No Stone Unturned, No Tongue Unheard Genesis 11:1–9; Acts 2:1–21; John 14:23–31

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Holy Spirit bears witness.

We’re going to talk about no stone being left unturned, and no tongue unheard  in the spread of the Gospel.

When Jesus died on the cross, knowing that He would, without a doubt, rise on the 3rd day, He declared His work of redemption to be fully done: “It is finished”, He said, and He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.

As great, and miraculous, and loving, and powerful as it was, Jesus’ death and resurrection would be of no benefit to us if we had never heard of it.

As Romans 10 says, How can [we] believe in the One of whom [we] have not heard? And how can [we] hear without someone telling [us]? … Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 

When the word about Christ, the Gospel, is proclaimed, it’s never alone: it’s accompanied by the Holy Spirit, so that it might be believed.

Paul said to the Thessalonians, our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

This is true whenever the Good News about Jesus, and all the words of the Gospel are shared. 

To those who hear with an open mind, and repent with an open heart, the Holy Spirit enters in, and the Word is believed, and the person is saved to live in the love of Christ now, and in His glory forever.

As the last verse of our reading from Acts says, and as Paul repeats it in Romans 10:13, For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

For that purpose Jesus died and rose and ascended, and for that purpose He and His Father sent the Holy Spirit, as He had promised His disciples in Acts 1:8:

 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

So that in the spread of the Gospel, no stone would be left unturned, and no tongue, no language be unheard, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to the apostles, from Heaven, our text says, with the sound of a mighty, rushing wind…  

As if there was a storm; but there was no storm; it was the arrival of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised.

3 Divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In our text we have a list of at least some of the languages the apostles spoke as they told the crowd about Jesus. It was enough to utterly amaze the people. They  wondered how these lowly men could possibly know all those different languages, some from far away. 

But, as has always been the case, and sadly, still is, some wouldn’t believe what their ears had heard; they scoffed at the apostles: “They’re just drunk.”.

Peter spoke up in their defense, and in defense of the Word that was being proclaimed. He said, “It’s early in the morning, and we’ve had nothing to drink.” 

“What you’re seeing and hearing  is the work of the Holy Spirit, as was foretold by the prophet Joel”:  17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”.

Through the Holy Spirit, the apostles would do these miraculous things and many more in bearing witness to the Gospel of Christ that saves us; they would leave no stone unturned, and no tongue unheard. 

So through His Son and His Spirit, God would, in a sense, undo what He had done in our Old Testament lesson, when He divided the world by language. 

At Pentecost, God would begin to unite humanity in the language of the Gospel, the words and message of Christ.  

At the Tower of Babel, after humanity had remultiplied after the Great Flood, and the world’s population had been replenished; and technology was rapidly advancing, God was faithful in intervening to save the world from itself.

God had promised Noah, and all humanity, that He would not send another catastrophic event of world-wide, mass destruction to cleanse and depopulate the world. 

But the problem was, the world was quickly moving toward that same place it had been before, toward the same condition it was in before the flood: humanity was once again becoming united in self-centered rebellion against, and disregard for God.

So God was proactive to intervene before things got so out of hand, and evil was so far gone that the world’s population would have to be wiped out again, or nearly wiped out. 

For our own good, God confused and divided humanity, separating people into different language groups, and dispersing them in different directions, to be scattered throughout the world. 

This had to be done to keep the world from destroying itself before God could send His Son at the appointed time to redeem the world; and then send His Spirit to sanctify the world with the gift of faith in Christ, for all who repent.

With the sending of His Son and His Spirit, God has turned the world full circle. 

He once dispersed the world to save the world from itself, but now He brings the world back together through the salvation He gives, that His followers from all around the world may praise and serve Him, people of all languages and backgrounds, and ethnicities, and genetics. 

As Paul says in Romans 10:12, For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him. 

For, again in verse 13, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Like the apostles, may we and all who know Christ, dedicate ourselves to make Him known in our world, leaving no stone unturned, doing all that we can with all the gifts His Spirit gives us.

At Babel, humanity wickedly and naively tried to use knowledge and technology to usurp and overpower God. Sadly, we haven’t learned our lesson, not completely. 

We humans still sometimes use knowledge and technology and whatever resources we might have, for worldly and selfish gain.

Some would use knowledge and technology to try to diminish the place and prominence of God and His Word in the world.

Acting in this hard-hearted, small-minded way only serves to cheat the world. It robs people of the healing, saving love of Christ; and tries to block them from having the other-worldly peace Jesus gives, which He promises in today’s Gospel… 

27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

As we follow Christ we have nothing to fear in this world. 

So like the apostles, let us leave no stone unturned and no tongue unheard in serving God and proclaiming His Word for the world.

Let us be faithful and diligent in doing all we can to make Christ known, making good use of the many blessings and resources we’ve been given.

Let us pray for and support, the spread of the Gospel among people of all language groups, all ethnic groups, and all nations, discriminating against none, but loving and sharing the Good News with all; for in love, Christ died for all.

And as we leave no stone unturned and no tongue unheard in the sharing of God’s life-giving Word, His peace, which the world cannot give, and which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

May He be loved and known by all. Amen.