Acts 2:1-21
Intro
One of the wonderful things about how God works is that all people do the work of God. It’s not just left up to a select few. To put it very simply, the message that God would have us deliver to the world is articulated by the entirety of the community of faith. This is one of the important lessons that we pick up from Peter’s pronouncement of the prophet Joel on that first Pentecost, when the Spirit of God swept upon all those who were assembled and empowered them to not only come together as the church but to go out into the world and share the message of life that is found in the story of Jesus Christ.
For too long the modern church, at least in its mainline articulation and certainly in its Reformed persuasion, has acted as if the only place that God’s will is spoken is through those who have gone to seminary, acting as if as soon as you obtain a piece of paper and receive a laying on of hands that you are now able to disseminate the will of God in a way that all people will follow. While I have never been a proponent of this mentality, I am becoming more and more convinced that this thought process has actually limited the good work that could have been done through the church. What we hear in these words from Acts is that each of us, young and old, male and female, free and bound, each and everyone of us are empowered through the Holy Spirit to help build the Kingdom of God in the here and now. The scripture reads this way.
Acts 2:1-21
2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 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. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power." 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."14
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. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘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. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’"Yup, That Means You, and You, and You,…and You Too!"
When Christians think of the ‘big days’ on the Church calendar, the two celebrations that are thought of first and foremost, to no one’s surprise, are Christmas and Easter. Church sanctuaries fill up, special music is played, and everyone goes, "Oh, I love this day. It’s my favorite time of year."
Then there’s Pentecost. Pentecost is like the Flag Day of Christian celebrations. If you think I’m that far off, compare it to Independence Day. When is Independence Day? July 4th. Flag Day? The day that remembers the date when back in 1777 the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the format of the Stars and Stripes? Anyone?
If you were thinking June 14th then you are smarter than I because I had to look it up. Pentecost is such an afterthought that it doesn’t even show up on my biblically themed calendar that hangs in my office. Christmas and Easter are there. But Pentecost is nowhere to be found.
The reason that I’m doing a little rant is because I think the way that we have minimized Pentecost is reflected in the way that we live out our faith. During Christmas and Easter we are invited to observe whether it be the birth of the one we know as Savior, or the resurrection of that Savior as exhibited by the empty tomb. Christmas and Easter are about coming and taking a look at what has taken place. It’s like sitting up in the seats of a theater or a stadium watching the action as it takes place on the stage before us. Churches that live in this observer mode of religiosity become calcified in the traditions that have been handed down to them. Churches that live in this observer mentality are more concerned about maintaining and not about growing. Come take a look at what happens on Sunday mornings as our pastor and specifically appointed and accredited leaders show us what it means to live a life of faith and that will be enough.
Pentecost says it’s not enough. Pentecost tells us that we aren’t just observers. That we, through the movement of the Holy Spirit, are called to be active participants in what is taking place, to be down on the stage that is known as life. Pentecost says that we are to go out into the world and lead as God has empowered us to do, not just watch as life happens in front of us.
That’s exactly what we hear in Peter’s quoting of the Old Testament
Prophet, Joel. He says, "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." All flesh! Not just a select few, but all. Young and old, male and female, free and bound.
And this time has come! Peter is looking at how the Spirit is moving through the city of Jerusalem and he knows that the prophesy that he is recounting is upon them. It’s not something that is going to show up later. It was there! And if it was there then that means that we too are living in the time that is spoken of. We are living in that time when our sons and daughters will prophesy, when our young will see visions and our old will dream dreams. The Spirit of God has been poured out and we are called to speak to the world through how we live. That’s the sort of community of faith that we are supposed to be. Not one that sits up in the stands and watches but one that becomes part of the action.
But somewhere along the line our sinfulness got the best of us and we turned what was supposed to be an actively engaged faith into a passive observer based religion. The church went from being out on the stage of life (which is what we have on the first Pentecost as everyone begins to speak a different language as gifted to them through the Holy Spirit so that the message of Jesus Christ might be heard and understood by everyone who might be able to hear), to sitting up in the seats watching as the leaders of the church said what needed to be said (essentially saying that the church only needed a select few who had attended all the right classes and had all of the right answers to do what needed to be done; that only a select few were needed during those other six days that aren’t Sunday).
I grew up in the church. I do not remember a time in my life when I was not connected to it and it grieves me to say that as long as I have been a part of it, Pentecost has been a second-class citizen that has been, at best, misunderstood, and at worst, completely ignored. It has been during that short period of time when there have been too many days when the church has shown through its inaction that it would much rather sit back and enjoy the show rather than become part of life and allow God to work in the world through us.
Now I’m sure that my critique is nothing new. I have no doubt that pastors who stood in this pulpit over the last 220 years have been able to say the same thing about their particular generations. One of the quotes that I use during Inquirer’s Class meetings is from John Johnson who served as this church’s pastor from 1845-1870. He gave a report of the congregation to the Classis on April 17, 1849 saying that, "Our town is deplorably behind most of our county in religious things-Intemperance, sabbath breaking, and subsequent neglect of the means of grace are lamentably prevalent." To put that into modern day language, people liked to drink, didn’t show up to church, and really didn’t work all that hard at showing the love of God in the world that they were a part of (and I admit, those are my words). My guess is that he was all sorts of frustrated because he knew that the church needed to get out of observation mode.
I understand his frustration because as much good work as we have done over the last few years (and its been a lot) we can and need to do more. The church as the Holy Spirit instituted it on Pentecost is not a church of maintaining what has been, just for the sake of maintaining what has been. The church as the Holy Spirit instituted it on Pentecost is a church that says its time to go! We need to say through our words and actions, how can I step out of the stands and on to the stage and allow God to work through me so that the kingdom of God might be built? And if there are roadblocks in the way, work around them! Work over them, under them, whatever it takes. Because if we stopped because of roadblocks then we have, by stopping, become the observer based religion that we aren’t supposed to be! And have confidence because the God whom we worship specializes in getting around roadblocks. Look at the story of Abraham (I will make you the father of all these descendents), Moses (I stutter), the Israelites (big Red Sea here. How do we get away from the Egyptians?), and establishing the kingdom of Israel (when Joshua goes into the promised land with all those other spies and all those other spies come back with a report of, "we can’t go in there! Giants live there! And what does Joshua report? "We’ve got to get in there, it’s amazing!"). The Bible is rife with stories of God helping the people of God get around roadblocks. So are our lives. That is the sort of faith that we are called to live out!
All flesh: whether you live in Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Germantown, or Pine Plains; whether you have a PHD in nuclear physics or you barely got through the 8th grade; whether you have so much money that your wondering what to do with all that disposable income, or your working your derriere off to just to make ends meet, you are called to step upon the stage of life and lead in the building of the Kingdom of God by using the gifts that you have been blessed with. So that means you, and you, and you…and yes all of you too. We are called to step out of the pews and step onto the stage of life and serve as leaders of the church so that we might move from a place of maintenance to a place of thriving and vibrant life. That is what Pentecost is about and we need to make it part of who we are in how we live out our faith. Time to step out of the seats and step on to the stage.
After Sermon Prayer
Holy God, we can get so caught up in observing what is going on that we have a tendency to forget that Your Spirit is imploring us to step on to the stage of life and take our part in the leading of the building of the Kingdom of God. Lord, help us to feel that pull and take those steps. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.