Introduction:
Today is the birthday of the church. We find the account of what happened in Acts of the Apostles, which perhaps should be called “Acts of the Spirit.” Newsweek magazine features a short column in which famous authors tell what the five most important books to them were. Garrison Keillor said that the Book of Acts was number one for him. When he described the book, he summed it up this way: “The flames lit on their little heads and bravely and dangerously went they onward.” I hope the flames will light upon our heads and we will bravely and dangerously go onward.
As I read the story, I want you to notice that each person hears the Gospel in his or her own language. Each hears an unique word tailored to their situation. Let us read the account of that day when the flames lit on the apostles’ heads:
Acts 2:1-21:
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
But 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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“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. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for your constant comings—sometimes when we pray for the coming, sometimes when we least expect it, You come. We need Your Spirit coming anew into our daily living. Come, great Spirit, Come! Amen.
I love Pentecost. I love wearing red. I love balloons & I love celebrating the birthday of the church. I don’t remember Pentecost from my childhood. It seems a strange oversight given that I do remember Holy Week and the sad services, but I don’t remember celebrating the birthday of the church. I guess there was a period when we didn’t pay much attention to the happy holidays. I’m glad we do now.
I read an absolutely rhythmic description of the day by Scot McKnight. He wrote:
Pentecost, the day on which we are indwelt by the Spirit, sweeps us up into the dance of the Trinity. We are summoned to the dance floor, [and] the music is grace and love and holiness and peace…The music is supplied by God, and His people are invited to sing and dance along…Pentecost, my friends, is an invitation to dance. And it gives us the energy and power to pull it off. [Scot McKnight on www.jesuscreed.org (3-28-08)]
A big part of the reason that the Spirit makes us want to dance is that we’ve been given something much too important not to share. There was a Mercedes Benz television commercial showing their car colliding with a cement wall during a safety test. Someone then asks the company spokesman why they do not enforce their patent on the Mercedes Benz energy-absorbing car body, a design evidently copied by other companies because of its success. He replies, “Because some things in life are too important not to share.” [Jim Beranek, Parkerburg, Iowa, Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 3]
The gift of the Spirit is much too important not to share, but sometimes we don’t share it. A few weeks ago when I attended the preaching conference in Woodbridge, VA, I heard James Emery White speak. He is the president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In his book, Long Night’s Journey into Day, he tells this story:
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to occupy and control every area of our lives…How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?
When teaching this to my seminary students, I bring two glasses of water and two packets of Alka-Seltzer to class. I drop a packet of Alka-Seltzer, with the wrapper on, into one glass. Then I plop an unsealed packet into the second glass, and watch it fill with fizz.
I say to my students, “Both glasses have the Alka-Seltzer, just as all Christians have the Holy Spirit. But notice how you can have the Holy Spirit and not His filling.” Our goal is to live in such a way as to unwrap the packaging around the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us. [Adapted from James Emery White, Long Night’s Journey into Day (WaterBrook, 2002)]
We have been given a gift much to precious not to share. The Living Gospel is the Gospel that you take out into the world with you. It is a word of kindness in a harsh world. It is a word of healing in a hurting world. It is a word of hope in a despairing world. It is a word of caring in cynical world. It is the Word of the Lord that you take into a suffering world.
I read an incredible story that appeared in the New York Times about God’s comfort to James and Jill Kilibarda of Minnesota. They were looking forward to the birth of their first child, when they learned during the pregnancy that this baby had a genetic problem and would probably only live a few hours after her birth.
They turned to a unique prenatal hospice program to help guide them through this crisis and received needed guidance and help. The Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis provided them direction and stood by them through this difficult time.
Alaina lived through her first night and became among the 10 percent of these babies who live beyond two months of age. She will probably die before reaching preschool age.
The Kilibardas have returned to a normal life; both are back to work and take turns caring for Alaina. Hospice workers encouraged the Kilibardas to make memories with Alaina. These parents have carried their daughter to the homes of their friends, large family get-togethers, and even to the coffee shop they frequent.
Jill explained, “When we were expecting Alaina, people would say, ‘You’re in our prayers.’ But people were praying…to make it all better for us.” And then she said, “We weren’t asking, ‘Make it all better.’ God doesn’t come down and touch you to heal you. He sends people to be with you.” [Neela Bannerjee, “A Place to Turn When a Newborn Is Fated to Die,” New York Times (3-13-07)]
Most of the stories in our lives aren’t so dramatic, but they are still a part of the salvation history being written today—the story of a word of kindness in a harsh world, a word of healing in a hurting world; a word of hope in a despairing world; a word of caring in a cynical world. The word of the Gospel given to you by the Holy Spirit to share.
I want you to let the Holy Spirit sparkle in your life. To do this you to do something so simple, but so scary that you might have trouble doing it. I want you to begin every morning with the words: “Today, I will do one kind thing in the name of Jesus Christ.” And at the end of the day, I want you to go over what you did to make sure you did that one kind thing. You and your world will be transformed. I know. I’ve done it.
Earlier this week, I was talking to our music director, Jim Turk, about this sermon. I told him that I was going to challenge you to live out your faith. I told him a story about myself that makes me very self-conscious. It is a story I had never told anyone else. I explained to Jim that it was a story I didn’t feel I could share with you. When I finished the story, Jim said, “You have to tell that story.”
As embarrassing as it is, I know he is right. Here’s the story:
When I was the retail advertising manager at the San Antonio Light, one of the salespersons came to see me. Her name was DeeDee. She came into my office, asked if we could talk and when I said, “Yes, of course,” she closed the door.
She said, “You are different from other managers. There is something about you that we all trust. We work harder for you than we have worked for other managers. I want to know why you are different.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant, so I questioned her some more. Ultimately, she said, “You are kinder, more encouraging. You also seem to be calmer than the others.”
I still wasn’t really sure what she was saying, but the only thing I could think of was my faith. I told her that maybe the difference was that I was a Christian. She looked at me with a strange expression, a surprised look. I asked her if she thought that was the difference and she said, “Yes.”
A few days later, she came again. This time, she asked me if I could recommend some scriptures that she could read. I gave her a Bible and told her about some passages that had meant a lot to me.
Over the coming months, three other salespeople quietly stopped in to talk about faith. I turned out giving away a number of Bibles. I feel self-conscious telling this story because I don’t like to talk about myself in this way, but I want you to know that I’m not asking you to do something I wouldn’t do myself.
All I ask is that this week, you carry the Spirit with you and you share a word of kindness in a harsh world; a word of healing in a hurting world; a word of hope in a despairing world; and a word of caring in a cynical world. You may be amazed at what happens when you let the Holy spirit sparkle and fizz in your life. Amen.
