Pentecost

This is the sermon manuscript from the sermon preached day of Pentecost.  The supporting scripture text is Acts 2:1-21(43-47).

So we have arrived at Pentecost, the day that has become known as the birthday of the church.  Today is a joyous occasion.  We break out the red dressings for the sanctuary.  We celebrate with gusto the workings of the church and the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We celebrate with a great deal of joy on Pentecost.  A joy that I don’t think was present in that room with the apostles on that Pentecost day we hear about in Acts.  I don’t think they were having a birthday party.         

After they watched Jesus ascend into heaven, after they had replaced Judas with Matthias, the apostles were all gathered together in one place.  I am sure that they were struggling with fear and doubt because they had no idea where to go next.  Jesus was gone.  The promised spirit had not come.  They were still under threat of persecution from both Rome and the leaders of the Jewish leaders.  At that moment there were more questions than answers.

And then it happened.  A violent wind came from heaven and filled the room where the apostles are gathered.  Tongues of fire appeared among them, resting on each of them, and everyone began to speak.  Filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to speak in every language under the sun; or at least every language spoken by those who had come to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.  Parthians, Medes, Cappadocians, Egyptians, and a whole host of others from all over the Mediterranean hear about God’s deeds of power in their own language.  All were amazed and perplexed.  Some make snide comments about drinking too much wine.  Peter preached.   People repented and were baptized.  Three thousand people joined the movement that day. 

It’s a wild and thrilling tale to be sure.  We hear it every year.  We talk about the rushing of the spirit and tongues of fire.  But what exactly is Pentecost?  I don’t think it is a birthday, but part of something much bigger.  Something found deeper in the heart of God.  So what is Pentecost?  We use it as a label for this day in the church year, but what does it mean?  For starters is means “fifty” in Greek.  We are fifty days from Easter.  Fifty days after the resurrection.  Fifty days after the Jewish festival of Passover. 

That’s where Pentecost has its roots, as a Jewish festival.  Seven weeks after the Passover the Jews would gather for the “Festival of Weeks.”  It was a festival of thanksgiving, originally a harvest festival to give thanks for the crops brought in from the fields.  If you look in Leviticus chapter 23 you will find a list of the sacrifices to be brought to the priest.  Bread offerings made with a measure of the best grain.  Year old goats and lambs without blemish to be given to the Lord.  The day shall be one of rest from work, a statute to be honored forever in all the settlements.  And then God calls the people to move from thanksgiving to justice. 

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God (Lev. 23:22).”  There at the edges of the field God was giving life.  God was reminding the people that they too had once been the poor and the stranger and had survived off of the gifts of someone else’s land.  God tells them to leave some grain on the stalks and some grapes on the vine for the poor and for the stranger who wandered at the edges of community.  In their abundance, the people of God are to remember that they have the means to help those in need.  That’s the heart of Pentecost. 

And so on that Pentecost day in Acts there was that little band of apostles who had more questions than answers.  There were Jews from all over the Mediterranean gathered to celebrate the Festival of Weeks.  And there in the midst of question and strangers gathered from the edges, the Spirit of God moves. 

And yes there was a wind from heaven.  Yes there were tongues of fire.  Yes those first apostles, the country folk from Galilee, spoke as though they had Ph. D’s in languages they had never heard.  The powerful deeds of God were told in every language that could be heard and three thousand people joined the movement.  But that’s not the end of the story.  That’s not all there is to Pentecost.  Let’s look at how this second chapter of Acts ends. 

“Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

You see, when we stop reading the story before it is finished we are left only with the wonder of wind and fire and languages.  It’s a thrilling tale, but it’s not the whole story.  After the wind from heaven and the tongues of fire, the good news of Jesus Christ settled on those who heard the word.  The Holy Spirit moved through the community, filling folks with the love of God.  God’s love overflowed in their lives until they were full and could do nothing but help to fill up others in their midst.  They took up the call to share their blessings with others.  The old call from God was renewed.  The edges of the field were once again left for those who were poor and a stranger.  The spirit of God moved through those gathered on that Pentecost day and confirmed what God has been doing all along, giving life to those in need.  In their abundance, the people of God are to remember that they have the means to help those in need.  That’s the heart of Pentecost. 

Today we gather with three young men as we celebrate confirmation.  Today we affirm their faith and recognize how far they have come along the way.  We reach back to the waters of Baptism and the promise of God.  We remember what God has already done for them and for us through Jesus Christ.  Today we affirm our faith in the risen Christ and look to where he is calling us to follow in the world.  Today we remember that the Holy Spirit is still at work in our lives. 

Just this week a group of us took a tour of the Pace School for girls, just a stone’s throw from this building.  We learned about the amazing ministry being done for girls who have been cast to edges of the school system.  We got to see how resources are being pooled together and used to give life back to not only the girls who had lost their way, but also to their families.  Perhaps for the first time, families are learning how to celebrate with one another over the little victories of learning how to read and succeed in school.  We, who are witnesses to Jesus Christ in our world, have the opportunity to participate in this life giving ministry.  When we remember to leave the edges of our fields to those who are in need, when we remember to share what we have with those in need, we participate in what God has been doing all along.

On this day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit is on the move in our midst.  Moving and shaking and confirming and affirming and calling and disrupting and inviting.  Igniting our hearts and our lives.  That’s the heart of Pentecost.  Happy Pentecost to you, people of God.