"Purpose, Power and Passion"
Sermon Presented June 4, 2006
Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost Sunday
One frigid morning when I was living in Marysville, KS a dirty and cold man appeared at my door seeking help. He spoke a couple of English words that I recognized - "train" and "mission" but Spanish was his language. He was a transient who had disembarked from a boxcar of one of the 90 Union Pacific trains that came through Marysville each day. I believed him to be an undocumented Mexican immigrant and didn't want to send him to the Sheriff's office where the vouchers provided by the Ministerial Alliance were distributed, because he obviously had no Social Security number as required. And besides, the language barrier made it impossible for me to direct him any place.
I guessed that he needed food, and invited him into the parsonage while I called the woman who ran the food pantry. The man was carrying nothing, so prepared food would be in order. She told me to inform someone at the grocery store across the highway that The Pantry would pay for a meal. I then tried to point him toward the grocery store, but he couldn't understand my directions. Finally I grabbed a coat and accompanied him across the highway to the store and the deli counter. All the while, the man looked baffled and not sure what was happening. It wasn't until later that the word "mission" returned to my mind and I discerned that he probably had needed a place to sleep and refresh himself. I'm sure that he was more frustrated than I.
It's difficult enough to communicate with those in our homes, churches, businesses, schools and neighborhoods, let alone trying to communicate with people who speak a different language. When I travel to foreign countries, I assume there will be someone present who speaks English, and I've always been fortunate to find a taxi driver who wants to practice his English or a waitress who is hired because she speaks English.
In our text this morning, we find the dissolution of a major language barrier. Non-Hebrew speaking visitors in Jerusalem are excited because they hear Jesus' followers speaking their own native language. Hear the story from Acts 2:1-21. (Read text.)
Pentecost Sunday was the second most celebrated Christian holy day in the early church - second only to Easter. At that significant Pentecost Festival almost 2000 years ago, God's power came to a struggling band of Christians through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the budding Christian church received power, purpose and passion. Christians who had been hiding behind locked doors burst into the streets proclaiming the awesome power of God in languages they didn't know, but their audience did.
Pentecost began as a Jewish celebration. For centuries, the Jews had celebrated the Feast of Pentecost (or the Feast of Booths) fifty days after Passover. It began as a harvest festival but by the time of Jesus it was the occasion to celebrate the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Pentecost celebrated God's provision for the people as they wandered in the wilderness, and pious Jews came to Jerusalem from all the nations of the known world for this yearly time of celebration.
It is now fifty days after Jesus' death and resurrection, and his followers are praying. Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. Matthias has been chosen to take the place of Judas. In answer to weeks of prayer, a strange sound brings the locals and foreign visitors into the streets. They follow the sound as people in small towns today follow sirens. When they arrive at the place where Jesus' followers are gathered, they not only hear the sounds of a violent wind and Christians speaking the message of God's glory in the native languages of those who have gathered, they also see a vision of what looks like flames dancing on the heads of each Christian present. The Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to witness to the mighty acts of God in unfamiliar languages, and makes genuine communication possible.
On the last day of the Festival of Pentecost, a year or two earlier, Jesus promised his listeners living water that would flow from the inner most part of their being. He made this offer to all who were thirsty - those who wanted more of God. This offer wasn't just for those recipients mentioned in our text this morning, but it is for all who seek more of God. People who have a deep thirst for an authentic encounter with God to a greater degree, find that it's available through the power of the Holy Spirit. People can encounter God when we are willing to share our own personal experiences of God with others. The language of our experience is more intelligible than reading biblical texts.
People who are spiritually thirsty don't want to hear theological dissertations about the nature of God. Instead we want to experience God - to have God's love flowing through us, and this is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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 of water too full, the liquid spills over. When too much water flows into rivers and streams, there is a flood. When we are so full of God's Spirit that the Spirit overflows, there is enough for us and for others as well.
Some people believe that the proof of having the Holy Spirit is that you speak in tongues or manifest other spiritual gifts. No, the proof of the Holy Spirit in your life is the love that flows from your heart. Love is essential to the message.
But not everyone in that Pentecost audience was positively impressed with what they heard and saw. When they looked for an explanation, public drunkenness was a logical reason for what they witnessed. Because of the questions, accusations and misunderstandings, Peter spoke for the group as he tried to make sense of the phenomena. The same Holy Spirit, who made speech in various languages possible, also enabled Peter to understand what was happening and to offer an explanation.
Peter stands before the crowd with Time Magazine in
one hand and the Hebrew Scriptures in the other. His first statement
refutes the accusations of drunkenness and then he explains the present
situation in light of a past prophecy. He doesn't whip out his pocket
Hebrew testament, but quotes scripture he has memorized. However, if
you check out the Joel text, it begins "After these things"
instead of "In the last days." Peter regards this occasion
as the inauguration of a new era where God's salvation is near. He begins
with what is happening now and then goes back to the prophets for an
explanation. The prophet Joel gives Peter a framework for what is happening.
Peter's words cause both the curious and the skeptics to reflect on
the events. But his message clearly goes counter to their beliefs because
it includes all people as recipients of God's power and of God's Spirit.
All flesh - sons and daughters, young and old, slave and free, poor
and wealthy - are included! That's good news! It's an inclusive message
offered to all.
We don't often recognize what God is doing in us and for us at the time it is occurring, and the people gathered in Jerusalem for that Pentecost festival didn't have full comprehension either. The people of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and had it not been for Moses, they would have gladly returned to slavery in Egypt rather than to feel the pain they were experiencing. It wasn't until they made their home in the Promised Land that they recognized God's provision and leadership while in the wilderness. It was hindsight that showed them God's presence.
Doesn't this sound familiar? After we have endured our wilderness experiences we see that God was present with us in our pain and used the time to draw us closer to God in new understanding. But that understanding wasn't within our field of vision when we were experiencing it. The messages spoken by Joel and Peter received greater illumination over time. We continue to experience new understandings of God's Spirit as we live our life in Christ.
Today this text will be preached in hundreds of Milwaukee area churches, and each minister or priest who preaches it will relate it a little differently and each person who hears the sermon will experience something different. Illustrations will differ, perspectives will differ, congregations will differ, preparation by both clergy and parishioners will differ, and what you hear will be different from that of the person sitting next to you.
However, God's message preached in our text is that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's good news! The message is that each of us has the same power available to us; young and old, male and female, slave and free, poor and wealthy. The message, the power, and the passion are ours for the taking.
But the power really comes as we proclaim the message. Jesus' followers ran from their hiding place into the streets and proclaimed the good news. Power and passion are exhibited when we share the love of Christ with others and when we receive the love of Christ from others. Recently, Wilanna was inspired with the slogan: Roundy is where the people take it. That statement was printed twice in your summer Reporter. With the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we must take the love of God outside of these walls into Laurel Oaks, Mequon, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, Milwaukee, and each place where we serve God and others. The call is ours and the passion and direction needed to proclaim the call is available through the Spirit who filled the Christians at Pentecost and fills us today. Where will Roundy Church come alive today and tomorrow and next week? That depends on your openness to the Holy Spirit in your life.
