Sermons for the Month
Come, Holy Spirit ... May We Speak, Hear and Be Changed!
DATE: June 8th, 2003
SERVICE: The Day of Pentecost
TEXT: Acts 2:1-21To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN This week I was reminded of an incident that occurred when I was in my early 20's, before I went to seminary. Without warning I found myself in the middle of a contentious situation. It so happened that the people involved were my superiors, one was my supervisor in the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program in which I was enrolled, and the other was the director of the program. They were both older than me, the director near retirement age, and they both could influence my future. And, there I was, mediating their disagreement. Having never been trained in such a thing, I was guiding these two well-educated people to communicate with each other. Somehow the correct words were given to me. Somehow they were able to open their ears to what was being said. Somehow the conflict - which was intense - was if not revolved, then at least calmed. I always said it was a miracle. As I look back on that having been involved in a number of situations that did not go so well I am even more convinced that what happened was the result of Divine intervention. Of course, because I had no idea what to do, I could not rely on my knowledge or experience, but had to be led by the Spirit - which is no doubt the explanation of why the situation turned out as it did. The Holy Spirit was there, creating a miracle of speaking and a miracle of hearing which reflected the miracles that occurred on the Day of Pentecost, the day the Christian church was born. On that day too there was a miracle of speaking and a miracle of hearing. There also was a miracle of conversion. Please join me in imagining the scene in Jerusalem that day. It was Pentecost, a Jewish festival that also is known as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest. On that day - 50 days after the Passover - Jews were required to present an offering of new grain to the Lord. It was one of three great pilgrimage festivals, so people came from near and far to the Holy City. Scholars say that as many as 200,000 people attended, two-thirds from foreign lands. Luke, who recorded this account, not only tells us that the masses included people "from every nation under heaven", but he lists the nations. Some of them are located in modern-day Iraq and Turkey, some are in northern Africa, and an island in the Mediterranean is named. In fact, if you traced a rough circle through the nations that Luke mentioned, you would find that Jerusalem is in the center. Among this crowd, gathered in this central place for three of the world's religions, are the followers of Jesus, who has now ascended into heaven. According to Acts 1:15 there are 120 of them, men and women, who are following the command of Jesus and waiting waiting waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. Suddenly, God acts. There is a mighty wind, there is fire that does not consume and ALL of them - not just certain ones - began to speak in other languages. This is the miracle of speaking. They were not babbling, they were telling about God's deeds of power in the languages of those who were visiting the Holy City on that Holy Day. Think of it have you ever been in a place where no one else spoke your language? I have, in Bolivia. I remember being jostled among the crowds in the capital city of La Paz in an outdoor market. There were strange sights everywhere - a wide-eyed cow's head sitting on the cement and unrecognizable bags of dried something hanging from the vendor's stall. And, all around me, nothing but Spanish or indigenous languages being spoken too fact for me to catch a word. If someone had begun to speak in English, my ears would have perked up, and I would have paid attention. Well, that's what happened in Jerusalem that day. The followers of Jesus were telling his story in languages they had not previously spoken - the miracle of speaking - and the people visiting from foreign places heard their languages and paid attention - the miracle of hearing. Then, there was one more miracle - the miracle of conversion. As the story continues, Peter (who, you'll recall, had denied even knowing Jesus 50 days earlier) gives a sermon. It's not a gentle sermon to hear, which is why it's a miracle that they heard it. Peter does not tell people that Jesus will give them everything they want or that life will be easy. He does not entertain them. In fact, he tells them that they - the Israelites - killed Jesus, who God raised up and who is now at God's right hand. Jesus, he says, is both Lord and Messiah. Peter's speaking that their hearing results in the baptism of 3000 people, the majority of who were from outside of Judea. They must have been transformed by their Pentecost baptism, because the spark that they carried in their hearts spread the Pentecost fire far and wide. The speaking was a Holy Spirit miracle; the hearing was a Holy Spirit miracle and the conversion (the transformation) was a Holy Spirit miracle. Perhaps that phrasing makes you uncomfortable; maybe it sounds too much like what comes from the television preachers that we quickly by-pass when channel surfing. But, the fact is, that all three of those miracles are available to us. And do we ever need them. Every Sunday we should ask that the Holy Spirit miracle of speaking is granted to me and others who share the Good News about Jesus Christ. Oh, I may not be speaking in a foreign language - although you may wonder at times - but I am depending on some divine help as I share. And, I'm depending on divine help as you hear, not only to move your attention off the grocery list and onto the Lord, but so that the word sinks in and is meaningful so that conversion - transformation - is constantly occurring among us. We need the Pentecost miracles of speaking, hearing and conversion in this congregation as we make decisions and face risk and change. It's vital whether we are changing the worship schedule - as is happening this summer - or developing a new Small Group ministry or making alterations in the facility. It is so important that we express ourselves in a helpful way, hear what is said, and be open to transformation. We must call on the Holy Spirit for help as we address tough issues as a national church body - especially as we discuss and discern concerning issues surrounding human sexuality - something we will have the opportunity to do in coming months. Wouldn't it be reason to rejoice if there was a miracle of speaking and hearing in Jerusalem again, where peace is just a dream? In our individual lives it is the Holy Spirit alone who is able to move us from here to there when we are at a communication dead-end with another person. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit opened people's mouths and their ears and their hearts - and the miracle of faith began to spread. As we too experience that miracle (here-ears, here-mouth, here-heart) we will see amazing transformations in our lives, our church and our world. Let us then loudly proclaim - Come Holy Spirit - and mean it! AMEN