What a day it must have been. Pentecost was a Jewish celebration which occurred 50 days or approximately 7 weeks after the Passover. It was the time for Jews from around the world to descend upon Jerusalem for one of the great Pilgrimage festivals of the year. But this Pentecost was like no other.
Luke’s account in Acts tells us the details of this momentous day. A sound like a rushing wind came from heaven and filled the entire house where the Apostles were sitting. Divided tongues of fire appeared among them and a tongue rested on each of them. Each apostle began speaking in languages that t were not their own. It was a day of confusion and for some fear. But for us Christians today it was a momentous occasion. The Holy Spirit had come upon us.
This should not have come as a surprise to them or any members of the Christian community, In our gospel reading this morning Jesus told his disciples exactly what would happen. In this case Christ referred to the Holy Spirit as the advocate would testify on his behalf and be always the spirit of truth, guiding the disciples and speaking the truth that came directly from God the Father.
Pastor Charles Henrickson makes a good point in saying that this momentous Pentecost in fact followed one of the most unusual Passovers in Jewish History. Right before that Passover Jesus of Nazareth had gotten the crowds all riled up. The Jewish leaders had brought Him before Pontius Pilate to be tried and executed only to rise from the dead three days later.
Speaking in tongues is mentioned in Acts 2 and sometimes what this means is a subject for debate amongst Christians. There are those who believe that speaking in tongues involves receiving the gift of a strange language that may sound like gibberish to others. However here Luke makes it clear that this is not what he refers to as speaking in Tongues. The disciples were able to speak in languages they did not know before but languages understood by others. There was no gibberish here. Language was understood by all and perhaps Christians for the first time were not divided by language. For indeed Christ’s message was not intended only for the Jews but for all men. Unfortunately the movement to reach people in their own language did not last once the Christian church became unified and organized under the Romans. Translating the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek other than to Latin was discouraged until after the end of the Middle Ages. As Lutherans it is interesting to note that Martin Luther in 1521 translated the New Testament from Greek and Hebrew into to German.
What is interesting about the Acts account was the response the disciples received when they began speaking in the home language of the assembled Jews. No one was listening. Perhaps for the first time the disciples might have sensed the frustration Jesus felt in his final hours on earth. He had so many important things to tell them but they fell asleep. People rejected what the disciples were saying. “They must be drunk” was a reaction. Even though it was only 9:00 o’clock in the morning and the disciples gave no indication whatsoever that they were intoxicated. They weren’t falling down, vomiting or speaking with slurred speech. It makes you wonder what it takes for God to get through to us humans. A strong wind, tongues of fire floating around and the people weren’t impressed . How often have I heard it said by people with wavering faith they would believe if God would create some great miracle to prove He exists. Can we blame God for not wanting to go this route? He tried it before and it didn’t work. It shows how fickle we are in our faith. How blind too--we’d rather turn away and not listen or hear – especially if the message is one that we aren’t especially enthused about hearing. Was this a reason why those at this special Pentecost were so quick to dismiss what they heard as just a bunch of babbling?
A sermon I found on the Internet puts this whole thing into a Biblical perspective. Remember in Exodus, how God fed the Jews manna in the wilderness. Did they appreciate this and remain thankful that God had been so steadfast with them? No they bellyached and complained. We are much the same today. When things are good we grumble that we could be better off and aren’t thankful for what we have. We want a better house, a better car or maybe a better job that pays more money. The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill. We are so fortunate to have a heavenly Father who is slow to anger quick to forgive. It is far more than we all deserve.
Pentecost is important because it was the beginning of the church as we know it today. Christ was gone from earth but God had sent the Holy Spirit to guide and nurture his flock. All Christians have been blessed with this gift that we sometimes ignore or don’t look deeply enough into ourselves to see that we possess it.
In1988 I began attending St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. I hadn’t been to church for over ten years and a parent volunteer who helped my wife at McIsaac School suggested we check out St. Andrew’s. The pulpit was vacant at the time, similar to the situation we face in our church today. I had been attending services about a month when asked to do the sermon. I had never preached a sermon before then and prayed for God to guide me as I searched for a theme and tried to find the appropriate words. Once I began writing the words flew on to my computer. I felt that the Holy Spirit had somehow touched my mind and the words came easy. I felt humbled and wondered how the disciples felt on that day of Pentecost. They who had been frequently inattentive during the time Christ lived amongst them and tried hard to explain things to them. Now their mouths were filled with thoughts and ideas they didn’t even know they possessed. A tradition in the Presbyterian Church is to say a prayer after the sermon. I never prepared these just closed my eyes and asked God to put the appropriate words in my mouth. He never failed me.
This is not to suggest for a moment that I have unique gifts or an in with the Holy Spirit. A vacancy such as our church is now enduring gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to shine forth in all of us. I see many congregation members leading worship, using their gifts of hospitality to make others feel welcome. I arrived in this church as a stranger but was immediately made to feel welcome. Everyone made me feel that I was wanted. One congregation member said “we need you,” and that was so wonderful. Because we all want to feel wanted and needed. Others of you have a gift of organization, and yet others work well with our children. A time of vacancy in a congregation allows all of us to draw on the Holy Spirit for strength and assistance in keeping our church going.
My observation is that First United Lutheran is full of the Holy Spirit. My prayer for all of you is that you will not feel frustrated or discouraged or give up. Ever since the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit has been with us and it is a tremendous resource to draw upon. Keep asking for that help. God will not disappoint you.
