Our scripture for today
is quite a tongue twister. It’s one of those scriptures that you cross your
fingers and hope that you are not asked to read it out loud. Just look at all
of the names, “Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.” This is a scripture that even pastors struggle to get through when reading it aloud. Without all of these names, these regions of the world, our Pentecost story would look very different, and would not be nearly as spectacular and beautiful. That is because each of these names, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, not only represents a person that was gathered on that wonderful day, but it shows us that magnitude of God’s love and grace. It shows us that the power of the Holy Spirit has come for all of the world.
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.” This is a scripture that even pastors struggle to get through when reading it aloud. Without all of these names, these regions of the world, our Pentecost story would look very different, and would not be nearly as spectacular and beautiful. That is because each of these names, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, not only represents a person that was gathered on that wonderful day, but it shows us that magnitude of God’s love and grace. It shows us that the power of the Holy Spirit has come for all of the world.
Because what happens on that day
of Pentecost? We know the story pretty
well. It was after Jesus ascended into heaven, and he told his disciples to
gather and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And that’s how we find the
disciples in our scripture for today. They are gathered together, with many
other Jewish followers from all over the world. “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.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on
each of them. All of them were filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave
them ability.” What an amazing
scene! Violent rushes of wind, Tongues
on fire resting on the shoulders of those gathered there, and to cap it all of
the followers, began to speak in other languages. It was such a spectacle that those who were
observing what had happened thought that the followers were drunk. But of course they were not drunk, they were
filled by the Holy Spirit, and celebrating in its power and glory. We here this story, we picture it in our own
minds, we find the story to be captivating, but at the end of the day we may
still be asking ourselves, So what? This
amazing moment happened about two thousand years ago, what does it have to do with my own life?
And
yet this text has everything to do with our own lives. This text teaches us so much about us both as
a community of believers, and also it teaches
us about us about ourselves as individuals. So let us first look at what
this story has to teach us about the church, or about the community of
believers. Prior to this moment, the disciples and the other followers of
Christ, had actually been able to follow Christ, walk with him, follow him, and
learn directly from him. Jesus then ascended into heaven, and the followers of
Christ were left to figure what to do next. Other than the disciples there was
not real organization, there was no structure for how to proceed. Other than
the life and teachings of Jesus there was no guidance on what type of ministry
to do next. And so the followers of
Christ listened to what he commanded, and they waited for the Holy Spirit. This
text is that moment in which a random group of followers, turned into a
community of believers through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the moment in which followers from
all around the known world became united. This truly is the beginning of the
church. (We) Many churches still
celebrate this wonderful occurrence each week in worship, without really
recognizing it. (We) Many churches
recite the apostle’s creed each week as an affirmation of faith. It is a way
for us as Christians to reaffirm our beliefs in our “God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
Earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord. Who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontus Pilate, was crucified
dead and buried. The third day he arose from the dead, and ascended into
heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the father Almighty.” And then when come to the next line in the
creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy catholic church.” When we say
catholic we don’t necessarily mean Roman Catholic like we think of the world
now, but when we say the holy catholic church we mean the universal church; we
are talking about the whole community of believers. And yet when we read, or recite the Apostle’s
creed we may find it to be strange that the Holy Spirit and the Holy catholic
church are both lumped together in the same sentence. After all we had a whole
paragraph to talk about God the father and about the life death, resurrection,
and ascension of Jesus Christ; but here we have a sentence to talk about the
Holy spirit, and half of it talks about the church. At first it seems as though the Holy Spirit
is getting the short end of the stick; but when we read our scripture today we
come to find out that the Holy Spirit and the church are so integrally tied together. God sends us the Holy Spirit
to lead us, and the Church could not exist without the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. Our scripture today is the story of when the two unite. It is as
I said earlier when the church was formed, because the Holy Spirit had
come to unite a random group of followers, and to lead them in the way of the
Lord.
This
Pentecost story is also important to the church because it is a foretaste of
what is yet to come. It is a reminder of what the church will be like in the
end of times. We can see this in
Revelation, chapter 7 which says, “After this I looked, and there
before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation,
tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10
And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,who
sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen!
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’[a] nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;‘ he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen!
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’[a] nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;‘ he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What a beautiful vision of what it
will be like. Where every tear will be wiped from our eyes and we will gather
as one, though we are multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language,
and sing praises to the Lamb. Does that
sound familiar people from different tribes and languages coming together and
singing praises? Well it should because it what we have going on in our
scripture for today. The beginning of
the church and the church in glory is made up of all people gathering together to
praise the Lord. But as believers of Christ we can work towards that vision
today. It reminds me of my time in South Africa. I was blessed to be able to visit South
Africa for 11 weeks, and many of those weeks me and a few other students from
Duke, stayed at a Methodist seminary in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. We frequently ate, learned, and served with
them, but maybe what was the most meaningful time there, was the moments in
which we were able to worship with them. One thing to point out is that South
Africa is very different than the US; we have one official national language
English, while South Africa has twelve official languages, and many others that
aren’t official. South Africa also has a
difficult past, where the English and Dutch colonized the many tribes, the
English and Dutch descendants even fought each other, and until 1994, the
country was under what was called the Apartheid rule, which meant that those
who were not English or Afrikaans (which is the name for the Dutch descendants)
were oppressed and had very little rights. And so here we are 4 Americans,
gathering in South Africa only 12 years after the Apartheid had ended, with
South African Christians who were English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and many more
and we were worshiping together. I remember one service in particular in which
seven different languages were spoken. We prayed in Xhosa, sang in Afrikaans,
heard the scripture in Portuguese, and the sermon in English, and so on. I
remember singing along with one of the songs in Zulu having no idea what I was
saying, and yet feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit binding me closer to
every one worshiping with me. And to top it off we gathered together and
recited the benediction together in our own native tongue, saying the same
words, just different languages. This
experience was a reminder that the universal church is a church made up of so
many different people, and yet we are all bound together by the Holy Spirit.
And that leads to our last point for
this morning. This Pentecost story not
only teaches us about the church as a whole, but it also teaches us as
individual believers. As I said, the universal church is made up of so many
different people, and each one of us is a part of that. Just like those who were gathered on that day
of Pentecost, each one of us come from different places. Now we may not come
from different tribes on countries like in our story, but each one of us has
our own story that has brought us here. Not one of our stories is alike, and
yet in all of differences we are all united by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Our differences also means that
we each have unique gifts, experiences, and stories, that can be used to serve
the Kingdom of God. Our scripture for
today tells us that each one of us play a role in the ministry of the Kingdom
of God. It says, “ '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.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” The great news about the Holy Spirit is that we are all able to receive its guidance and power. Each and every one of us have a special calling in our lives. Sons and daughters shall prophesy, upon both men and women in those days I will I pour out my spirit. No matter who you are, no matter what circumstances, the Holy Spirit has a way for you to serve God and to testify to the glorious name of Lord and savior Jesus Christ. So like those followers on the day of Pentecost let ourselves be ready to receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us be ready for it to lead us in whatever direction it calls us. Let us be ready to see how the Spirit can not only strength and empower our own lives, but how it may be leading us all, as a community of believers, and a church, as those who are so different, and yet are united by the Spirit’s power. Let us listen for the Spirit’s calling, and when we hear it, let us respond boldly, so that the world shall see us, and wonder what is going on there? Are they drunk? No they are just filled with the Holy Spirit.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” The great news about the Holy Spirit is that we are all able to receive its guidance and power. Each and every one of us have a special calling in our lives. Sons and daughters shall prophesy, upon both men and women in those days I will I pour out my spirit. No matter who you are, no matter what circumstances, the Holy Spirit has a way for you to serve God and to testify to the glorious name of Lord and savior Jesus Christ. So like those followers on the day of Pentecost let ourselves be ready to receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us be ready for it to lead us in whatever direction it calls us. Let us be ready to see how the Spirit can not only strength and empower our own lives, but how it may be leading us all, as a community of believers, and a church, as those who are so different, and yet are united by the Spirit’s power. Let us listen for the Spirit’s calling, and when we hear it, let us respond boldly, so that the world shall see us, and wonder what is going on there? Are they drunk? No they are just filled with the Holy Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment