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“Let’s Get This Party Started!”

May 28, 2023 Preacher: Minister Thomas Houston

Scripture: Acts 2:1–21

May 28, 2023 Day of Pentecost The text is Acts 2:1-21.

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1When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14But 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. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, 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.
18Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
  in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
   and they shall prophesy.
19And I will show portents in the heaven above
  and signs on the earth below,
   blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20The sun shall be turned to darkness
  and the moon to blood,
   before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Happy Pentecost!  This is one of the most important festival days in the Church calendar.  Granted, we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world on Christmas, and Easter reminds us that Jesus rose from the grave to bring salvation to the world.  While these are the two most significant events in the life and mission of Jesus, Pentecost, and what happened on that day marks the beginning of the Christian church.  So again, Happy Pentecost!  Or, should I say, Happy Birthday, Church?

While Pentecost is a momentous event in the life of Christians, perhaps we might examine the significance of the day as it relates to its original observance as a Jewish festival.  In Hebrew, the day is celebrated as “Shavuot”, or “The Festival of Weeks”.  It took place fifty days or seven weeks after Passover, and the Greek word for fifty is what gives rise to the “pente” in the name of the day; think “Pentagon”.  The Apostles and the others who gathered to observe Pentecost this morning were there to commemorate the giving of the Torah to Moses and to celebrate the end of the Spring harvest.  People would bring the first fruits of their crops to the temple, in thanksgiving for what God has provided them.

They were thankful for the gifts that God has bestowed upon them, but it’s certain that they weren’t prepared for the priceless reward that they were about to receive.  Accompanied by a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit filled the hearts of the apostles and such a commotion ensued that a huge crowd gathered to witness this awesome event.  The writer of Acts reports that everyone in the crowd, no matter their native tongue was able to understand what the apostles were saying; they each heard what was said in their own language.  The power that Jesus promised would be bestowed on the disciples by the coming of the Holy Spirit has indeed been imparted to them.  They now have the ability to continue in the work that Christ began; the church has been born.  Happy Birthday, Church!  Happy Pentecost!

 

And, in truth the actual process of the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles was much more dramatic than the manner in which the NRSV bible translation would have us understand.  The words used to describe the reactions of the crowd are “bewildered, astonished, amazed, and perplexed.”  The original Greek reveals that the situation was much more tumultuous; the writer of Acts stated that the people were “disoriented, in an uproar, uncomprehending, and blown away!”  The witnessing of this rushing wind and tongues of fire is certainly worthy of these more accurately descriptive terms.  For these are just the kind of responses one would expect if one were present to observe the birth of a brand-new church.        

And the power that Jesus promised the disciples they would receive was immediately employed.  Peter, who sank when Jesus called him out of the boat, who refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet, and who denied Jesus three times, suddenly, when filled with the Holy Spirit becomes the first great preacher of the gospel.  When the crowd questions how they are all able to understand the apostles in their own language, we find Peter, “standing with the eleven, [he]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.”  Can this be the same Simon Peter, who fell asleep in Gethsemane when Jesus asked him to remain while Jesus prayed?  Yes it most certainly is, it’s just that now Peter has been bestowed with the power of the Holy Spirit; he is now equipped to become the rock upon which Jesus said he would build the church.  Fisherman Peter, the denier has become preacher Peter, the spreader of the gospel.  Happy Pentecost!  Happy Birthday, Church!  

In the book of 1 Kings in the Hebrew Bible we read that Elijah went to stand on a mountain to await the coming of God.  Scripture tells us that “a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”

God had a very important message for Elijah, which was to be necessary for the survival of Israel, yet God spoke in a “still small voice”.  Not this time, not on this particular Pentecost, not in the person of the Holy Spirit, not when bestowing upon the apostles the power promised them by Jesus prior to his ascension.  This is the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ, and now is not the time for God to use a still small voice.  Now is the time for a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire, and thousands able to hear the Gospel message in their own language.  Now is the time for Peter to raise his voice and proclaim to the crowds that all that was foretold by the prophet Joel has come to pass.  Joel prophesied and Peter proclaims that “God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.”  And that “before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  No still small voice here, Jesus has asked God to send the Holy Spirit to his apostles and the grace and mercy of God, brought about by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross have been made real for all people.  Happy Birthday, Church!

So this Holy Spirit, who has come upon the apostles accompanied by wind and flame, and as prophesied by Joel, is not meant to linger just on the twelve upon whom it first descended.  Peter quotes Joel; “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Why else would God have ensured that everyone present was able to hear the apostles speak no matter their own language?  The key word here is; “everyone”.  Paul understood the universality, the inclusiveness of God’s intention for the bestowing of the Spirit.  He writes in 1 Corinthians, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”  Thus, everyone present on that Pentecost, those first witnesses of the birth of the church, each of them was made a recipient of the Holy Spirit, and on that day was made a member of the body of Christ.

And it is that inclusiveness that remains the hallmark of the Holy Spirit to this day.  Everyone is imparted with this same Spirit of God and everyone has been granted the Spirit’s gifts.  There are many members, but one body, as Paul writes.  And it is this body, this group of followers of Jesus Christ that is called to use each one’s separate and different gifts for the good of all.  For some of us, we may hear God’s Spirit coming to us in a still small voice, some might feel the presence of the Spirit in the wind that blows around us, but it is unlikely that any of us will experience tongues of fire announcing the Spirit’s presence.  Yet, this  radical message of the Gospel, the proclamation that everyone who believes is saved and that the Holy Spirit abides in each of us, this is the reminder that everyone’s gifts are needed.  With the bestowing of the Holy Spirit on the apostles they were given the power and ability to continue the works that Jesus began.  And since this same Spirit has been given to each of us, we also are compelled to act as the hands, and feet, and heart of Christ in the world. 

Everyone has been enabled to hear what the Spirit is saying; Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the people of Emanuel Lutheran.  For us, as we celebrate the birthday of the church, these some 2,000 years after that first Pentecost, the goal is unchanged.  The Holy Spirit, first descending on the twelve continues to be available for all people to serve as the presence of the Father and the Son, abiding in everyone.  Let’s make sure we continue to act in ways that show we understand what it is we have heard.  We are called to ensure that everyone is invited to the party.  Happy Birthday, Church!              

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is GoodAmen.