Pentecost, God Within and Among Us – Acts 2:1-12

Lectionary Readings for June 5, 2022                      Pentecost, Year C
Acts 2:1-21   v4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b   v24 What variety there is in your many works, Oh Lord! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creations.
Romans 8:14-17   v15 You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy.
John 14:8-17, (25-27) v15 If you love Me, obey the commandments I have given you.

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.”  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.”  ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

There are plenty of people who wield swords – verbal and physical instruments of destruction and death. As Christians, our job is to help them see and connect with God’s Spirit revealed around us. This is one way we can transition energy from anger to peace.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Pentecost Sunday celebrates the day the disciples received the Holy Spirit in a special way. The word Pentecost comes from a Greek word meaning 50th. The Jewish Festival of Pentecost (called Shavuot, meaning “weeks” in Hebrew) falls on the 50th day after the original Passover. As the stories have been handed down, on that day, God gave the Torah (the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible and our Bible) to Moses at Mount Sinai. The Christian festival of Pentecost falls on the 50th day after the resurrection of Jesus, Easter Sunday.

Today’s story from Acts 2 describes a powerful wind and “tongues of fire” as the Holy Spirit poured over Jesus’ followers who were in Jerusalem to celebrate a Jewish feast. At the first Pentecost, over 3,000 people were baptized; this is why Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Christian church.

From Moses to Jesus to us today, Pentecost celebrates God sharing His compassionate Spirit and wisdom with humanity. And for that, we can all be grateful. One of my colleagues opened her sermon this morning with, “When God shows up, sometimes things get weird.” Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we hear how things got really weird about 2,000 years ago.

Read Acts 2:1-12 now and the rest of the chapter later for the complete story!

Remember when we examined the Gospel of John, chapter by chapter? One of the big take-aways was that John called miracles “signs” because he believed that miraculous moments were signs that should direct our attention to God’s presence in our lives. Like modern road signs, these spiritual signs should help us realize where we are (i.e. in God’s presence) and help us head in the right direction (i.e. where God wants us to direct our attention, time, and energy).

I’m confident that John would have described Pentecost as a sign. LISTEN to the roaring sound of God’s Spirit moving around you! LOOK at the Spirit moving like flames among you! LISTEN to how the Spirit is moving through you; you’re speaking in different languages! NOTICE how this has captured people’s attention and curiosity! RESPOND by sharing your faith with them in a way that encourages them to be in relationship with God!

Pentecost was not an evangelism education training program. It was a powerful experience for dozens of people that gave them the kick in the pants they needed to escape their post-crucifixion fears and embrace the next steps of their faith journey.

As I think about that scene, I think that there are moments when each of us can identify with both sides of Pentecost – sometimes we’re Jesus’ followers powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit and sometimes we’re the spectators filled with questions and skepticism. Either way is OK if we ask God to help us understand what’s happening and how we should respond.

The last words of today’s reading are the crowd of witnesses asking, “What does this mean?” That’s a good question for us today. How do we understand moments when the Holy Spirit moves among us? Are we even open to that concept OR do we think all that Holy Spirit stuff ended with the disciples? Deep breath, one step at a time.

Considering how often we pray for God’s Spirit to join with us, move within us, lead us, or get something done for us… it certainly sounds like we believe the Holy Spirit remains active today.

In light of our prayers, are we actually looking for evidence – circumstantial as it may be – that the Holy Spirit is moving in our lives outside of one hour each Sunday? As I’ve said many times before, humans have a funny way of finding what we’re looking for. If we want to find goodness around us, we find it. If we want to find badness around us, we find it.

Do we want to find God? Are we looking for God’s Spirit moving in our lives in moments that are not nearly as dramatic as what the disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost? If we are not, do we need to look harder or look in a different way?

If we DO perceive God’s Spirit actively moving in our lives or in the lives of the people around us, how do we understand AND respond to that? Do we praise God for what we witness? Do we tell others about it? OR do we keep quiet because we’re afraid that if we tell anyone, “God did something in my life” they’ll think we’re crazy? The experience of Pentecost launched the disciples out of fear and into bravely sharing their faith.

Here’s my Pentecost question for all of you. It’s the same question with which I begin our Bible Study every Tuesday evening: Where have you seen God this week?

If answers don’t immediately come to our minds, we look at Galatians 5:22-23 and ask, “Where have we seen any of this fruit in our lives?”

Verses 22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

If we intentionally and regularly look for these “fruit-filled” moments in our lives, I’m convinced we’ll find them and thus find God actively present in our lives. AND I’m convinced that if we share these moments with each other, we’ll discover God’s active presence all over the place – even if those moments are not as dramatic as today’s story.

As you start each day, ask God to help you notice the Holy Spirit in and around you. If it helps, ask God to help you see the fruit of the Spirit. And when you think you’ve seen, heard, or felt God, tell someone so we can celebrate with you! If you’re having trouble seeing these “fruit-filled” moments in your life, tell me and we’ll see what we can discover.

By recognizing Pentecost-type moments in our lives, we open ourselves to experiencing a deeper personal relationship with God. And the fruit of that will be more love, more joy, and more peace in ourselves, in our homes, and in our community.

Amen? Amen!