We are one in the Spirit
Commentary
Pentecost was one of three major Jewish feasts -- Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Coming fifty days after Passover, Pentecost was in early June, a good time to travel and therefore the best-attended of the three festivals.
The list of nations represented in Jerusalem at Pentecost has been compared to astrological catalogues that were common at the time. There is a striking similarity. It seems evident that Luke's list is intended not so much to indicate specific places as to be a symbolic way of stating that the Pentecost experience is for the whole world. Though the people on whom the Spirit is poured out are all Jews, their identity with the nations of the known world is his way of saying that the Gospel will be shared through them with all peoples.
Scholars have debated the issue of tongues for a long time. Was this a case of glossolalia, the secret and unintelligible language Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 14, or a known language that people of different linguistic backgrounds all understand in this setting? Or, as others suggest, do we have both -- glossolalia among the inner circle in the house (vv. 1-4) and a known language among the larger public assembly (vv. 5-13)? We cannot know for certain. All we can say is that the experience on this day was so unusual that it transformed a community of ordinary Jews into the nucleus for an extraordinary community of faith that would carry the news of the Gospel to the far corners of the known world.
Peter's sermon is significant since it is the first preaching in the community of what would become the Christian church. The first part of that sermon -- included in our lesson for this day -- is instructive for all preaching that follows, including our own. Peter wants to make certain from the very beginning that the Pentecost experience is not seen as an isolated phenomenon. To make his case he begins by citing the prophecy of Joel, a word from God that envisions the inclusion of all peoples in the Kingdom. All genders -- men and women; all ages -- young and old; all classes -- slaves and free; all realms -- heaven and earth.
Few contemporary leaders have understood the meaning of Pentecost better than Lesslie Newbigin, retired bishop of the Church of South India. He once wrote that "it is unfortunate that the history of mission is so often written by missionaries. They overestimate their role," says Newbigin. "Our role is secondary. Mission is not a burden laid upon the church; it is a gift and a promise to the church that is faithful." (Lesslie Newbigin, Mission in Christ's Way, Geneva: WCC Publications, 1987, p. 40.)
Romans 8:22-27
As glorious as the day of Pentecost may have been and as remarkable as the history of Christianity, Romans 8 calls attention to the fact that we live "between the times." By the time Paul wrote to the Romans it was evident that expectations of an immediate return of Christ had been unrealistic. By now the church knows that it is in for the long haul, and a difficult long haul at that. The church to whom Paul sends this letter has been suffering and some may be withering under the pressures.
To these believers Paul sends a word of hope that is rooted in the gift of Pentecost. He is assuring them that the same Spirit that brought about the birth of the church is still with them, and will be with them no matter how intense the persecutions may be. Because our world is broken and in bondage to sin, writes Paul, everything, including nature, suffers. But it is not the kind of suffering that ends in a peaceful death, like the relief that comes to someone who goes through months and months of debilitating pain. No, it is suffering that gives life. So Paul uses the image of labor pains. Out of the suffering will come a new condition.
But believers have an advantage over the rest of creation. We have the Spirit! Like nature, our suffering is not an end in itself. But unlike nature, we have the promise of the Spirit that there is hope beyond the present moment, hope that reaches on into eternity. Because of this gift we should live confidently no matter what circumstances we encounter.
But Paul knows only too well that it is not easy to maintain this confidence. Like all great and honest saints of God, he must have known those "long dark nights of the soul" when hope grew so dim that all seemed lost. Paul is not speaking here of the Gnostic idea that some know a "secret language" and therefore have more direct access to God. No, this is the gift that comes to every believer -- the assurance that when our spirits lag and our words fail, the Spirit intercedes for us.
It is not, however, only lack of words that troubles us; we cannot find the right words. Most believers keep praying even when they do not know what to say. But the words come out all wrong. We feel at times that we are standing in an echo chamber, saying words that go nowhere. Paul says that we should not allow this to conquer us. Instead, we can trust an understanding and caring Spirit to pray for us, to pray on our behalf. The phrase "helps us in our weakness" could also be translated "lays hands on our infirmity" or "lays hold helpfully on our weakness."
This text, writes Nygren, "shows how realistically Paul views the Christian life. Paul painted for us no enthusiast's overdrawn picture of the present power of the Christian life. He knows very well to what limits that is bound in this world. He knows how to differentiate between that which has already been given and that which must wait for fulfillment." (Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1949, p. 334.)
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
In some traditions the story of the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost is contrasted with the confusion of languages at Babel. The chaos of Babel, rooted in our inclination to take things into our own hands, is contrasted with the unity that comes when God takes the initiative and gives the Spirit.
The key to understanding the work of the Spirit is in the term John chooses to express the mind of Christ. When he wrote his Gospel he could find no better Greek word than paraclatos. It is translated into English with a variety of expressions: "Counselor," "Advocate," "Comforter," "Helper," "Friend," and so on. If one asks about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult, indeed impossible, to capture the thought in a single word. It takes many words. And even then one is left with the sense that much more could be said. The point is that everything we need is given to us in the Holy Spirit.
The work of the Spirit is to move through the church like a chaplain serving an army. When the battle is going well, the chaplain reminds them that the war is not over; when it is going badly, the task is to point out that there will be other days for other encounters.
The greatest sin is that of unbelief -- "they do not believe in me." All other sins arise out of this most fundamental lack of trust in God. It is the function of the Spirit to convict us of this sin in order that faith may flourish again. But this faith is never an achievement. It is always a gift.
Unlike Aquinas, who believed that all intelligent creatures had a tendency to seek their chief end in God, Luther contended that it is not natural for us to search for God. Only the Spirit can give faith. Hans Kung once observed that the most important things in his life were not those he seized hold of on his own initiative, but those which simply happened to him. Those who came to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost had no idea what was in store for them. Grace happened. And it happens because the risen and ascended Christ sends and sends and sends the Spirit.
Suggestions For Preaching
At a time when we work so hard to distinguish the characteristics of various "generations," it is good to speak forcefully about the Spirit who breaks down those assumed differences. We hear about "Senior Citizens" and "Middle Agers" and "Baby Boomers" and "Baby Busters" and "Generation X" and now the latest, the "Millennium Generation." There may be some value in marking the differences between various ages and classes of people.
But Pentecost is a time to preach about the One who breaks those barriers and who brings us together in unity in one church. Jesus envisioned a Kingdom in which we would "speak the same language" and join in the same mission. In many of our churches we have given little attention to the nature and work of the Spirit. This is a day to help our listeners understand that nothing can be done without the help and guidance of the Spirit.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Acts 2:1-21
Language excludes and includes, isolating, enclosing. Wielding the word, the Spirit of the risen Christ breaks through every human division, all the secret and sacred codes, to open the new creation.
Going to an African market is something like getting dropped into the Jerusalem of the Pentecost story. For Africa is a linguistic bazaar. The tribal language, mother tongues, are first to the lips. But to do business, it's necessary to learn the languages of the neighboring peoples as well as that of commerce. In East Africa, it's common to meet people at home in three, four or even five languages.
It takes a while for a westerner to learn to go to market. Foodstuffs of every kind, common and exotic, are displayed in the open, sometimes on cloth spread on the ground, sometimes in stands: mangoes, papayas, pineapples, coconuts, more common vegetables, spices like cardamom and cinnamon by the pound. With no refrigeration, yesterday's produce is often close enough to spoilage to be turning aromatic; the slippery footing along with the smell generally indicates that some of it has been disposed of underneath you.
The people add their own dimensions. The market jams up with shoppers from every tribe and class. People in traditional tribal dress mingle with townspeople in secondhand western clothes and Europeans, pressed together by the small spaces. With all the sights and smells, a cacophony of voices fills the ear. There are no set prices; every purchase requires haggling.
Entering such a market without Kiswahili, a rough and ready combination of Arabic and Bantu that is the traders' language of that part of Africa, maroons a shopper. The simple act of buying fruit turns into a complex process of signs generally resulting in a doubled price. As the language is learned, access opens, friendships develop, prices drop, freedom is gained.
Labyrinthine old Jerusalem, for millennia a traders' city at a strategic crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean world, was itself such a bazaar. The people who responded so powerfully to Peter's preaching may have been "devout Jews," as Peter identifies them (v. 5), but they came from the dispersion -- they probably spoke Aramaic or Koine Greek, but their hearts were at home in another tongue, the language of their homeland. In such languages they kept their secrets, expressed their loves and longings.
The Spirit of the risen Christ didn't require Peter's hearers to learn a sacred language or to enter sacred space. Instead, the Spirit went to market, taking hold of the word to render it to the heart. No wonder they couldn't resist.
The list of nations represented in Jerusalem at Pentecost has been compared to astrological catalogues that were common at the time. There is a striking similarity. It seems evident that Luke's list is intended not so much to indicate specific places as to be a symbolic way of stating that the Pentecost experience is for the whole world. Though the people on whom the Spirit is poured out are all Jews, their identity with the nations of the known world is his way of saying that the Gospel will be shared through them with all peoples.
Scholars have debated the issue of tongues for a long time. Was this a case of glossolalia, the secret and unintelligible language Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 14, or a known language that people of different linguistic backgrounds all understand in this setting? Or, as others suggest, do we have both -- glossolalia among the inner circle in the house (vv. 1-4) and a known language among the larger public assembly (vv. 5-13)? We cannot know for certain. All we can say is that the experience on this day was so unusual that it transformed a community of ordinary Jews into the nucleus for an extraordinary community of faith that would carry the news of the Gospel to the far corners of the known world.
Peter's sermon is significant since it is the first preaching in the community of what would become the Christian church. The first part of that sermon -- included in our lesson for this day -- is instructive for all preaching that follows, including our own. Peter wants to make certain from the very beginning that the Pentecost experience is not seen as an isolated phenomenon. To make his case he begins by citing the prophecy of Joel, a word from God that envisions the inclusion of all peoples in the Kingdom. All genders -- men and women; all ages -- young and old; all classes -- slaves and free; all realms -- heaven and earth.
Few contemporary leaders have understood the meaning of Pentecost better than Lesslie Newbigin, retired bishop of the Church of South India. He once wrote that "it is unfortunate that the history of mission is so often written by missionaries. They overestimate their role," says Newbigin. "Our role is secondary. Mission is not a burden laid upon the church; it is a gift and a promise to the church that is faithful." (Lesslie Newbigin, Mission in Christ's Way, Geneva: WCC Publications, 1987, p. 40.)
Romans 8:22-27
As glorious as the day of Pentecost may have been and as remarkable as the history of Christianity, Romans 8 calls attention to the fact that we live "between the times." By the time Paul wrote to the Romans it was evident that expectations of an immediate return of Christ had been unrealistic. By now the church knows that it is in for the long haul, and a difficult long haul at that. The church to whom Paul sends this letter has been suffering and some may be withering under the pressures.
To these believers Paul sends a word of hope that is rooted in the gift of Pentecost. He is assuring them that the same Spirit that brought about the birth of the church is still with them, and will be with them no matter how intense the persecutions may be. Because our world is broken and in bondage to sin, writes Paul, everything, including nature, suffers. But it is not the kind of suffering that ends in a peaceful death, like the relief that comes to someone who goes through months and months of debilitating pain. No, it is suffering that gives life. So Paul uses the image of labor pains. Out of the suffering will come a new condition.
But believers have an advantage over the rest of creation. We have the Spirit! Like nature, our suffering is not an end in itself. But unlike nature, we have the promise of the Spirit that there is hope beyond the present moment, hope that reaches on into eternity. Because of this gift we should live confidently no matter what circumstances we encounter.
But Paul knows only too well that it is not easy to maintain this confidence. Like all great and honest saints of God, he must have known those "long dark nights of the soul" when hope grew so dim that all seemed lost. Paul is not speaking here of the Gnostic idea that some know a "secret language" and therefore have more direct access to God. No, this is the gift that comes to every believer -- the assurance that when our spirits lag and our words fail, the Spirit intercedes for us.
It is not, however, only lack of words that troubles us; we cannot find the right words. Most believers keep praying even when they do not know what to say. But the words come out all wrong. We feel at times that we are standing in an echo chamber, saying words that go nowhere. Paul says that we should not allow this to conquer us. Instead, we can trust an understanding and caring Spirit to pray for us, to pray on our behalf. The phrase "helps us in our weakness" could also be translated "lays hands on our infirmity" or "lays hold helpfully on our weakness."
This text, writes Nygren, "shows how realistically Paul views the Christian life. Paul painted for us no enthusiast's overdrawn picture of the present power of the Christian life. He knows very well to what limits that is bound in this world. He knows how to differentiate between that which has already been given and that which must wait for fulfillment." (Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1949, p. 334.)
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
In some traditions the story of the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost is contrasted with the confusion of languages at Babel. The chaos of Babel, rooted in our inclination to take things into our own hands, is contrasted with the unity that comes when God takes the initiative and gives the Spirit.
The key to understanding the work of the Spirit is in the term John chooses to express the mind of Christ. When he wrote his Gospel he could find no better Greek word than paraclatos. It is translated into English with a variety of expressions: "Counselor," "Advocate," "Comforter," "Helper," "Friend," and so on. If one asks about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult, indeed impossible, to capture the thought in a single word. It takes many words. And even then one is left with the sense that much more could be said. The point is that everything we need is given to us in the Holy Spirit.
The work of the Spirit is to move through the church like a chaplain serving an army. When the battle is going well, the chaplain reminds them that the war is not over; when it is going badly, the task is to point out that there will be other days for other encounters.
The greatest sin is that of unbelief -- "they do not believe in me." All other sins arise out of this most fundamental lack of trust in God. It is the function of the Spirit to convict us of this sin in order that faith may flourish again. But this faith is never an achievement. It is always a gift.
Unlike Aquinas, who believed that all intelligent creatures had a tendency to seek their chief end in God, Luther contended that it is not natural for us to search for God. Only the Spirit can give faith. Hans Kung once observed that the most important things in his life were not those he seized hold of on his own initiative, but those which simply happened to him. Those who came to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost had no idea what was in store for them. Grace happened. And it happens because the risen and ascended Christ sends and sends and sends the Spirit.
Suggestions For Preaching
At a time when we work so hard to distinguish the characteristics of various "generations," it is good to speak forcefully about the Spirit who breaks down those assumed differences. We hear about "Senior Citizens" and "Middle Agers" and "Baby Boomers" and "Baby Busters" and "Generation X" and now the latest, the "Millennium Generation." There may be some value in marking the differences between various ages and classes of people.
But Pentecost is a time to preach about the One who breaks those barriers and who brings us together in unity in one church. Jesus envisioned a Kingdom in which we would "speak the same language" and join in the same mission. In many of our churches we have given little attention to the nature and work of the Spirit. This is a day to help our listeners understand that nothing can be done without the help and guidance of the Spirit.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Acts 2:1-21
Language excludes and includes, isolating, enclosing. Wielding the word, the Spirit of the risen Christ breaks through every human division, all the secret and sacred codes, to open the new creation.
Going to an African market is something like getting dropped into the Jerusalem of the Pentecost story. For Africa is a linguistic bazaar. The tribal language, mother tongues, are first to the lips. But to do business, it's necessary to learn the languages of the neighboring peoples as well as that of commerce. In East Africa, it's common to meet people at home in three, four or even five languages.
It takes a while for a westerner to learn to go to market. Foodstuffs of every kind, common and exotic, are displayed in the open, sometimes on cloth spread on the ground, sometimes in stands: mangoes, papayas, pineapples, coconuts, more common vegetables, spices like cardamom and cinnamon by the pound. With no refrigeration, yesterday's produce is often close enough to spoilage to be turning aromatic; the slippery footing along with the smell generally indicates that some of it has been disposed of underneath you.
The people add their own dimensions. The market jams up with shoppers from every tribe and class. People in traditional tribal dress mingle with townspeople in secondhand western clothes and Europeans, pressed together by the small spaces. With all the sights and smells, a cacophony of voices fills the ear. There are no set prices; every purchase requires haggling.
Entering such a market without Kiswahili, a rough and ready combination of Arabic and Bantu that is the traders' language of that part of Africa, maroons a shopper. The simple act of buying fruit turns into a complex process of signs generally resulting in a doubled price. As the language is learned, access opens, friendships develop, prices drop, freedom is gained.
Labyrinthine old Jerusalem, for millennia a traders' city at a strategic crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean world, was itself such a bazaar. The people who responded so powerfully to Peter's preaching may have been "devout Jews," as Peter identifies them (v. 5), but they came from the dispersion -- they probably spoke Aramaic or Koine Greek, but their hearts were at home in another tongue, the language of their homeland. In such languages they kept their secrets, expressed their loves and longings.
The Spirit of the risen Christ didn't require Peter's hearers to learn a sacred language or to enter sacred space. Instead, the Spirit went to market, taking hold of the word to render it to the heart. No wonder they couldn't resist.
