that the disciples began preaching the gospel to all these various folks come from around the Mediterranean world. They were preaching to the Parthians and the Medes and the Elamites and the Mesopotamians and so and so on down that list. That's not true.

That's not what was happening. They were simply praising God. In these various languages, they didn't even know what was coming out of their mouth.

They were praising God and all these other folks heard what they were saying in their own languages. They were declaring the mighty works of God. They were psalming.

They were singing the praises of God as the psalms do. And people heard that and they said, what in the world is going on? Now, bear with me.

This is very important. That is not what converted the crowd that day. They needed to hear Peter's sermon explain it.

But that's what captivated the crowd. Do you follow me? They weren't even thinking about the crowd.

They were praising God totally unselfconsciously. They didn't even know what was coming out of their mouths. They looked like drunken men.

They were drunk on God. Only when the people stopped and listened a little bit more carefully, it didn't sound like drunken men. It had content to it.

They're declaring the mighty works of God. back in the first chapter of the book of acts before the ascension it says this while staying with them jesus charged them not to depart from jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the father which he said you heard from me for john baptized with water but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit. But what does that mean?

That word is an interesting word in Greek. It's a word that is used for things like the sinking of a ship. When it becomes not only sunken, but waterlogged, when it's permeated with the water.

The water's around it. It's in it. It's through it. It permeates it. It saturates it.

That's what was lacking. You've experienced empowerment so that once in a while, on occasion, astonishingly, you can do great things. You've experienced enlightenment so that what previously was obscure to you now is transparently clear.

You've experienced rebirth so that your sins are forgiven and you know you're going to heaven forevermore. But are you saturated with the Holy Spirit? Jesus said, don't go out.

until God pours out His Spirit in this new way. And when He baptizes you with the Spirit, He'll surround you. And it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And He'll saturate you. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. And He'll become the fuel that makes you incandescent.

And there were tongues of fire resting on each one of them. And He'll so release you to exalt in God that you won't even care what's coming out of your mouth. You're just so deliriously in love with God that you cannot help but praise Him.

And that will be so real and so genuine it will arrest and astonish and captivate other people who you run into. I think that too often when we talk about the Holy Spirit and we talk about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we concentrate on His empowering us for ministry, His anointing us to go out and preach and make disciples and heal the sick and do wonderful things, and all of that is true. Praise God that that's true.

But I think we may be missing something even more true than that. It's not primarily that we would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in order to do all these things. It's that we would be saturated with the Holy Spirit so that we might be literally turned on to God.

And these things happen almost as a matter of course. Almost automatically. People say, I know I ought to witness to my friends and I just find such a hard time doing it.

the goal here is that we would be so filled with the Spirit of God we don't even have to think about that people see us and say what's going on? what's different about you? oh, now I've got to explain it has God saturated you with Himself in that way?

that's what Pentecost is about it's not laying another layer of obligation on you that you've got to go out and be a soul winner it's to be saturated with God so lost in wonder, love and praise that you're utterly unselfconscious about proclaiming His mighty works you're so drunk with God that you really don't care if people think you're a little weird when you raise your hands or speak in tongues or delight in God whether it's in the church or outside of it. And the folks around you are captivated by what they see. That's what Pentecost is all about.

Trouble is some of us leak. we need to be filled and we need to be filled and we need to be filled and we need to be filled let's ask God that he would do that Father in heaven thank you thank you for the gift of your spirit thank you for pouring your life into our lives we bow before you this morning in the name of Jesus and ask you to saturate us with yourself pour yourself over us into us, around us through us become the light of our life fill us to overflowing so that we can't hold it in we wouldn't even want to. Let us be utterly unselfconscious in praising You.

You are worthy of praise. Fill us with Yourself. For Jesus' sake.

Amen.