We read this scripture from the second chapter of Acts every year on Pentecost, and every year I think, “How weird is that?” Most of the Book of Acts offers us a reasonable glimpse into the life of the first century church, but this story, with its gusting wind and tongues of fire is just a bit too off the wall for my comfort. Still, it’s what the lectionary puts before us, so we will deal.
At the moment our story begins, the disciples were quite naturally still frightened and insecure. The back-to-back events of the crucifixion and resurrection had been enough to rattle even the strongest among them. When Jesus left a second time, promising to send an “advocate” they must have been thoroughly dismayed. What would this advocate be? When or where it might appear? How were they to go about healing and speaking of the Kingdom of God without a few more instructions, and worse, without a leader?
So the Feast of Pentecost found them gathered, sticking together, but hiding safely behind closed doors. Then, into that safe place came a mighty wind – and fire. I imagine that such an extraordinary event had them all diving for the corners, hiding behind the furniture, terrified.
But that is not the way the story has been told to us.
What the story says is that these previously nervous, uncertain disciples left their safe cocoon and emerged into the public square, where crowds of tourists, people from every land, heard them speaking – proclaiming, not babbling, in languages that various people could understand. They were, according to the story, “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Their performance was amazing and everyone was astonished. While the word doesn’t appear in the text, it’s not hard to imagine that at this point, it is not the disciples, but the crowd that is feeling fear.
And of course, they did what we all do when we’re afraid: they tried to understand. They searched for a rational, logical explanation. They needed to put limits on this phenomenon, to get it under control. Some began to dismiss it altogether as the bizarre antics of a bunch of drunks – drunk at 9 in the morning no less!
In the midst of this confusion, we read that Peter raises his voice to offer an explanation. He begins by quoting scripture, from the writings of the prophet Joel. What’s interesting is that, as he speaks, he does not quote directly, but rather makes subtle changes in the ancient text. Joel’s words begin: “After these things…” Peter begins by saying “In the last days…” Peter believes he is announcing a concluding, culminating era in human history. Peter is clear that nothing will ever be the same again. The times have radically changed. There is a new normal, a new creation; a new world order has begun.
Then, Peter inserts the word “my” before the word “slaves.” When Joel was speaking, centuries before, he referred to “slaves” as a specific socio-economic class. Peter broadens the definition. God is speaking. These are God’s slaves, God’s people.
Finally, Peter adds a bit to Joel’s speech. He adds the phrase “and they shall prophesy.” Peter wants everyone to understand WHY God’s Spirit is poured out. The Spirit comes so God’s people will prophesy. The content of their speech is nothing more or less than God’s ancient promise of salvation. Life will not be perfect, nor will there be peace in worldly terms, but those who believe in God will know the gift of healing and eternal life.
That’s it. That weird little tale is the story of Pentecost. This story is the ecclesiastical equivalent of the answer to the perennial childhood question: “Mommy, can you tell me about the day I was born?” This is the story of the birth day of the church. Like most birthday stories, it tells us important things about who we are, where we came from, and what is available to us as we continue our life’s journey.
The church has emerged from that first Spirit-filled group of believers. They are our ancestors. They were absolutely an ordinary bunch of folk, but they shared one extraordinary experience. They had followed Jesus. They believed Jesus. They believed IN Jesus. They believed so much that they had continued to stick together through all the chaos, doing what he told them, being with one another, waiting, and praying, praying, praying, for the coming of the Kingdom of God.
So first and foremost, we learn from this story that we are community. We are many, but we are never alone. We are individuals, but we are members of one Body. We are entrusted with the precious gift of God’s Word, but it is not given to any one of us. It is given to us all.
And that Word is not just for us, not just for this Body. Remember the disciples were carefully hidden, away from the crowds, away from the rough and tumble of the city streets and the wind and fire of God sought them, and literally blew them out of hiding, filling their minds and mouths with the message before they themselves knew what had happened. It was only after they spoke that they were understood, and also able to understand.
This, we read, was the work of the Spirit. From today’s reading, it is tempting to cast Peter in role of the new leader. Can’t you just see the disciples lined up behind him, nodding their heads in affirmation. “That’s it! You got it! Preach it brother! You tell ‘em Peter!” But Peter uses the power of the Spirit and the witness of scripture to both interpret the present moment, and also to interpret the community being created there. Men and women, young and old, the work of the Spirit must be done by all who believe. This story we have heard today is only one of many in the Book of Acts, stories of how the Holy Spirit encounters and mobilizes those who would follow Jesus. Over and over again, it is clear that many gifts are given, and many gifts are needed. No one has all the answers. No one has everything they need to get the job done. From this Pentecost moment, the fledgling church has bumbled along across the centuries, living into God’s future, sometimes getting it right, and sometimes getting it grievously wrong. Always the Spirit provides inspiration, but never does the Spirit offer certainty.
What Peter makes clear is that the work the church must do is to prophesy. Unfortunately, for us, the word has lots of baggage. One thinks immediately of Nostradamus, and Jeanne Dixon, and countless others who have sought to predict the future. But that is not it. Prophecy is not about tomorrow. It is about today.
To prophesy is to bring God’s word of truth. Prophecy is naming the ways and the places that God is acting in the world. To prophesy is to point to the immediate and living presence of the Kingdom of God.
Prophecy is the answer to Philip’s request: “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus answered him, “Look at me, but look at more than me. Look at all those who believe, all who love God, and love each other. The rest of the world may not see, but you have been given eyes to see and ears to hear. Now you are also given my gift of the empowering Spirit, the Spirit of truth. With this gift, you will also be able to speak what you see and hear.”
It is, I think, not just coincidence that this Day of Pentecost, this birthday of the church, is happening right in the midst of our own Holy Trinity birthday party. For these two weeks we have been celebrating 100 years of being church, here in this community. During these two weeks, we have assembled an amazing outpouring of the Spirit. Gusts of wind and flashes of fire are before us in music, sculpture, painting, in writing, in speech. Our own history, laid out so wonderfully in Tim’s sermon last Sunday is the glorious story of how the Spirit does not invite us in, but rather sends us out. Each time Holy Trinity has hunkered down on a small corner in Greensboro, the Spirit blew through. Sometimes people moved. Sometimes buildings moved. But always there has been prophecy. Always there has been the word of Truth; the word proclaimed to the City of Greensboro that God is a God of love. That God’s Kingdom can, will, and does come here, there and everywhere, and that this community of faith is committed to working in and for that kingdom in this place, and throughout all the time God provides.
Today in particular we celebrate THIS moment, for God is always with us in the most powerfully in the present. We can see God’s hand in the past, we believe in God’s truth for future, but our most vivid experience of God is always NOW.
We are a glorious conglomeration of blessings. Consider just the moment of this morning worship service. Even before there were ushers to welcome you at the door, even before then, there were people to plan, create, and assemble the things we need so our worship will be the very best offering we can make. Someone planed this service, made a bulletin, washed and ironed linen, polished silver, chose and practiced music, agreed to read, to carry a cross, or a candle. Someone ordered and prepared bread and wine; someone provided the flowers, someone vacuumed the rug and dusted the windowsills.
But even before that, there were people willing to plan and execute the financial realities of our life together. There are people who do budgets, run pledge campaigns, and design and execute programs that nurture our faith. Holy Trinity is a complex institution, requiring the exercise of all kinds and sorts of gifts just to get from one week to the next.
And because our life together is more than Sunday morning worship, God leads others to help with all the rest of it: the weddings, the funerals, the parties, the dinners, the book clubs, the women’s groups, the men’s groups, the youth groups, and even the nursery. Where and when have you seen the glow of the Holy Spirit touch your life? Was it the day when, deep in grief, you opened the mail and found a loving note from someone at Holy Trinity, someone you didn’t even know? When their words of concern and compassion reached your heart, did you feel the warmth of the Spirit’s fire? Did you know the Spirit was alive and well the day you and your children carefully carried a bouquet of altar flowers to a stranger’s doorstep and said, “Hi, we’re from Holy Trinity and these are for you?” Did you feel the power of the Spirit’s presence when you sat and prayed for a long list of people you mostly did not know, but you loved them anyway? Did you feel the Holy Spirit at Glory Ridge, or listening to the choir, or at the communion rail?
In recent weeks, Rose Hood and Jane Cooke undertook the work of identifying exactly how many and who among us are in this present moment working in and for this portion of the Body of Christ known as Holy Trinity. So, as the fellow says on NPR, let’s do the numbers. Rose and Jane looked at all the various “bodies within the Body.” They counted commissions, committees, circles, groups – whatever it’s called it got included. In the end there is a list of 522 individuals who at this precise moment in time are actively involved in ministry in this particular corner of God’s kingdom. 147 of those folks show up in more than one category. They range in age from just under 5 years to somewhere over 90. Thirteen of them are 80 years or older.
We have something over 2000 on our rolls. There are more than 675 pledging units – a unit being anything from one person to a large family. If you put it all together, you realize that more than one quarter of the people on our rolls are actively engaged in the ministry of the place. That’s HUGE!
The numbers are only an indicator of a greater and more mysterious truth. There is something very wonderful and very holy going on here. There is a Spirit in this place, a Holy Spirit encouraging us, enlivening us, and yes, even willing to baptize us with wind and fire. This Spirit would teach and remind us. This Spirit calls us to what Walter Bruggemann names a “stunning vocation.” We are called and we are being nothing more or less than the Body of Christ in this world on THIS day. “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Like Peter and the disciples on that day so long ago, simply open your hearts and BE.