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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Scripture: Acts 2:1-21

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 them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?        9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 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 men 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 heaven 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.'

The time was Pentecost.  The place was Jerusalem .  It was the festival of Pentecost.  Pentecost was already a religious holiday for the Jews.  It was celebration 50 days after the festival of the Passover, which meant that it was also 50 days after the first Easter.  That was why so many people were already gathered in Jerusalem – they had gathered for the festival.

It was just two months after Jesus had been brutally and violently taken from them.  Fifty days of occasional appearances of Jesus and miracles happening.  Fifty days of living in uncertainty and fear.  Fifty days of anxious, expectant hope.

The mood was already unsettled in Jerusalem .  People had gathered there for the festival, but it didn’t feel much like a party.  There was still more than a tinge of danger in the air for the followers of Jesus, and the danger was growing.  Jesus’ disciples were getting ready to move into action, they had moved from cowering in the corners of locked houses.  However, they had also been told to wait.

They were to wait for something powerful, something amazing, something to help them carry out the work that Jesus had put into motion and strengthen them in their quest.  Jesus had promised them an advocate, someone to help – but more than that, he promised them a strength beyond themselves.

That “something else” of course, was the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit being Jesus presence with them.  God’s manifestation of grace within them that would help them accomplish amazing things.  A “super-power” of sorts.

We’re kind of fascinated by extra- or super-human strength aren’t we?  Already the big movie blockbusters this year are about superheroes.  I got to see Ironman this weekend and had an amazing time.  I’m also really looking forward to Batman later this summer and would probably go see Hulk if Laura wasn’t terrified of the big green guy.

Now the gratuitous violence and revenge-based motivation aren’t always the best examples to live up to, but the movies are entertaining.  And, occasionally, there are exceptions and the superhero has some redeeming qualities.

My first real exposure to the whole superhero genre was a short-lived TV show called “The Greatest American Hero.”  For those of you unaware of the premise of the show, it centered on an awkward high school teacher who was given a super suit by aliens.  He and an FBI agent were given the simple task of saving the world.  They gave him the suit to allow him to do it.  The generous aliens weren’t going to leave the guys on their own, though, they were kind enough to leave Ralph an instruction manual.  The problem was, was that Ralph proceeds to immediately lose the instruction manual the very night he gets the suit.

Over the course of the three seasons of the show, Ralph and Bill avert all sorts of danger and prevent major disasters.  But doing it gracefully is not usually part of the plan.  Because Ralph lost the instruction manual for the suit, he has no idea of all the things that it can do.  He finds out about new things he can do all the time, and does figure out some pretty neat things, but never does achieve its full potential.  On top of that, he never quite masters the art of landing and crash landings are the norm.  He’s definitely not your typical, graceful superhero.

The thing that has always struck me about Ralph and The Greatest American Hero, is that how much better he could have been had he not lost the instruction manual.  It would have even been better had the aliens given him at least a few days of training.  But instead, he was left on his own and had to rely on accidents to figure out what he could do.

I use this as an example of course to contrast how differently the gifts of God’s Spirit are given to us.  Granted, I’m pretty sure the gifts of the Spirit don’t include flight or X-ray vision, but if you think about it, we are given access to some pretty amazing things.  More than that, though, when we do receive God’s Sprit, we aren’t left on our own.

Like the disciples on the day of Pentecost, we are given abilities that are beyond ourselves when we are blessed by the Spirit.  When the Spirit descended upon them, they were as surprised as anyone else.  They didn’t know how to speak other languages, certainly not as many as were being heard by everyone.  They definitely weren’t looking for something huge like that to draw attention to themselves, they were after all, still in quite a bit of danger.  But, when God has a plan for something, he goes about it in a big way.

You see, the thing about this Pentecost was so that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit could give birth to the Christian church.  The Sprit blessed those who were gathered there with the gifts that were necessary to expand the gospel into the entire world.  The disciples were given great gifts, ones that they learned about on their way, but gifts that weren’t for their sole benefit.  And, they certainly weren’t left on their own.

Many times when I hear people talk about the gifts of the Sprit, they talk about them in terms of individual, personal benefit.  But if we really hear the story of Pentecost, we find that the gifts that the individuals received were only a small part of the story.  What benefit is it to speak different languages if no one can understand you?  The gifts of the Spirit benefit the whole community and work best when used with others.

The major event of this Pentecost was the gift of the Sprit that allowed all those around to hear the gospel in their own language.  What better way to stress the importance of communication and relationships that community in Christ provides?  That says to me that the power of the Holy Spirit is to help us overcome any barriers that prevent us from being in fellowship with one another and equips us to share the love of Christ.  The Spirit was not an alien force that just dropped off some equipment; the Spirit rested on them, filled them up, and remains with us to continue to provide instruction and help.

This is such an important part of the story of God.  To see the community that is created by the Spirit that gives power to overcome any obstacle.  Taking that further, we realize that for the church to be fully effective, people from all walks of life have to be able to come together.  When the church today is living that out, then we are fulfilling and partnering with the Holy Spirit.  When we are living out Pentecost in the church, it means we're living in connection and communication with each other.

When we, like the disciples, take part in the activity of the Holy Spirit, we find that we can accomplish and do great things.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do things that we wouldn’t be able to do on our own.

The Spirit can help us overcome fear.  Fear that keeps us from attempting the things that God calls us to do, fear that keeps us cautious in reaching out beyond the walls of the church, and fear of the unknown.  The Spirit can help us heal.  Heal from pain of hurts long past, heal the hurting and the sick, and heal from addictions that can strangle life.  The Spirit can give new life.  New life that can give us a fresh start, new life that brings vigor back into a congregation, new life that overcomes death.  The Spirit leads the church and brings the church together.  The Spirit comes to us so that we can carry out the gospel into the world.  It helps us so that we can help others.

But, before any of that can happen, we must be willing to receive the Spirit and know that we are worthy to do so. 

Many of you may remember the theme song from The Greatest American Hero.  The main chorus goes:

Believe it or not,

I'm walking on air.

I never thought I could feel so free.

Flying away on a wing and a prayer.

Who could it be?

Believe it or not it's just me.

At first glance, the song seems to be talking about all the things the hero does on their own, and to a degree, that is true.  But a greater point is related to our Christian experience, that of discovering our full potential and the great things that are in store.  The Spirit helps us see things in a new way, and helps us see that even “just me” can do great things through God.  It doesn’t take a special training or a certain type of person, the Spirit has been given for all of God’s creation.  And, through the Spirit we find that we really aren’t alone, that each of us are important in the ministry of Christ, no matter who you are.

On this day of Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Spirit in the life of this church and in the lives of those who have responded to it.  In a moment, we’ll celebrate the sacrament of baptism in which we recognize the movement of the Spirit in these people’s lives.  Let us share together in giving thanks for all of the gifts of the Spirit, and give thanks that Scripture and the congregation serve as a living instruction manual.