When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ Acts 2
“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. ”― Annie Dillard
This is one of my favorite quotes. Do we have any concept of the power of the God we call upon each Sunday morning?
Actually, as I thought about this quote coupled with the Pentecost reading I began wondering if perhaps we do in fact have a sense of the power of this God. And perhaps that is why so many Lutherans, and others of course, sit in the back of the church. Thinking it safer in case God might show up. Which of course would be in the front by the altar. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.
Think about that scene on the day of Pentecost, the day God changed the lives of everyone there. The day we label the birthday of the church! It was pure chaos. It was confusing. It was mayhem.
Fire and wind and loud noises and languages of all kinds. Holy Cow! If that happened here, who would hang around to see how it ended? We would probably all be out of here! Including me.
The church was not initiated into this world for boring, repetitive prayers. It was brought in with the energy of the Big Bang itself. Being ordained as a new beginning. A new creation. A new way of meeting and worshipping God.
And we may in fact be correct to say that it is safer in the back of the church, nearest the door. Perhaps back there our lives won’t be touched by the power of God. Perhaps back there we won’t need to change.
And yet, this is the church that God set into motion on Pentecost morning. One of power. One of communication. One of inclusion.
The love of God would be proclaimed and offered to all people. No matter their color, their race, their language, their culture, their gender, their social status. All sinners offered that love, that opportunity to receive it.
In this single moment God reverses the communication barriers of the Tower of Babel. Not by making everyone speak the same language but by empowering the messengers to speak the language of the other. Empowering them to step into the proverbial shoes of the other.
Today’s technology allows us many ways to get around the language barriers. But that is merely the mechanics of what God set into motion.
The prophet Joel made a point of saying that we would all be of one Spirit. We would be, as Jesus said, “One, as the Father and I are one.” That sounds so lovely. But think how that plays out.
We hurt when injustice hurts another. We weep with the mothers of the children killed and starved in the midst of war. We cry out for peace and equality for all people, because they and we are one.
Imagine the power that would be found in that unity. The power of God. The power of love.
And ultimately, that is the breaking of the language barrier God would put into place. That is the transformation that God’s Big Bang on Pentecost morning ignited. The language of love. Loving one another no matter what. And even as I preach this, I feel conviction. For we are called to even love the one that drives the nails into our hands.
That is hard! And that is why we need the craziness of the Holy Spirit to take over our church services, our lives. Because without the Holy Spirit, sent in power, we can’t do it.
On Pentecost morning God birthed the church. Not so that we could be the same way we have always been, but so that we could burst forth in power to love the world.
What does that look like? Well, we must come together in one accord to listen.
I love looking up some of the words in the original Greek to find deeper meaning. Luke writes they were together with one mind, with one accord, with one passion. Strong’s dictionary says that phrase comes from
A unique Greek word, that helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to "rush along" and "in unison". The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ's church.
Folks, we must huddle together, not remain dispersed in our comfortable places, to become the power filled church of Pentecost. We must be of one passion, one mind. The mind of Christ, not the mind of the world.
Happy Birthday dear Church. May we be all we can be to the glory of God!
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