Scripture Reading Acts 2:1-21
When the day
of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
They saw what
seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them
were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as
the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were
staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
When they
heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard
their own language being spoken.
Utterly
amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?
Then how is it
that each of us hears them in our native language?
Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from
Rome
(both Jews and
converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of
God in our own tongues!”
Amazed and
perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however,
made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Then Peter
stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow
Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen
carefully to what I say.
These people
are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
No, this is
what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the
Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Message
Spirit for All
In the book of Genesis,
after we find the story of Noah and the Ark, we read about what happened to the
people of the world after the Flood. Noah’s
sons and daughters-in-law were on the Ark too, so after the flood, generations
of descendants were born. The people
moved east and ended up in the area of modern day Iran that was called Shinar –
the area was part of the ancient kingdom of Babylon, and the region was called Babel. Once there, the population grew stronger and
stronger…they even began to build a tall tower that could reach into the
heavens.
In the story of the people
of Babel, God decided the people were becoming too powerful. So, God scattered the people across the
earth, and mixed up their languages. Instead
of being one, unified group, the people lived in different regions of the world
and spoke different languages. The
people of the world were divided by culture, language, and faith.
Today is Pentecost Sunday. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, during the
festival of Shavout, the Jewish springtime harvest festival, the Holy Spirit
was breathed into Jesus’ followers. The
active, living essence of God streamed into God’s people. Immediately, they rushed out of the room they
were gathered in. They began preaching and proclaiming the wonders of God. And, in a reversal of the Babel story, they
could speak in the primary languages of the people who were around them, people
who were converts to Judaism from other lands.
Once God used linguistic differences to divide people – now God used
linguistic differences to reach people.
The Pentecost event
is considered the Birthday of the Christian Church. Jesus’ followers were at loose ends after Jesus
departed from the earth. They weren’t
sure what their next steps would be. They lacked confidence. They knew Jesus told them they would be
responsible to spread the Good News to the people of the world, but they didn’t
know how to get started. Just before Jesus’
Ascension, he told his friends to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were not sure how the Holy Spirit
would arrive, so they stayed together in a nervous group and waited.
On the first Pentecost,
the meaning of Jesus’ instruction to wait became clear. The Holy Spirit literally came into the room
with the Disciples, the Holy Spirit spilled into their bodies.
On Pentecost, we
celebrate that we are part of God’s plan. Just as God shared God’s Holy Spirit
with the Disciples on that day long ago, God shares God’s Holy Spirit with us. The Holy Spirit gave the Disciples confidence
to do God’s work in the world, and the Holy Spirit is with us as we work to do God’s
work in our world. The Holy Spirit
encourages us, inspires us, and comforts us.
The Holy Spirit energizes us to proclaim the Good News of God’s
love.
The Pentecost Story
turns the Babel story on its head. Instead
of the people of the world being divided, we are invited to unite together to
follow Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save
all people – people who speak every language, people of every ethnicity, people
from every country of origin, people of all class backgrounds, people of all
former faith backgrounds or of no faith background, people of all genders,
people of all ages, people of all sexual orientations, and people of all
abilities and with all special needs.
Today is a special
day. Just as we are reminded Jesus came to reach out to everyone, we ourselves
are invited to share our faith with everyone.
All people are invited to have a relationship with God. These many months of pandemic remind us that
we need each other. We need to be in
relationship with other people and we need to have God in our lives. Our relationship with God gives us the assurance
that we are not alone, we are loved and cared for by our loving creator. The Holy Spirit that came down of the Disciples
on the first Pentecost is still present among us, the followers of God. We do nothing alone, because God is with us. And,
we are called to share our faith with others.
Just as we depend on God, other people need to know they are loved by
our God and welcomed and embraced by God.
Let us go out and
share. May it be so. Amen.
** Our Artwork is "Descent of the Holy Spirit" by Greco. It is in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. **
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