These people are not drunk as you think—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning!” (Acts 2: 15). As I said last week, Acts has some of my favorite unintentionally comedic lines! I don’t know about you, but in my experience being around people who are drunk, it’s not very common that they fluently start speaking another language which they didn’t previously know. In fact, they usually have a difficult time even speaking the languages they do know. Yet, it makes sense that the people witnessing the events of Pentecost would be confused and scared about what is happening around them, and our brains will try to make sense of the unexplainable around us in all sorts of ways. This includes today when the people make accusations about drinking too much wine. It’s how their brains can make sense of this unbelievable experience that they have having.
When it comes to shattering all expectations of God and God’s role in the world, I have to admit that I love the way Pentecost handles it. While Christmas is nice with Jesus born as a little baby and the surprise of the empty tomb at Easter is wonderful too, there is something incredible about the way that the Spirit shows up today with the power of a “violent rushing wind and “like tongues of fire” (Acts 2: 2-3). This is not something that any of the witnesses are going to forget!
There are also so many important details in this story that show the ways in which God through the Holy Spirit is making a definitive claim about how God is for all people. Those witnessing didn’t just suddenly all understand Aramaic, but instead they heard the Good News being proclaimed in their own languages. People from all over were hearing the words of God. It is an ordaining of the diversity of faith and culture, instead of forcing everyone to be exactly like the Israelites. It was a visible sign of how the Good News can be for all those who are hearing it.
Who here has been to a worship service in a different language? (Pause) I want you to think about that experience or what it might be like if you haven’t experienced it yet. (Pause). I’ve been to worship in Japanese, Latin, Greek, and Arabic and it was both unlike anything I had ever experienced and also so incredibly familiar because I could still feel the pattern of what was happening without being able to understand all of the words. I couldn’t tell you what any of the sermons were about though, except maybe the Arabic service we went to in Bethlehem because the pastor gave us short summary in English!
At the same time, it makes a big difference in how we understand God and how we are able to relate to God if we hear the message in our own language. When we don’t have to focus on translating, but instead get to soak it all in. It’s why Martin Luther and the other reformers really pushed for a German translation of the Bible because the people sitting in Mass wouldn’t have known Latin. And, when you understand what is being taught and said, it also helps to build trust with God. If I were to start leading the service in Spanish or French, unfortunately I’m not fluent enough at either of those to be able to do that…yet, your experience with worship would be different. Just as if I used only the Hebrew or Greek version of the Bible and didn’t do any of the readings in English, you would have to just trust what I am saying and how I am interpreting it. Maybe some of you would take the time to look up the translations later or start teaching yourself the Biblical languages, but there is so much more room for involvement when worship and preaching happen in our own language.
And, I also love that in our reading today the Spirit is equipping everyone there to go out and spread the Good News. While that isn’t explicitly said within the text, by the people hearing the message in their own language, they are more freed to be able to share that message with others. They can hear how it sounds in their language and get a sense of how they might be able to share that with others too. It’s no longer for a select few that hear and understand, but it equips the whole community to be able to do so.
I especially love how the reading shatters expectations about who is able to be a witness to the Gospel and to share its news. When Acts brings in the reading from Joel, it pronounces that the Spirit will come upon everyone; the young and the old, the people of different gender and social status (Acts 2: 17-18). It’s not that the Spirit wasn’t active in the world before, but our previous understanding of the Spirit had it only going to people like the prophets. This is breaking the precedent to say that it doesn’t matter who you are, you are worthy of receiving the Spirit. This is a powerful statement!
And, it is a promise. Jesus promises in the Gospel that the Paraclete, translated as helper or advocate, will come to dwell with the people when he cannot be with them. It is a promise of comfort, but also a commitment on God’s behalf to continue to be faithful and trustworthy. A promise that in the midst of all these changes and figuring out what to do once Jesus ascends that the people will not be left alone, but that they will continue to receive guidance and wisdom from God. That God loves humanity enough to still not leave them alone, but will be with them as they continue to explore what it means for God to show up in the world in this new way.
So, I love Pentecost, not just because I feel like we don’t talk about the Spirit enough at other times in church, but because of the way that Spirit comes roaring in and shaking up the world while also delivering a promise of comfort and presence. It’s why it bothers me that the Spirit is so often only described as gentle or calm because while the Spirit can be those things, need I remind us of the way the Spirit blew through the beginning of our Acts story!
Pentecost is a story about the Holy Spirit and in some ways about the beginning of the church. Pentecost is about this new way that God is going to be present in the world and what that means for the people. Pentecost is a promise that the Good News is for all people and that they do not have to lose who they are in order to be a part of the kindom, but in fact the kindom is enriched when people bring their whole selves. Pentecost is this remarkable story of how God showed up in this new way that was so unbelievable that the people could only assume that those speaking had consumed too much wine. Pentecost, is a reminder that God continues to shake up the world and guide us when we get too caught up in our own ideas. And, Pentecost is just the beginning of the story!
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Sunday May 12th, 2024 Worship