"It's a Mystery!"
Sermon Presented Pentecost Sunday
May 15, 2005
Last Monday night at about 10:30 I made a fast trip to Walgreen's at 84th and Brown Deer Road to pick up a prescription. While I waited, I noticed a pregnant Hispanic woman conversing with a pharmacist about her medication. I was amazed that a pharmacist who spoke Spanish was on duty that late. The following day as I waited to see the doctor, I saw a Hispanic couple in the lab. Again an interpreter was needed and someone was available to instruct the couple! While we are here in the U. S., we don't usually need a translator, but we do need help interpreting the mysteries of life and faith.
On Wednesday Larry was working at the church and we discussed a hymn that I read at Roy's Aunt Vera's service the previous week. The hymn - Hymn of Promise - beautifully presents the mystery of life after death. Let me read the last stanza.
"In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see."
We are surrounded by mystery - things we don't understand! Scientists delve into many of these mysteries and find answers for us, but in the area of religion and spirituality, we inhabit a realm of mystery and our feeble attempts to explain or understand that mystery often come up short of the desired goal. That's the way it was at Pentecost for all of those who witnessed the powerful and mysterious descent of the Holy Spirit. Let's look at this familiar text, as Peter attempts to explain the phenomena.
Acts 2:1-21 (read text)
There is an overflow crowd in Jerusalem as Jews gather to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost (or Feast of Booths), held 50 days after Passover. This celebration was once a harvest festival but by the time of Jesus it is the occasion to celebrate the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. At this special time, devout Jews pour into Jerusalem.
This isn't a trip I would relish because there were no modern conveniences. No McDavid's with kosher burgers lined the route and there were few inns. Because the people came from many countries, there was no common language.
Jesus' disciples and other followers - totaling about 120 in all - are waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They have no idea what to expect. After they choose Matthias to take Judas' place among the twelve, they wait and pray - or pray and wait!
Suddenly the Spirit comes - but no one expects this! There are both auditory and visual phenomena. They hear a sound like the rush of a violent wind. They see tongues as of fire. The sound brings festival pilgrims into the streets and they follow it until they arrive at the place where the disciples are gathered. Both followers of Jesus and Jewish pilgrims witness this event and all are baffled! They can't understand the mystery!
There are two basic reactions to the event - amazement and judgment. They see and hear what has never before been witnessed and they are amazed. Some are judgmental and accuse Jesus' followers of being drunk. It's easy to rush to judgment over something we don't understand.
Peter emerges as the leader and spokesperson for the group. He took charge of the selection process for Matthias to replace Judas, and now he speaks to the crowd. He dispels the notion that they are drunk or that they are indulging in spiritual excess and instead quotes the prophet Joel, who proclaimed hundreds of years before that God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, yielding prophecy, visions and dreams. Those Jews knew Joel!
Then there's the business of various languages being spoken. Visitors to Jerusalem hear Jesus' followers speak about God's deeds of power in their native tongues. They are amazed because Jesus' followers are uneducated Galileans and can't possibly know their languages. At this time, the Holy Spirit makes genuine communication possible between diverse people.
At the Festival of Pentecost a year or two before this Pentecost, Jesus promised his listeners living water that would flow from the inner most part of their being. This would be the result of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Jesus made this offer to all believers who were thirsty - those who wanted more of God. Seekers who come to church, those who ask for spiritual help from a friend, or flock to bookstores to check out the section on spirituality and religion are included. The offer is given to all people with a deep thirst for an authentic encounter with God.
When we are spiritually thirsty, we don't want to hear theological doctrines about the nature of God. Instead we want to experience God - to have God's love flowing through us - to truly know God. Pentecost provided such an experience!
We don't often recognize what God is doing in us and for us at the time it is occurring. The people of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and complained vehemently about eating manna. In fact, they were so upset, that they would gladly have returned to slavery in Egypt rather than to feel the pain of the wilderness experience. It wasn't until they reached the Promised Land that they recognized God's provision and leadership while in the wilderness. It was hindsight and not present realization that showed them God's presence.
Doesn't this sound familiar? After we emerge from our wilderness experiences we can look back and see that God was present with us in our pain. Only then can we see that our wilderness became a growth experience. The concept of growth isn't within our field of vision when we are in the midst of pain.
Jesus said that rivers of living water would flow out of the hearts of believers. When something overflows, it's filled to the brim and more so. When I fill a glass too full, the liquid spills. When too much water flows into rivers and streams, there is a flood. When we are so full of God's Spirit that God's love overflows, there is enough for us and for others as well!
Some people believe that the proof of having the Holy Spirit is that a person speaks in tongues or manifests the gifts of healing or prophecy. No, the proof of the Holy Spirit's presence is what flows from the heart! The proof of possessing the living water is the overflow of love.
Through the speaking of various tongues, the community is gathered rather than scattered. There is wonder in speaking as well as a miracle in understanding. A shared understanding of what is happening brings people together. Even though the disciples are expecting the Spirit, they must be as mystified as the outsiders with what they see, hear and experience.
The source of the power is God! God breathes life into the church through that mighty rush of wind because nothing less will work. The power of the Holy Spirit pushes the church out of that upper room in Jerusalem into the community. The miracle is that in the midst of this confusion and exhibition of power, the people begin to discover that their old ways of relating to one another and thinking about God are blown away. Prior to Pentecost, only the prophets have wisdom and vision for the community; now everyone has something to say on God's behalf and they have the boldness to say it. Cretans, Arabians, Parthians and Galileans are all part of the picture. It's difficult to envision a more diverse gathering of people. No one is excluded from this awesome display of God's grace and power. And when they leave Jerusalem for home, the message of Jesus goes with them.
Peter tries to explain the phenomena by referring them back to the prophet Joel who quotes God as saying: In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, sons and daughters, young and old, even servants. There is no restriction here based on gender, age or life station. The Spirit isn't subject to human control and all believers are changed by the newness God gives. Those who dream, prophesy and envision are the ones who are torn loose from what is old for the sake of the newness that God now gives. Peter affirms that Joel's prophecy is fulfilled in that one event!
And what are the results of the Spirit's arrival for Jesus' followers? Well, those 120 people who have been fearful and praying are now fearless and praising! They baptize 3000 of the onlookers that day. Experiencing the power of God is life changing - both then and now.
Questions for us: do we believe in a God of power like the one made real at Pentecost? Do we believe in a God who can transform us as individuals and as a church or do we believe God doesn't make such changes today?
The people of Bible times were most concerned with the present! They remembered the past but didn't live there. Time wasn't a spiral or a timeline to them. Time belonged to God, and God changed time at Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means that the time of God's promise (a future time) is brought to fulfillment or made present. In the Last Days we live under the claim of God. Pentecost is the fulfillment of past promises and a taste of the end of time brought to the present.
God isn't static and our spiritual life shouldn't be static either. God has the power to transform us but we must want transformation. God won't zap us unless we want to be zapped. God won't change us unless we want to be changed. If our spiritual life is to be dynamic, challenging and transforming, then perhaps we might try imagining the Holy Spirit not only as a gentle dove but also as a Kansas tornado that sent Dorothy and Toto to the Land of Oz. Then with that new mental picture, we can seek transformation.
What occurred at Pentecost was a mystery, but it was a mystery that resurrected hope in Jesus' followers. What God does in our lives is also mystery that brings us hope! Last Thursday someone asked me if I still believe that being a pastor is exciting and right for me. Without any hesitation, I answered, "Yes!" God's call on my life was mystery and my journey is laced with both mystery and reality! Mystery surrounds our spiritual lives. May we offer the Spirit of God - that Mystery - expression in our lives! I don't believe we will be sorry and who knows what might happen to us individually and as a church. Come Holy Spirit!
