Acts 2:1-21
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
I can’t imagine being in that upper room, and the hearing that noise and seeing those tongues as of fire as they were described! I surely did not have the experiences that the Disciples, Mary, Mary Magdalene and the others who were gathered in that upper room had. In my younger days I was tormented by what I could only describe as a demon or evil. I was scared, so scared that there were nights when I wouldn’t sleep; as bad as they were for me, they do not measure up to the kind of experiences shared by those in that upper room. And this Pentecost event was very different from my experience, though for a first century Christian, even with all their supernatural experiences, it still must have been scary, certainly something beyond their explanation. What I find amazing is their lack of terror, in response to the sound of the violent wind and the sight of the tongues as of fire resting on each of them. I hear a noise and I turn to see where it’s coming from; I sense anything above my head and I duck and swat at it to chase it away. Could it have been that they simply did not have the slightest amount of time to react? Or was their reaction affected by all that they had seen being with Jesus, the dead revived, people healed, demons sent away or was their reaction channeled through their speaking in different languages. Hearing them speaking in different languages alone would have freaked me out.
Again, I can’t imagine living through an experience of this kind. But then, I’ve not had such a burst of the Spirit’s gifts come upon me; not in that way or with that intensity. It scares me just to think about it, not because I think that there is anything bad or hurtful involved with it, but because I know that such spiritual gifts carry with them great responsibility. And I think I have enough of that already. If I see a tongue of fire hanging over me, I still might be inclined to duck and swat at it. I personally stink at other languages, maybe that’s a good thing; maybe that will keep the Holy Spirit from giving me such new responsibilities. I say this, kind of tongue-in-cheek, and with a little apprehension. I’ve experienced the Holy Spirit, not in those ways, but I’ve experienced the Holy Spirit. Meeting the Holy Spirit is often a life changing experience. Yet, most of us meet the Holy Spirit and do not even know that we have. Something changes in us and that may be our only inkling of the Spirit’s influence; but because of these changes, maybe we turn more frequently to church and worship; maybe we become more inclined to ask questions about God and Jesus; maybe we start reading the Bible; maybe we begin thinking about and then helping the poor or the infirmed; maybe we just start thinking about how we might live in a more loving manor. The Holy Spirit helped me see past my fears, the Spirit helped me to (for the most part) overcome my self-absorbed attitudes, learn enough Greek and Hebrew to get me through seminary and to each week of ministry put together a bunch of words so that I can stand up here and tell you something about God, his will and Jesus’ love, and today, say something about the Holy Spirit.
One thing that I have learned is that it is much easier to talk about what the Holy Spirit has done than it is to describe the Holy Spirit. All we really know about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit is described as the Spirit of Jesus, the third person of the Trinity, who is one with Jesus and God the Father, who is understood as carrying out the will of God the Father from the time of creation. But, I can’t tell you what the Spirit, looks like, sounds like or smells like; I don’t know if the Holy Spirit has arms or legs or even has a head like we do; I have no idea whether the Holy Spirit sleeps, takes breaks or goes on vacations; I don’t know if the Holy Spirit feels pain or suffers grief. In other words, I don’t know very much about the Spirit. But I do know that the Holy Spirit gave to the Disciples (those men and women huddled together, hiding in the upper room) the power to speak in other languages and to perform miracles, but of most importance the ability and the courage to tell the story of Jesus, his love and forgiveness. Courage, that’s a special gift! And the noise that was made by the Holy Spirit brought people to the Disciples; the Disciples merely had to step outside of their doors, it even allowed them to social distance themselves, if they wanted to. The Disciples were called to step out of their comfort zones and speak the words that Jesus taught them and witness to all they had seen, bolstered by the courage and other gifts given them by the Spirit.
I sometimes think it’s ironic how many pastors describe themselves as introverts, and yet stand before people day in and day out, preaching and teaching, leading meetings, mixing in fellowship and visiting both members and strangers. As it was back with the Disciples, these pastors do not by our own selves do these things; I know for myself, it is not be my own self will that I an introvert preach and teach and visit, but it is by the courage, and wisdom and guidance and strength, given me and most pastors, by the Holy Spirit that we do these things. And I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone in new ways during this pandemic, finding new ways to reach out to make worship and fellowship and study available to you and to others. The Spirit is teaching us new things and new ways and helping us to understand church differently, teaching us that community is not limited by a church’s worship space, and that while I may lead worship in this space, worship takes place where ever you are, and whenever you choose to worship. The Spirit of the Lord is taking advantage of our self-quarantining to broaden our horizons, much as did the Spirit in the time, after Jesus ascended to his Father, with the Disciples and those others who were hiding in the upper room and taking advantage of the Jewish celebration of Pentecost that brought Jews to Jerusalem from all around the known world. The Disciples being able to preach in all the languages of those who had been attracted by the noise, made it possible for sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ with people who would then carry that news all around the world.
The Holy Spirit is with us now as we worship and has not stopped sharing God’s gifts with those who follow Jesus in whatever worship space they choose. Open your hearts and minds to the Spirit; receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and share the good news of Jesus in word and deed.