Pentecost B Acts 2:1-21 May 31, 2009
Today, as you know is Pentecost Sunday.
Unbeknownst to a great many folks and I’m including Christians as well, Pentecost is the third most important day in the life of the Christian community. Most folks are aware of Christmas and Easter, but Pentecost is that third and often overlooked holy day. Unlike Christmas and Easter, with Pentecost there is no day off from work, or school holiday, and it is hard to find a decent “Happy Pentecost!” card. And why is this? On a day that ought to capture our imaginations and stir our emotions, why do we simply glance over look it and attempt to go about business as usual. I have an idea as to what prevents us from getting excited about this day, but I’ll get to that in a moment or two.
But first let’s set the stage and familiarize ourselves with this holy day and what it all means.
Let’s begin with the reminder that Pentecost was first and foremost a Jewish holiday, it is not something the Christian Church created. Along with Passover, and the Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost was one of the three major Jewish holidays that required every male within 20 miles of Jerusalem to gather in holy city for the festivities. The word Pentecost means “The Fiftieth” and it refers to the 50th day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. On this day two events are celebrated.
First, was the commemoration of Moses bringing the Law down from Mount Sinai to the people.
And secondly, it was an agricultural holiday with something of a stewardship flavor to it, in that farmers were to bring two loaves of barely were offered in gratitude for the ingathered harvest.
According to Jewish law, no one was to work on Pentecost and for that reason Jerusalem was packed with over a half-million people, many of whom were from neighboring countries.
As far as the followers of Jesus were concerned, well, they too were in Jerusalem because they were Jewish and they were following the routine and expectations of the day. They were also there because Jesus had told them to be there and they were to wait. So, as one commentator estimated, there were 120 followers of Jesus all gathered in an upper room, many of who were still pretty excited because they had actually seen the risen Christ. Besides being excited I would suspect they were also somewhat confused, anxious and still very fearful of the Jewish religious officials who were still tracking down known followers of Jesus.
So there they were, hanging out, waiting, wondering and no doubt crowded in that upper room.
But then the excitement began. Then came the Holy Spirit to shake things up, to make the mundane—miraculous and the routine—arousing! According Luke, the writer of Acts, it was an electrifying, life transforming experience. It was an event they would talk about for the rest of their lives. At Pentecost a ragged band of misfits were transformed into a disciplined cadre of spiritual storm troopers. Or as one pastors put it, they went from “wimps to warriors.”
On the day of Pentecost the sound of a violent wind suddenly filled their upper room and indeed the surrounding area. If you have ever been around one of our Midwestern tornados, you know how a violent wind can sound.
In Hebrew the word of wind and spirit is the same—“ruach”.That mighty wind of the Spirit blew from them the cobwebs of fear and uncertainty only to be followed by an inrushing breeze of confidence, faith and joy.
The disciples and all the followers of Jesus gathered that day had tongues of fire flickering above them. Three years earlier, John the Baptist had predicted, “One mightier than I is coming.
He will baptize you the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
The Bible has a number references to fire and in most cases it is used as a reminder that fire has a way of burning away the chaff, anything that is useless or cumbersome. Fire also refines and galvanizes. The hearts of the disciples were set on fire that day with the love of Christ and with a burning desire to tell the story of God’s amazing grace and love for all humanity.
And that’s what they did, starting with Peter, the same disciple who cowered and stammered when confronted by a servant girl when asked if he was one of Jesus followers—this same man was the first to step out into the crowded marketplace and preach the sermon of a lifetime, a sermon that inspired roughly 3000 to be baptized and join the company of believers.
And for this reason, many have considered Pentecost to be the birthday of the Christian Church.
Some have gone so far as to have birthday cakes prepared with lots of candles burning brightly to celebrate the day. And while that is a nice touch, I can’t help but think that it truly lacks the full zeal and passion of that day, and that brings me to my suspicion as to why we tend to down play and even overlook this day, we are afraid of it and what it might do to us if we really took it seriously. That is—if we allowed the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives and our congregations.
What I mean by that is this…when ever I encounter this story the thing that always stands out for me is the emphasis on transformation and change in the lives of those early followers of Jesus.
Because of the Holy Spirit descending upon them, their lives were never the same. The festival of Pentecost for those early Christians would no longer be a day of remembering what Moses did, or what the crops might have produced, instead, it would be about God’s transforming love for humanity, for Christ’s act of redemption and the presence of the Holy Spirit to inspire and enable and empower. And I’m afraid that if we too were to take Pentecost seriously it would no longer simply be a Sunday crammed in between Memorial Day weekend and high school graduations.
My suspicion is that we try to breeze by Pentecost each year because we do not like change; we are not really interested in being transformed. In other words, we like the way things are, even when the way things are sometimes is not all that great to begin with. We like living (and I use the word, “living” loosely) with the notion that we are in control—even though our lives might be out of control. And we get nervous anytime anyone starts talking about any kind of change—even when it might be for our own good or the common and greater good. For many of us, when we hear the word ‘change’ it means we might have to do things differently and the familiar status quo might get upset, and worse yet, we might have to give up something we cherish or maybe worse yet, roll up our sleeves and pitch in more than we are accustomed to doing.
Mark Twain once said, “The only one who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper.”
And it’s true. The other night at the Baccalaureate service we changed the seating around in a way that was different from the way it had been. It was amazing to see the looks of confusion and even some scowling as people walked in and they recognized that something had changed.
Granted, once they got through the service, many were actually pleased with the change.
But that’s just a minor change. Let’s imagine for a moment something of greater significance.
Imagine, in the spirit of Peter’s sermon and the reference to young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams…imagine what it might look like if people prayerfully considered the stories and actions of Jesus as told in the Gospels.
Imagine what our lives might look like if we were intentional about loving our neighbors, but first, imagine what it might mean for our own lives if we were able to love ourselves in the same way that Jesus loves us? Maybe if we truly believed that God could and does love us, we might not be so antagonistic toward those we consider strangers and those who might occasionally disagree with us.
Imagine what our lives might look like if we took Jesus teachings on forgiveness to heart—and we were to start by forgiving ourselves for all the things we have been beating ourselves up over.
Maybe then we might be able to forgive those individuals who are in need of our forgiveness, and we might allow God’s spirit to cut out that cancerous un-forgiven act that is slowly killing us and allow God’s grace to bring us healing and wholeness.
Imagine what our lives might look like if we moved from talking about believing in God and actually started trusting God, that is, trusting that God really does cares for us and wants the best for us and trusting in God’s promise to walk with us through thick and thin. Trusting that God will provide—maybe not all the toys that we think we want, but with those intangible things that we truly need.
Imagine what might happen if we allowed the Holy Spirit to transform our lives in such a way that we reflected the love and grace that Christ shared with all he encountered.
Imagine a community of faith where every one took time each day to read their Bibles, immersing themselves in the stories of our faith, becoming fluent in the language of our faith.
Imagine what might happen if daily prayer and weekly worship were the norm.
And imagine what might happen if we allowed Christ’s spirit of compassion to shine through our lives and we used our hands to perform Christ’s acts of mercy and healing in a broken and hurting world.
All of this and more is possible, trust me; it’s not merely a pastors wild-eyed dream or vision.
It is possible and more importantly, it is God’s will. But before any of that can happen—we have to let down our guard anytime someone talks about change, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to do that transformation thing, that thing where the Holy Spirit rubs off our rough edges, re-shapes us and burns off the chaff and refines us so that we might greater reflect the one in whose image were created.
Yes, it might be a bit scary at first. And yes, folks might wonder what has come over you recently. Some might think your being weird; some might even think you’ve been drinking, as was the case with those early disciples. Others might wonder why you are so forgiving and gracious lately, but can that be so bad? Besides, it’s kind of fun to keep folks guessing!
So here is my charge to you today, I say charge, because I suspect there are going to be whole bunch of folks addressing graduates today and many will make a point to give them a charge, a challenge. So here is my charge to you in the coming week.
Begin each morning with a word of prayer, if you don’t do so already. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in the course of the day, to help you reflect the love of Christ. Pray for those you need to forgive, and we all have that ‘blacklist’ of folks who we need to forgive. Like wise, pray that you might have the courage to ask for forgiveness, I say that because I suspect each one of us is also on someone else’s ‘blacklist’ for the crummy and hurtful things we have done intentionally and unintentionally.
Then, carve out some time to read your Bible. Take the Celebrate insert home, read it daily; look up the readings for next Sunday, read those as well. Consider the readings in your bulletin under the banner, Opening the Book of Faith. Or, just start by reading the entire book of Mark and then continue reading the remaining three gospels. Immerse yourself in God’s story. Let it become your story.
And then, keep your eyes open in the course of the week; watch out for those folks who could use a gesture of grace, some compassion, and a listening ear. Provide one of those random acts of kindness. If the opportunity arises and the Spirit is nudging, in your own words, in a language that comes natural to you, share your faith, tell them about God’s amazing grace and love and what that has meant in your life. Keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep it short. Maybe even consider inviting them to worship and then offer to pick them up.
So there you go, allow the Holy Spirit do it’s thing—guiding you and transforming you, allow God’s grace to shine through you, and may the love and compassion of Jesus Christ be the model for your daily life. That’s not so scary and who knows maybe next year we’ll have a huge blow out Pentecost party and we can invite all our neighbors and friends and we’ll be the talk of the town. Who knows what might happen if we allow the Holy Spirit do what the Holy Spirit does best! Amen
Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran Church
Milaca, MN
www.ZionMilaca.org
(Sermon Archive)
