Sermon May 31, 2020
Pentecost Sunday
Spirit of God, at
Pentecost you moved among the gathered disciples to create new understanding.
So move among us this day to fill us with a fresh understanding of the
Scriptures. Energize us to act on this holy wisdom faithfully, in the name of
Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Amen.
Following Jesus crucifixion, the followers of Jesus regroup
and chose a replacement for Judas, that is, the one who betrayed Him. After some deliberations, Matthias is chosen
by the remaining disciples to assume the vacancy. By so doing, the disciples are acting to
re-establish a sense of order and completeness to their group and, with the
naming of Matthias, they imagine that they now stand ready to bear witness to
the gospel and the resurrection.
But Jesus made a promise
at His Ascension. He said in Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay
in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Similarly in Acts 1:8 Jesus says But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.”
Today as we enter
this season of Pentecost, we celebrate Jesus’ fulfillment of His Word, that is,
we rejoice in the gift of the third person of the Trinity, that is, the Holy
Spirit within and around us; today we celebrate
being clothed with power from on high.”
Now scripture actually
presents three very different accounts of the coming of the Holy Spirit among
us. In Luke’s writings, the Spirit comes
as the overwhelming power of God; like a mighty wind that blows and moves the church
in new directions and into totally unexpected places of ministry.
By contrast, John speaks of the Advocate or Spirit of God as
the continuing, comforting presence of Jesus with the church, and the source of
peace. And finally, the Apostle Paul
describes the Holy Spirit as the Presence of God that unites us to Christ; that
binds us together to into His body; the Presence that harmonizes the particular
gifts of every one of us into communion with each other and God Himself.
Now of all three of these portrayals of the coming of God’s
Spirit into our lives, perhaps it is today’s New Testament reading from Luke’s
companion book of Acts, that we might find most distressing and unsettling –
that is the Spirit of God as an sudden,
uncontrollable, mighty and violent wind.
I mean, hold on to your hats!! Who
knows where or how hard the Spirit is going to blow; who knows what
the Spirit will reveal; who knows where the Spirit will dare to lead us?
But
it would be a mistake to characterize this coming of the Spirit as simply some
randomly timed “thrill ride” into the unknown.
Brian
Peterson
Professor of New Testament, at Lutheran Seminary Columbia, South
Carolina writes: Being a disciple of Jesus in this windstorm will bring the church, and you
along with it, to unexpected places, and unexpected grace. It may
only be in retrospect, and with inspired interpretation, that we can look back
and recognize the Spirit’s driving wind rather than simply a frighteningly
chaotic storm.
Like a horrific
wind storm, we read this morning that the Spirit of God can change the
landscape of life in mere seconds and, by so doing, alter our individual and
collective lives forever. With this in
mind, consider also that the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in our
New Testament lesson today, occupies only four
(2x), albeit hefty, verses of scripture.
It only takes about 15 seconds to read about this momentous event – an
event that fulfilled Jesus promise, gave birth to the church and filled the
hearts and minds of Christians, then and now with renewed hope, strength and
purpose.
After 2000 years
of waiting for the Messiah to appear; after the of hours Jesus’ suffering and
pain on the cross; after the three days in the tomb; after the time of fear,
grief and heartbreak of the disciples after Jesus’ death, we heard today, over
the space of mere four verses of scripture and 15 seconds of reading time, the
Holy Spirit is made manifest to the disciples and to us.
In
today’s New Testament passage, we heard that the Spirit revealed itself with
great sound, wind and fire. But these
marks of the presence of God are certainly not unique to the story of Pentecost
which we read this morning. For example,
elsewhere in scripture, that is in Exodus 19:16-19, we read that Moses led his
people to an encounter with God that shared many of these characteristics. Hear these words:
16 On the morning of the third
day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the
mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and
they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with
smoke, because the Lord descended on it in
fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and
the whole
mountain trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke
and the voice of God answered him.
But the manifestation of God’s Spirit is not confined or limited to displays
of power and might. In 1 Kings 19:11-12 (NIV) we find, not only
echoes of the presence of God’s Spirit as sound, wind and fire, but also a
reminder God can also reveal Himself in gentleness, stillness and quiet. Again, hear these words:
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in
the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and
shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the
earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
The
Spirit of whisper is the soft voice that comes to us in the midst of sorrow and
grief and says, “I am here, you can do this, and you will be okay, you will get
through this. I am with you. Somehow the strength to meet the next day and the
day after is there. It is the voice of compassion, the words of encouragement
that directs our way, a word of truth that points us in the right direction –
if we would place our faith; our trust and confidence in Him. And so it is that we can come to know
Pentecost as a time when we can know that God is certainly around and within
us; holding and sustaining us; giving us the power; the quiet assurance and
strength to face each new day. And, with
all this in mind, I ask you, when was the last time you sought to rest in God’s
Spirit; His Holy Presence; to take the time to discern His will and purpose for
you and the world He loves; to open your heart and mind to his Spirit that you
might feel his presence around and within you?
Or
maybe we find it easier, preferable or more attractive to think of the presence
of God solely as power and might; as the
loud sound of the trumpet, the rushing wind; the many voices; the flames of
fire. And, to be sure, there are times when that is what we need, that is, for
the Spirit of God to come upon us with a dramatic, great and lasting impact;
when God needs to give us a “wake up call”; turn us in another direction; draw
us out and away from our self -absorbed concerns towards the reality of life in
and through Him.
In
closing, let me say that Pentecost is more the revealing of God’s Spirit in
power and might; in sound, wind and fire.
God may reveal Himself to us in many ways; across an unlimited
spectrum. But, however He may reveal His
Spirit to us, may our hearts and minds be ever open to receive Him and so
faithfully live and serve Him in this, the world He loves. God has indeed given each one of us strengths
and gifts so that we might go onto the world to be a blessing to others and, in
so doing, glorify God’s Holy Name. Yes,
we celebrate the beginning of the season of Pentecost today, but God’s gift of
His Spirit; His holy presence within and around us all is a celebration for this
and every day. Thanks be to God for Pentecost; for yet another manifestation of
His boundless love and grace. Amen.
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