Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday. It is a vibrant and colorful day in the life in of the Church, and in many local congregations. It is also just a fun Sunday to preach on the events recorded in Acts 2, which is what I do every year. The thing about preaching the exact same text for 13 years, however, is the fear that at some point I will just start staying the exact same thing.
Thankfully, that hasn't happened (very much) yet. As I was reading Acts 2:1-21 this year there were a few things that really stuck out to me.
First, was the image of the disciples "all togehter in one place" (2:1). I had never really thought much about that until last year, when we were not all together in one place for Pentecost worship. We were isolated, quarantined, even perhaps fearful. Many people felt alone and disconnected. Thankfully this year we were (mostly) together in one place again. And that was a powerful feeling for me, and I hope for you as well if you were able to be gathered together with others for worship. I also pray that we do not take these times of togetherness for granted. God is always moving in and among us, but I truly believe that there are some pretty amazing things that we realize and recognize that God is doing when we are "all together in one place".
Another point that really hit me this year was that after all of these people who were in Jerusalem heard the commotion and went to check it out, they said, "we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own languages (2:11). This is as much of a miracle of Pentecost as the arrival of the Spirit in an exciting and disruptive new way.
We hear them!
Over the past few years, I have been more keenly aware of how little we hear other people. Especially people that are different. And there were so many different people in Jerusalem during this story in Acts 2. They are all together in the city because it's Pentecost, a Jewish festival to celebrate the giving of the law to Moses, celebrated 50 days after Passover. Different people, from different lands (just check out the listing in verses 9-11!), different languages, different dress. But one thing in common.
(Side note: Apparently I often, OK, well, weekly, make some sort of song reference in my sermons. When I was preaching this Sunday I was talking about the different people but with one thing in common. After the service a church member told me I missed a great musical reference there, even with all these different people they had "one thing in common, the fire down below". So, here's a little Bob Seger to boost your day: The Fire Down Below. Thanks Chuck!)
The one thing in common was that they were all followers of the One, True God. And that one thing in common was more than any difference. I think the same is true today, which is why Peter emphatically states, "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (2:21)
I wonder, what wonders of God that we could proclaim today so that others could say, "Yeah, I hear you!"?
How could we speak in such a way that others could understand?
I don't have all the answers to that, but I believe that is begins with declaring the wonders of God we have seen in our own lives, and doing that in love for others and praise for the Lord. I believe it begins with being flled with the Spirit ourselves, and as the old hymn says, seeing "sweet expressions on each face. And I know you feel the presence of the Lord." And I believe that it begins, as all things should, in love. I believe that this is not forcing others to understand what we are saying in our language, but speaking in such a way that others are able to hear it in thier own language, right where they are.
May we speak today of the wonders of God in a way that others may hear.
And may we all have that fire burning down below 🔥
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