June 8, 2014
Power of Pentecost
- Acts 2:1-21
- Dr. Teri Thomas
A bunch of folks packed into a room.
It is crowded, but then all of Jerusalem is crowed for the harvest festival
that took place 50 days after Passover.
So the disciples, all of them
and other men and women who had been following Jesus
they were there for worship.
They came together for fellowship and for prayer
and to try to understand what the last three years had meant.
They had been following Jesus, learning from his teachings
wondering at his miracles and powers
They had placed their hope in his promises.
But he was killed
they saw it with their own eyes.
And then they saw him again - the same Jesus - but different
and he had promised more
a comforter
a spirit
a presence to stay with them
So they were gathered in that room trying to make sense of that.
But all of a sudden, a violent rush of wind bursts into the room
and flames descend upon the heads of the disciples!
And flames.
Like tongues of fire above them.
Like tongues of fire inside of them.
Flames fell upon them with all the beauty and terror that fire creates.
And they felt the power of God inside of them,
and they rushed out of that building into the streets.
Quickly a crowd gathers.
People are amazed at the excitement
the emotion
the flames
Everyone is talking at once and amazingly everyone can understand.
no matter their language
everyone- regardless of who they are or where they come from
they can understand and the message is powerful
“What does this mean?” some wonder.
Others denounce them as a bunch of drunks.
Peter stands before the crowd
assuring them the disciples have not been drinking.
He tells them it is the Spirit.
The Spirit sent by the risen Christ.
He reminds them of the words of the prophet Joel,
"In those days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy."
Do we ever ask our sons and our daughters to prophesy here in this church,
or do we only expect them to sit in the balcony and listen to us?
And the prophet goes on
Your elders will see visions, and your youth will dream dreams.
Some of our youth are not sure they want us to know what they are dreaming.
There's still more, says the prophet.
Even on my slaves, both women and men,
I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy.
And we gather here today.
Together in this room
Those who follow Jesus and those who are curious.
Those convinced he rose from the dead and those just waiting to see what happens next.
And we remember that day in Jerusalem and we pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit –
a Pentecost right here in our midst!
Wind
fire
spirit
speech
surely whatever happened to them can happen to us
But that’s impossible, right?
Rushing winds and howling storms
and spontaneously learning to speak different languages –
the whole bit – that just doesn’t happen anymore, right?
Well maybe it doesn’t happen anymore.
But that’s not the question Pentecost dares us to ask.
The question Pentecost challanges us to ask is, Could it happen?
Could a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit happen?
If we allow ourselves to imagine
what a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit might look like today,
we may be surprised at what we find.
Maybe a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit
causes us to approach a long-severed relationship with a loved one with new hope and fresh patience.
Perhaps a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit nudges us to commit to a ministry –
either here at the church or in the community.
Or it could be that a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit
draws us into a deeper, stronger, more life-giving relationship with God.
Whenever we find the foundations shaking in our lives, turn to the Spirit
We may discover it is the Spirit shaking them.
The Day of Pentecost calls us to keep watch –
to imagine what a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit might look like in our own lives.
If we allow ourselves to imagine something new,
something fresh, something holy, then anything is possible.
God promises,
not that the Holy Spirit was poured out a long, long time ago;
not that the Holy Spirit might be poured out a little bit, here and there, on a chosen few;
but that the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh.
And listen to how this chapter of Acts ends.
"All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their possessions and goods
and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,
they broke bread at home and ate their food
with glad and generous hearts."
Now, these aren't the verses people are likely to quote
when they talk about taking the Bible literally.
But it is a description of a church that recognizes the spirit in its midst.
a church that will reach out to people of every language and tongue.
a church that will call young and old, women and men to prophesy.
a church that will preach and baptize,
a church that shares all that it is and all that it has with others
On Pentecost the Twelve go from a defeated, sorry lot of losers
to those who tilted the world on its axis.
The Spirit can transform the fearful into fearless proclaimers of the word.
It takes a persecuted minority and forms a welcoming community of faith.
It stretches horizons from the city limits of our home to the end of the earth.
Pentecost reminds us that we have a big God
with a big word
that can do big things.
Pentecost says this:
if we only recognize the Spirit in our midst
if we will acknowledge its capability
we will be the church Jesus dreams about –
one that is on fire,
that speaks all people,
one that is a hurricane reshaping the world by its power and might.
Thanks be to God for the power of the Spirit.
Resources:
When Pentecost Ends Too Soon, The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY.
Day of Pentecost, The Rev. Marshall A. Jolly, Grace Episcopal Church in Florence, Ky.