THE DAY OF PENTECOST                                                             31 May 2009


SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Pentecost celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers.  It is a time -- an event -- filled with symbolic language and images.  There is the liturgical color for the season -- RED -- the red of the flames.  Glad to see red out there in the congregation.  Our United Methodist Cross and Flame symbol is a reminder of Pentecost.  The wind -- the symbol of the Holy Spirit -- like the wind, invisible but active.  We can see the results of the wind -- the movement of the trees in a breeze the destruction of a hurricane.  Breathe on me, Breath of God!  In-spire.  Inspiration.  The dove is another symbol of the Holy Spirit -- descending. One of our hymns speaks of “the Comforter” -- another name for the Holy Spirit.  The Band has chosen their songs with Spirit related themes.  See if you can spot the references.  This is NOT A TEST -- there is NO PRIZE. The last of the Band’s songs today is not exactly a Pentecost coming of the Holy Spirit hymn -- they just like it.  I think you will too.  That’s good enough for me.

INTRODUCTION

Today is the day of Pentecost.  As a Christian holy day we mark it to be fifty days after Easter -- seven weeks and one day.  But Pentecost was a holy day long before the coming of Jesus.   (Pentecost, BTW, is just the Greek word for “fiftieth day.”)

>From the most ancient times the Festival of Weeks was one of three great annual feasts of Israel, to be celebrated seven full weeks (fifty days - a pentecost) from the beginning of the barley harvest.   

In later Judaism Pentecost became the celebration of the giving of the law.  According to Jewish tradition, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai fifty days after leaving Egypt. 

The three great “pilgrimage” festivals: Passover, Pentecost  and the Feast of Tabernacles -- were “days of obligation” and every Jewish male was expected to observe them by traveling to the temple in Jerusalem. 

Because it was a requirement there were many and diverse people gathered in Jerusalem to attend the Festival of Weeks on the Pentecost that was celebrated fifty days after the Passover when Jesus was crucified. 

* * * * *
We read from:  ACTS 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they 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 and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

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.  Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘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.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

* * * * *

Some Christians feel that this Pentecost marks the birth-day of the Church because it was here that the Apostles got their marching orders to go out and preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world.  Others think that the Church was begun when Jesus said to Peter “Upon this rock, I will build my Church” -- and Peter was that Rock -- and the first pope, in effect.

This is an awkward admission, I guess -- but I don’t really care about that.  I’ve never felt the urge to send a birthday card to the Church anyway.  What I find remarkable about this Pentecost experience is that it was so powerful -- that the people were empowered into action by the Holy Spirit.

The disciples  had essentially been “out of action” for the seven weeks following the crucifixion -- and the resurrection.  They prayed together -- privately.  They were essentially in hiding -- not seen in public.  They were confused and afraid.  Even the remarkable mystery of the resurrection did not stir them to action but seemed instead to render them mute.  They were waiting for something.  The risen Christ had said that they would be “Baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Peter, who had denied that he even knew Jesus and who must have felt like a failure as a disciple and as a friend, after the Pentecost experience shows himself to be a powerful preacher.  He “raised his voice” and delivered a sermon that stirred three thousand people to be baptized.

What happened that day?

It is a daunting task to try to interpret the Pentecost experience to a roomful of Methodists.  It is beyond my abilities.  But there is a Methodist preacher who is capable of such a task -- Grace Imathiu -- whom I heard preach at our Cal/Nev Annual Conference Session a dozen or more years ago. 
So I have mixed some of her words with mine to try to put all this into perspective:

The believers -- the disciples and a few friends and family --  were indoors. Outside was all the excitement -- the pious Jews gathered for the Pentecost Festival of Weeks.  But the believers were indoors behind closed doors. Those who were there tell us that they suddenly heard a sound.  A sound like blowing.  Wind blowing and gathering momentum until it became a mighty wind.  A storm.  And that stormy wind sound filled the very place where they were gathered. Then fire, they tell us. Tongues of fire falling and reaching and touching each and every person in the room.  Each one became filled.  Filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then they began to speak. They found the words to say. They found the courage to speak the words. They no longer whispered only among themselves. They opened the doors. They walked out of their safe room and took the risk of going into the crowd gathered outside.  And they began to speak to those who had not seen the fire nor heard the wind. Speaking to strangers the Good News of Jesus. And as the crowd listened, they were amazed and said, “We can understand what these people are saying. They are speaking our language.”

The disciples were trying to describe this presence which moved them from despair to hope; from fear to love. The disciplines were trying to describe what had happened to them in physical terms as a sound from heaven as a rushing of a mighty wind or tongues of flames. Another says "It was as though the heavens had burst and streams of heavenly truth flooded down into their lives."  What happened at Pentecost was that their hearts and lives were opened wide for the spirit of God in all its fullness to descend upon them and take them captive for the purposes of God.

The disciples tell us it was a matter of language!   Language has often been a matter of power.  Who speaks what language and where and when is often an indication of who is allowed to be seen and who is to remain invisible.  The region around Palestine was a Roman colony.  The people knew about the power of the masters’ language.    What amazing Good News that each language has a place in God's world!  The Good News is that you do not have to pretend to be someone you are not in order to hear the Good News!  God speaks every language.

Pentecost is breaking down the walls of the cocoon of despair and fear. Pentecost is the powerful entry of the Holy Spirit into our lives to rearrange our world in surprisingly new ways.  Suddenly the differences between peoples of the world, be they in accent, language, race or ethnicity are not something to fear but something to appreciate about God.  Pentecost is the invasion of God's point of view into our lives.

AMEN, I say -- and AMEN!