Gathered and Scattered -- A Message for Pentecost Sunday 2022

 

            Today is Pentecost Sunday. In the first century, Jewish people celebrated Shavuot on this day. Shavuot is one of three pilgrim festivals. In Ancient times, Jewish men were required to observe Shavuot at the Temple in Jerusalem. Shavuot celebrates when God met Moses on Mount Sinai and gave him and the Jewish people the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

            Hear what happened at the first “Christian” Pentecost:

Scripture Reading                        Acts 2:1-21,  42-47

 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.’

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 

All the believers were together and had everything in common. 

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 

praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Pastor: O God, by your Spirit tell us what we need to hear, and show us what we ought to do, to obey Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

            A long time ago, people wondered why people spoke different languages. Wouldn’t it be easier if people spoke the same language?

            Biblical storyteller Ralph Milton retells the story of how this came about this way:

After the flood in the time of Noah, people and animals and birds began to have babies…And these people and animals spread out all over the world.

…soon more and more people came to a place and it became a city. They called the city Babylon.

      One day some of the people said, “You know what we should do? We should build a really high tower. Everybody in the whole world will come to see it. It will make us famous. We will call it the tower of Babel.”

      …God saw what the people were building. God didn’t like it. “Soon they will be able to do anything they want.” Said God.

      So God changed the words that came out of their mouths. God changed their language so they couldn’t understand each other.

      The people of Babylon didn’t work together any more. They didn’t understand each other. The stopped building the tower. They moved away from each other to many different places.

Now, when we don’t understand what people are saying, we say they are babbling.

            People in the first century struggled to understand each other.  When they met people from other cities and lands, they couldn’t understand their languages…they couldn’t understand their customs…they couldn’t understand their religious practices…even their clothing and shoes were strange. People we divided by their differences.

            And, then, on the first Christian Pentecost, something amazing happened. The Holy Spirit came upon the Christians, just as Jesus foretold before he ascended to Heaven. Suddenly, the leaders of the Christian church could speak and people would understand them. People who spoke all types of different languages understood. People from all kinds of weird places understood. The apostles were given the gift of speaking in other tongues, and the witnesses were given the gift of understand. On that day alone, many new people came to learn about the Christian faith and many new believers joined the community of Christ-followers.

            As the church was formed, the new Christians completely dedicated their lives to their faith. Their commitment to God was the central focus of their lives. The believers engaged in their faith by studying the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Some of them lived together and held all of their stuff in common. Many of them sold all of the possessions and property and gave the money to help members in need.  The Christians in Jerusalem went to pray and learn at the Temple every day, and they broke bread together in memory of Jesus’ sacrificial love for his people.

            The story of the first Pentecost is a powerful reminder for us that God sees no barriers between human people. There is no longer the good people and the bad guys. God loves people of every stripe and creed…people of all ethnic backgrounds….people who speak every language under the sun….old and young, rich and poor, male and female, people of all sexual orientations, people who are differently- abled….God loves all of us and the Christian message is for all of us.  The church is for everyone.

            And, unlike the result of the story of the people of Babylon, God wants us to work to understand each other. God wants us to work to learn each other’s languages. God wants us to learn about each other’s cultures. God wants us to work together on projects with people from different backgrounds as our own. The message of Christianity is that God wants us to be united with people of all every nation, ethnic group and background, and the first part of becoming united is to work to understand each other.

            May we live out the Pentecost message – may we work to understand each other and to work together.

            Amen.