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| Mexican Pentecost Icon (Public Domain) |
and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Sermon: Today’s message really began on Easter Sunday … when the Risen Christ made his first appearance and then began to move among his followers, appearing and disappearing until finally, appearing one last time before ascending into “heaven,” Jesus made them a promise and gave them a purpose.
In Acts 1:4 & 8, Jesus said … “Stay in Jerusalem …. you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (that’s the promise) and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (that’s the purpose)
Today’s reading from Acts 2 … records the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus made and marks the beginning of the fulfillment of the purpose that Jesus gave them!
Listen to the first 4 verses of that passage again … When the day of Pentecost had come, the Jesus followers were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire appeared among them, and rested upon them.
Each of those present were filled with the Holy Spirit … there’s the promise! They began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability … there’s the purpose!
When the day of Pentecost had come … Pentecost is the Greek word for “fifty” and that is why we celebrate Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter Sunday. But Pentecost is not just a day for Christians. As the followers of Jesus gathered together on that day in Jerusalem, the Jewish community, of which there were still a part … was there were in the midst of celebrating Shauvot, the Feast of Weeks, and the town was overflowing with people from all over the land who were required to make that pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
As the followers of Jesus gathered together on that day, one of the most holy days of Jewish history, they were celebrating the “sending of the Torah, the Law of Moses” to the Israelites gathered together at Mount Sinai It is a custom of Shauvot to stay up all night reading and studying the Torah … Can you just imagine those followers of Jesus pouring over the book Exodus … Can you just imagine them reading verse 24:17 … the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
When … suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire appeared among them, and rested upon them … Each of those present were filled with the Holy Spirit … there’s the promise!
So let’s talk about this promise … Who is the Holy Spirit? What do you know about the Holy Spirit? Just like Jesus is God, Spirit is God. Spirit is the third person of the Trinity … In traditional Trinitarian language we pray in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
With contemporary Trinitarian images that emerge from the book of Genesis, we might say God the Creator, Word, and Spirit. In Genesis 1:2 the translated text says, “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a “wind” from God swept over the face of the waters.” In this text, Wind, is translated from the Hebrew word, ruwach {roo'-akh} which means breath … So … Just like Jesus, the Word of God was, in the beginning … Spirit, the breath of God was, in the beginning as well.
The Scriptural images most often associated with the Spirit are fire and wind … both of which we find in today’s reading. The image of Wind, pnoe (no-ay) and the Spirit, pneuma (noo-ma) both emerge from the same Greek root word, pneu (noo) meaning a dynamic movement of air such as breathing in and breathing out. Jesus promised that we will be filled with the Spirit of God … So, as we breathe in and breathe out, God is just that close to us!
Can you imagine what it means to know that God is as close to you as your very own breath?
God is so close … Paul says, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, (that’s the promise) and that you are not your own? (our purpose comes from God)
Breathing in (the promise) results in … Breathing out (the purpose)
Breathing in (the Spirit) results in … Breathing out (your Witness)
Breathing in (the Spirit) is about who we are in our inner being … Who am I? So when we are breathing in the Spirit, we are living and being guided by the Spirit … slowly our inner being begins to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit as Paul writes to the Galatians. Do you remember the fruit of the Spirit … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Remember the balloon … what you see indicates what is inside … If these fruit are evident on the outside, we know the Spirit resides on the inside!
Breathing out (the witness) is about what we do in the outside world. What is my purpose in life? Paul says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good … and that our spiritual gifts are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”
Do you remember what is included in the various lists of spiritual gifts … faith, wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, tongues, interpreting tongues, administration, helping, hospitality, exhortation … Although the gifts of the Spirit are primarily given to build up the body of Christ, we can see in the book of Acts that it is not only the spoken word that gives witness to Christ … the Communal life itself gives witness to the Risen Christ.
As the book of Acts continues to unfold, we find the Jesus followers breathing in the Spirit and breathing out their witness on every page we turn.
This is the natural rhythm of a healthy and vibrant spiritual life. Try to breathe only in OR to breathe only out. It’s impossible. You can’t do it. When we develop minor “breathing problems” our spiritual rhythm gets out of sync and we begin to struggle a little bit in our spiritual life. This kind of struggle is a natural part of the spiritual growth process. Because it is a growth process … you will find yourself coming out of those times of struggle stronger and more steady in your breathing and your living … until your next growth spurt comes along.
I hit one of those growth spurts at some point last year … I was moving along doing pretty well I thought and then I ran into Margaret Hafer in the grocery store. If you didn’t know Margaret Hafer, let me just tell you that she had the spiritual gift of hospitality. Margaret was able to give you her complete and undivided attention at any given moment and that you were the only person in the world … she made me feel valued. One day I went to Randall’s at Memorial and Dairy Ashford … I never go to Randall’s … that’s the only time I’ve ever been there … I think I saw some of you there that day, it was freaky. Anyway, Margaret said something to me that helped me to see something about my spiritual life that called me into a bit of spiritual struggle. Her husband, Jim, was not doing well … and she said, “O Cindy, I know how busy you are but if you could possibly spare a prayer for Jim and me, I would be so very grateful.” As I walked out of Randall’s that day … I said with a lot of sadness in my heart, “O God, if I am too busy to pray for Margaret Hafer … I am too busy!” Now let me just say that this is nothing new for me … All of us will have certain struggles that God uses to bring us knowledge and growth. Our spiritual struggles are only a problem if we get stuck in our struggles and can’t move past them …
All of the things I’ve said about the individual spiritual life can be applied to our communal spiritual life as well. As we think about our church community, let the image of Acts 2: 42-47 encourage and challenge us …
The Jesus followers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers ... Wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 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, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people …
Breathing in (the Spirit) THAT’S THE PROMISE …
Breathing out (their Witness) THAT’S THE PURPOSE …
day by day
(the text says)
the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Amen and Amen!
In Acts 1:4 & 8, Jesus said … “Stay in Jerusalem …. you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (that’s the promise) and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (that’s the purpose)
Today’s reading from Acts 2 … records the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus made and marks the beginning of the fulfillment of the purpose that Jesus gave them!
Listen to the first 4 verses of that passage again … When the day of Pentecost had come, the Jesus followers were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire appeared among them, and rested upon them.
Each of those present were filled with the Holy Spirit … there’s the promise! They began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability … there’s the purpose!
When the day of Pentecost had come … Pentecost is the Greek word for “fifty” and that is why we celebrate Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter Sunday. But Pentecost is not just a day for Christians. As the followers of Jesus gathered together on that day in Jerusalem, the Jewish community, of which there were still a part … was there were in the midst of celebrating Shauvot, the Feast of Weeks, and the town was overflowing with people from all over the land who were required to make that pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
As the followers of Jesus gathered together on that day, one of the most holy days of Jewish history, they were celebrating the “sending of the Torah, the Law of Moses” to the Israelites gathered together at Mount Sinai It is a custom of Shauvot to stay up all night reading and studying the Torah … Can you just imagine those followers of Jesus pouring over the book Exodus … Can you just imagine them reading verse 24:17 … the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
When … suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire appeared among them, and rested upon them … Each of those present were filled with the Holy Spirit … there’s the promise!
So let’s talk about this promise … Who is the Holy Spirit? What do you know about the Holy Spirit? Just like Jesus is God, Spirit is God. Spirit is the third person of the Trinity … In traditional Trinitarian language we pray in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
With contemporary Trinitarian images that emerge from the book of Genesis, we might say God the Creator, Word, and Spirit. In Genesis 1:2 the translated text says, “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a “wind” from God swept over the face of the waters.” In this text, Wind, is translated from the Hebrew word, ruwach {roo'-akh} which means breath … So … Just like Jesus, the Word of God was, in the beginning … Spirit, the breath of God was, in the beginning as well.
The Scriptural images most often associated with the Spirit are fire and wind … both of which we find in today’s reading. The image of Wind, pnoe (no-ay) and the Spirit, pneuma (noo-ma) both emerge from the same Greek root word, pneu (noo) meaning a dynamic movement of air such as breathing in and breathing out. Jesus promised that we will be filled with the Spirit of God … So, as we breathe in and breathe out, God is just that close to us!
Can you imagine what it means to know that God is as close to you as your very own breath?
God is so close … Paul says, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, (that’s the promise) and that you are not your own? (our purpose comes from God)
Breathing in (the promise) results in … Breathing out (the purpose)
Breathing in (the Spirit) results in … Breathing out (your Witness)
Breathing in (the Spirit) is about who we are in our inner being … Who am I? So when we are breathing in the Spirit, we are living and being guided by the Spirit … slowly our inner being begins to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit as Paul writes to the Galatians. Do you remember the fruit of the Spirit … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Remember the balloon … what you see indicates what is inside … If these fruit are evident on the outside, we know the Spirit resides on the inside!
Breathing out (the witness) is about what we do in the outside world. What is my purpose in life? Paul says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good … and that our spiritual gifts are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”
Do you remember what is included in the various lists of spiritual gifts … faith, wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, tongues, interpreting tongues, administration, helping, hospitality, exhortation … Although the gifts of the Spirit are primarily given to build up the body of Christ, we can see in the book of Acts that it is not only the spoken word that gives witness to Christ … the Communal life itself gives witness to the Risen Christ.
As the book of Acts continues to unfold, we find the Jesus followers breathing in the Spirit and breathing out their witness on every page we turn.
This is the natural rhythm of a healthy and vibrant spiritual life. Try to breathe only in OR to breathe only out. It’s impossible. You can’t do it. When we develop minor “breathing problems” our spiritual rhythm gets out of sync and we begin to struggle a little bit in our spiritual life. This kind of struggle is a natural part of the spiritual growth process. Because it is a growth process … you will find yourself coming out of those times of struggle stronger and more steady in your breathing and your living … until your next growth spurt comes along.
I hit one of those growth spurts at some point last year … I was moving along doing pretty well I thought and then I ran into Margaret Hafer in the grocery store. If you didn’t know Margaret Hafer, let me just tell you that she had the spiritual gift of hospitality. Margaret was able to give you her complete and undivided attention at any given moment and that you were the only person in the world … she made me feel valued. One day I went to Randall’s at Memorial and Dairy Ashford … I never go to Randall’s … that’s the only time I’ve ever been there … I think I saw some of you there that day, it was freaky. Anyway, Margaret said something to me that helped me to see something about my spiritual life that called me into a bit of spiritual struggle. Her husband, Jim, was not doing well … and she said, “O Cindy, I know how busy you are but if you could possibly spare a prayer for Jim and me, I would be so very grateful.” As I walked out of Randall’s that day … I said with a lot of sadness in my heart, “O God, if I am too busy to pray for Margaret Hafer … I am too busy!” Now let me just say that this is nothing new for me … All of us will have certain struggles that God uses to bring us knowledge and growth. Our spiritual struggles are only a problem if we get stuck in our struggles and can’t move past them …
All of the things I’ve said about the individual spiritual life can be applied to our communal spiritual life as well. As we think about our church community, let the image of Acts 2: 42-47 encourage and challenge us …
The Jesus followers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers ... Wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 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, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people …
Breathing in (the Spirit) THAT’S THE PROMISE …
Breathing out (their Witness) THAT’S THE PURPOSE …
day by day
(the text says)
the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Amen and Amen!
Praying: Let this prayer of St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) become your Prayer of Pentecost!
Take a deep breath and center all of your attention on God who is always with you and within you ...
Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy;
Draw my heart O Holy Spirit that I love but what is holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I always may be holy. Amen.
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