Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23
Pentecost
Did you ever receive a gift that you did not know what to do with? Or even a gift that you didn’t know what it is? Once my father asked me if I could use some parfait dessert glasses that he had received for his birthday. He said that the gift was very confusing to him. The glasses had been shipped directly from Neiman Marcus, but from whom? And why would he want parfait glasses? The mystery was solved when he received a note from his long-time friend asking him how he liked the champagne flutes that he had sent. What gifts have you received that were questionable? Have you ever gotten a work of art created by a three-year-old? “I made this for you!” “Thank you! It’s beautiful! I love the colors!” “Do you know what it is?”………… “A magic unicorn?” “No! It’s a picture of you!”
The gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is like a gift that we do not recognize or know what to do with. To begin with, it comes to us wrapped in a way unlike any other gift. It comes with the sound of the rush of a violent wind. It comes looking like the flames of a fire and divided tongues. Picture them resting on people’s heads. The whole scene was fantastic, like it was created by Stephen Spielberg. This is God’s way of saying to us, “Pay attention! What is coming is like nothing you have ever seen before!” Then the people were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages.
What is this gift of the Holy Spirit? What do we do with it? Even the Apostles Creed offers only the statement, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther in his Small Catechism offers this clarification: I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common true faith.
Is everything clear now? The Holy Spirit is difficult to define. Even when we see the effects of the Holy Spirit, we may not recognize them. In Luke’s recording of the day of Pentecost, people spoke in various languages and others heard in their native tongue. It was a wild and crazy gathering. Some people were amazed and perplexed, but others said, “They are filled with new wine.” Peter explained that they could not be drunk, as it was only 9:00 in the morning. (He should listen to the stories told at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting!) Peter then went on to quote the prophet Joel, to explain Jesus’ death and resurrection, and to share King David’s foreshadowing of this.
Peter was the disciple who more often than not, got it wrong. Peter is the one who opened his mouth before his brain kicked in. The gospel of John reports that before the Holy Spirit came, the disciples, including Peter, were hiding in a locked room, trembling with fear. Yet Peter became a leader, and through the disciples’ testimony, many came to believe in Jesus. What started out as a few followers has grown to over 2 billion Christians world-wide. This is most certainly the work of the Holy Spirit.
This morning, three of our young people will, of their own accord, affirm their baptism. For the past two years, instead of sleeping in, or playing soccer, they have chosen to attend classes to learn about God and Jesus, the Bible and Luther’s Small Catechism. To say “yes” to God’s call is a counter-cultural decision. This is most certainly the work of the Holy Spirit.
Look around you. Here we are together, differing in our political alliances, in our economic statuses, and even in the finer points of our theology. Without regard for race, gender identification, or sexual preference, we come together to the table to receive Christ’s body and blood, and take in God’s forgiveness and love. It’s as wild and crazy as that first Pentecost! This is most certainly the work of the Holy Spirit.
We cook meals together for those who have no permanent home and for those in congregation who are recovering from illness or families who have just had a baby. We take time from our days to help build ramps for building accessibility and improve a playground for an economically challenged community. We volunteer to organize clothes and food for those in need. We make beautiful quilts, only knowing that recipients need them. We give of ourselves to those who cannot repay us. This is most certainly the work of the Holy Spirit.
Our world needs people who can build, who can teach, who can manage money, who can listen and who can pray. Our world needs people blessed with all kinds of gifts. As St. Paul writes to the Corinthian community, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Hear carefully the part of that statement that says, for the common good. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. The Holy Spirit comes not to remove challenges and difficulties from our lives, but to strengthen and equip us to rise above those challenges so that God can work through us for the good of others. Our purpose is to share God’s love, to leave our earth and each other better for us having been here. The Holy Spirit comes as a gift to us so that we can bring hope into the brokenness of our world.
Repeating the words of the prophet Joel, Peter reminds us of God’s promise: 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. Do we know what to do with the gift of the Holy Spirit? What dreams and visions do you have? Are your dreams big enough?
Thomas Long tells a story from his days as new pastor in a small church. He advertised a class on the basics of the Christian faith. At the first class, he was disappointed to find only three elementary school girls. He nonetheless continued, explaining to them about Pentecost. ‘“Pentecost was when the church was seated in a circle and tongues of fire came down from heaven and landed on their heads and they spoke the gospel in all the languages of the world,”’ he said. “Two of the little girls took that rather calmly, but one of them got her eyes as big as saucers. And when she could finally speak, she said, “Reverend Long, we must have been absent that Sunday!”’
Pastor Long continues, “The beautiful thing about that is not that she misunderstood. The beautiful thing is that she thought it could have happened in our church, that God’s Spirit could have come even to our little congregation and given us a word to speak that the world desperately needs to hear.”[1]
This morning we heard people speaking the story of Pentecost in different languages. Watch out for tongues of fire landing on your heads! This can happen in our church! May our dreams exceed our expectations, because the Holy Spirit sure does! This is most certainly true!
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] http://day1.org/3822-whats_the_gift web. Accessed May 30, 2017.