Are You a Willing Recipient?

John 14:15-17, 25-26

Acts 2:1-4,12-21, 29-41

The word “Pentecost” is literally translated, “fiftieth day.” It was originally a Jewish holy day celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Sabbath of the Passover week. It was one of the three major annual feasts of Israel, the other two being Passover and the Feast of Booths. This is an important detail as we imagine the size and diversity of the crowds of people who were in Jerusalem for the celebration.  If we had read all of the Acts 2 we would see that there were people from  Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, Rome, Crete and those from the Arabian Peninsula.  This being a major festival brought Jews from all around.

Being from a small rural village, the first time I visited Niagara Falls, Toronto and New York I was taken back with the diversity of the people all around me. This is where I formulate my image of what it must have been like in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost.

With that image, let us take ourselves to the upper room where the disciples have been hiding out and keeping safe.  I have no idea how large of a house this must have been but they are all gathered there.  This has been their safe haven.  Except for trips out to go fishing or gather food they have been together in this house for 50 days.

Let’s take a second now and consider something.  If we, as Christians, were being persecuted, decided we needed to hide out together for our safety and chose to stay here in this church until it was safe to come out, wouldn’t we be getting a little Claustrophobic?  Tensions might be getting strained and the air might be getting a little thick.

This is the situation the disciples are in.  In Acts 1, we read that they had instructions to stay and wait,

“Jesus replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”  So they have waited as they were told.

Suddenly in the midst of this day of celebration a mighty wind blows through the house.  This is not your typical fresh breath of air but it is powerful and thunderous.  The Greek word used here is pneúma which means Spirit, wind, or breath.  The pneuma that blows through the house where they are staying is the breath of God sending the Holy Spirit upon them.  Let’s stop for a moment and remember what the breath of God can do.  At creation God created all things through his word and when he created Adam he did what… In Genesis 2:7 it tells us,

“the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being In other words, God breathed into him His own Spirit.”

On this day of Pentecost God breathed new life upon the disciples and through the power of the Holy Spirit the disciples were empowered to speak the message to the many people in Jerusalem – each in their own language.

Let us again imagine, a group of us take a trip to New York City on New Year’s Eve.  Yea, we are in the midst of the thousands, maybe even millions who gather there to ring in the New Year. I know it isn’t exactly the place I want to be either but bear with me please…stay with me in this image.  As the clock strikes midnight a mighty wind blows through the crowd and we each are blessed with the gift of sharing the Gospel message in languages that they all can hear and understand!

Okay so now I’ve lost a bunch of you, if not all of you.  You wouldn’t choose to be there would you?!  Well, I’m not sure that if the disciples had known what was going to happen if they would have been available in Jerusalem that day.

BUT because they did as Jesus told them to do, they were there and because the Spirit gave them what they needed, the visitors from all around heard the Good News of Jesus Christ each in their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans . . . ?”  Isn’t it interesting that in the midst of hearing the best news – the news of salvation and everlasting life – they are more concerned with who it is speaking.  There is no explanation except that it happened just as Jesus had promised.  The Spirit had come upon them and they were witnessing in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  It was a God-thing.. …unexplainable yet powerful enough to change the hearts of many.  You can’t deny a God-thing because the change it makes is unattainable by humans alone.

In his sermon on Pentecost, the preacher, King Duncan, refers to the poet W. H. Auden who once suggested that we reread the second chapter of Acts. The miracle of Pentecost was not only the gift of tongues, says Auden, “but was it not equally,” he asks, “the gift of ears?”

The miraculous event at Pentecost is always centered on the tongues that came upon the disciples so they could preach in every language but the other side of that is that the ears of those there were open to hear as well.  How do we know?  Because scripture tells us that about 3000 people were saved that day.

Let’s go back to that image of us in New York City.  If we knew for sure that the ears of those who are there were open to hear and respond to the message of Jesus Christ, would it be more appealing for us to be there?

I know that there are many people in the world who haven’t accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and it breaks my heart.  There are many  who have closed their ears to ever hearing the Word of God but what if the Spirit not only gave us the gift to speak the Word but also opened the ears of those who will hear.

I have to say this is my prayer each week.  I pray each Sunday that the Spirit will be with me as I bring the message and I pray that all who hear it will have open ears to accept it.

Are our hearts, eyes and ears open today?  The Holy Spirit is still active today.  We have been singing songs about the Spirit all morning.  In the words of these songs we have called the Spirit into our presence and welcomed Him.  Have meant it?  At Pentecost the Holy Spirit breathed new life into the Disciples and gave them all they needed to go about sharing the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

Are we open to the new life the Spirit brings?  If we open ourselves to the power of the Spirit we will be lifted up and empowered for the task before us.

 

Prayer:

Holy Spirit you came like a breath of fresh air and settled upon your disciples who had be held captive by fear as they sat stagnant in the safe upper room.  Your Spirit set them free and filled them with a fire that ignited a flame that could not be put out.  This fire enabled them to share the Gospel story with power and grace.  Lord, we pray that you might breathe on us today and ignite within us a fire that might fill us with Your Holy power, so that we may also share Your message and, in doing so, warm the hearts of those in our cold world, who do not know the warmth of Your love and freedom you offer.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.