Day of Pentecost
June 9, 2019
Acts 2:1-21
John 14:8-27
INTRODUCTION
Today, on this
Day of Pentecost, our feature story comes not from the Gospel like usual, but
from Acts. To help you get more out of this story, let me set it up for you a
bit.
After Jesus
rose from the dead, he spent 40 days walking around making appearances to
people. During this time, he also promised his disciples that they would be
“baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.” His parting words to
them were, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” With that, he
“ascended into heaven” and disappeared into a cloud.
Well since then, “not many days” have
passed (10, to be exact), and they find themselves at the day of Pentecost. For
Christians, this is 50 days after the resurrection, but it was actually already
a Jewish holiday, a day to celebrate the harvest. It was one of the three major
festivals on which Jews would pilgrimage to the Jerusalem, and so the streets
are filled to the brim with Jews from all over the world. So in a moment, when
we hear the story of Pentecost, our dear lector today will have the task of
stumbling through all these crazy names of people from all over the world. And
that’s really important, because Jesus had told the disciples that they would
be witnesses to the ends of the earth… and apparently that witness begins now,
with all those people from the ends of the earth present, and so Peter,
inspired by the rush of violent wind and fire that is the Holy Spirit, takes
the opportunity, and begins to preach the good news.
The Spirit we encounter in Acts is
fiery and windy and dramatic, but our other readings will give us some
different ways we may encounter the Spirit – as a creating force in the Psalm,
as a uniting force in Romans, one that “adopts” us and makes us children of God.
And in John’s Gospel, the Spirit is presented as an advocating, teaching, and
comforting force. As you listen, consider how you have experienced the movement
of the Spirit in your life, as an individual or as a part of a congregation.
Does the Spirit come to you like a rush of violent wind, or as a comforter, or
as a reminder of God’s love and presence with you? Has the Spirit’s presence
always been comfortable and welcome, or are there times when the Spirit is
disturbing or troubling? Has that disturbing presence sometimes been necessary
for you? Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from. God
our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You are witnesses… When I say that,
you respond, “We are witnesses!” Try: You are witnesses! We are witnesses! You are witnesses! We are witnesses!
This was the theme of our synod
assembly last week, the annual meeting of the whole Upstate New York Synod
where we make some business decisions as well as worship, learn, and grow in
faith together. Though our bishop wasn’t able to be there, we had the pleasure
of having with us Bishop Hazelwood from the New England Synod. From his first
moment talking to us, he began using this rally cry: You are witnesses! We are witnesses! By the end of the
assembly, we actually started to believe it!
Which is an accomplishment, really, because
I think sometimes Lutherans don’t much fancy themselves as witnesses. We’re
good at music, and higher education, and liturgy, and coffee, and potlucks… but
witnessing is not so much our bag. Why do you think that is?
Well first, maybe we need to define
“witnessing,” because witnessing is a pretty important part of understanding
what was going on during that first Christian Pentecost. The most obvious
definition of “witnessing” is to talk about our faith with someone else, even
someone outside of the Church. It means boldly sharing the story of Jesus
Christ, and how that story has impacted your life, even, made your life better.
Anyone ever talk to someone about Jesus? You are witnesses! We are witnesses!
Witnessing might also mean living out
the faith we have in Christ by serving the world. Lutherans are pretty good at
this sort of witnessing, as we have a long history of social service and
seeking justice that dates back to the Reformation. Today, Lutheran World
Relief, which began after World War II, is one of the biggest humanitarian aid
organizations in the world. There are Lutheran organizations for charity,
advocacy, legal support, sustainable development, you name it. And
participating in these, especially in the name of Jesus, as an expression of
our baptismal faith, is certainly one way to witness. Anyone ever done
something to serve others in the name of Jesus? You are witnesses! We are witnesses!
But here’s the way of witnessing that
has been on my mind this week: the sort that starts with looking and listening.
It’s when you see brokenness in the world – perhaps a culture of racism, or the
horrific graduation rate in Rochester City Schools, or education and recreation
programs being cut from children stuck in detention centers on the border, or
the high level of bullying, suicide, and homelessness among LGBTQ youth – you
see a need, a brokenness in the world, and then you hear the Spirit telling
you, “Something needs to be done… and here’s what I want you to do.” And the thing to do that comes into your heart and mind
is risky, scary, and may seem to be way out of your abilities or comfort zone.
And yet that tickling breeze is relentless. Witnessing in this case is doing
what Peter did: seeing an opportunity, and taking it, letting the Spirit be
your guide. Witnessing is letting the Spirit blow you into new, possibly risky
and scary ways of serving, in the name of Jesus, for the sake of this broken
and hurting world.
This sort of witnessing is the
hardest of all, for individuals, and perhaps even more so for congregations. It
is vulnerable. The fear and risk of failure sometimes speaks more loudly even
than that rushing violent wind of the Spirit. The risk of pushing people away
by doing something uncomfortable, maybe something not everyone agrees with
right away, can hold us captive, and keep us from listening and responding to
the Spirit’s urgings. It is sometimes easier to just stand back, not rock the
boat, and so not risk offending anyone… even if it also means other people
continue to suffer. The Spirit can rush violently into someone else’s heart, we
think, someone in a better position to do something about this.
I was just talking to someone this
week who is on the brink of making some major changes in an organization of
which she is a part. Previous smaller efforts to help the issues they dealt
with had been unsuccessful, and now something big and dramatic was necessary. She
is fearful, and hopeful, and cautious, and determined, as she imagines the
effect that the coming changes will have on this organization she dearly loves
and believes in. I told her that in my experience, sometimes the Spirit comes
gently and whispering, nudging us in the right direction, and it’s really nice
when that happens… but it seldom brings about the sort of major change that is
needed. And sometimes, the Spirit comes as a rush of violent wind and fire,
smacking us upside the head and saying, “How many times and ways do I have to tell
you: I am doing a new thing here! Would you listen already??” Perhaps, I added,
what you’re experiencing in your organization is that second way the Spirit
behaves, the kind that gives you a good whack, so you’ll finally pay attention.
It’s the sort of Spiritual movement you can no longer just ignore and hope
someone else takes care of it. It’s a Spirit that makes you stand up, listen,
and by God, witness! (You are
witnesses! We are witnesses!)
If
I’m being honest, this is for me one of the more terrifying images of the Holy
Spirit. Personally, I prefer the Spirit that intercedes in prayer for me, the
one who comforts me when I’m distressed, the one that makes me feel connected
to my sisters and brothers around the world. That’s such a nice Spirit, who
minds her space and doesn’t push things. But the Spirit we encounter on
Pentecost is one that pushes us into something scary and unknown. It pushes us
to witness in and to this world in
need. It whispers (or sometimes shouts!) in our ear, “You can do that. I know
it is scary. I know you think someone else can probably do it better than you.
I know you are doubting your own abilities, but this is the ministry to which I
am calling you, right now. And because I am calling you to it, I will also empower
you with the gifts to carry it out. Trust me, and I will show you the way. I’ll
give you what you need to do this.”
Don’t
you hate it when God pushes you toward something you don’t think you can do, or
maybe even something you think you probably can do, but don’t particularly want
to? God is always doing that to me, pointing to my carefully made list of Life
Plans, then lighting my list on fire, and taking my hand to leading me toward
something else.
But
you know what? This is the way of God. It always has been – and was especially
so on that day of Pentecost. And here, brothers and sisters, is my witness for
you: every time God has done to me, no matter how reluctant I may have been at
first, that pesky, invasive Spirit has also shown me something marvelous, even
if it wasn’t the thing I thought it was going to be. Perhaps it taught me
something about myself I needed to know, or showed me a deeper way to love, or
guided me toward a person or event that would change my life. That nagging
voice of the Spirit, still whispering in our ears, the ears of the Church, and
urging us toward newness, is always right, and always will guide us toward a
new and amazing way to know and to love God. Our job – is to listen to it.
You are witnesses! We are witnesses! Yes, you are.
Let us pray… Holy Spirit, we have a
list of reasons not to listen to your urgings. Make us listen anyway. Be
relentless in your blowing through our hearts and minds, so that we would
become aware of the ways you need us to witness, in word and in deed, for this
broken world you love so much. In the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
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