What's the good word?
Commentary
Object:
I expect that our culture has become a rather cynical audience for speech.
We remember one president's infamous "read my lips" promise about new taxes. We remember another president's notorious parsing of the meaning of "is." And we have watched so many other politicians as well who calculate and exaggerate their way to elected office and to deniability.
Beyond the politicians themselves, our culture has been exposed to so much over-the-top rhetoric in public debates. All night long on cable news channels we can listen to two sides arguing with each other and casting careless aspersions. Every third or fourth debatable policy, it seems, is somehow tied to Hitler or the Holocaust.
On top of the hyperbolic public debate, we have gradually witnessed the coarsening of language by entertainers. Where Rhett Butler's famous use of the word "damn" near the end of Gone with the Wind raised adult eyebrows in 1939, now teens and pre-teens are routinely exposed in music lyrics to language that is both vile and violent. Butler's cautiously used expression was not that long ago built right into the name of a televised sports talk show.
Rumor-mongering news shows and web sites, shock jocks on radio, irresponsible advocates of public policies -- all of these have combined with the rest to make us desensitized, incredulous, or both. And so our culture has become a cynical audience, indeed, for words and speech.
Then, in stark contrast to such a broad, cultural devaluation of speech, we see the truth of scripture. In the lections assigned to us today, with our Pentecost emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, we will be refreshed and renewed in our understanding of words and speech.
Acts 2:1-21
My wife and I have some videotape and a great many photographs from the days that each of our children were born. Sometimes during their birthday celebrations we have broken out those visible memories to help us tell them the stories of those days. It is great fun, of course, for us to reminisce. It is very worthwhile for the kids to get a peek into an event, which they don't remember, but which is so central to their very existence.
So it is this Sunday, as we read with our people the story of Pentecost, we are breaking out the home movies from the day the church was born.
In the case of this particular birthday celebration, of course, none of us was present for the original event. There will be no first-person, eyewitness accounts of the occasion. Yet we have before us the written record of the day, and it will be a great benefit to us to get a peek into that pivotal day.
Here are some of the hallmarks of the church's birth. I think we will discover that they are instructive and revealing.
First, the church was born in a context of obedience. In the previous chapter, before his ascension, Jesus "ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). It's hard to guess what their impulse -- as individuals or as a group -- would have been apart from that instruction. But the fact is that they were together in Jerusalem on Pentecost because Jesus had told them to stay and had promised the Spirit.
Second, the church was born in an environment of unity. "When the day of Pentecost had come," Luke reports, "they were all together in one place." I suppose it is theoretically possible that the Holy Spirit could have come on the followers of Jesus while they were scattered in a few dozen locations around the Mediterranean world. It is no doubt indicative of God's purpose and will, however, that it happened while they were together -- just as Jesus promised that he would be especially with them and their prayers would have particular effectiveness when they were together (Matthew 18:19-20).
Third, the church's birth was in accordance with scripture. When Peter explained to the crowds what was taking place before their eyes, he turned immediately to Old Testament prophecy. Citing Joel 2:28-32, Peter understood the Pentecost event as the fulfillment of what the prophet said would mark "the last days."
Fourth, the events of that day were misunderstood by bystanders. It is crucial for the church not to be overly dismayed by the skeptical world around it. John's critics thought he had a demon (Matthew 11:18), Jesus' adversaries thought him a lawbreaker (John 5:16-18), and the Pentecost bystanders figured the disciples were drunk.
Finally, the church's birth was itself reproductive. From the very beginning, we see that reproduction was God's design in creation (Genesis 1:11-12, 22), as well as the implicit nature of the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) -- namely, that the disciples should go and make disciples. So it was that, on Pentecost, the church of Jesus Christ, which had been able to fit into a single room that morning, was an international group by that afternoon.
I believe that if we consider this recollection of the day the church was born, we'll come away with a better understanding of who and what we are. Obedience and unity remain the only environments in which we will grow and thrive. Scripture continues to be the book that marks our way. We must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we will always be misunderstood by some. We cannot lose sight of our fundamental calling to "be fruitful and multiply" spiritually.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
We'll give more consideration below to the apostle Paul's starting place in verse 3 of this excerpt. Our starting point just now, however, is the fascinating description of God's work through us, which begins in verse 4.
The phrasing of verses 4-6 sounds very much to us like Hebrew poetry, which we could very properly assume was an influence on Paul. We think, for example, of the language of Psalm 1: "Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers" (Psalm 1:1). There we read three phrases that echo one another: variations on a theme. The question is whether they are different ways of saying the same thing, or similar ways of saying different things.
Likewise, with verses 4-6 of our passage, is the apostle saying the same thing three different ways about the gifts of the Spirit, or is he using a repeated pattern to express three different truths?
His expression seems to be Trinitarian, with "the same Spirit" referring to the Third Person of the Trinity, "the same Lord" referring to the Second Person, and "the same God" referring to the First Person. To what extent, then, are "gifts," "services," and "activities" synonymous -- perhaps the way "wicked," "sinners," and "scoffers" seem to be in Psalm 1?
Dr. Kenneth Kinghorn does not think so. Instead, he equates "services" with "ministries," and suggests that any one gift might give birth to numerous ministries. Furthermore, when Paul talks about "activities," Kinghorn argues that it is a reference to "results" or "effects." Any given ministry, Kinghorn observes, can have many effects. "When we consider the variety of spiritual gifts," he writes, "and the multiplicity of ministries through which the gifts can operate, we begin to see the enormous potential."1
I am attracted to Kinghorn's paradigm, for it seems consistent with the abundance, reproduction, and multiplication that characterize God's design for creation. Rather than a simple reiteration of a single point about the spiritual gifts, therefore, Paul may be describing a great cascading of gifts, ministries, and results pouring out from the Spirit through the church.
Meanwhile, Paul's point that "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" was probably an important corrective for the Corinthian Christians -- as well as for many of us. It is too easy for our giftedness from God to be detoured into a self-serving function. It brings us attention, admiration, perhaps even profit. But the gifts God gives me are not for my good, but "for the common good."
Next, Paul offers a partial list of the gifts given and activated by the Spirit. We know it is not a comprehensive list, though, for he lists other gifts elsewhere (e.g., Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). The list here seems to be just a sampling offered in order to prove his larger point: that "these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." Our diversity, therefore, must always be traced back to the generosity, sovereignty, and purposes of God, which in turn give rise to unity, gratitude, humility, and devotion on our part. When we lose sight of the source, however, the church may become fragmented by self-interest and self-importance. So he insists that we keep in mind the truth that "the body is one and has many members."
John 20:19-23
At first, we might pause and check the calendar to see if we are in the right place. We thought we were preparing for Pentecost Sunday, and yet our gospel lection comes from the story of Easter Sunday. Is it the calendar or the lectionary that is incorrect?
In truth, of course, neither is incorrect. We are in the right place when we are in John 20 on Pentecost Sunday. For the consistent theme is that of Jesus' followers receiving the Holy Spirit.
John identifies this occasion as "evening on that day, the first day of the week." While most people's associations with the Easter story come from that morning, John is directing our attention to what happened much later in the day, "when it was evening." And we observe that, so many hours after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples' posture and frame of mind had not changed much from late Thursday night -- "the doors... were locked for fear of the Jews."
Economists sometimes talk about "leading indicators" and "lagging indicators." The former refers to signs in the economy that tend to predict where the larger economy is headed. The latter refers to elements in the economy that change more slowly -- areas that are the last to be affected by either good times or bad.
The disciples, it seems, were "lagging indicators" on Easter Sunday. Their mood and attitude had not yet caught up with the reality that Jesus was risen and victorious. When they should reasonably have been dancing in the streets, they were instead cowering in a locked room. We'll give more thought to this principle below.
In dramatic contrast to the fear of the disciples there is the peace of Jesus. He "came and stood among them," which of course is testimony to the futility of their locked doors. If death and the grave could not keep him in, then no ordinary door was going to be able to keep him out. And what he brought into their midst was peace. "Peace be with you," he said to them twice in just five verses.
We hear those words, and we recall his earlier instruction to them: "As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you" (Matthew 10:12-13 NRSV). We remember, too, the nature of the peace that he brings into the house with him: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27 NRSV).
We do well to remember that "he showed them his hands and his side." We discover later that Thomas was the one disciple who was not present for this resurrection appearance. He sometimes gets a bad rap for his later insistence that "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25 NRS). We call him "doubting Thomas," but in reality he was no less faithful than his colleagues. He was only asking for the same evidence that they had already experienced.
Finally, Jesus "breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' " This is the moment that ties this passage in the gospels to this Sunday in the calendar. It's not that this Easter evening episode is a replacement for Pentecost. It is a proper reminder, though, of two truths.
First, we recall the episode of man's creation -- that Adam was just a lifeless form until God breathed into him (Genesis 2:7). Likewise, here, the church of Jesus Christ is only truly alive when he breathes his Spirit into us. "O Breath of Life," the poet prays, "come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and power. O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour."2
Second, we remember that the Spirit comes from Jesus. John the Baptist predicted that the one who came after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). And Jesus told his own followers, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf" (John 15:26). Likewise, he later reassured them, saying, "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).
Application
Words may be of declining value in our present culture, but they still carry great value in heaven. We belong, after all, to a God who created by his word, and whose incarnate Son was called "the Word." Many passages of scripture warn us about the potential evil and harm that come from words (see, for example, Proverbs 10:19; James 3:1-12). Jesus taught that the words that come out of our mouths reflect what is in our hearts, and therefore are the real indicator of whether we are "clean" or "unclean" (Mark 7:14-23). Perhaps inevitably therefore, he warns that our final judgment will be predicated on our words (Matthew 12:33-37).
Now, as we focus our attention specifically on these Pentecost passages, we discover a fascinating relationship between the Holy Spirit and our words.
We note first of all that the initial manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost had to do with speech. His presence was embodied by tongues of fire, and his power was embodied by the disciples' miraculous ability to speak in other languages -- and not just to speak about the weather or the high school football team, but "about God's deeds of power." The content of their Spirit-enabled speech is an essential detail.
And that brings us, next, to Paul's interesting statement at the beginning of the Corinthians passage. The evidence of the Spirit of God in a person, according to Paul, is found in what that individual says about Jesus. He or she cannot declare that Jesus is Lord apart from the Spirit, and no one under the influence of the Spirit could say, "Let Jesus be cursed!" The Spirit, you see, always bears witness to Jesus, and so his presence in a person is evidenced by what that person proclaims about Jesus.
Finally, the initial, miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is hardly the only connection between the Spirit and speech. In fact, it is just the beginning of what seems to be a larger theme. For as Paul elaborates on the gifts of the Spirit in his letter to the Corinthians, we are struck by the preponderance of "speech" manifestations. We see first, for example, "the utterance of wisdom" and "the utterance of knowledge." It's fascinating and telling that the gifts of the Spirit are not just wisdom and knowledge, but the utterance of them. So it must be if they are to serve "the common good." Following those, we also recognize prophecy, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues as all manifestations of the Spirit that involve words and speech.
For as cynical as our culture may have become about speech, the people of God must keep seeing the truth clearly. And the truth is this: words are important to God, and the Spirit of God wants to use our words and our speech to proclaim Jesus and "for the common good."
Alternative Application
John 20:19-23. When God's Own People Are Lagging Indicators. We noted above that the disciples' attitude on Easter evening was inconsistent with the reality of Jesus' resurrection. But then, of course, so much of our fear, sorrow, and despair are inconsistent with the reality that we "serve a risen Savior."3 In the case of the disciples, we suggested that they were "lagging indicators," and I think this is not an uncommon problem for the people of God.
Whenever we are shy of faith, we become lagging indicators of the God we serve -- for things are always better and more hopeful than our fear and anxiety suggest. Sarah's laughter makes her a lagging indicator of the power of her God. The despair of ten of the twelve spies makes them lagging indicators of the Lord's faithfulness. The trepidation of the disciples in the midst of the storm makes them lagging indicators of the Savior who was on board with them.
Real faith, by contrast, is always a leading indicator -- for faith is hopeful before there is visible reason for hope. David's faith anticipated victory while Goliath was still upright and overwhelming. Abraham expected that "God himself will provide the lamb" (Genesis 22:8) when the moment actually called for the sacrifice of his son. And the thief on the cross perceived a king and a kingdom while the visible reality was only a condemned man being executed. Faith is hopeful before there is visible reason for hope, and so it is the leading indicator that should characterize the people of God.
We shouldn't judge too harshly the disciples for their posture that night, sequestered away behind locked doors. Can we even imagine the whiplash they had experienced in just one week, from the triumphant parade of Palm Sunday to the execution of their friend and lord five days later? Their anxiety was, by human standards, understandable.
At the same time, we must challenge ourselves with their failure. Their fear was inconsistent with the reality that Jesus was alive, and so they were lagging indicators of his resurrection. From the look of them, you'd never guess that Jesus was alive. What about us?
__________
1. Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, Gifts of the Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976), pp. 37-38.
2. Bessie Porter Head, "O Breath of Life" (United Methodist Hymnal #543).
3. Alfred H. Ackley, "He Lives" (United Methodist Hymnal #310).
Preaching the Psalm
Schuyler Rhodes
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Gaining perspective
There's nothing quite like sitting on the beach to make a person feel a bit smaller. Words cannot grasp the sense of enormity and awe that descend while sitting at ocean's edge. The sky, the sea, the primal salt scent all conspire to shrink one's sense of self. As the surf crashes and sunlight conducts a symphony of rainbows through the spray, the only appropriate response for a human being is awe. Here it is possible to be at least a tiny bit in touch with the enormity of Creation, and through that, the Creator. It is an incredible and rare experience.
Most of the time, most of us don't get to sit on the beach. Most of the time, most of us are sprinting just to stay even with the many responsibilities and obligations that seem to control our lives. It's easy and altogether human to become absorbed in the immediacy of existence. Pastors fret over how many seats are filled in worship. Real estate agents worry about the falling price of homes. Ballplayers obsess over statistics and averages, and university students stress out over grades. Those pressing concerns can consume a person and shut out the rest of the world.
Yet while the pastor counts the number of worshipers one more time, a star is born somewhere in the universe. While the realtor is tracking home prices, a volcano somewhere in the Pacific is creating acres of new property! And while the baseball player adds up RBIs, the universe literally hums a tune of wonder.
"Oh Lord, how manifold are your works!"
How manifold and mighty are your works indeed! When our hectic, crazy lives pull us away from an awareness of God's glory, it would be well if we could be called back home again. It would be well if our spinning wheels could find an emergency brake so we could just stop and contemplate the wonder and enormity of God's majesty. It's too bad we can't all live on the beach. But then, those who do have the privilege of living steps from the water's edge rarely stop to look because they too are caught up in the imprisoning rhythms of life's demands.
No. It seems that we will have to make do... with church. That's right. It's our disciplines of worship and community that call us back to an awareness of God's grandeur. It's the practice of prayer and wonder in the context of Christian community that keep us centered and in the heart of God. So rather than throwing a beach chair in the trunk and heading for the beach, go instead to church -- for there you will find hope. There you will find the mystical glory of God. There you will find your true self.
We remember one president's infamous "read my lips" promise about new taxes. We remember another president's notorious parsing of the meaning of "is." And we have watched so many other politicians as well who calculate and exaggerate their way to elected office and to deniability.
Beyond the politicians themselves, our culture has been exposed to so much over-the-top rhetoric in public debates. All night long on cable news channels we can listen to two sides arguing with each other and casting careless aspersions. Every third or fourth debatable policy, it seems, is somehow tied to Hitler or the Holocaust.
On top of the hyperbolic public debate, we have gradually witnessed the coarsening of language by entertainers. Where Rhett Butler's famous use of the word "damn" near the end of Gone with the Wind raised adult eyebrows in 1939, now teens and pre-teens are routinely exposed in music lyrics to language that is both vile and violent. Butler's cautiously used expression was not that long ago built right into the name of a televised sports talk show.
Rumor-mongering news shows and web sites, shock jocks on radio, irresponsible advocates of public policies -- all of these have combined with the rest to make us desensitized, incredulous, or both. And so our culture has become a cynical audience, indeed, for words and speech.
Then, in stark contrast to such a broad, cultural devaluation of speech, we see the truth of scripture. In the lections assigned to us today, with our Pentecost emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, we will be refreshed and renewed in our understanding of words and speech.
Acts 2:1-21
My wife and I have some videotape and a great many photographs from the days that each of our children were born. Sometimes during their birthday celebrations we have broken out those visible memories to help us tell them the stories of those days. It is great fun, of course, for us to reminisce. It is very worthwhile for the kids to get a peek into an event, which they don't remember, but which is so central to their very existence.
So it is this Sunday, as we read with our people the story of Pentecost, we are breaking out the home movies from the day the church was born.
In the case of this particular birthday celebration, of course, none of us was present for the original event. There will be no first-person, eyewitness accounts of the occasion. Yet we have before us the written record of the day, and it will be a great benefit to us to get a peek into that pivotal day.
Here are some of the hallmarks of the church's birth. I think we will discover that they are instructive and revealing.
First, the church was born in a context of obedience. In the previous chapter, before his ascension, Jesus "ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). It's hard to guess what their impulse -- as individuals or as a group -- would have been apart from that instruction. But the fact is that they were together in Jerusalem on Pentecost because Jesus had told them to stay and had promised the Spirit.
Second, the church was born in an environment of unity. "When the day of Pentecost had come," Luke reports, "they were all together in one place." I suppose it is theoretically possible that the Holy Spirit could have come on the followers of Jesus while they were scattered in a few dozen locations around the Mediterranean world. It is no doubt indicative of God's purpose and will, however, that it happened while they were together -- just as Jesus promised that he would be especially with them and their prayers would have particular effectiveness when they were together (Matthew 18:19-20).
Third, the church's birth was in accordance with scripture. When Peter explained to the crowds what was taking place before their eyes, he turned immediately to Old Testament prophecy. Citing Joel 2:28-32, Peter understood the Pentecost event as the fulfillment of what the prophet said would mark "the last days."
Fourth, the events of that day were misunderstood by bystanders. It is crucial for the church not to be overly dismayed by the skeptical world around it. John's critics thought he had a demon (Matthew 11:18), Jesus' adversaries thought him a lawbreaker (John 5:16-18), and the Pentecost bystanders figured the disciples were drunk.
Finally, the church's birth was itself reproductive. From the very beginning, we see that reproduction was God's design in creation (Genesis 1:11-12, 22), as well as the implicit nature of the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) -- namely, that the disciples should go and make disciples. So it was that, on Pentecost, the church of Jesus Christ, which had been able to fit into a single room that morning, was an international group by that afternoon.
I believe that if we consider this recollection of the day the church was born, we'll come away with a better understanding of who and what we are. Obedience and unity remain the only environments in which we will grow and thrive. Scripture continues to be the book that marks our way. We must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we will always be misunderstood by some. We cannot lose sight of our fundamental calling to "be fruitful and multiply" spiritually.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
We'll give more consideration below to the apostle Paul's starting place in verse 3 of this excerpt. Our starting point just now, however, is the fascinating description of God's work through us, which begins in verse 4.
The phrasing of verses 4-6 sounds very much to us like Hebrew poetry, which we could very properly assume was an influence on Paul. We think, for example, of the language of Psalm 1: "Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers" (Psalm 1:1). There we read three phrases that echo one another: variations on a theme. The question is whether they are different ways of saying the same thing, or similar ways of saying different things.
Likewise, with verses 4-6 of our passage, is the apostle saying the same thing three different ways about the gifts of the Spirit, or is he using a repeated pattern to express three different truths?
His expression seems to be Trinitarian, with "the same Spirit" referring to the Third Person of the Trinity, "the same Lord" referring to the Second Person, and "the same God" referring to the First Person. To what extent, then, are "gifts," "services," and "activities" synonymous -- perhaps the way "wicked," "sinners," and "scoffers" seem to be in Psalm 1?
Dr. Kenneth Kinghorn does not think so. Instead, he equates "services" with "ministries," and suggests that any one gift might give birth to numerous ministries. Furthermore, when Paul talks about "activities," Kinghorn argues that it is a reference to "results" or "effects." Any given ministry, Kinghorn observes, can have many effects. "When we consider the variety of spiritual gifts," he writes, "and the multiplicity of ministries through which the gifts can operate, we begin to see the enormous potential."1
I am attracted to Kinghorn's paradigm, for it seems consistent with the abundance, reproduction, and multiplication that characterize God's design for creation. Rather than a simple reiteration of a single point about the spiritual gifts, therefore, Paul may be describing a great cascading of gifts, ministries, and results pouring out from the Spirit through the church.
Meanwhile, Paul's point that "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" was probably an important corrective for the Corinthian Christians -- as well as for many of us. It is too easy for our giftedness from God to be detoured into a self-serving function. It brings us attention, admiration, perhaps even profit. But the gifts God gives me are not for my good, but "for the common good."
Next, Paul offers a partial list of the gifts given and activated by the Spirit. We know it is not a comprehensive list, though, for he lists other gifts elsewhere (e.g., Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). The list here seems to be just a sampling offered in order to prove his larger point: that "these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." Our diversity, therefore, must always be traced back to the generosity, sovereignty, and purposes of God, which in turn give rise to unity, gratitude, humility, and devotion on our part. When we lose sight of the source, however, the church may become fragmented by self-interest and self-importance. So he insists that we keep in mind the truth that "the body is one and has many members."
John 20:19-23
At first, we might pause and check the calendar to see if we are in the right place. We thought we were preparing for Pentecost Sunday, and yet our gospel lection comes from the story of Easter Sunday. Is it the calendar or the lectionary that is incorrect?
In truth, of course, neither is incorrect. We are in the right place when we are in John 20 on Pentecost Sunday. For the consistent theme is that of Jesus' followers receiving the Holy Spirit.
John identifies this occasion as "evening on that day, the first day of the week." While most people's associations with the Easter story come from that morning, John is directing our attention to what happened much later in the day, "when it was evening." And we observe that, so many hours after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples' posture and frame of mind had not changed much from late Thursday night -- "the doors... were locked for fear of the Jews."
Economists sometimes talk about "leading indicators" and "lagging indicators." The former refers to signs in the economy that tend to predict where the larger economy is headed. The latter refers to elements in the economy that change more slowly -- areas that are the last to be affected by either good times or bad.
The disciples, it seems, were "lagging indicators" on Easter Sunday. Their mood and attitude had not yet caught up with the reality that Jesus was risen and victorious. When they should reasonably have been dancing in the streets, they were instead cowering in a locked room. We'll give more thought to this principle below.
In dramatic contrast to the fear of the disciples there is the peace of Jesus. He "came and stood among them," which of course is testimony to the futility of their locked doors. If death and the grave could not keep him in, then no ordinary door was going to be able to keep him out. And what he brought into their midst was peace. "Peace be with you," he said to them twice in just five verses.
We hear those words, and we recall his earlier instruction to them: "As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you" (Matthew 10:12-13 NRSV). We remember, too, the nature of the peace that he brings into the house with him: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27 NRSV).
We do well to remember that "he showed them his hands and his side." We discover later that Thomas was the one disciple who was not present for this resurrection appearance. He sometimes gets a bad rap for his later insistence that "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25 NRS). We call him "doubting Thomas," but in reality he was no less faithful than his colleagues. He was only asking for the same evidence that they had already experienced.
Finally, Jesus "breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' " This is the moment that ties this passage in the gospels to this Sunday in the calendar. It's not that this Easter evening episode is a replacement for Pentecost. It is a proper reminder, though, of two truths.
First, we recall the episode of man's creation -- that Adam was just a lifeless form until God breathed into him (Genesis 2:7). Likewise, here, the church of Jesus Christ is only truly alive when he breathes his Spirit into us. "O Breath of Life," the poet prays, "come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and power. O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour."2
Second, we remember that the Spirit comes from Jesus. John the Baptist predicted that the one who came after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). And Jesus told his own followers, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf" (John 15:26). Likewise, he later reassured them, saying, "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).
Application
Words may be of declining value in our present culture, but they still carry great value in heaven. We belong, after all, to a God who created by his word, and whose incarnate Son was called "the Word." Many passages of scripture warn us about the potential evil and harm that come from words (see, for example, Proverbs 10:19; James 3:1-12). Jesus taught that the words that come out of our mouths reflect what is in our hearts, and therefore are the real indicator of whether we are "clean" or "unclean" (Mark 7:14-23). Perhaps inevitably therefore, he warns that our final judgment will be predicated on our words (Matthew 12:33-37).
Now, as we focus our attention specifically on these Pentecost passages, we discover a fascinating relationship between the Holy Spirit and our words.
We note first of all that the initial manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost had to do with speech. His presence was embodied by tongues of fire, and his power was embodied by the disciples' miraculous ability to speak in other languages -- and not just to speak about the weather or the high school football team, but "about God's deeds of power." The content of their Spirit-enabled speech is an essential detail.
And that brings us, next, to Paul's interesting statement at the beginning of the Corinthians passage. The evidence of the Spirit of God in a person, according to Paul, is found in what that individual says about Jesus. He or she cannot declare that Jesus is Lord apart from the Spirit, and no one under the influence of the Spirit could say, "Let Jesus be cursed!" The Spirit, you see, always bears witness to Jesus, and so his presence in a person is evidenced by what that person proclaims about Jesus.
Finally, the initial, miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is hardly the only connection between the Spirit and speech. In fact, it is just the beginning of what seems to be a larger theme. For as Paul elaborates on the gifts of the Spirit in his letter to the Corinthians, we are struck by the preponderance of "speech" manifestations. We see first, for example, "the utterance of wisdom" and "the utterance of knowledge." It's fascinating and telling that the gifts of the Spirit are not just wisdom and knowledge, but the utterance of them. So it must be if they are to serve "the common good." Following those, we also recognize prophecy, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues as all manifestations of the Spirit that involve words and speech.
For as cynical as our culture may have become about speech, the people of God must keep seeing the truth clearly. And the truth is this: words are important to God, and the Spirit of God wants to use our words and our speech to proclaim Jesus and "for the common good."
Alternative Application
John 20:19-23. When God's Own People Are Lagging Indicators. We noted above that the disciples' attitude on Easter evening was inconsistent with the reality of Jesus' resurrection. But then, of course, so much of our fear, sorrow, and despair are inconsistent with the reality that we "serve a risen Savior."3 In the case of the disciples, we suggested that they were "lagging indicators," and I think this is not an uncommon problem for the people of God.
Whenever we are shy of faith, we become lagging indicators of the God we serve -- for things are always better and more hopeful than our fear and anxiety suggest. Sarah's laughter makes her a lagging indicator of the power of her God. The despair of ten of the twelve spies makes them lagging indicators of the Lord's faithfulness. The trepidation of the disciples in the midst of the storm makes them lagging indicators of the Savior who was on board with them.
Real faith, by contrast, is always a leading indicator -- for faith is hopeful before there is visible reason for hope. David's faith anticipated victory while Goliath was still upright and overwhelming. Abraham expected that "God himself will provide the lamb" (Genesis 22:8) when the moment actually called for the sacrifice of his son. And the thief on the cross perceived a king and a kingdom while the visible reality was only a condemned man being executed. Faith is hopeful before there is visible reason for hope, and so it is the leading indicator that should characterize the people of God.
We shouldn't judge too harshly the disciples for their posture that night, sequestered away behind locked doors. Can we even imagine the whiplash they had experienced in just one week, from the triumphant parade of Palm Sunday to the execution of their friend and lord five days later? Their anxiety was, by human standards, understandable.
At the same time, we must challenge ourselves with their failure. Their fear was inconsistent with the reality that Jesus was alive, and so they were lagging indicators of his resurrection. From the look of them, you'd never guess that Jesus was alive. What about us?
__________
1. Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, Gifts of the Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976), pp. 37-38.
2. Bessie Porter Head, "O Breath of Life" (United Methodist Hymnal #543).
3. Alfred H. Ackley, "He Lives" (United Methodist Hymnal #310).
Preaching the Psalm
Schuyler Rhodes
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Gaining perspective
There's nothing quite like sitting on the beach to make a person feel a bit smaller. Words cannot grasp the sense of enormity and awe that descend while sitting at ocean's edge. The sky, the sea, the primal salt scent all conspire to shrink one's sense of self. As the surf crashes and sunlight conducts a symphony of rainbows through the spray, the only appropriate response for a human being is awe. Here it is possible to be at least a tiny bit in touch with the enormity of Creation, and through that, the Creator. It is an incredible and rare experience.
Most of the time, most of us don't get to sit on the beach. Most of the time, most of us are sprinting just to stay even with the many responsibilities and obligations that seem to control our lives. It's easy and altogether human to become absorbed in the immediacy of existence. Pastors fret over how many seats are filled in worship. Real estate agents worry about the falling price of homes. Ballplayers obsess over statistics and averages, and university students stress out over grades. Those pressing concerns can consume a person and shut out the rest of the world.
Yet while the pastor counts the number of worshipers one more time, a star is born somewhere in the universe. While the realtor is tracking home prices, a volcano somewhere in the Pacific is creating acres of new property! And while the baseball player adds up RBIs, the universe literally hums a tune of wonder.
"Oh Lord, how manifold are your works!"
How manifold and mighty are your works indeed! When our hectic, crazy lives pull us away from an awareness of God's glory, it would be well if we could be called back home again. It would be well if our spinning wheels could find an emergency brake so we could just stop and contemplate the wonder and enormity of God's majesty. It's too bad we can't all live on the beach. But then, those who do have the privilege of living steps from the water's edge rarely stop to look because they too are caught up in the imprisoning rhythms of life's demands.
No. It seems that we will have to make do... with church. That's right. It's our disciplines of worship and community that call us back to an awareness of God's grandeur. It's the practice of prayer and wonder in the context of Christian community that keep us centered and in the heart of God. So rather than throwing a beach chair in the trunk and heading for the beach, go instead to church -- for there you will find hope. There you will find the mystical glory of God. There you will find your true self.
