Drinking the Good Wine

Day of Pentecost

June 8, 2014

Acts 2:15

Drinking the Good Wine

In the name of Jesus.

I.

There's a lot of wine in Bible. And it didn't always go down smoothly. The first recorded wine drinker in Holy Scripture is Noah (Genesis 9). The first recorded drunk is also Noah.

Getting drunk is not good, but wine is. After Abraham had rescued his nephew Lot from a gang of evil kings, wine was one of the good gifts that the mysterious Melchizedek brought out to the weary Abraham (Genesis 14).

On the day when the Holy Spirit filled up the followers of Jesus Christ with His good gifts, enemies of Christ tried to blame this gracious miracle on cheap new wine.

When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? . . . we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine. "

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.'” (Acts 2:6-8, 11-18)

II.

Now Peter mentioned the time. It was nine o'clock on a Sunday morning. Where are followers of Jesus at nine o'clock Sunday morning? What are they doing? The same thing these fellow saints were doing—they were praying together at church. Those first preachers may have celebrated the Lord's Supper on that Sunday of Pentecost or they might not have, but they were drinking that morning. Drinking the good wine that is Jesus, the very Word of God.

Jesus had once told someone that they needed to drink Him, because He is the water of life (John 4). He told His disciples that He was like the grape vine that sustains them.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” (John 15:5)

We so often prune ourselves off of the vine that is Jesus. We do drink the watered down cheap new wine of our own hidden belief that we actually dictate the terms of our life with God. We secretly want to believe that we chose Jesus and go to church, He now owes us. Or maybe it's the cheap new wine that Satan saves for last that gets us drunkenly to believe that praying every day is good for pastors, but not for the rest of us. Or maybe it's the new wine that believes that we get to choose when and how often we receive the preaching of Christ crucified and His true body and blood.

Jesus wants us to drink Him because He is the water of life. We drink Him, like good refreshing wine, when we hear Him in His Word and taste and eat His Body and Blood. This is exactly what God's people did then and you now do.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the communion, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

III.

The prophet Samuel recorded the events leading up to his own birth. He wrote how Eli the priest assumed that Hannah, Samuel's future mother, was drunk at church.

While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her lips. Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and scolded her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

        “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord. Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.” Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him.” (1 Samuel 1:12-17)

Those who saw Hannah and the disciples on Pentecost assumed they were drunk, but they were wrong. Instead they were praying and proclaiming the great things God would do and had done for them. Like drinking good wine, but even better, they had received refreshment from Jesus.

Dear weary saints, Christ has died for you. Christ has risen for you. Christ sends His Spirit to you. Listen to His Word and taste and see that the Lord is good!

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.