Readings
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17, (25-27)
You know I half considered inviting you all to sing “Happy Birthday” with me this morning. It is, after all, the “birthday” of the Church. It is, in other words, the first day when the assembly of those who followed Jesus in his way and life claimed themselves as a community of faith and proclaimed that faith to others.
But what exactly do we mean when we call this day the birthday of the Church? Is it just an anniversary to be celebrated or is there some implication for us and for how we behave today? Well I don’t think it’s an either or choice. I think that it is an anniversary to be celebrated for sure, but it is also a day to be attentive to the story of that first Pentecost millennia ago and a day with profound implications for us even now.
In the book of Acts we hear that the original followers of Jesus are gathered together 50 days after his resurrection. And while gathered a violent wind comes and fills the entire house where they are and “divided tongues, as of fire” appeared among them and rest on them. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other languages.
Now we are told that the commotion of it all draws a crowd. Probably both out of curiosity and concern. But what happens? Instead of there being a crisis, the people in the crowd, who are of many nationalities, hear the disciples proclaiming the Good News of God and of Jesus in their own language and are amazed that such a humble group of people could accomplish such a feat. In the end, searching for an answer, they chalk it up to drunkenness. But Peter then speaks to the crowd and by reminding them of the words of the prophet Joel makes sense out of what they just experienced.
So what are we to make of this passage? First off we would do well to remember that not everything in the Bible is meant to be taken literally and what is expressed in this passage can be understood to be the expression of a profound experience that surpasses language. Surely the disciples experienced something significant in that house 2000 years ago. Surely they experienced what they came to understand was the Holy Spirit. It was as if the world around them and they themselves were on fire. Their hearts were aflame with love and joy and excitement. Something profound about their faith in God and in Jesus was ignited. Perhaps, for reasons we cannot know, the experience of the resurrection became more real to them that day. Perhaps it was the sharing of the story of Jesus and reflection on its implications. Perhaps it was simply the experience of the whole community gathered together in one place. Regardless they were moved and spontaneously expressed that movement in a profound way.
We’re told they could speak in different languages and then that, when a diverse crowd gathered around them, the people in that crowd could hear them speak in their own language. They proclaimed the Gospel to a community who had not known it. They proclaimed the Good News of God and of Jesus. And later in this passage, beyond what we hear this morning, we are told that on that day many were drawn into the community of faith.
While we tend to focus on the miracles of Pentecost, the tongues of fire and the speaking in tongues, this passage is actually a passage about evangelism. It is the first real example of evangelism about Jesus that is recorded in the New Testament.
But, lest we become uncomfortable with the idea of evangelism too quickly, let me make clear that this is not about what that word has popularly come to mean. Evangelism is not about beating people over the head with our specific understanding of faith, nor is it about trying to manipulate or coerce conversion to a specific expression of Christianity. No, this evangelism presented today is something altogether different.
We would do well to recognize some things about the work of the Holy Spirit that day long ago and the disciples’ behavior in response. While the followers of Jesus, through Peter ultimately proclaimed the Good News of Jesus to the crowd, the initial experience was simply that they were speaking, and they were understood. Through the Spirit they were able to reach out and meet people where they were rather than expecting them to speak Aramaic or Hebrew.
There is in this a profound implication for our evangelism, friends. You see, even when we take a more progressive view of evangelism, a view that is careful to not be too heavy handed or narrow-minded, we still think it is about first and foremost sharing our experience with someone else.
But that is not what we hear in today’s story. No, the first step of evangelism for the early disciples of Jesus was to meet people where they were at. To speak in their language. To use their metaphors. Basically, to respect them for who and what they were. In a very real sense, it was an inspired choice to start with curiosity and compassion based not in our assumptions but in their reality. In order for that to happen they needed to speak their language and to use their metaphors. They needed to step into their world and leave their own. Only then could they speak the Gospel in a way that was meaningful.
How different is that from what we have come to think about evangelism? Often times, as progressive people of faith we, out of fear of offending or fear of our faith being diminished by another, wait passively in our church buildings for others to come to us. We welcome those who come with open arms and share our Good News in the context of our worship and fellowship. But what of those who today presume us to be irrelevant, or worse, a blight on society? We do not know how to respond and often we feel paralyzed by such attitudes. We worry about the growing indifference or hostility to faith and yet remain, for the most part, cloistered within these walls.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The Spirit is still at work in us and among us. We all have the ability to bridge the gap, just as those early disciples bridged the gap in their own day.
What would it look like if we were to take seriously the beauty, the gifts, and the uniqueness of our faith community and make it know to the people of Puyallup in a way that spoke in their language rather than our own? How might we be attentive to the cultural shifts that have occurred both in language and in society and speak into the lives of others about what they care about? How might we recognize how what we care about and what they care about are congruent and then emphasize what we have in common? Perhaps then we will be more relevant. Perhaps then there will be room to talk about Jesus.
We may find ourselves challenged by the language we must use to bridge the gap. We may be uncomfortable with ideas and images that will communicate how we are a diverse, welcoming, and affirming community of faith. But, even so, none of it will be outside our abilities. God has already equipped us with what we need for this journey.
May we have the courage to embrace the idea of us being a Pentecost people. May we trust in the Spirit and find ways to speak in the languages of others. May we ultimately be surprised and in awe at what is possible if we but trust in the spirit and unleash our abilities into the world.