Sitting in Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville Tennessee, two rows up in front of me I saw a woman whose name tag announced that she had come from Columbia City, Indiana. I didn’t know her, but it still had that small world feel to it when I spied her point of origin. I also ran into a former associate pastor, and a couple I had worked with at Choir School and various other conference events, not to mention a fellow pastor from here in town that I knew was going to be there.
But that familiarity was not the real eye-opener. No, I think it was the diversity. There were Lutherans and Presbyterians, Baptists and Disciples, Canadians and Europeans, Northerners and Southerners, Parthians, Medes and Elamites. Uh, sorry, got carried away and jumped ahead into the text for a moment there. Forgive me.
It is just that there was a feeling of Pentecost about the place. Surely you were aware that this Sunday is Pentecost, one of the big three festivals of the Church from the beginning. Easter was the biggest, of course, and Epiphany and Pentecost were the sign posts around which the Christian life oriented. But, while Easter and Epiphany are self-explanatory in their importance; why Pentecost? If Jesus is the center of the faith, then his Resurrection and his Incarnation would be natural foci for us. But what is it about Pentecost that puts it in such a position of importance?
One commentator states that the debate on the importance of Pentecost centers around the issue of birthday or broadening. Which explains everything, doesn’t it?
The familiar reading for Pentecost Sunday is the recounting of the event in the second chapter of Acts. Take a look and see if that importance is revealed.
Acts 2:1-21 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.'
You can’t help but notice that Luke struggles to describe this event. He uses words that come close, but aren’t quite it. “A sound like” he writes, “tongues as of fire.” It was sort of like wind, but not quite, it was kind of like fire but that wasn’t it either. It is an event that goes beyond description, beyond experience almost.
But the something that happens has an effect. It leaks out into the street beyond. And passers-by are caught up by the sound that they hear. Voices, words, wrapped in the language of home. That is what makes them stop. I imagine in a cosmopolitan city like Jerusalem, that is difficult to keep the noise down at the best of times. So, overhearing would be a common experience. But this one was different. They were drawn by the familiar language that they heard. It made their hearts stop for a moment as they tuned their ears more carefully to the words.
There is a story of an American tourist in Germany. The tourist had no knowledge of German whatsoever, and had wandered off the tourist trail and found himself in a small village where he was having trouble making himself understood. He was about to panic when he was caught in a sneezing fit. A passerby smiled and nodded at him and said “Gesundheit!” The American rushed after the man and declared, “O good, you speak English!”
We all long for a familiar sound, for the language of home. We long for a connection. That was what was heard on that Pentecost morning. That was what the languages offered the passers by. So, they stopped and listened. Some wondered and, I suspect, hoped. Others scoffed, being of a cynical bent. “They must be drunk!” they shouted. If there is an alcoholic beverage that allows you to speak in foreign languages, I’m going to get me some.
You would have thought that Peter’s defense might have been that. Drinking teaches you languages? Intelligible languages, that is. Nonsense. You’re the ones talking crazy! But that wasn’t his defense. Instead he went with the “it’s only 9am” defense. It’s too early to be drunk! Or as Bishop Will Willimon said in a sermon about the Pentecost event - “Peter said, we’re not drunk ... yet.”
The tongues that were not quite like fire, and not really like tongues either, but some visible manifestation of an invisible presence, were making connections. It was one, divided and settling on each, says Luke in his struggling for words. It was one presence, one sound, and it was heard by each, who then echoed the sound so that more heard. It wasn’t an experience to keep to one’s self, that much is plain. It was meant to be shared. It was meant to be community building.
So, whether it was a birthday, the beginning of the church, as some argue; or a broadening, the opening of the doors of the church to include all, either way it was a building of community. It was making connections. It was building up the body. Pentecost is about the church being the church. Pentecost reminds us that this is a small world, and wherever you go you are likely to find members of your family gathered around the living Word and the winds of the Spirit.
Shalom,
Derek
But that familiarity was not the real eye-opener. No, I think it was the diversity. There were Lutherans and Presbyterians, Baptists and Disciples, Canadians and Europeans, Northerners and Southerners, Parthians, Medes and Elamites. Uh, sorry, got carried away and jumped ahead into the text for a moment there. Forgive me.
It is just that there was a feeling of Pentecost about the place. Surely you were aware that this Sunday is Pentecost, one of the big three festivals of the Church from the beginning. Easter was the biggest, of course, and Epiphany and Pentecost were the sign posts around which the Christian life oriented. But, while Easter and Epiphany are self-explanatory in their importance; why Pentecost? If Jesus is the center of the faith, then his Resurrection and his Incarnation would be natural foci for us. But what is it about Pentecost that puts it in such a position of importance?
One commentator states that the debate on the importance of Pentecost centers around the issue of birthday or broadening. Which explains everything, doesn’t it?
The familiar reading for Pentecost Sunday is the recounting of the event in the second chapter of Acts. Take a look and see if that importance is revealed.
Acts 2:1-21 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.'
You can’t help but notice that Luke struggles to describe this event. He uses words that come close, but aren’t quite it. “A sound like” he writes, “tongues as of fire.” It was sort of like wind, but not quite, it was kind of like fire but that wasn’t it either. It is an event that goes beyond description, beyond experience almost.
But the something that happens has an effect. It leaks out into the street beyond. And passers-by are caught up by the sound that they hear. Voices, words, wrapped in the language of home. That is what makes them stop. I imagine in a cosmopolitan city like Jerusalem, that is difficult to keep the noise down at the best of times. So, overhearing would be a common experience. But this one was different. They were drawn by the familiar language that they heard. It made their hearts stop for a moment as they tuned their ears more carefully to the words.
There is a story of an American tourist in Germany. The tourist had no knowledge of German whatsoever, and had wandered off the tourist trail and found himself in a small village where he was having trouble making himself understood. He was about to panic when he was caught in a sneezing fit. A passerby smiled and nodded at him and said “Gesundheit!” The American rushed after the man and declared, “O good, you speak English!”
We all long for a familiar sound, for the language of home. We long for a connection. That was what was heard on that Pentecost morning. That was what the languages offered the passers by. So, they stopped and listened. Some wondered and, I suspect, hoped. Others scoffed, being of a cynical bent. “They must be drunk!” they shouted. If there is an alcoholic beverage that allows you to speak in foreign languages, I’m going to get me some.
You would have thought that Peter’s defense might have been that. Drinking teaches you languages? Intelligible languages, that is. Nonsense. You’re the ones talking crazy! But that wasn’t his defense. Instead he went with the “it’s only 9am” defense. It’s too early to be drunk! Or as Bishop Will Willimon said in a sermon about the Pentecost event - “Peter said, we’re not drunk ... yet.”
The tongues that were not quite like fire, and not really like tongues either, but some visible manifestation of an invisible presence, were making connections. It was one, divided and settling on each, says Luke in his struggling for words. It was one presence, one sound, and it was heard by each, who then echoed the sound so that more heard. It wasn’t an experience to keep to one’s self, that much is plain. It was meant to be shared. It was meant to be community building.
So, whether it was a birthday, the beginning of the church, as some argue; or a broadening, the opening of the doors of the church to include all, either way it was a building of community. It was making connections. It was building up the body. Pentecost is about the church being the church. Pentecost reminds us that this is a small world, and wherever you go you are likely to find members of your family gathered around the living Word and the winds of the Spirit.
Shalom,
Derek
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