Acts 2: 1–11
|
|
Grace to you and peace in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
|
This morning we are celebrating Pentecost, the festival that comes every
year fifty days after Easter, the festival many call the birthday of the
Church. Usually, we try to describe the events of Pentecost
through images of wind and fire and multi–lingual
speech – which is the way Luke describes the gift of the Spirit
to Jesus’ disciples in the Book of Acts. For these are the
images Luke saw and felt and heard that momentous day in Jerusalem when
the Holy Spirit descended on those disciples who’d been waiting
for the gift, praying together, for days. So, every year churches
remember the event in those same terms – wearing red clothes to
symbolize the tongues of fire that descended on each disciple’s
head and waving silken streamers on the ends of long wands to simulate
the movement and energy of a rushing mighty wind. Or they’ll
have people who speak a variety of languages read the scriptures in
their native tongues – to show the diversity of the people who
suddenly could hear and understand the Word of God in their own language.
|
|
But these are only the outer signs of the gift of the Spirit. They
don’t begin to tell the story of what the Spirit of God did
within the people it touched. And here it’s
John’s account that comes closer. John remembers Jesus at
another festival, the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, crying out,
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who
believes in me drink.” Jesus, you see, long before the
Spirit was given, was foretelling the Spirit’s arrival, not as a
mighty rushing wind or fire — which both have their effect on our
outer beings — but as rivers of living water that would satisfy
the inner thirst of all who could receive them. And the
people, hearing his promise, suddenly remembered Ezekiel and Joel
promising that one day a river of life would flow from the Temple that
would refresh and renew the whole world. They also remembered
God’s promises through Isaiah that He would one day provide
streams in the desert. Was this, they wondered, the day when their
inner thirsts, their spiritual thirsts would be satisfied? John
tells us that this was not the time, for Jesus had not yet been
glorified. And until he’d been glorified, the Holy Spirit
could not come. But even hearing Jesus’ promises on
that day reminded everyone of their own spiritual thirsts.
|
|
You and I know something about spiritual thirst in our own day and our
own culture. For whom among us isn’t thirsty for
something? To be human is to be thirsty for something more
than we have. Some, of course, are thirsty for money and the
things money can buy, or maybe power or fame. Superficial things,
in other words, that can be satisfied in superficial ways. But
for others – really, for all of us — the yearning goes
deeper. Deep down I think we all want a sense of meaning in our
lives. We all want security and peace. And we all want
community — to feel connected, one to another. And that,
thank goodness, is what Pentecost is all about.
|
|
For the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was, in fact, the stream
in the desert that satisfied our inner yearnings, our inner
spiritual thirsts. Anyone who encountered Jesus in the
thirty–three years he spent walking on this earth, marveled at
his wisdom, his compassion, his mercy. Anyone who encountered him
sensed his holiness. But relatively few people actually
encountered Jesus in his years on this earth.
|
|
The gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, however, was different.
Suddenly everyone could experience the Spirit — wherever they found
themselves, whenever they realized their need. Suddenly, everyone
willing to receive the Spirit of God had the peace they had longed for,
the companionship they had missed, the answers to their questions.
Suddenly, the Spirit was right there in their midst – and they
couldn’t get enough of Him! No wonder three thousand
people joined the Church that very first day!
|
|
But God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost didn’t just
give people heavenly companionship, heavenly
guidance. The Spirit also connected them with each other. For
when the Spirit entered each new believer’s heart, they each began
to see things in new ways — as God sees them – through eyes
of love. No wonder their sense of community was suddenly
enhanced – for everyone they saw, they now loved as another person
created in the image of God. This was the new sense of
companionship everyone wanted. These were the streams in the desert
everyone had longed for.
|
|
But I’ve saved the best for last! For the gift of the
Holy Spirit on Pentecost wasn’t just a one–time gift, given
in Jerusalem in the first century to a lucky few. The gift of the
Holy Spirit of God continues to be given right here, right now – to
any who want it, to any who know their need.
|
|
And these days, I suppose, no one is more in need than the refugees who
are streaming toward our southern borders, seeking asylum. They
are coming – not just from the poverty–stricken areas of
South and Central America, but also from Afghanistan and Syria and
Ukraine – places so torn apart by war and strife these refugees
are risking their lives, their children’s lives and everything
they own to find asylum in this country. And thank God, there are
Spirit–filled Christians along those borders who see those
refugees – not as nuisances or threats – but as people
beloved by God, people created in God’s own image,
people — God knows — we can help. So Christians in
many churches along our southern border are helping refugees in any
way they can.
|
|
But not everyone sees the situation through eyes of love. Last
Monday evening, in fact, two of those beautiful old churches just a
mile from the Mexican border, whose members have been serving refugees,
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and First Presbyterian Church in Douglas,
Arizona, were burned to the ground by an arsonist. Obviously,
that’s not good news. But I was touched by the words of the
Episcopal priest, John Caleb Collins, whose church had just been
destroyed. “Our rectory” he said, “and our
sanctuary (were) completely burned. Everything – the
icons, the stained glass windows, the vestments, the pews –
everything was completely consumed in the flames. [But] We
always pray for the safety of the church,” he said.
“And no injuries were reported last night at either church.
No single person was hurt. And since the church is the people, our
prayers have been answered. Our sanctuary can be rebuilt.”
|
|
This is someone who understands what Pentecost is all about. Across
barriers of language and culture and nationality, the unseen but very
real presence of the Spirit opens our hearts to God and to one
another. And even across barriers of hostility, God’s peace
is revealed.
|
|
As it was this week in Douglas, Arizona, so it is this morning here at
All Angels, in Eatonton, Georgia. The Holy Spirit of God has
come to us with a message of transforming power. And those who
are willing to receive it will experience in themselves the love that
makes for reconciliation and peace on earth.
|
|
To God be the glory for the things he has done !!
|
Amen.
|
