“Watch for it!”

(Acts 2:1-21)

  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every people 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 of 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, “Fellow Jews 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.”

First let’s take a moment and talk about the meaning of the word Pentecost.  It’s based on a Greek word that means 50^th.  Pentecost was a holy day for the Jews, still is. It’s called Shavuot, and it has to do to do with celebrating the harvest.  We Christians have adopted Pentecost.  We celebrate it approximately 50 days after Easter which is about 7 weeks.  For Jews it’s 50 days after Passover.

As you heard in today’s reading, Pentecost was the coming of the Holy Spirit.  We talk about the Holy Spirit more these days than I ever remember when I was a young person.  Then it was just something that turned up in creeds and, on occasion, in a scripture reading.

Another name for the Holy Spirit was the Holy Ghost, and, like a ghost, the idea of it was kind of spooky.  These days, I think, some of us seem to have more of a feel for how the Spirit may manifest itself in our lives.  The truth is that it is one way for us to understand the mystery of the Divine.  It is mentioned countless times in the Bible, not just in this passage in the Book of Acts.  Last week when Rev. Selby preached, you heard Jesus’ words from the first chapter of Acts, reassuring his friends, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”     

Now, we like to celebrate the Day of Pentecost.  We wear red when we remember to do so, and we light lots of candles and see lots of fiery colors.  We like to hear this odd story that you just heard read, about the disciples sitting around, feeling more than a little bit lost since their Lord and Savior came and went and then came again and then went again.  That is, he was crucified and resurrected, then he appeared to his disciples, and then, like you heard last week in the book of Acts, he ascended into heaven. 

So, Jesus’ followers were pretty devastated after he left, they were wondering what in the world they were going to do without him…

            …when suddenly there came that sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.  This coming of the Holy Spirit to folks became evident because of the tongues of flame above their heads AND the rush of the mighty wind. 

…The Church of Jesus Christ was born.  A community of faith was created on that day, and they were ultimately empowered to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the whole world. 

We know this new way that God was acting was supposed to reach everyone because the devout religious folks from all over the world heard people speaking in their own language on the Day of Pentecost.  It was amazing!  On that day diversity was celebrated!

            So that’s what we’re observing today, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church.

            But there’s something that we sometimes forget to celebrate about Pentecost.  The coming of the Holy Spirit is not something odd that just happened once a long time ago.  It’s not an old, dusty tradition that we pull off the shelf once a year.  There are plenty of occasions in scripture when we’re told that the Holy Spirit showed up.  When that Spirit was poured out, marvelous things happened and people turned to God. 

Baptism is a moment when we call on the Holy Spirit to accompany the water as we receive the sacrament.  Holy Spirit language is sprinkled throughout the baptismal liturgy.  At Jesus’ baptism we are told that, as he was coming out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove.  That is when the voice from heaven declared, “You are my Child, my Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”   

And then we hear about Paul’s conversion.  That was really something, how this hardcore fundamentalist Pharisee got struck down on the road, made blind for three days and then became the Pastor Paul who started churches all over the place.  And we hear about one of my favorites: Peter’s vision of the blanket coming down from heaven, full of all kinds of different animals, even those that good Jewish people were not allowed to eat.  Peter was hungry, and the voice from heaven said, “Peter, get up.  Kill and eat!  Clearly, at that point God was telling Peter to adopt a more diverse, more universal understanding of the faith.  Those are just some examples of other Pentecosts in the Bible.

            There are instances throughout Christian history when the love of Christ came alive for people.  We hear about the big events because they are the ones that get written about in the Bible, but imagine all the smaller events, the times when it happened to people like you and me.  And that’s the thing: Pentecost happens for us too, the times when we feel the Spirit working within us and maybe even through us, the times when we are taken by surprise and the times when we have worked for Christ, when we, unselfishly, have followed a vision for how things could be better.

… On June 20^th we’ll be observing the 50^th anniversary of the replacement of the steeple from the original church building of 1869.  Put this on your calendars.  1976 was the Bicentennial of our nation, and the fathers and mothers of this congregation in those days decided that we should put a steeple back onto that cupula.  It had been bare for so long.  Rev. Gene Benedict was very instrumental in making that happen as were the Reinharts, Sr. and a number of others, those in church and in our community, who gave money for this worthy cause.  Many of those have gone before us to be with God.  Imagine what a glorious sight that must have been!  A gift of the Holy Spirit.   

             It was a few years ago, I think, that you realized that this steeple had to come down and repair was a must.  I’m sure you wondered where in the world the money was going to come from to do that expensive work, but it happened.  With God’s help you pulled it off.  I see that as an example of the Holy Spirit working.  When the crane re-placed the spire on the top of the building, maybe that was a Pentecost moment once again. 

            Here are some smaller examples:

When you all realized the gift that our parking lot is and how we can share this joy, it was a game changer for our little church.  We have been able to do so many needed repairs here, but also we’ve been able help our brothers and sisters throughout the area with meals and programs that they might not be able to afford.

            Do you see how this works?  Aren’t you wondering when the next Pentecost will be?  It may be happening right now as we are a spiritual oasis for folks in our region who are looking for a small church that is welcoming to all people.  Or you may have the opportunity to carry the message of Christ’s love when you are out in the world having a conversation.  You may get a chance to witness or someone may witness to you, and you may find that there is a rebirth, or even a birth of someone’s faith, yours or someone else’s.

            Remember that we are not alone in this.  We don’t have to move heaven and earth by ourselves.  The Spirit is with us.  If you are hungry for a spiritual life, look around for someone who has the kind of faith that you want and engage them in conversation.  We all long for this sort of connection.  Believe me! 

What we’re talking about is Pentecost.  It’s not only a crazy old story.  Rather, it’s a story about Christ’s continuing presence in our world and in our lives.  It’s a story about faith in God, then and now, believing that the impossible can happen, and then seeing it before our very eyes.  It’s a story about how we were lost and drowning and got found, grabbed and given a new birth.  Or a story about how we were the hands and feet of Christ in our own lives.  This is Pentecost.  I wonder what God has in store for each of us and all of us next….