The Pentecost Paradigm
Acts 2:1-21
I love the day of Pentecost because it is one of the few days I get to hear someone speak in tongues. At least that’s what it sounded like when Rose was reading those names in the scripture!
You know this story. The differences in the disciples before and after Pentecost are stark: Before Pentecost, the disciples are huddled in a closeted secret place. After Pentecost, they are in the public arena as they speak in such a way that people from many cultures are able to understand. Before Pentecost they fumble with their faith. After Pentecost they clearly articulate the faith that has taken hold of them. It seems that Pentecost reshaped the paradigm from which they operated.
The first act of Holy Spirit on the church was to enable disciples to speak the truth boldly in such a way that it was relevant and life-changing to those who listened. Peter is the prime example of someone who went from a tongue-tied coward on the night of Jesus’ arrest to articulate spokesperson. He effectively interprets the experience the gathering crowd has of this strange outpouring of God’s Spirit. Using the amazing and powerful words of inclusion from the Prophet Joel Peter eloquently explains that separation and distinction are not God-created barriers to justice but human constructs. Holy Spirit transcends all those barriers and calls us all to be part of the family of God – equally loved, equally authorized, and equally infused with grace.
When we look closely at this story, we receive insight into how this might continue to happen in our world.
If you want to catch the wind, you have to be where the wind is blowing. Can you imagine if you were one of the disciples that decided to be somewhere else that day? You would have missed this amazing evidence of God’s power and presence.
I was talking with some folks with a charismatic background and they were telling me about the latest outbreak of Holy Spirit that people in that part of Christianity are often talking about. It seems a church in South Carolina had a particularly powerful experience with the Spirit and now people from all over the world are flocking there to see if they can experience it. That same scenario has been repeated over and over again over the years. The Spirit is moving here so everyone rushes there to see what is happening. It seems we’re always looking for what seems like something better that is somewhere else and sometimes fail to recognize the breeze right where we are.
Every week I have people tell me about their experience of walking into this place for the first time and being overwhelmed by the presence of God or the welcome they receive or the acceptance they find. They sit in the pew weeping through worship. Why? Because the Spirit is blowing through this place with such love and grace and they get to be part of a community that experiences it on a regular basis. The disciples were together that Pentecost day – in prayer, in worship, in community. If you want to catch the wind, you have to be where the wind is blowing. Hang on to your hat because there’s a breeze a stirring in this place and I’m glad you’re here to experience it.
The Spirit helps us communicate to the world. Have you heard the joke about what you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bi-lingual. One language? American. In the first century you probably would have answered that last one as Galilean. The Galileans were not known for their multiculturalism. The first work of the Spirit in the life of the new church was to communicate the good news to the diversity gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Pentecost. That is still the work of the Spirit for us today, only we use Powerpoint and ASL interpreters and the newsletter and pod casts and our webpage. We use support groups and CLM and 12-step programs. We have a whole new generation coming along that speaks with their thumbs and cut their teeth on the Internet. We have to be ready to communicate the gospel in a way that makes sense to them. The Spirit helps us communicate the good news to all God’s children because the work of Pentecost is not done. The paradigm is still unfolding and it is fairly simple.
Interpret the God-moments. We don’t need to argue theology with those who oppose us. We don’t have to refute the existence of God with the atheists. We don’t even have to convince the Religious Right that a church like ours is authentic. We, like those first century participants in Pentecost simply need to interpret those moments when we experience the presence of God. It can be in the way reconciliation happens in a damaged relationship. That’s a God moment. It can be the healing that occurs when a community gathers around one who is sick. That is a God moment. It can be the way hope is restored for those who have been damaged by religion. Or it can be in the calm assurance of those who know who we are, what we are called to be about and to whom we belong. You know those God moments when you experience them. Our world needs to hear about them.
Several years ago a farmer along the Atlantic seacoast was advertising for laborers. Farming along the Atlantic can be tough. Awful storms sometimes rage into shore, wreaking havoc on buildings and crops. It’s hard work.
There seemed to be no takers for the job until finally a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good worker?” the farmer asked. “Well,” answered the man, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”
The farmer wasn’t really sure what that answer meant but he was desperate so he hired him. The new hand toiled hard from dawn to dusk and seemed to be a conscientious worker.
Then one night a storm blasted in from the sea. The farmer jumped out of bed, grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The sleepy worker rolled over and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”
The farmer was furious but he knew he had to act quickly. He ran out into the storm and to his amazement discovered the haystacks covered with tarps. The cows were in the barn, the chickens in their coop. All the doors were barred. All the shutters were secure. Everything was already tied down. It was then the farmer understood what the hired hand meant, “I can sleep while the winds blow.”
When we are prepared – spiritually, mentally and physically – we have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? When you know who you are, what you are called to be about and to whom you belong, no storm of life will distress you. When the wind of God has blown through your life, no other kind of storm will shake you. Then you’ll know that you are part of the Pentecost Paradigm.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com Catching the Wind, May 2008
www.hall4bc04.org/Storm.htm