May 11
Pentecost Sunday and Mothers’ Day–
The Spirit Gathers a Church
The Christian church was born fifty days
after Jesus’ resurrection, on the Jewish festival of Pentecost. The disciples 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… Acts
2:1-4
Pastor Thomas
Long was teaching his confirmation class about the church year. Christmas and Easter they got, but when it
came to Pentecost they were clue-less.
The pastor explained Pentecost was the day the Holy Spirit came from heaven
with the sound of a rushing wind, and fire rested on the heads of everyone
gathered there.
At this point
a girl raised her hand. “I don’t
remember seeing that. My family and I
must have been out of town that Sunday.”
The coming of
the Spirit is like the wind. Think of
leaves blowing around – or even the wind filling the sails of a boat and
pushing it swiftly across
If you want
to catch the wind, you have to put yourself where the wind is blowing. The disciples of Jesus were all together in
one place, gathered for prayer and worship.
Pentecost was a group experience.
The Spirit came upon them as a community. They had heard the promise of Jesus – the one
we heard in last week’s lesson – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you. So they were
together, waiting for the fulfillment of Jesus promise. And they were not disappointed. But they certainly were surprised.
This divine
intervention gives birth to the church, not just on Pentecost, but always. That’s how you got here. We are all here in this church because,
through the Holy Spirit, God in some way reached out to us. His Spirit called you and invited you. Maybe that invitation came through another
believer, who was moved by the Spirit.
Or maybe the Spirit silently moved your heart. As Paul wrote:
No
one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3
Your faith,
whether it be great or small, is a sign of the
Spirit’s work in your life. A constantly
questioning and seeking faith is evidence of the Spirit pushing you toward
growth.
Many of you
will remember the name Ralph Abernathy from the civil rights movement. A colleague of Dr. King, Abernathy was the
pastor of a prominent Baptist church in
One Sunday as
Abernathy was delivering his sermon, a visitor started saying “Amen
preacher”. In Abernathy’s church they
didn’t do that – they sat quietly during the sermon. But the visitor persisted “Amen. Praise the
Lord”.
Other
worshippers turned to glare at the visitor and one of the ushers went to speak
to him. “Brother, would you please restrain yourself. You’re distracting the other worshippers.”
“I’ve just
got to say ‘amen – praise the Lord’ because I’ve got the Spirit.”
“Well you
certainly didn’t get the Spirit in this church.”
This
Pentecost-Spirit is described as the rush of a violent wind, not a gentle
breeze. That could imply that the
experience of God’s Spirit is not always going to be nice, orderly or
proper. Maybe it will be disrupting,
disturbing and even scary. The
Spirit-wind may push us in new directions – maybe even in ways that we don’t
want to go.
The wind is
not under our control, and neither is the Holy Spirit. On that day of Pentecost, those disciples
were pushed in new direction.
All
of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages,
as the Spirit gave them ability. 2:4
On the night
before, I don’t think Peter was working on his first sermon – the one he was
going to preach the next morning. And
the other eleven weren’t polishing their language skills so they could speak in
Latin and Greek to the crowd. Yet, they
were speaking in other languages and preaching.
Remember,
when Jesus promised the Sprit, it was in connection with an assignment: You will be my witnesses, beginning in
If the meaning
wasn’t initially clear – exactly what they were to do – it sure became clear on
Pentecost. There they were, telling
others about what Jesus had done. If we
were to read on, we’d find Peter summarized the whole story of Jesus in his
sermon. No illustrations, no humor, just
the story of Jesus. He ended with an
invitation. Many listeners accepted his
invitation, were baptized and joined the first Christian church.
Wonderful,
you say. And it was. But it was also a problem. Before Pentecost, that group gathered around
the disciples was like a big family.
They had known one another for years – they were friends. Suddenly, guided by the Spirit, they had
opened the doors and invited a whole bunch of perfect strangers into their
congregation.
These new
comers didn’t know all the stories about Jesus.
They weren’t familiar with his teachings. They’d have to start a Christian education
program. And the new comers asked “Why
do you do it that way?” They wanted
reasons for the way things were done in the congregation. Maybe they even had some ideas of their
own. It was disrupting. Things would have to change to accommodate
these new-comers. Congregational life
just wouldn’t be the same. The Spirit,
like the wind, moves things and brings change.
Are we
willing to let the active Holy Spirit grow our church, not on the basis of our
plans and designs, but on the basis of God’s call? Before we make our plans, are we willing to
spend time and study in seeking His will?
Erma Bombeck wrote a piece about having the meanest mother in
the world. It went something like this:
I had the meanest mother in the world. I had to eat all my broccoli and carrots
before she would ever let me have dessert. My friend next door never had to eat
vegetables. His mother got fast food - burgers and shakes.
I had the
meanest mother. When I was seven years
old she dared to punish me just because I told her I would not help around the
house. My friend next door never got punished.
He didn't have to help at home. He had a nice mother.
I had the meanest mother. She made me go to church every Sunday as long as I
lived under her roof, sit there in that boring sermon. My friend next door could do as he pleased.
He never went to church.
I had the meanest mother. She made me work for my allowance. I had to get a job
helping an elderly old man with chores around his house. My friend next door
never had to do anything and he was given four times as much allowance as I
could ever earn. He had a nice mother.
Or so I once thought, but, when I reached age thirty, I had a change in
perspective. I had learned that my mother was not so mean after all. I was
experiencing the pleasure of work, the reward of recreation, the strength of a
healthy body, the inward
confidence that comes from faith and the wonderful supportive fellowship that
comes from the Church as a community of believers.
As for my friend, things were not going so well: he was not finding his niche
in the workplace, nothing seemed to satisfy him, he was having difficulty getting
along with people who were not willing to do everything his way, and he
evidenced a cynical outlook without any under-girding that comes from the
assurance of faith.
Like your
mother, the Holy Spirit would lead you to do stuff you wouldn’t think of doing
– or at least would prefer to neglect.
Maybe the Spirit pushes us into new and different situations that make
us feel uncomfortable – but for a purpose.
And later
when you look back, you see they were the right things. You might even say, “I didn’t know I was
capable of that.”
Breathe in
the Spirit and be inspired by the Spirit to act on behalf of God. But some of
us have been waiting to exhale far too long. As the Spirit of God flows into
us, it also ought to flow from us in the way we speak to one another, in the
way we treat others in our community, in the way we live
The Holy
Spirit is among us, unseen like the wind, fanning the flame of faith.
The Spirit
opens our minds to greater understanding, and enlightens us.
The Spirit of
the Risen Christ is among us, offering us a share in His life and His power,
His peace and His hope.