Pentecost ... Again!
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
They had been waiting so long for this. It was an interminable fifty days since Jesus had risen from the dead. It had been ten long days since Jesus had ascended into heaven from that mountain outside of Jerusalem and that angel had told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait. They had to wait again for what must have seemed like an eternity to finally receive what they had been waiting for -- the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then it happened. In the midst of a sound of a rushing wind with tongues of fire dancing on their heads, the disciples were suddenly able to speak in a myriad of foreign languages. These were humble Galileans. They were poor. They had not gone to school. They had not taken the latest Berlitz course in some foreign language. These were uneducated people. And yet, they were able to speak in these foreign languages so proficiently that Jews from the far reaches of the Roman Empire who had come to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish festival of Pentecost were able to understand them. They spoke of the mighty acts of God, what God had done in Jesus, the Messiah, and how the words of the prophet Joel concerning "The Day of the Lord" and "the end of the world" were now coming true.
It was strange, amazing, and what only could be called a miracle. It is no wonder that many who were gathered there that day came to the conclusion that these people must be drunk! But, in fact, they had received the promised Holy Spirit.
That is how Luke describes the first Pentecost in Acts 2. It truly must have been an extraordinary event. Here we are some 2,000 years later gathered in this ordinary place, in this ordinary community, in this ordinary time, in ordinary routines of ordinary life. If your life is anything like mine, you have never experienced anything even remotely resembling what Luke records concerning the events of that first Pentecost. It seems like these events took place "once upon a time in a distant place and land." It seems like a fairy tale, forever removed, unreal, untouched by the world as we know it today.
But that need not be the case at all. The amazing good news is that Pentecost is also happening right here, right now, in this place ... again and again and again. (Now you must be wondering if your pastor has been sipping a little bit too much new wine.) But how? How can that be ... when we don't hear the sound of a rushing wind or see tongues of fire dancing on our heads or are able to speak in foreign languages we never heard or studied?
That question can be answered. We can begin to see how the Pentecost of the distant past is also happening again, here, now, in our midst, today, with the help of today's second reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote several letters to this troubled congregation in the bustling metropolitan city of Corinth. From his correspondence, we can easily see how tumultuous life was in this troubled congregation.
I once described Paul's Corinthian correspondence as pictures of "life in a messy church." In that respect, the Corinthian congregation was no different from congregations today. Life in the church always has been and always will be messy. Congregations are continually threatened by a world that promises to overwhelm them. The divisions, hierarchies, pecking orders, status seeking, bickering, and conflict that are so much a part of our world always threaten to slowly seep into the life of the church and turn it into a club that is no different from the clubs and volunteer organizations that fill our society. That certainly was a problem in Corinth. That congregation seemed to be perpetually fractured and squabbling. Factions and cliques were constantly forming around particular leaders or particular issues that were often at odds with one another.
The context of the problem addressed in today's reading is worship. It seems that the Corinthian congregation was caught up in the ancient equivalent of what we call today "the worship wars." It is amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. The "worship wars" today swirl around such issues as praise songs, contemporary music, and the use of media and guitars and drums. In Corinth, the issues were speaking in tongues, prophecy, and behavior at the holy communion table. The issues were different but the result is the same: party spirit, divisions, factionalism. Everyone thinks that their way is the best way or the preferred way or the only way to worship. In Corinth, there were those who believed that if you could not speak in tongues or prophesy in worship, there was something wrong with you. There were those who used their wealth to flaunt their status over others at the communion table. As a result, the congregation was fractured and conflicted. Much of the space in Paul's letters to the Corinthians is spent addressing these divisions and conflicts. Life in the Corinthian congregation truly was anything but orderly, gracious, or polite. It was "life in a messy church."
It always has been that way in Christian congregations. Every congregation that I have ever seen or belonged to struggles with this issue. For example, I have never met a congregation that does not describe itself as a "warm and caring family." But it seems that in every congregation there always seems to be those who are more part of the "warm and caring family" than others. Every congregation says that everyone is welcome, but there are always some that are more welcome than others. In this congregation, we say that all are welcome and if you walk through the door with a spouse in one hand and a child or two on the other, people will rush to introduce themselves to you. But if you are single, a person of color, middle-aged, a senior citizen, or (God forbid!) belong to a differing political party, look out.
Every congregation says that everyone belongs, but there are always some that belong more than others. If you belong to certain families, belong to certain small groups, live in a certain neighborhood, drive a certain car, give a certain amount of money (or at least have the potential to do so), you belong more than others. Your voice, your opinion, your vote counts more than others.
At a previous congregation where I served, a wealthy and influential member of the congregation, a patriarch of the congregation, requested a private meeting with me. I was suspicious and my suspicions proved to be true. He had an agenda and because of his status expected that his opinion ought to count more. He threatened to withhold his contributions from the congregation if certain changes were not made. Of course, this news had already been strategically leaked to the treasurer and the church council. They were already beginning to shudder in fear.
This was an attack not only on the very life of the congregation but on the very faith that held it together. The health of a congregation can never be dependent on such financial threats. All too often, congregations are all too willing to succumb to the temptation to believe that some members count more than others. In our capitalistic, bottom line, market driven, materialistic world, it is all too easy to let money, the promise of getting more of it, or the threat of losing some of it, be the glue of a congregation. It betrays the fact that faith in money matters more than faith in God.
To counter such an attack, Paul reminds the Corinthians (and every congregation for that matter) that they cease to be the church when they allow their life to be so corrupted. In the church it is not money or power or prestige that defines us. No. It is Jesus Christ who is Lord. It is his promising presence among us and our trust in that promise that binds us together.
Paul declares, "No one says 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." We are all here by the grace of God. We are all beggars. We are all here on our knees, heads bowed, knowing that we don't deserve a thing, with our hands outstretched, trusting that God will mercifully bless us and forgive us. No one can claim greater rights, greater influence, or greater power because they have done something to deserve it. We can only dare to be righteous, to believe that our sins are forgiven, to stand tall, unashamed, and unafraid in the presence of almighty God, because of what God himself has given us in Jesus Christ through the power of his Spirit.
Martin Luther says it well in those familiar words from his explanation of the third article of the Apostles' Creed in The Small Catechism when he says, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts and sanctified and kept me in the true faith." That we believe at all, that we can dare to think that we are the very sons and daughters of God and can claim a place among his holy people is not the result of anything we have done or accomplished. It is all because of what God has done for us in Christ and given to us through the Holy Spirit.
Now that is counter-cultural! There are no other organizations in this world that function like that. In those organizations, it is all about what we have done to deserve this. You have got to earn or pay for your place in the organization. In those organizations, it is always about hierarchies and pecking orders. In them, there are always those who are more welcome with more status, more prestige, and more honor. Not here. Not among us. Not in this place.
A good friend and pastoral mentor of mine once had some good advice for me on this matter of the church and the Holy Spirit. Once when I was complaining to him that the people in my congregation were becoming lazy and negligent and were not attending church in the numbers I thought they should, he gently put me in my place. He said words that I will never forget and have had to continually recall throughout my ministry every time I want to turn the church into a club where I am keeping score. He said, "Steve, remember that you have no right to expect anyone to ever walk through those doors on a Sunday morning. That anyone comes at all is a miracle of the Holy Spirit."
I found those words both humbling and comforting. I found those words humbling because they put me in my place. Church is not about me. It is not about the charisma of the preacher or the eloquence of my sermons or the beauty of the worship services or the politeness of its members. People come not because of the attractiveness of the church and its members but because of the attractiveness of Christ and his promise. They come because they have been moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. You may think that your being here today is the result of plans, decisions, and commitments that you may have made days ago. What really brought you here is the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who called, gathered, and enlightened you with the bright idea to come to church today. When that happens, it is Pentecost ... again.
I found his words comforting because whether people come to church or not is not dependent upon my ability to entice them. It's not up to me to push the right buttons, to say the right words, and to create the right appearance. It is not about me getting the credit when they come or the guilt when they don't. No, my job is simply to proclaim the good news of what God has done in Christ through the power of his Spirit, just like Peter and those first disciples did at the first Pentecost. When I do, God has promised that there will be Pentecost ... again. If and when people respond, it is the work of God's Spirit and not mine. That is good news. That is liberating. You and I are free to do our best and then with a clean conscience and a free spirit let the rest up to God. No arms are twisted. No threats are issued. No guilt is poured out. Instead, people freely respond. They come because they want to. They come because they "get to." When that happens, it is Pentecost ... again!
Paul uses a familiar image to describe what it means to experience Pentecost ... again. The church is like the human body. Christ is the head. We are the members and limbs of the body. We are the body parts. The body parts need to be connected to the head to function properly. The Holy Spirit connects us to Christ. I suppose that you might call the Holy Spirit "the neck." As a result, all the members of the body are essential and important if the body is to function properly. I know that we sometimes honor some parts of our body more than others. Some parts of our bodies so embarrass us that we keep them covered most of the time. Other parts we flaunt and display so much that you would think that a pretty face or muscular arms are all that matter. But in the church, all those parts are needed and important to the health of the body. We can't all be arms or legs or eyes.
Can you imagine what it would be like if we were all one big ear? Sometimes when I see the way people treat each other in the church, when the world has seeped most deeply into the DNA of the body of Christ, you would think that we would all need to become an ear or an eye or a leg. Imagine how absurd that would be. A body can't function that way. All body parts are valuable. That is how we treat one another in the body of Christ.
Paul calls these varied contributions from the various members of the body of Christ, "spiritual gifts." During the last decade there has been lots of talk in many Christian churches about "spiritual gifts." Sometimes I think people believe that their "spiritual gifts" are some deep, dark, hidden mystery lurking somewhere in our lives that we need to discover. I don't think it is all mysterious or hidden.
Consider that image of the body of Christ. If you were an ear or an eye, how could you best contribute to the "common good" of the body? If you were an ear, you could hear. If you were an eye, you could see. That is the "gift" of being an ear or an eye. You wouldn't expect an ear to see or an eye to hear. Likewise, each of us has been given various gifts from God. Each of us in our own particular way has been gifted with time, talent, and treasure. When we use our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to promote the good news of Jesus Christ to build up others in the faith and to serve our neighbors in the name of Christ, these ordinary gifts become our "spiritual gifts." They become vehicles for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms an ability to sing or manage time or make money into something that serves the common good of our congregation or the common good of our neighbors. Then what we may have only considered ordinary and transitory becomes a "spiritual gift."
When you offer your time and talent to this congregation, to sing in the choir, to teach Sunday school, to fix a broken fixture in the building, to make a meal for a family in crisis, you are serving the mission of this church and helping to connect people to the power of the Holy Spirit. In such a way you are exercising your "spiritual gifts." Likewise, when you leave this place today and exit through those doors, you are entering the mission field. In your daily callings, whether it is in the home, in the community, or in the workplace, you have many opportunities to use your time, talent, and treasure to serve your neighbor, promote the common good of our world, and make Christ known. In that process, your time, talent, and treasure are no longer just assets that you can use to promote yourself and get ahead. No, now they have become your "spiritual gifts," your gift to the church and the world. When you do that, it is Pentecost ... again!
When water is poured on a forehead at the baptismal font "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," that person is not just washed with water. He is connected to the head, Christ. He becomes a member of the body of Christ, the church. Even though that baptismal candidate might be so young and so completely dependent upon the care of others, able only to soil her diapers, suckle at her mother's breast, and make unintelligible sounds, she is still a valuable body part. She is a valuable member of the body of Christ. When the waters are poured and God's name is spoken, it is Pentecost ... again!
That first Pentecost may seem distant and remote, but Pentecost is here ... again. Can't you hear the wind blowing and its power in our midst? Can't you sense the fire burning, that burning zeal in our hearts to carry Christ and his love to the world? Can't you hear the voices in so many different languages? Our world speaks a multitude of languages, not only languages like English, German, or Chinese, but also the language of different cultures, different values, and different points of view. As you go from this place out into the world and translate the love of Christ into a myriad of different cultures, worldviews, values, and perspectives, you are just like those disciples who spoke in so many different languages on that first Pentecost.
Do you see the multitude of "reds" that adorn the sanctuary today? Yes, red is the color of Pentecost. Red is the color of Pentecost because it reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit that appeared in tongues of fire dancing on the heads of the disciples on that first day of Pentecost fifty days after Easter. That color reminds us that today, here in this place, it is Pentecost ... again!
Let us go forth from this place and do what those first disciples did. Let us set the world on fire! Let us be "holy arsonists"! Let us make it be Pentecost ... again! Amen.
Then it happened. In the midst of a sound of a rushing wind with tongues of fire dancing on their heads, the disciples were suddenly able to speak in a myriad of foreign languages. These were humble Galileans. They were poor. They had not gone to school. They had not taken the latest Berlitz course in some foreign language. These were uneducated people. And yet, they were able to speak in these foreign languages so proficiently that Jews from the far reaches of the Roman Empire who had come to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish festival of Pentecost were able to understand them. They spoke of the mighty acts of God, what God had done in Jesus, the Messiah, and how the words of the prophet Joel concerning "The Day of the Lord" and "the end of the world" were now coming true.
It was strange, amazing, and what only could be called a miracle. It is no wonder that many who were gathered there that day came to the conclusion that these people must be drunk! But, in fact, they had received the promised Holy Spirit.
That is how Luke describes the first Pentecost in Acts 2. It truly must have been an extraordinary event. Here we are some 2,000 years later gathered in this ordinary place, in this ordinary community, in this ordinary time, in ordinary routines of ordinary life. If your life is anything like mine, you have never experienced anything even remotely resembling what Luke records concerning the events of that first Pentecost. It seems like these events took place "once upon a time in a distant place and land." It seems like a fairy tale, forever removed, unreal, untouched by the world as we know it today.
But that need not be the case at all. The amazing good news is that Pentecost is also happening right here, right now, in this place ... again and again and again. (Now you must be wondering if your pastor has been sipping a little bit too much new wine.) But how? How can that be ... when we don't hear the sound of a rushing wind or see tongues of fire dancing on our heads or are able to speak in foreign languages we never heard or studied?
That question can be answered. We can begin to see how the Pentecost of the distant past is also happening again, here, now, in our midst, today, with the help of today's second reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote several letters to this troubled congregation in the bustling metropolitan city of Corinth. From his correspondence, we can easily see how tumultuous life was in this troubled congregation.
I once described Paul's Corinthian correspondence as pictures of "life in a messy church." In that respect, the Corinthian congregation was no different from congregations today. Life in the church always has been and always will be messy. Congregations are continually threatened by a world that promises to overwhelm them. The divisions, hierarchies, pecking orders, status seeking, bickering, and conflict that are so much a part of our world always threaten to slowly seep into the life of the church and turn it into a club that is no different from the clubs and volunteer organizations that fill our society. That certainly was a problem in Corinth. That congregation seemed to be perpetually fractured and squabbling. Factions and cliques were constantly forming around particular leaders or particular issues that were often at odds with one another.
The context of the problem addressed in today's reading is worship. It seems that the Corinthian congregation was caught up in the ancient equivalent of what we call today "the worship wars." It is amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. The "worship wars" today swirl around such issues as praise songs, contemporary music, and the use of media and guitars and drums. In Corinth, the issues were speaking in tongues, prophecy, and behavior at the holy communion table. The issues were different but the result is the same: party spirit, divisions, factionalism. Everyone thinks that their way is the best way or the preferred way or the only way to worship. In Corinth, there were those who believed that if you could not speak in tongues or prophesy in worship, there was something wrong with you. There were those who used their wealth to flaunt their status over others at the communion table. As a result, the congregation was fractured and conflicted. Much of the space in Paul's letters to the Corinthians is spent addressing these divisions and conflicts. Life in the Corinthian congregation truly was anything but orderly, gracious, or polite. It was "life in a messy church."
It always has been that way in Christian congregations. Every congregation that I have ever seen or belonged to struggles with this issue. For example, I have never met a congregation that does not describe itself as a "warm and caring family." But it seems that in every congregation there always seems to be those who are more part of the "warm and caring family" than others. Every congregation says that everyone is welcome, but there are always some that are more welcome than others. In this congregation, we say that all are welcome and if you walk through the door with a spouse in one hand and a child or two on the other, people will rush to introduce themselves to you. But if you are single, a person of color, middle-aged, a senior citizen, or (God forbid!) belong to a differing political party, look out.
Every congregation says that everyone belongs, but there are always some that belong more than others. If you belong to certain families, belong to certain small groups, live in a certain neighborhood, drive a certain car, give a certain amount of money (or at least have the potential to do so), you belong more than others. Your voice, your opinion, your vote counts more than others.
At a previous congregation where I served, a wealthy and influential member of the congregation, a patriarch of the congregation, requested a private meeting with me. I was suspicious and my suspicions proved to be true. He had an agenda and because of his status expected that his opinion ought to count more. He threatened to withhold his contributions from the congregation if certain changes were not made. Of course, this news had already been strategically leaked to the treasurer and the church council. They were already beginning to shudder in fear.
This was an attack not only on the very life of the congregation but on the very faith that held it together. The health of a congregation can never be dependent on such financial threats. All too often, congregations are all too willing to succumb to the temptation to believe that some members count more than others. In our capitalistic, bottom line, market driven, materialistic world, it is all too easy to let money, the promise of getting more of it, or the threat of losing some of it, be the glue of a congregation. It betrays the fact that faith in money matters more than faith in God.
To counter such an attack, Paul reminds the Corinthians (and every congregation for that matter) that they cease to be the church when they allow their life to be so corrupted. In the church it is not money or power or prestige that defines us. No. It is Jesus Christ who is Lord. It is his promising presence among us and our trust in that promise that binds us together.
Paul declares, "No one says 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." We are all here by the grace of God. We are all beggars. We are all here on our knees, heads bowed, knowing that we don't deserve a thing, with our hands outstretched, trusting that God will mercifully bless us and forgive us. No one can claim greater rights, greater influence, or greater power because they have done something to deserve it. We can only dare to be righteous, to believe that our sins are forgiven, to stand tall, unashamed, and unafraid in the presence of almighty God, because of what God himself has given us in Jesus Christ through the power of his Spirit.
Martin Luther says it well in those familiar words from his explanation of the third article of the Apostles' Creed in The Small Catechism when he says, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts and sanctified and kept me in the true faith." That we believe at all, that we can dare to think that we are the very sons and daughters of God and can claim a place among his holy people is not the result of anything we have done or accomplished. It is all because of what God has done for us in Christ and given to us through the Holy Spirit.
Now that is counter-cultural! There are no other organizations in this world that function like that. In those organizations, it is all about what we have done to deserve this. You have got to earn or pay for your place in the organization. In those organizations, it is always about hierarchies and pecking orders. In them, there are always those who are more welcome with more status, more prestige, and more honor. Not here. Not among us. Not in this place.
A good friend and pastoral mentor of mine once had some good advice for me on this matter of the church and the Holy Spirit. Once when I was complaining to him that the people in my congregation were becoming lazy and negligent and were not attending church in the numbers I thought they should, he gently put me in my place. He said words that I will never forget and have had to continually recall throughout my ministry every time I want to turn the church into a club where I am keeping score. He said, "Steve, remember that you have no right to expect anyone to ever walk through those doors on a Sunday morning. That anyone comes at all is a miracle of the Holy Spirit."
I found those words both humbling and comforting. I found those words humbling because they put me in my place. Church is not about me. It is not about the charisma of the preacher or the eloquence of my sermons or the beauty of the worship services or the politeness of its members. People come not because of the attractiveness of the church and its members but because of the attractiveness of Christ and his promise. They come because they have been moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. You may think that your being here today is the result of plans, decisions, and commitments that you may have made days ago. What really brought you here is the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who called, gathered, and enlightened you with the bright idea to come to church today. When that happens, it is Pentecost ... again.
I found his words comforting because whether people come to church or not is not dependent upon my ability to entice them. It's not up to me to push the right buttons, to say the right words, and to create the right appearance. It is not about me getting the credit when they come or the guilt when they don't. No, my job is simply to proclaim the good news of what God has done in Christ through the power of his Spirit, just like Peter and those first disciples did at the first Pentecost. When I do, God has promised that there will be Pentecost ... again. If and when people respond, it is the work of God's Spirit and not mine. That is good news. That is liberating. You and I are free to do our best and then with a clean conscience and a free spirit let the rest up to God. No arms are twisted. No threats are issued. No guilt is poured out. Instead, people freely respond. They come because they want to. They come because they "get to." When that happens, it is Pentecost ... again!
Paul uses a familiar image to describe what it means to experience Pentecost ... again. The church is like the human body. Christ is the head. We are the members and limbs of the body. We are the body parts. The body parts need to be connected to the head to function properly. The Holy Spirit connects us to Christ. I suppose that you might call the Holy Spirit "the neck." As a result, all the members of the body are essential and important if the body is to function properly. I know that we sometimes honor some parts of our body more than others. Some parts of our bodies so embarrass us that we keep them covered most of the time. Other parts we flaunt and display so much that you would think that a pretty face or muscular arms are all that matter. But in the church, all those parts are needed and important to the health of the body. We can't all be arms or legs or eyes.
Can you imagine what it would be like if we were all one big ear? Sometimes when I see the way people treat each other in the church, when the world has seeped most deeply into the DNA of the body of Christ, you would think that we would all need to become an ear or an eye or a leg. Imagine how absurd that would be. A body can't function that way. All body parts are valuable. That is how we treat one another in the body of Christ.
Paul calls these varied contributions from the various members of the body of Christ, "spiritual gifts." During the last decade there has been lots of talk in many Christian churches about "spiritual gifts." Sometimes I think people believe that their "spiritual gifts" are some deep, dark, hidden mystery lurking somewhere in our lives that we need to discover. I don't think it is all mysterious or hidden.
Consider that image of the body of Christ. If you were an ear or an eye, how could you best contribute to the "common good" of the body? If you were an ear, you could hear. If you were an eye, you could see. That is the "gift" of being an ear or an eye. You wouldn't expect an ear to see or an eye to hear. Likewise, each of us has been given various gifts from God. Each of us in our own particular way has been gifted with time, talent, and treasure. When we use our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to promote the good news of Jesus Christ to build up others in the faith and to serve our neighbors in the name of Christ, these ordinary gifts become our "spiritual gifts." They become vehicles for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms an ability to sing or manage time or make money into something that serves the common good of our congregation or the common good of our neighbors. Then what we may have only considered ordinary and transitory becomes a "spiritual gift."
When you offer your time and talent to this congregation, to sing in the choir, to teach Sunday school, to fix a broken fixture in the building, to make a meal for a family in crisis, you are serving the mission of this church and helping to connect people to the power of the Holy Spirit. In such a way you are exercising your "spiritual gifts." Likewise, when you leave this place today and exit through those doors, you are entering the mission field. In your daily callings, whether it is in the home, in the community, or in the workplace, you have many opportunities to use your time, talent, and treasure to serve your neighbor, promote the common good of our world, and make Christ known. In that process, your time, talent, and treasure are no longer just assets that you can use to promote yourself and get ahead. No, now they have become your "spiritual gifts," your gift to the church and the world. When you do that, it is Pentecost ... again!
When water is poured on a forehead at the baptismal font "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," that person is not just washed with water. He is connected to the head, Christ. He becomes a member of the body of Christ, the church. Even though that baptismal candidate might be so young and so completely dependent upon the care of others, able only to soil her diapers, suckle at her mother's breast, and make unintelligible sounds, she is still a valuable body part. She is a valuable member of the body of Christ. When the waters are poured and God's name is spoken, it is Pentecost ... again!
That first Pentecost may seem distant and remote, but Pentecost is here ... again. Can't you hear the wind blowing and its power in our midst? Can't you sense the fire burning, that burning zeal in our hearts to carry Christ and his love to the world? Can't you hear the voices in so many different languages? Our world speaks a multitude of languages, not only languages like English, German, or Chinese, but also the language of different cultures, different values, and different points of view. As you go from this place out into the world and translate the love of Christ into a myriad of different cultures, worldviews, values, and perspectives, you are just like those disciples who spoke in so many different languages on that first Pentecost.
Do you see the multitude of "reds" that adorn the sanctuary today? Yes, red is the color of Pentecost. Red is the color of Pentecost because it reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit that appeared in tongues of fire dancing on the heads of the disciples on that first day of Pentecost fifty days after Easter. That color reminds us that today, here in this place, it is Pentecost ... again!
Let us go forth from this place and do what those first disciples did. Let us set the world on fire! Let us be "holy arsonists"! Let us make it be Pentecost ... again! Amen.
