Acts
2:1-21
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. 2 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. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue
rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there
were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at
this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them
speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked,
"Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we
hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and
residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we
hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 12 All were amazed and
perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 13 But
others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." 14 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. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine
o'clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet
Joel: 17 "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. 18 Even
upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and
signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be
turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great
and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.'
1
Corinthians 12:3b-13
3b And no one can say "Jesus is Lord"
except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same
Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there
are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them
in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to
another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another
faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the
discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same
Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 12 For
just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all
made to drink of one Spirit.
John
20:19-23
19 When it was evening on that day, the first
day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were
locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace
be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them
again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
·
This is Pentecost Sunday
and were we together face-to-face we might read the passage from the Acts of
the Apostles which names all the peoples who heard the apostle preach in their
languages. I’ve heard this passage done in English, Spanish, Slovak, French,
Latin, Greek, German, and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines. It’s an
amazing thing to hear. It might be as close as we can get to the Scriptural
report of the Pentecost event.
·
What we celebrate today
is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the assembled disciples of Jesus, a group
we may call the Early Church. If this pandemic reminds us of anything about our
Christian lives, it reminds us that WE ARE THE CHURCH, and where we assemble
for worship is called “church” because of that. The Holy Spirit among us now
makes us the Church of Jesus Christ. We’d be as much “church” if we gathered
around a picnic table to share the Word and maybe the Supper.
·
When I think of the Holy
Spirit and the New Testament’s narrative of the Spirit’s working, I’m often
left wondering why the Spirit does not work that same way today. Some of it
appears mysterious and scary, even to the point of being “spooky.” Admittedly,
there are those who maintain that the Spirit works now in the same ways the
Spirit was seen to work in the early church – healings, languages, “speaking in
tongues”, interpretation of those tongues, prophecy, and discernment of
spirits. Some of this is spectacular and some of it is played for the spectacle
I’m sure. The only time I’ve seen anything like this, it scared me.
·
Is this what is needed
now among the disciples of Jesus? Is this how we want the Spirit shown?
Sometimes when the Spirit is called on to do this sort of thing, those who want
to see it grow tired and jaded; they long for something new and exciting… and
they’ll move along to get it.
·
Never doubt that the
Spirit of God moves among God’s people today. Sometimes it’s spectacular, but
more often than not, it’s ordinary. It looks especially ordinary since we may
have never known a life without grace and the presence of God.
·
So do you want to see
the Spirit of God today? Do you want to know the wind of the Spirit?
·
Look at the parents of a
child with special needs who continue to do what they can.
·
Look at the children of
a parent whose health or mind has gone and yet they do what they can for that
parent.
·
Look at people who keep
the faith despite hate, exile, sickness, or failure.
·
Look at congregation
members who work hard and continue to believe while the world goes to hell in a
hand-basket around them.
·
Look at people who cook
wonderful cabbage rolls for others while they themselves can’t stomach cabbage.
·
Look at people who work
tirelessly to show Jesus’ love and concern in the simplest things they might do
every day, often without even knowing they’re doing this.
·
Look at people who were
not able to do all those things mentioned above and in their heart of hearts
wish they could have.
·
I’m a great advocate of
saying the Spirit works extraordinarily in the ordinary things of life. Baking?
Carpentry? Farming? Accounting? Playing third base? Sure, these are gifts of
the Spirit! Why not? They’re not so spectacular, as good as they might be and
if they’re done for the good of those all around, the Spirit is present and
active. What did Jesus say? “Love one another."
·
You and I are ordinary?
Sure! Rejoice in that for the Spirit is there with us. That’s been the “new
ordinary” since the first Pentecost. Remember the words of Paul…
To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
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