Something Happened Here
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Today it is commonplace -- and certainly true -- to say that our society is becoming ever more polarized and fragmented. Roger Lovette, our lead writer for this issue of The Immediate Word, identifies a good number of examples of our present-day experience of Babel. But he and other team members emphasize that, for the church, the day of Pentecost was a reverse Babel. In the Gospel Lection for the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-12, the earliest believers, speaking in a variety of languages, could easily understand one another. Something happened there, and Roger tells us what it was.
Rounding out this issue, as usual, are illustrations, team comments, worship resources, and a children's sermon.
"SOMETHING HAPPENED HERE"
by Roger Lovette
Acts 2:1-21
Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17 (25-27)
Introducing the Texts
The coming of God's Spirit is the overarching theme for Pentecost Sunday. In response to the chaos of Genesis 11:1-9, the church holds out the promise of renewal and harmony as they tell the story of the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2.
Genesis 11:1-9 with all its unfinishedness calls to mind the horror of September 11. Those who claimed to be responsible for the attack proclaimed that they had attacked our economic base, which they said represented the decadence of America. What they did not fathom was the enormous loss of life of those 3,000 that perished that day and all the demons that have been unleashed since that terrible act. But Genesis 11 is the story of chaos and confusion.
Psalm 104:24-34: Bernard W. Anderson and Samuel Terrien agree that this particular Psalm is a hymn used in Hebrew worship. "Nowhere in the Psalter can one find a hymn comparable to Psalm 104, in which the whole universe is encompassed within a single sweep of religious vision" (Samuel Terrien, The Psalms and Their Meaning for Today [The Bobbs-Merrill Company: New York, 1952], p. 56). A great sermon could be preached on this Sunday focusing on verses 27-30. The psalmist proclaims how we cannot live without the spirit of God.
Romans 8:14-17 also continues this theme of our connectedness to God being vital. Paul talks about how God, through his spirit, calls us to be children of God. We are the adopted children of God and do not have to be under the burden of slavery or fear for the Spirit of God brings life. Verse 26 continues this focus on the work of the spirit who helps us in our weakness. This certainly is a needed word in a time of confusion like our own.
John 14:8-17, 25-27: As Jesus prepares to leave he reminds them they will not be abandoned. Verse 18 says: "I will not leave you orphaned." Immediately after his admonition to love him and keep his commandments (v. 15), Jesus says he will send us an "Advocate." Does he mean that God's Spirit comes to help us with the loving and keeping of his commandments? Does he mean we cannot do this alone? This Spirit will teach us and remind us (v. 26) of our ties to the living Lord. So Jesus tells his followers a second time not to be troubled or afraid for the spirit of God will bring peace to their hearts. Nestled in this text are words of comfort and hope for anxious disciples.
Acts 2:1-21 is the central focus of this week's issue of The Immediate Word. Luke-Acts tells the story of Jesus, the founder a new community, who makes provisions for his followers after his departure. William Willimon has said that the main concern of Acts was to explain to the believers what the Spirit would do. The preacher will find a great deal of help from Willimon's commentary Acts (Atlanta: John Knox Press). Dr. Willimon says one of their central problems was enormous disappointment in the delay of the Parousia. He emphasizes that Acts is a shift from eschatology to a theology of history. Not there -- here. We do not have to stand gazing into the heavens. Perhaps this is a needed word with so much of the church's emphasis on such concerns as the Left Behind series. Acts is about the here and the now -- not the yet-to-come. So a fragile church troubled with external conflicts from Rome and internal conflicts over end-time fanaticism and doubt are called back in the Pentecost story to living faithfully in their present circumstances (Willimon, Acts, p. 10).
"Something Happened Here"
A little boy on vacation with his family stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon just looking. He looked for along time out over the vista and the color and the sheer magnitude of it all. Finally he said quietly, "Something happened here."
This is the spirit of Pentecost Sunday. Jesus had told his followers to go and stay in Jerusalem together. He told them that something was going to happen. And they reluctantly went as always. Half-heartedly they clung to each other. Surely they were still scared and frightened and grieving. Good Friday and Easter and even all the post-Resurrection appearances had happened too fast. And they had stood squinting in the heavens as Jesus left them alone. They must have wondered if, in leaving their old jobs and worlds behind, they had not made some monstrous mistake.
And then Pentecost came to them in Jerusalem. Let the preacher remember the day did not come to radiant believers faithfully singing God's praises. Pentecost broke through the tough crust of their fear and hopelessness. We don't know exactly what happened except they left that room to form a church that has lasted for 2,000 years. Even the gates of hell could not dismantle it, and God knows the church in every age has tried. The old betrayer Simon would stand and preach with such a power that 3,000 would come to believe. You might remind yourself and your people on this, the birthday of the church, that we too can look out over the vista and history of the years and ponder the mystery: "Something happened here."
What was it that transmuted fear into hope and cowards into faithful disciples? Luke's account of Pentecost answers that question. What happened that strange day that we now call the birthday of the church?
Wind Happened (vv. 1-2)
Those gathered heard a sound "like the rush of a violent wind ..." (v. 2). It is an old word, pnoe found only here and in Acts 17:25, where Paul in his sermon at Athens reminded the listeners that God gives "to all mortals life and breath in all things."
They would remember their own history. How Ezekiel had told his own troubled people about his vision of dry bones. How sun-bleached bones in the desert came to life. The wind swept across the bones and a miracle happened. Hip bones got connected to thigh bones. Life came out of death. And Ezekiel told his people in exile that this would happen to them. Far from home, they looked around at the ruins in all directions. Ezekiel told them that the promises of God would hold. The wind God sent would blow across their lives and life would come out of deadness for them and their country.
At Pentecost, Ezekiel's old vision came to life a second time. The wind stirred in the lives of lifeless disciples. And they left that room to do incredible things that could only be explained by the wind of God blowing through the sails of their lives.
Those who sit in your pews will be looking for some solution to their problems, some quick fix for their lives and their marriages, anything that will take their pain away. The megachurch stripped of cross and vestments and stained glass and pulpit and table offers easy answers to tough questions. Extreme Makeover has turned cosmetology into a booming business. A tummy-tuck here, a breast implant there, liposuction and lasik surgery, and a new hair-do transform men and women into the beautiful people. But these quick fixes will not last. Those who long for easy answers will find little to hang on to. Then and now, the problem is inner, not outer.
God sends the wind and that wind of God's Spirit is as life altering as any tornado that sweeps through our towns. James Stewart's first sermon in his book The Wind of the Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1968, pp. 9f.) might just nudge your imagination in his words about the wind that God sends.
Tongues Happened (vv. 3-4)
Tongues of fire came and rested on each of them. Nobody was left out. Will Willimon has said that the first gift that the Spirit brought was the gift of speech. They all heard in their own language. What happened on the Day of Pentecost? Communication happened.
You might hark back to Genesis 11. They decided to build a tower all the way to heaven. God said no to their overconfidence. God always does. The work of our hands is never enough. The Almighty confused their languages and everyone spoke a different language. God ended their tower-building and finished it off by confusing their languages. The writer calls all this chaos and confusion that ensues Babel.
There is not a church in this country that does not know about Babel. There is a fault line that runs through every congregation. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and mainliners, black and white, women and men, gay and straight, north and south, east and west, Jews and Palestinians, pro-war and anti-war, Christian Coalition and People for the American Way, young and old, rich and poor. We do not speak the same language. We know about Babel.
Who are these Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia? Acts 2 even adds the Arabs. You might spend some time in your sermon identifying the modern-day Parthians and Elamites.
In our divisions we forget that, on the day our towers fell, people from eighty countries lost their lives. And for just a little while we gathered together as one, we grievers, we frightened ones -- but it passed and we returned to Babel as usual.
Pentecost forces the church to re-image its future. Pentecost spans the globe, breaks down the barriers we have erected, and reminds us that at bottom we are all the same. Psalm 104:27-30 points us to our common need for one another and God's love for us all.
It may be Communion in your church this Sunday. What a good Sunday it would be to reach out and take what God gives. You might remind your congregation that the multiplicity of tongues really means that it doesn't matter who we are or what we have done or not done. There's a place at God's table. There is a place card there that bears our names. So we can all come and take our place. We sit down with brothers and sisters, especially those who are poles apart and agree with us on very little. God will meet us there and once again speak a universal language. It is the language of the heart.
Prophecy Happened (vv. 17-21)
Luke says that in the coming of the Spirit prophecy is fulfilled. Joel had talked about destruction and punishment coming to God's people. And Simon Peter took those words, knowing what had happened in his own life moved beyond well-deserved judgment. Peter found that he was taken back and forgiven and loved and cared for. And he saw something else in Joel's words, maybe something Joel himself had not seen. Peter interpreted the words for his day. He talked about new life. Pentecost was the fulfilling of prophecy. And Peter interpreted that as meaning that new life could come where there had only been deadness. And old betraying Peter, of all people, who found his life turned inside out, became the bringer of good tidings. Peter proclaimed life where only death had been. Prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing. Could it mean that the Bible is not just a story -- but that it might just become our story, too?
People need to be reminded that this Pentecost is their story. Ask them to look backward. Remember how they met for years in that cramped basement for worship. Ask them to remember how hard it was to raise the money for a new church. Ask them to remember the long business meetings and how they were afraid they might tear the whole thing up. Ask them to remember the Sunday they dedicated the building. Remind them that over there in the corner stands the font where their babies were baptized. Down there at the front they and their children had been married. Remind them of funerals and how the church gathered around them. Point to the stained-glass windows and remind them of the stars that hung in the vestibule during the Second World War. Remind them of 1954 and how those sermons on "In Christ there is no east or west, no north or south" unsettled so much. Remind them of that awful Sunday after the President was shot and how we packed the house, huddling together after that terrible September 11. They never thought they would make it. Prophecy, over and over again, has been fulfilled in their hearing. God really does give us life after death.
Vision Happened (vv. 17, 22)
Luke talks about signs and wonders. Luke goes to great lengths to say that this outpouring of the spirit was more than some interior experience. We cannot psychologize this scripture away. There is loud talk, louder than people usually spoke in church. There is buzzing confusion and even public debate. Things got out of hand and they even scrapped the morning's bulletin. Sons and daughters prophesied and the young saw visions and the old dreamed dreams. Everyone was touched: slaves, men and women -- everyone.
What happened was that those gathered began to re-image their futures and the future of the world. The preacher might pause and think of some of the ways that the future needs to re-imaged or re-dreamed in his/her own life, in the life of people in the pews, and in the nation at large.
Paul Scherer tells in a sermon about that day in the Roman coliseum when they threw Christians to the lions. It was terrible. The crowd cheered and cheered. And another Christian was brought out and as he was torn apart, the crowds cheered. And a man in the stands left his seat and moved to the arena. He screamed, "This is wrong. What we are doing is wrong." And they threw him to the lions and he was devoured. But people left the stadium before the gore ended. They had seen enough. And every game after that there were fewer and fewer people who came to witness the terrible violence until finally one day the games stopped forever.
Maybe we need to re-image our world. Has Brown vs. the Board of Education, now fifty years old, seen its better days? Do we have to be satisfied with 40 million without health care in our country? Are we more outraged by the outrage than we are the photographs of Americans doing terrible things to those incarcerated? Do we believe that politics has to be about lies and half-truths always? Do we believe the mainline church has seen its best days?
I recommend to everyone Leander Keck's splendid book The Church Confident, about how the mainline church might re-image itself in this hard time. Pentecost is about visions and dreams.
Gladness Happened (vv. 28, 46-47)
I had never noticed a statement embedded in verse 28, part of Joel's prophecy, until I studied this text recently. Luke says that if we love God and serve God we will find that the ways of life are known to us and "you will make me full of gladness with your presence."
He continues that theme in verse 42, where they were together, reading the Bible, praying, enjoying being together. Then, moving down to verses 46-47, we see that "they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people." I had never noticed this in this text before either. Three times in this one chapter he talks about healthy relationships, fun, laughter -- gladness. Underneath all that happened they were called the company of the glad. You could see it in their faces and you could feel it in their worship. It changed the way they looked at the world. They met week after week to break bread and to take a cup and they called what they did "Eucharist" -- thanksgiving to God. Out of the hardness of their lives there flowed a gladness that kept them going.
Paul found it in a jail cell, and so did multitudes of other Christians. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of it during his last days of incarceration. Little Anne Frank, trapped in that small attic room in Amsterdam, talked of joy and gladness. And Terry Anderson in the first Iraq crisis tells after he came home from being held hostage for months. When asked how he felt about his enemies he said: "I am a Christian. And I have been taught all my life to forgive my enemies. Life was just too precious to fritter it away carrying around anger and hate, however justified." You might turn back to Psalm 104:33-34 and listen to the music: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord."
The little boy was right. Something happened here.
Related Illustrations
When Carlyle Marney wrote his book Faith in Conflict he dedicated it "To Victor who agrees with me in nothing and is my friend in everything." Such is the spirit of Pentecost.
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Several years ago I wrote Roy Bradbury asking for permission to use something he had written. He generously gave permission and sent me a collection of poems he had written. The following poem was written for one of his Christmas letters. I do not think he would mind your using his poem on gladness. It's great.
Joy is the grace we say to God
For his gifts given.
It is the leavening of time,
It splits our bones with lightning.
Fills our marrow
With a harrowing of light
And seeds out blood with sun,
And thus we
Put out the night
And then
Put out the night.
Tears make an end of things;
So weep, yes, weep.
But joy says, after that, not done...
No, not by any means. Not done!
Take breath and shout it out!
That laugh, that cry which says: Begin again,
So all's reborn, begun!
Now hear this, Eden's child,
Remember in thy green Earth heaven,
All beauty-shod:
Joy is the grace we say to God.
***
One preacher said he was working on a sermon on the Holy Spirit. He kept reading: "The wind bloweth where it listeth." For the life of him he could not understand what that meant. The wind bloweth where it listeth. So finally he went down to the wharf and just walked around and looked at the sea. He met on old sailor who had spent his whole life on the sea. The preacher said, "Do you know anything about the wind?" The old man shook his head. "No." The preacher continued, "Do you mean to tell me you have spent your whole life sailing ships and you don't know anything about the wind?" The old sailor said, "I know nothing about the wind. But whenever it begins to blow, I hoist the sail, and it carries me back to port. That's all I know." And so the preacher had his sermon. The wind of God blows into the sails of our lives and leads us safe into the harbor."
-- Winston Pearce, I Believe (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1954), pp. 36-37
***
Joan Chittister writes about the Spirit: "Once upon a time the elder said to the businessperson, 'As the fish perishes on dry land, so you perish when you get entangled in the world. The fish must return to the water and you must return to the Spirit.' The businessperson was aghast. 'Are you saying that I must give up my business and go into a monastery?' 'Definitely not,' the elder said. 'I am telling you to hold onto your business and go into your heart.' "
***
Melvin Dixon, a poet living with AIDS writes: "I come to you bearing witness to a broken heart. I come to you bearing witness to a broken body. I come to you bearing witness to an unbroken spirit."
***
We might remember that May is the month for graduations. In your pews will be parents of graduates and graduates themselves from high school and college. They must wonder what kind of a world we are sending them into. The lack of jobs is scary. They wonder if they might have to go to war. They worry about the economy and their parent's recent divorce. Perhaps they wonder about another terrorist attack and what that mean for their future. On Pentecost Sunday they will understand the story of Babel in Genesis 11.
***
Worship suggestion:
One of the great ways to underline Acts 2:1-4 is to break it into verses, have members of the congregation read first in English, then a verse in another language, use as many languages as you have. For the last verse have all the readers read at the same time, with the English reader reading louder than the others. This can be quite effective.
Reader 1 (English), then Reader 2 in another language: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were together in one place."
Reader 1 (English), then Reader 3 in yet another language: "And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting."
Reader 1 (English), then the verse read in a third language: "Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongues rested on each of them."
All readers read at the same time, the English reader reading louder over all the other languages for understanding: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: I want to focus here on possible connections between the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and the account of Pentecost in Acts 2. The "speaking in tongues" described in the Acts text does not seem to be the type of glossolalia that Paul dealt with in 1 Corinthians and that has occurred at various times in Christian communities since then. Here people from different parts of the known world are able to hear the message of the Galilean apostles in the own languages. This means that in an important way a splintered human race is reunited. "The reversal of the curse of Babel is surely in the writer's mind" (F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], ad rem).
The work of the builders at Babel is sometimes seen as a kind of Promethean defiance of God. If I can quote myself here (from The Cosmos in the Light of the Cross [Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2003]):
This is not one of the myths of an attempt to scale heaven and overthrow the supreme god. The builders don't mention God at all. A kind of youthful exuberance motivates them, but there is also a note of anxiety: "Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4). There is not a little resemblance here to modern secular cultures that see humanity itself as responsible for its own survival and salvation by its own power.
Still, the attempt of the builders to "make a name for" themselves by their own efforts is in effect a program to displace God and to make themselves the source of their own security and permanence. And so it calls down judgment, an inability to communicate with one another that results in the scattering of the peoples.
It is this scattering that is reversed at Pentecost. In spite of differences in language (for the "miracle of tongues" is of course not regularly repeated), the Christian community is united. We are able to talk to one another and be understood across lines of language, race, class, and gender.
Or at least we think we can if we have a very idealistic -- some would say naive -- understanding of the reality of the church. Divisions in the church that go back to the split between East and West in the eleventh century and the Reformation of the sixteenth century are still with us. In the United States our history of slavery and racism has left us with black churches and white churches. In mainline Protestant churches there are so many differences that clergy in those denominations sometimes feel rather cynically that the only thing they really are united in is a common pension plan.
One item that's been in the news recently highlights this problem: The suggestion by some Roman Catholics, including bishops, that politicians such as presidential candidate John Kerry who have voted for policies that allow abortion, should not be able to receive communion. One bishop has even said that Roman Catholics who vote for such politicians should not receive the sacrament.
Now of course Christians have varying views on abortion, and many Protestants have problems with the idea that a church hierarchy should be able to impose views on controversial matters from the top down. People ought to be able to act in accord with their consciences, they would say. But with such a typical American emphasis on individual rights, an important point is being missed. In what sense can there really be a unity of a church body if there is not really any agreement on fundamental matters?
Some churches today glory in concepts like "pluralism," "diversity," and "inclusiveness." In one sense that's just what the Pentecost story and the chapters that follow in the book of Acts are about. People who speak different languages, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and citizens, receive the Holy Spirit and become part of the Christian community. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," Peter says, pointing toward the full participation of both men and women. Yet with all this diversity "there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:4-5).
What does "one faith" mean? It doesn't mean that we all express our faith in exactly the same way. Even among the New Testament writers we find different ways of understanding and expressing the Christian faith. The theology of Paul, for example, is not the same as the theology of the Gospel of Matthew or the Epistle of James.
In one sense the "one faith" is very simple -- a commitment to Jesus as Lord. But since the earliest days of Christianity it's been realized that there are implications for thought and practice of the lordship of Jesus, and that if one is to say, "Jesus is Lord" with any consistency there are consequences for what one does and says. If Jesus is Lord, then other things aren't Lord. If Jesus is Lord, then the kind of life Jesus lived has something to do with the way Christians are to live.
On Pentecost it would be worth exploring this theme of unity and the role that the unity of the church is to have in continuing the mission of Pentecost. I'm referring here not so much to doctrinal unity -- though that shouldn't be ignored -- but the extent to which Christians can speak with one voice to crucial issues of the modern world such as abortion, war, and the uses of new technologies. With all our emphasis on freedom of conscience, what responsibilities do Christians -- whether they are senators or ordinary citizens -- have to contribute to a unified witness of the Christian community? That's of considerable practical importance. The world won't be terribly impressed if Christians agree on the words of the Apostles' Creed (if we can even do that!) but fall to arguing with one another when it comes to ethical implications of our beliefs.
The story of the Tower of Babel has sometimes been seen as a commentary on the hubris that accompanies scientific and technological discoveries. C. S. Lewis developed that idea brilliantly in the third novel of his "space trilogy," That Hideous Strength. The title itself comes from a poem about the Tower. And in the novel the new builders are again scattered by a confusion of tongues wrought by Merlin, who has been awakened from his mysterious sleep.
Lewis' novel is one of my favorites, and I think he makes his point about the dangers of science and technology set free from faith very well. Yet there is another way of reading things. Science has provided a common language that can be used to understand the world and that people can use to communicate with one another. Scientists from very different cultures can have a common view of the world. An English physicist can read the equations of a Russian or Japanese counterpart and follow their implications even without knowing Russian or Japanese. Computers and the Internet have given us ways of communicating with other people across the world. I don't suggest that these things are the wave of the religious future, but they can be thought of as challenges to the Church. To what extent do Christians across the world speak with one voice on issues that concern the world?
Carter Shelley responds: Roger, I appreciate that you offer so many links between the first Pentecost and the contemporary struggles Christians face May 30, 2004. The range of examples you provide demonstrates both sensitivity and comprehensiveness in addressing political, military, social, and religious differences in our 24/7 CNN and World Wide Web context where there is even more Babel than those Pentateuch compilers could have imagined. The theme of re-imagining the future with the comfort, presence, and direction of the Holy Spirit remains as theologically real and viable today as it was for those first witnesses at Pentecost. I especially like the way you've acknowledged the congregation's history. That recognition of what they've accomplished against the odds of human nature is important. Church people need to see what we've accomplished in the past in order to realize what we can accomplish in the future.
The thematic moves you make -- "Something Happened ... Wind Happened ... Tongues Happened ... Prophecy ... Vision ... Gladness Happened" -- offer the preacher excellent scriptural and interpretive moves through the Acts events, while your brief glimpse at the Tower of Babel story reminds us that it is human actions that divide us and divine actions that can unite us. (This is a very different scenario from the literary version of the Iliad and Odyssey, in which the gods' actions and interference create as much chaos and rancor and the misdeeds and egos of the mortals involved. That's my movie for the week, although Troy failed to take advantage of that theological and narrative challenge.)
Jesus came to be prophet, priest, and king of the Jews, but his ministry and mission moved beyond the boundaries of Palestine. The man Jesus could walk, ride, preach, teach, heal, and touch other human beings. The human form that Christ assumed in order to reveal God's will to humans meant that Jesus was subject to the limitations and boundaries of human time, space, and context. The Advocate and Comforter whom Jesus promises will come in his stead has no such physical limitations. The Spirit transcends human boundaries of space and time while calling us back to our pre-Fall origins as children of God. The dynamism of Pentecost demonstrates the breadth of God's will while the Spirit's descent demonstrates God's ongoing intention to be physically present and in our midst as both solace and spur to our Christian witness. God is the source of life and breath. God is the source of forgiveness and hope. God is the source of three-in-one: Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- or Creator, Redeemer, Spirit.
We know from scriptures Old and New that the Spirit is not a new entity introduced by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. The Spirit has been a part of God's story and ours ever since the beginning. "The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). The Spirit is present when judges become warriors and leaders in the volatile tribal years the Hebrews face before being consolidated into a kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord is a gift bestowed -- and sometimes withdrawn -- from kings and prophets. At Jesus' baptism prior to the beginning of his ministry, "the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22). Thus, the Spirit of the Lord that bolstered Jesus' own ministry descends again to give life to his followers. The significant shift that occurs at Pentecost is one of democratization. Where the Spirit of the Lord seems to have been selective and limited to chosen individuals of God's chosen people in the past, at Pentecost the Spirit becomes expansive and ecumenical its presence and support. No longer are the bearers of the Spirit leaders of one particular group or person. Now, those who believe in Jesus Christ and who open themselves to God's word and presence will indeed be one in Spirit.
The Spirit coming at Pentecost is the beginning, not the conclusion of the gospel story. It's a starting point. The work that Christ had begun they are expected to continue. We are the heirs of those first apostles.* We are children of God who inherit the blessings, the grace, and the possibility of changing the world.
The Gift of Ears as Well as of Tongues
While the emphasis in the story of Pentecost is upon the apostles' ability to speak in different languages and to articulate without fear or hesitation the good news of Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit also makes it possible to listen and truly hear what another person has to say. As ministers we are trained to teach, preach, speak, and project that which we believe. Yet we cannot truly know another person by speaking. The other can only be known by listening. Listening isn't flashy. It doesn't win politicians delegates or earn brownie points with the professor. In our particular context as ministers of the word and sacrament, we are trained to talk. Some ministers talk constantly. Other ministers talk some, but listen more. It's possible to tell which kind of minister one is by the sermons we preach. It's interesting to hear people discuss individuals whose lives and contribution made a strong impact upon them. Often the trait that will be ascribed to that individual is his or her ability to focus totally and unwaveringly upon the person he or she is listening to at that moment in time. In caring more about what another person has to say than in getting one's own point or personality across, these charismatic individuals convey both caring and genuine interest in another human being. The ability to concentrate on the thoughts and needs of another person without distraction is a form of witness and ministry. In fact, one might say that the Holy Spirit is God's way of concentrating upon us, but we have to shut up to discover exactly what it is God calls us to. If we can "be still, and know that I am God," then we may be able to hear God's Spirit in us not only on Pentecost but the 364 other days of the year.
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*It's important to be aware that those awaiting the fulfillment of Christ's promise included women as well as men. Acts 1:14 reminds us that she whom the Spirit of the Lord came upon at Jesus' conception, was also present at Pentecost. "All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers."
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Worship Resources
by George Reed
OPENING
(N.b. All copyright information is given from the first cited place where found. Some copyright information may differ in other sources due to adaptations, various tunes, etc.)
Music
Hymns
"Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid." Words: John Dryden (1631-1700); trans. of Veni Creator Spiritus; music: Surrey, melody Henry Carey (1690?-1743). Public domain. As found in Hymnal '82: 500; LBOW 164; TNCH 268.
"O Holy Spirit, by Whose Breath." Words: attr. Rabanua Maurus (776-856); trans. John Webster Grant (b. 1919) paraphrase of Veni Creator Spiritus; music: Veni Creator Spiritus, plainsong, Mode 8. As found in Hymnal '82: 502.
"Praise the Spirit in Creation." Words: Michael Hewlett (b. 1916), alt.; music: Finnian, Christopher Dearnley (b. 1930). (c) Words and music by permission Oxford University Press. As found in Hymnal '82:506, 507.
"Of All the Spirit's Gifts to Me." Words: Fred Pratt Green, 1979; music: Seelenfreud, J. Meyer (1692). Words (c) 1979 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH: 336; CH: 270.
Songs
"Surely the Presence of the Lord." Words and music: Lanny Wolfe. (c) 1977 Lanny Wolfe Music. As found in CCB 1.
"Sweet, Sweet Spirit." Words and music: Doris Akers. (c) 1962, renewed 1970 Manna Music, Inc. As found in CCB 7.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Bless God from the depths of your being.
People: God, your greatness is without end.
Leader: You are adorned with majesty and honor.
People: Light wraps around you like a garment.
Leader: You created the earth and with its seas.
People: You endowed creation with many gifts.
Leader: Your creative works are innumerable, O God.
People: Your wisdom has created all that is.
COLLECT / OPENING PRAYER
O God, who moves as mysteriously as the wind blows: Grant us the grace to receive your Holy Spirit into our lives that we might come together as your people, under your reign, doing your work; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
or
We come into your presence, God of wind and breath and spirit. You have given us a common life and a common Spirit, even your own. You call us together as your children and you dwell in us and among us. May today be the day we go out to live your life within us more fully. Amen.
Response Music
Hymns
"Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us." Words: Brian Foley; music: V. Earle Copes, 1960.
Words (c) 1971 Faber Music, Limited; music (c) 1960, renewed 1988 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 331; TNCH 264.
"Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song." Words: Carl P. Daw, Jr., 1981; music: Peter Cutts, 1968. Words (c) 1982 Hope Publishing Co.; music (c) 1969 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 544; Hymnal '82 513; TNCH 270; CH 245.
"Filled with the Spirit's Power." Words: John R. Peacey, 1969; music: Cyril V. Taylor, 1943. Words by permission of Mildred E. Peacey; music (c) 1985 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 537; LBOW 160; TNCH 266.
"There's a Spirit in the Air." Words: Brian Wren, 1969; music: medieval French melody; harm. Richard Redhead, 1853. Words 1979 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 192; TPH 433; TNCH 294; CH 257.
Songs
"Spirit of the Living God." Words and music: Daniel Iverson. (c) 1935, 1963 Budwing Music. As found in CCB 57.
LITANY
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Let us pray: Grant, O God, to us your children your own Spirit
People: that we might live in harmony with all your people.
Leader: Grant to us who are blind the light of your presence
People: that we might see what your reign would look like here.
Leader: Grant to us the courage to speak your Word to our world
People: that together we may have a vision of creation as it was meant to become.
Leader: Grant to us your Spirit of laughter and joy
People: that we may spread gladness on earth.
Leader: Grant to us who are burned out by life's burden, your fire
People: that we might burn with the brightness of your love.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, come.
People: Enter, Holy Spirit, enter us.
GENERAL PRAYERS, LITANIES, ETC.
We worship and adore you, O God, for your Spirit hovered over the waters of chaos and brought forth order and good. You created all that is and breathed into us your own life breath. We are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
(The following paragraph is most suitable if a prayer of confession will not be used elsewhere.)
We come together today aware that we have not lived in the power of your Spirit but in the confusion and weakness of sin. We have chosen confusion and separation over communication and unity. We have looked for differences that separate instead of similarities that draw together. Forgive us our foolish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may live as your children within the family of all humanity.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from your bountiful hand. Most of all we thank you for your never-failing presence of grace and love. We thank you for the ways we find it in creation, in your Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and among us.
(Other specific thanksgiving may be offered.)
We lift into the light of your presence those who are on our hearts: the sick, the lonely, those who are afraid; the imprisoned, the abused, those who have lost their way; the victims of violence and war, the oppressed and those who do not know of your love. Grant that as your minister to them in the power of your Spirit that our love and spirits may be part of your work. Grant us a vision of how we can be your physical presence in the midst of the world's needs.
(Other petitions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of Jesus who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father ..."
Hymnal & Songbook Abbreviations
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
Hymnal '82: The Hymnal 1982, The Episcopal Church
LBOW: Lutheran Book of Worship
TPH: The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
TNNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
TNCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
PMMCH3: Praise. Maranatha! Music Chorus Book, Expanded 3rd Edition
A Children's Sermon
by Wesley T. Runk
Acts 2:1-21
Text: "All were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, "What does this mean?" (v. 12)
Object: Wind (an electric fan), fire (an altar candle), voices in as many languages as you can recruit (each voice should speak separately, saying the same thing, and then all together as one voice)
Good morning, boys and girls. This is birthday day. How many of you know who is celebrating a big birthday today? (let them answer) That's right, the church. I don't mean just our church but all of the Christian churches in the world. Today is Pentecost and our Christian church was born on that day in Jerusalem. It was a wonderful day, an exciting day, and one that we will never forget. Jesus had asked his followers to stay in Jerusalem for something big and on Pentecost day something really big happened.
Let me tell you a little bit about that day. (bring out the fan and turn it on) What do you feel? (let them answer) It is wind and where does the wind go? (let them answer) Is it somewhere in a corner or up on the ceiling? Do you have it in your pocket? (let them answer) Where does the wind go?
On Pentecost there was a lot of wind, so much so that it made a big noise that made people leave their houses for fear that they were going to blow apart. It was a big wind.
Then there was fire. (bring down the candles and show them the fire) Where does fire go? It is hot but where does it go? It starts right here on the candle, but where does it go? (let them answer) Is there something up there that just swallows the flame? Where does the heat from the flame go? Does it just disappear? (let them answer)
On Pentecost there were a lot of flames. For every person out in the streets there was a flame like this dancing over their heads. Even with the mighty wind there were flames of fire on the tops of people's heads.
But that wasn't all that was going on that Pentecost day, the beginning of the church. There were voices, all kinds of voices and they spoke in different languages.
(have your people begin speaking in their language) How many of you can hear the different languages? (let them answer) Listen to what it sounds like when they all speak at the same time! (have them all repeat what they said several times at the same time) The languages are beautiful but could anyone understand them? (let them answer)
On the first birthday of the church everyone spoke in his or her language and the amazing thing was that they heard each other and understood what the other person was saying. The people were amazed.
Then Peter, the disciple of Jesus, began to preach and told the people that this was the plan of God and it meant that God was keeping his promise to send the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said that when he went away that God would send another that would do even greater things than he had done. Five thousand people received Jesus that day as their Savior and were introduced to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with us today and our Church is alive and growing in love. We celebrate on this Pentecost Day the birth of Christ's church. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 30, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Rounding out this issue, as usual, are illustrations, team comments, worship resources, and a children's sermon.
"SOMETHING HAPPENED HERE"
by Roger Lovette
Acts 2:1-21
Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17 (25-27)
Introducing the Texts
The coming of God's Spirit is the overarching theme for Pentecost Sunday. In response to the chaos of Genesis 11:1-9, the church holds out the promise of renewal and harmony as they tell the story of the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2.
Genesis 11:1-9 with all its unfinishedness calls to mind the horror of September 11. Those who claimed to be responsible for the attack proclaimed that they had attacked our economic base, which they said represented the decadence of America. What they did not fathom was the enormous loss of life of those 3,000 that perished that day and all the demons that have been unleashed since that terrible act. But Genesis 11 is the story of chaos and confusion.
Psalm 104:24-34: Bernard W. Anderson and Samuel Terrien agree that this particular Psalm is a hymn used in Hebrew worship. "Nowhere in the Psalter can one find a hymn comparable to Psalm 104, in which the whole universe is encompassed within a single sweep of religious vision" (Samuel Terrien, The Psalms and Their Meaning for Today [The Bobbs-Merrill Company: New York, 1952], p. 56). A great sermon could be preached on this Sunday focusing on verses 27-30. The psalmist proclaims how we cannot live without the spirit of God.
Romans 8:14-17 also continues this theme of our connectedness to God being vital. Paul talks about how God, through his spirit, calls us to be children of God. We are the adopted children of God and do not have to be under the burden of slavery or fear for the Spirit of God brings life. Verse 26 continues this focus on the work of the spirit who helps us in our weakness. This certainly is a needed word in a time of confusion like our own.
John 14:8-17, 25-27: As Jesus prepares to leave he reminds them they will not be abandoned. Verse 18 says: "I will not leave you orphaned." Immediately after his admonition to love him and keep his commandments (v. 15), Jesus says he will send us an "Advocate." Does he mean that God's Spirit comes to help us with the loving and keeping of his commandments? Does he mean we cannot do this alone? This Spirit will teach us and remind us (v. 26) of our ties to the living Lord. So Jesus tells his followers a second time not to be troubled or afraid for the spirit of God will bring peace to their hearts. Nestled in this text are words of comfort and hope for anxious disciples.
Acts 2:1-21 is the central focus of this week's issue of The Immediate Word. Luke-Acts tells the story of Jesus, the founder a new community, who makes provisions for his followers after his departure. William Willimon has said that the main concern of Acts was to explain to the believers what the Spirit would do. The preacher will find a great deal of help from Willimon's commentary Acts (Atlanta: John Knox Press). Dr. Willimon says one of their central problems was enormous disappointment in the delay of the Parousia. He emphasizes that Acts is a shift from eschatology to a theology of history. Not there -- here. We do not have to stand gazing into the heavens. Perhaps this is a needed word with so much of the church's emphasis on such concerns as the Left Behind series. Acts is about the here and the now -- not the yet-to-come. So a fragile church troubled with external conflicts from Rome and internal conflicts over end-time fanaticism and doubt are called back in the Pentecost story to living faithfully in their present circumstances (Willimon, Acts, p. 10).
"Something Happened Here"
A little boy on vacation with his family stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon just looking. He looked for along time out over the vista and the color and the sheer magnitude of it all. Finally he said quietly, "Something happened here."
This is the spirit of Pentecost Sunday. Jesus had told his followers to go and stay in Jerusalem together. He told them that something was going to happen. And they reluctantly went as always. Half-heartedly they clung to each other. Surely they were still scared and frightened and grieving. Good Friday and Easter and even all the post-Resurrection appearances had happened too fast. And they had stood squinting in the heavens as Jesus left them alone. They must have wondered if, in leaving their old jobs and worlds behind, they had not made some monstrous mistake.
And then Pentecost came to them in Jerusalem. Let the preacher remember the day did not come to radiant believers faithfully singing God's praises. Pentecost broke through the tough crust of their fear and hopelessness. We don't know exactly what happened except they left that room to form a church that has lasted for 2,000 years. Even the gates of hell could not dismantle it, and God knows the church in every age has tried. The old betrayer Simon would stand and preach with such a power that 3,000 would come to believe. You might remind yourself and your people on this, the birthday of the church, that we too can look out over the vista and history of the years and ponder the mystery: "Something happened here."
What was it that transmuted fear into hope and cowards into faithful disciples? Luke's account of Pentecost answers that question. What happened that strange day that we now call the birthday of the church?
Wind Happened (vv. 1-2)
Those gathered heard a sound "like the rush of a violent wind ..." (v. 2). It is an old word, pnoe found only here and in Acts 17:25, where Paul in his sermon at Athens reminded the listeners that God gives "to all mortals life and breath in all things."
They would remember their own history. How Ezekiel had told his own troubled people about his vision of dry bones. How sun-bleached bones in the desert came to life. The wind swept across the bones and a miracle happened. Hip bones got connected to thigh bones. Life came out of death. And Ezekiel told his people in exile that this would happen to them. Far from home, they looked around at the ruins in all directions. Ezekiel told them that the promises of God would hold. The wind God sent would blow across their lives and life would come out of deadness for them and their country.
At Pentecost, Ezekiel's old vision came to life a second time. The wind stirred in the lives of lifeless disciples. And they left that room to do incredible things that could only be explained by the wind of God blowing through the sails of their lives.
Those who sit in your pews will be looking for some solution to their problems, some quick fix for their lives and their marriages, anything that will take their pain away. The megachurch stripped of cross and vestments and stained glass and pulpit and table offers easy answers to tough questions. Extreme Makeover has turned cosmetology into a booming business. A tummy-tuck here, a breast implant there, liposuction and lasik surgery, and a new hair-do transform men and women into the beautiful people. But these quick fixes will not last. Those who long for easy answers will find little to hang on to. Then and now, the problem is inner, not outer.
God sends the wind and that wind of God's Spirit is as life altering as any tornado that sweeps through our towns. James Stewart's first sermon in his book The Wind of the Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1968, pp. 9f.) might just nudge your imagination in his words about the wind that God sends.
Tongues Happened (vv. 3-4)
Tongues of fire came and rested on each of them. Nobody was left out. Will Willimon has said that the first gift that the Spirit brought was the gift of speech. They all heard in their own language. What happened on the Day of Pentecost? Communication happened.
You might hark back to Genesis 11. They decided to build a tower all the way to heaven. God said no to their overconfidence. God always does. The work of our hands is never enough. The Almighty confused their languages and everyone spoke a different language. God ended their tower-building and finished it off by confusing their languages. The writer calls all this chaos and confusion that ensues Babel.
There is not a church in this country that does not know about Babel. There is a fault line that runs through every congregation. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and mainliners, black and white, women and men, gay and straight, north and south, east and west, Jews and Palestinians, pro-war and anti-war, Christian Coalition and People for the American Way, young and old, rich and poor. We do not speak the same language. We know about Babel.
Who are these Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia? Acts 2 even adds the Arabs. You might spend some time in your sermon identifying the modern-day Parthians and Elamites.
In our divisions we forget that, on the day our towers fell, people from eighty countries lost their lives. And for just a little while we gathered together as one, we grievers, we frightened ones -- but it passed and we returned to Babel as usual.
Pentecost forces the church to re-image its future. Pentecost spans the globe, breaks down the barriers we have erected, and reminds us that at bottom we are all the same. Psalm 104:27-30 points us to our common need for one another and God's love for us all.
It may be Communion in your church this Sunday. What a good Sunday it would be to reach out and take what God gives. You might remind your congregation that the multiplicity of tongues really means that it doesn't matter who we are or what we have done or not done. There's a place at God's table. There is a place card there that bears our names. So we can all come and take our place. We sit down with brothers and sisters, especially those who are poles apart and agree with us on very little. God will meet us there and once again speak a universal language. It is the language of the heart.
Prophecy Happened (vv. 17-21)
Luke says that in the coming of the Spirit prophecy is fulfilled. Joel had talked about destruction and punishment coming to God's people. And Simon Peter took those words, knowing what had happened in his own life moved beyond well-deserved judgment. Peter found that he was taken back and forgiven and loved and cared for. And he saw something else in Joel's words, maybe something Joel himself had not seen. Peter interpreted the words for his day. He talked about new life. Pentecost was the fulfilling of prophecy. And Peter interpreted that as meaning that new life could come where there had only been deadness. And old betraying Peter, of all people, who found his life turned inside out, became the bringer of good tidings. Peter proclaimed life where only death had been. Prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing. Could it mean that the Bible is not just a story -- but that it might just become our story, too?
People need to be reminded that this Pentecost is their story. Ask them to look backward. Remember how they met for years in that cramped basement for worship. Ask them to remember how hard it was to raise the money for a new church. Ask them to remember the long business meetings and how they were afraid they might tear the whole thing up. Ask them to remember the Sunday they dedicated the building. Remind them that over there in the corner stands the font where their babies were baptized. Down there at the front they and their children had been married. Remind them of funerals and how the church gathered around them. Point to the stained-glass windows and remind them of the stars that hung in the vestibule during the Second World War. Remind them of 1954 and how those sermons on "In Christ there is no east or west, no north or south" unsettled so much. Remind them of that awful Sunday after the President was shot and how we packed the house, huddling together after that terrible September 11. They never thought they would make it. Prophecy, over and over again, has been fulfilled in their hearing. God really does give us life after death.
Vision Happened (vv. 17, 22)
Luke talks about signs and wonders. Luke goes to great lengths to say that this outpouring of the spirit was more than some interior experience. We cannot psychologize this scripture away. There is loud talk, louder than people usually spoke in church. There is buzzing confusion and even public debate. Things got out of hand and they even scrapped the morning's bulletin. Sons and daughters prophesied and the young saw visions and the old dreamed dreams. Everyone was touched: slaves, men and women -- everyone.
What happened was that those gathered began to re-image their futures and the future of the world. The preacher might pause and think of some of the ways that the future needs to re-imaged or re-dreamed in his/her own life, in the life of people in the pews, and in the nation at large.
Paul Scherer tells in a sermon about that day in the Roman coliseum when they threw Christians to the lions. It was terrible. The crowd cheered and cheered. And another Christian was brought out and as he was torn apart, the crowds cheered. And a man in the stands left his seat and moved to the arena. He screamed, "This is wrong. What we are doing is wrong." And they threw him to the lions and he was devoured. But people left the stadium before the gore ended. They had seen enough. And every game after that there were fewer and fewer people who came to witness the terrible violence until finally one day the games stopped forever.
Maybe we need to re-image our world. Has Brown vs. the Board of Education, now fifty years old, seen its better days? Do we have to be satisfied with 40 million without health care in our country? Are we more outraged by the outrage than we are the photographs of Americans doing terrible things to those incarcerated? Do we believe that politics has to be about lies and half-truths always? Do we believe the mainline church has seen its best days?
I recommend to everyone Leander Keck's splendid book The Church Confident, about how the mainline church might re-image itself in this hard time. Pentecost is about visions and dreams.
Gladness Happened (vv. 28, 46-47)
I had never noticed a statement embedded in verse 28, part of Joel's prophecy, until I studied this text recently. Luke says that if we love God and serve God we will find that the ways of life are known to us and "you will make me full of gladness with your presence."
He continues that theme in verse 42, where they were together, reading the Bible, praying, enjoying being together. Then, moving down to verses 46-47, we see that "they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people." I had never noticed this in this text before either. Three times in this one chapter he talks about healthy relationships, fun, laughter -- gladness. Underneath all that happened they were called the company of the glad. You could see it in their faces and you could feel it in their worship. It changed the way they looked at the world. They met week after week to break bread and to take a cup and they called what they did "Eucharist" -- thanksgiving to God. Out of the hardness of their lives there flowed a gladness that kept them going.
Paul found it in a jail cell, and so did multitudes of other Christians. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of it during his last days of incarceration. Little Anne Frank, trapped in that small attic room in Amsterdam, talked of joy and gladness. And Terry Anderson in the first Iraq crisis tells after he came home from being held hostage for months. When asked how he felt about his enemies he said: "I am a Christian. And I have been taught all my life to forgive my enemies. Life was just too precious to fritter it away carrying around anger and hate, however justified." You might turn back to Psalm 104:33-34 and listen to the music: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord."
The little boy was right. Something happened here.
Related Illustrations
When Carlyle Marney wrote his book Faith in Conflict he dedicated it "To Victor who agrees with me in nothing and is my friend in everything." Such is the spirit of Pentecost.
***
Several years ago I wrote Roy Bradbury asking for permission to use something he had written. He generously gave permission and sent me a collection of poems he had written. The following poem was written for one of his Christmas letters. I do not think he would mind your using his poem on gladness. It's great.
Joy is the grace we say to God
For his gifts given.
It is the leavening of time,
It splits our bones with lightning.
Fills our marrow
With a harrowing of light
And seeds out blood with sun,
And thus we
Put out the night
And then
Put out the night.
Tears make an end of things;
So weep, yes, weep.
But joy says, after that, not done...
No, not by any means. Not done!
Take breath and shout it out!
That laugh, that cry which says: Begin again,
So all's reborn, begun!
Now hear this, Eden's child,
Remember in thy green Earth heaven,
All beauty-shod:
Joy is the grace we say to God.
***
One preacher said he was working on a sermon on the Holy Spirit. He kept reading: "The wind bloweth where it listeth." For the life of him he could not understand what that meant. The wind bloweth where it listeth. So finally he went down to the wharf and just walked around and looked at the sea. He met on old sailor who had spent his whole life on the sea. The preacher said, "Do you know anything about the wind?" The old man shook his head. "No." The preacher continued, "Do you mean to tell me you have spent your whole life sailing ships and you don't know anything about the wind?" The old sailor said, "I know nothing about the wind. But whenever it begins to blow, I hoist the sail, and it carries me back to port. That's all I know." And so the preacher had his sermon. The wind of God blows into the sails of our lives and leads us safe into the harbor."
-- Winston Pearce, I Believe (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1954), pp. 36-37
***
Joan Chittister writes about the Spirit: "Once upon a time the elder said to the businessperson, 'As the fish perishes on dry land, so you perish when you get entangled in the world. The fish must return to the water and you must return to the Spirit.' The businessperson was aghast. 'Are you saying that I must give up my business and go into a monastery?' 'Definitely not,' the elder said. 'I am telling you to hold onto your business and go into your heart.' "
***
Melvin Dixon, a poet living with AIDS writes: "I come to you bearing witness to a broken heart. I come to you bearing witness to a broken body. I come to you bearing witness to an unbroken spirit."
***
We might remember that May is the month for graduations. In your pews will be parents of graduates and graduates themselves from high school and college. They must wonder what kind of a world we are sending them into. The lack of jobs is scary. They wonder if they might have to go to war. They worry about the economy and their parent's recent divorce. Perhaps they wonder about another terrorist attack and what that mean for their future. On Pentecost Sunday they will understand the story of Babel in Genesis 11.
***
Worship suggestion:
One of the great ways to underline Acts 2:1-4 is to break it into verses, have members of the congregation read first in English, then a verse in another language, use as many languages as you have. For the last verse have all the readers read at the same time, with the English reader reading louder than the others. This can be quite effective.
Reader 1 (English), then Reader 2 in another language: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were together in one place."
Reader 1 (English), then Reader 3 in yet another language: "And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting."
Reader 1 (English), then the verse read in a third language: "Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongues rested on each of them."
All readers read at the same time, the English reader reading louder over all the other languages for understanding: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
Team Comments
George Murphy responds: I want to focus here on possible connections between the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and the account of Pentecost in Acts 2. The "speaking in tongues" described in the Acts text does not seem to be the type of glossolalia that Paul dealt with in 1 Corinthians and that has occurred at various times in Christian communities since then. Here people from different parts of the known world are able to hear the message of the Galilean apostles in the own languages. This means that in an important way a splintered human race is reunited. "The reversal of the curse of Babel is surely in the writer's mind" (F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], ad rem).
The work of the builders at Babel is sometimes seen as a kind of Promethean defiance of God. If I can quote myself here (from The Cosmos in the Light of the Cross [Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2003]):
This is not one of the myths of an attempt to scale heaven and overthrow the supreme god. The builders don't mention God at all. A kind of youthful exuberance motivates them, but there is also a note of anxiety: "Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4). There is not a little resemblance here to modern secular cultures that see humanity itself as responsible for its own survival and salvation by its own power.
Still, the attempt of the builders to "make a name for" themselves by their own efforts is in effect a program to displace God and to make themselves the source of their own security and permanence. And so it calls down judgment, an inability to communicate with one another that results in the scattering of the peoples.
It is this scattering that is reversed at Pentecost. In spite of differences in language (for the "miracle of tongues" is of course not regularly repeated), the Christian community is united. We are able to talk to one another and be understood across lines of language, race, class, and gender.
Or at least we think we can if we have a very idealistic -- some would say naive -- understanding of the reality of the church. Divisions in the church that go back to the split between East and West in the eleventh century and the Reformation of the sixteenth century are still with us. In the United States our history of slavery and racism has left us with black churches and white churches. In mainline Protestant churches there are so many differences that clergy in those denominations sometimes feel rather cynically that the only thing they really are united in is a common pension plan.
One item that's been in the news recently highlights this problem: The suggestion by some Roman Catholics, including bishops, that politicians such as presidential candidate John Kerry who have voted for policies that allow abortion, should not be able to receive communion. One bishop has even said that Roman Catholics who vote for such politicians should not receive the sacrament.
Now of course Christians have varying views on abortion, and many Protestants have problems with the idea that a church hierarchy should be able to impose views on controversial matters from the top down. People ought to be able to act in accord with their consciences, they would say. But with such a typical American emphasis on individual rights, an important point is being missed. In what sense can there really be a unity of a church body if there is not really any agreement on fundamental matters?
Some churches today glory in concepts like "pluralism," "diversity," and "inclusiveness." In one sense that's just what the Pentecost story and the chapters that follow in the book of Acts are about. People who speak different languages, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and citizens, receive the Holy Spirit and become part of the Christian community. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," Peter says, pointing toward the full participation of both men and women. Yet with all this diversity "there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:4-5).
What does "one faith" mean? It doesn't mean that we all express our faith in exactly the same way. Even among the New Testament writers we find different ways of understanding and expressing the Christian faith. The theology of Paul, for example, is not the same as the theology of the Gospel of Matthew or the Epistle of James.
In one sense the "one faith" is very simple -- a commitment to Jesus as Lord. But since the earliest days of Christianity it's been realized that there are implications for thought and practice of the lordship of Jesus, and that if one is to say, "Jesus is Lord" with any consistency there are consequences for what one does and says. If Jesus is Lord, then other things aren't Lord. If Jesus is Lord, then the kind of life Jesus lived has something to do with the way Christians are to live.
On Pentecost it would be worth exploring this theme of unity and the role that the unity of the church is to have in continuing the mission of Pentecost. I'm referring here not so much to doctrinal unity -- though that shouldn't be ignored -- but the extent to which Christians can speak with one voice to crucial issues of the modern world such as abortion, war, and the uses of new technologies. With all our emphasis on freedom of conscience, what responsibilities do Christians -- whether they are senators or ordinary citizens -- have to contribute to a unified witness of the Christian community? That's of considerable practical importance. The world won't be terribly impressed if Christians agree on the words of the Apostles' Creed (if we can even do that!) but fall to arguing with one another when it comes to ethical implications of our beliefs.
The story of the Tower of Babel has sometimes been seen as a commentary on the hubris that accompanies scientific and technological discoveries. C. S. Lewis developed that idea brilliantly in the third novel of his "space trilogy," That Hideous Strength. The title itself comes from a poem about the Tower. And in the novel the new builders are again scattered by a confusion of tongues wrought by Merlin, who has been awakened from his mysterious sleep.
Lewis' novel is one of my favorites, and I think he makes his point about the dangers of science and technology set free from faith very well. Yet there is another way of reading things. Science has provided a common language that can be used to understand the world and that people can use to communicate with one another. Scientists from very different cultures can have a common view of the world. An English physicist can read the equations of a Russian or Japanese counterpart and follow their implications even without knowing Russian or Japanese. Computers and the Internet have given us ways of communicating with other people across the world. I don't suggest that these things are the wave of the religious future, but they can be thought of as challenges to the Church. To what extent do Christians across the world speak with one voice on issues that concern the world?
Carter Shelley responds: Roger, I appreciate that you offer so many links between the first Pentecost and the contemporary struggles Christians face May 30, 2004. The range of examples you provide demonstrates both sensitivity and comprehensiveness in addressing political, military, social, and religious differences in our 24/7 CNN and World Wide Web context where there is even more Babel than those Pentateuch compilers could have imagined. The theme of re-imagining the future with the comfort, presence, and direction of the Holy Spirit remains as theologically real and viable today as it was for those first witnesses at Pentecost. I especially like the way you've acknowledged the congregation's history. That recognition of what they've accomplished against the odds of human nature is important. Church people need to see what we've accomplished in the past in order to realize what we can accomplish in the future.
The thematic moves you make -- "Something Happened ... Wind Happened ... Tongues Happened ... Prophecy ... Vision ... Gladness Happened" -- offer the preacher excellent scriptural and interpretive moves through the Acts events, while your brief glimpse at the Tower of Babel story reminds us that it is human actions that divide us and divine actions that can unite us. (This is a very different scenario from the literary version of the Iliad and Odyssey, in which the gods' actions and interference create as much chaos and rancor and the misdeeds and egos of the mortals involved. That's my movie for the week, although Troy failed to take advantage of that theological and narrative challenge.)
Jesus came to be prophet, priest, and king of the Jews, but his ministry and mission moved beyond the boundaries of Palestine. The man Jesus could walk, ride, preach, teach, heal, and touch other human beings. The human form that Christ assumed in order to reveal God's will to humans meant that Jesus was subject to the limitations and boundaries of human time, space, and context. The Advocate and Comforter whom Jesus promises will come in his stead has no such physical limitations. The Spirit transcends human boundaries of space and time while calling us back to our pre-Fall origins as children of God. The dynamism of Pentecost demonstrates the breadth of God's will while the Spirit's descent demonstrates God's ongoing intention to be physically present and in our midst as both solace and spur to our Christian witness. God is the source of life and breath. God is the source of forgiveness and hope. God is the source of three-in-one: Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- or Creator, Redeemer, Spirit.
We know from scriptures Old and New that the Spirit is not a new entity introduced by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. The Spirit has been a part of God's story and ours ever since the beginning. "The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). The Spirit is present when judges become warriors and leaders in the volatile tribal years the Hebrews face before being consolidated into a kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord is a gift bestowed -- and sometimes withdrawn -- from kings and prophets. At Jesus' baptism prior to the beginning of his ministry, "the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22). Thus, the Spirit of the Lord that bolstered Jesus' own ministry descends again to give life to his followers. The significant shift that occurs at Pentecost is one of democratization. Where the Spirit of the Lord seems to have been selective and limited to chosen individuals of God's chosen people in the past, at Pentecost the Spirit becomes expansive and ecumenical its presence and support. No longer are the bearers of the Spirit leaders of one particular group or person. Now, those who believe in Jesus Christ and who open themselves to God's word and presence will indeed be one in Spirit.
The Spirit coming at Pentecost is the beginning, not the conclusion of the gospel story. It's a starting point. The work that Christ had begun they are expected to continue. We are the heirs of those first apostles.* We are children of God who inherit the blessings, the grace, and the possibility of changing the world.
The Gift of Ears as Well as of Tongues
While the emphasis in the story of Pentecost is upon the apostles' ability to speak in different languages and to articulate without fear or hesitation the good news of Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit also makes it possible to listen and truly hear what another person has to say. As ministers we are trained to teach, preach, speak, and project that which we believe. Yet we cannot truly know another person by speaking. The other can only be known by listening. Listening isn't flashy. It doesn't win politicians delegates or earn brownie points with the professor. In our particular context as ministers of the word and sacrament, we are trained to talk. Some ministers talk constantly. Other ministers talk some, but listen more. It's possible to tell which kind of minister one is by the sermons we preach. It's interesting to hear people discuss individuals whose lives and contribution made a strong impact upon them. Often the trait that will be ascribed to that individual is his or her ability to focus totally and unwaveringly upon the person he or she is listening to at that moment in time. In caring more about what another person has to say than in getting one's own point or personality across, these charismatic individuals convey both caring and genuine interest in another human being. The ability to concentrate on the thoughts and needs of another person without distraction is a form of witness and ministry. In fact, one might say that the Holy Spirit is God's way of concentrating upon us, but we have to shut up to discover exactly what it is God calls us to. If we can "be still, and know that I am God," then we may be able to hear God's Spirit in us not only on Pentecost but the 364 other days of the year.
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*It's important to be aware that those awaiting the fulfillment of Christ's promise included women as well as men. Acts 1:14 reminds us that she whom the Spirit of the Lord came upon at Jesus' conception, was also present at Pentecost. "All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers."
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Worship Resources
by George Reed
OPENING
(N.b. All copyright information is given from the first cited place where found. Some copyright information may differ in other sources due to adaptations, various tunes, etc.)
Music
Hymns
"Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid." Words: John Dryden (1631-1700); trans. of Veni Creator Spiritus; music: Surrey, melody Henry Carey (1690?-1743). Public domain. As found in Hymnal '82: 500; LBOW 164; TNCH 268.
"O Holy Spirit, by Whose Breath." Words: attr. Rabanua Maurus (776-856); trans. John Webster Grant (b. 1919) paraphrase of Veni Creator Spiritus; music: Veni Creator Spiritus, plainsong, Mode 8. As found in Hymnal '82: 502.
"Praise the Spirit in Creation." Words: Michael Hewlett (b. 1916), alt.; music: Finnian, Christopher Dearnley (b. 1930). (c) Words and music by permission Oxford University Press. As found in Hymnal '82:506, 507.
"Of All the Spirit's Gifts to Me." Words: Fred Pratt Green, 1979; music: Seelenfreud, J. Meyer (1692). Words (c) 1979 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH: 336; CH: 270.
Songs
"Surely the Presence of the Lord." Words and music: Lanny Wolfe. (c) 1977 Lanny Wolfe Music. As found in CCB 1.
"Sweet, Sweet Spirit." Words and music: Doris Akers. (c) 1962, renewed 1970 Manna Music, Inc. As found in CCB 7.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Bless God from the depths of your being.
People: God, your greatness is without end.
Leader: You are adorned with majesty and honor.
People: Light wraps around you like a garment.
Leader: You created the earth and with its seas.
People: You endowed creation with many gifts.
Leader: Your creative works are innumerable, O God.
People: Your wisdom has created all that is.
COLLECT / OPENING PRAYER
O God, who moves as mysteriously as the wind blows: Grant us the grace to receive your Holy Spirit into our lives that we might come together as your people, under your reign, doing your work; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
or
We come into your presence, God of wind and breath and spirit. You have given us a common life and a common Spirit, even your own. You call us together as your children and you dwell in us and among us. May today be the day we go out to live your life within us more fully. Amen.
Response Music
Hymns
"Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us." Words: Brian Foley; music: V. Earle Copes, 1960.
Words (c) 1971 Faber Music, Limited; music (c) 1960, renewed 1988 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 331; TNCH 264.
"Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song." Words: Carl P. Daw, Jr., 1981; music: Peter Cutts, 1968. Words (c) 1982 Hope Publishing Co.; music (c) 1969 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 544; Hymnal '82 513; TNCH 270; CH 245.
"Filled with the Spirit's Power." Words: John R. Peacey, 1969; music: Cyril V. Taylor, 1943. Words by permission of Mildred E. Peacey; music (c) 1985 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 537; LBOW 160; TNCH 266.
"There's a Spirit in the Air." Words: Brian Wren, 1969; music: medieval French melody; harm. Richard Redhead, 1853. Words 1979 Hope Publishing Co. As found in UMH 192; TPH 433; TNCH 294; CH 257.
Songs
"Spirit of the Living God." Words and music: Daniel Iverson. (c) 1935, 1963 Budwing Music. As found in CCB 57.
LITANY
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Let us pray: Grant, O God, to us your children your own Spirit
People: that we might live in harmony with all your people.
Leader: Grant to us who are blind the light of your presence
People: that we might see what your reign would look like here.
Leader: Grant to us the courage to speak your Word to our world
People: that together we may have a vision of creation as it was meant to become.
Leader: Grant to us your Spirit of laughter and joy
People: that we may spread gladness on earth.
Leader: Grant to us who are burned out by life's burden, your fire
People: that we might burn with the brightness of your love.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, come.
People: Enter, Holy Spirit, enter us.
GENERAL PRAYERS, LITANIES, ETC.
We worship and adore you, O God, for your Spirit hovered over the waters of chaos and brought forth order and good. You created all that is and breathed into us your own life breath. We are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
(The following paragraph is most suitable if a prayer of confession will not be used elsewhere.)
We come together today aware that we have not lived in the power of your Spirit but in the confusion and weakness of sin. We have chosen confusion and separation over communication and unity. We have looked for differences that separate instead of similarities that draw together. Forgive us our foolish ways and renew your Spirit within us that we may live as your children within the family of all humanity.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from your bountiful hand. Most of all we thank you for your never-failing presence of grace and love. We thank you for the ways we find it in creation, in your Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and among us.
(Other specific thanksgiving may be offered.)
We lift into the light of your presence those who are on our hearts: the sick, the lonely, those who are afraid; the imprisoned, the abused, those who have lost their way; the victims of violence and war, the oppressed and those who do not know of your love. Grant that as your minister to them in the power of your Spirit that our love and spirits may be part of your work. Grant us a vision of how we can be your physical presence in the midst of the world's needs.
(Other petitions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of Jesus who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father ..."
Hymnal & Songbook Abbreviations
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
Hymnal '82: The Hymnal 1982, The Episcopal Church
LBOW: Lutheran Book of Worship
TPH: The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
TNNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
TNCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
PMMCH3: Praise. Maranatha! Music Chorus Book, Expanded 3rd Edition
A Children's Sermon
by Wesley T. Runk
Acts 2:1-21
Text: "All were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, "What does this mean?" (v. 12)
Object: Wind (an electric fan), fire (an altar candle), voices in as many languages as you can recruit (each voice should speak separately, saying the same thing, and then all together as one voice)
Good morning, boys and girls. This is birthday day. How many of you know who is celebrating a big birthday today? (let them answer) That's right, the church. I don't mean just our church but all of the Christian churches in the world. Today is Pentecost and our Christian church was born on that day in Jerusalem. It was a wonderful day, an exciting day, and one that we will never forget. Jesus had asked his followers to stay in Jerusalem for something big and on Pentecost day something really big happened.
Let me tell you a little bit about that day. (bring out the fan and turn it on) What do you feel? (let them answer) It is wind and where does the wind go? (let them answer) Is it somewhere in a corner or up on the ceiling? Do you have it in your pocket? (let them answer) Where does the wind go?
On Pentecost there was a lot of wind, so much so that it made a big noise that made people leave their houses for fear that they were going to blow apart. It was a big wind.
Then there was fire. (bring down the candles and show them the fire) Where does fire go? It is hot but where does it go? It starts right here on the candle, but where does it go? (let them answer) Is there something up there that just swallows the flame? Where does the heat from the flame go? Does it just disappear? (let them answer)
On Pentecost there were a lot of flames. For every person out in the streets there was a flame like this dancing over their heads. Even with the mighty wind there were flames of fire on the tops of people's heads.
But that wasn't all that was going on that Pentecost day, the beginning of the church. There were voices, all kinds of voices and they spoke in different languages.
(have your people begin speaking in their language) How many of you can hear the different languages? (let them answer) Listen to what it sounds like when they all speak at the same time! (have them all repeat what they said several times at the same time) The languages are beautiful but could anyone understand them? (let them answer)
On the first birthday of the church everyone spoke in his or her language and the amazing thing was that they heard each other and understood what the other person was saying. The people were amazed.
Then Peter, the disciple of Jesus, began to preach and told the people that this was the plan of God and it meant that God was keeping his promise to send the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said that when he went away that God would send another that would do even greater things than he had done. Five thousand people received Jesus that day as their Savior and were introduced to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with us today and our Church is alive and growing in love. We celebrate on this Pentecost Day the birth of Christ's church. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, May 30, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
