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Pentecost Snapshots

TEXT: ACTS 2:1-21, JOHN 20: 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE - TRYING TO RE-CREATE PENTECOST
Many of you know that I participate in an on-line study group with clergy all over the world. We share our thoughts about the scripture for the coming Sunday and inspire each other with ideas for sermons. This week the list was filled with suggestions for how to make the Pentecost story come alive.

I preach on this every year and you heard the story sung in the hymn. You know the themes-a mighty wind, flames of fire, people speaking in multiple languages. In our understated way, we try to capture some of the festivity-we wear red, we've got a banner, red candles and flowers, balloons. My on-line colleagues are really into it. They're talking about red and yellow crepe paper streamers whirling from the ceiling fans, about throwing red confetti off the balcony, releasing 100s of balloons. One warned us about the balloon/ceiling fan combo. Nobody thought about how they might interact; as the balloons floated upward, they were bashed around by the fan blades, some popping, others caroming off the chandeliers. Hilarity ensued until someone thought to turn off the fans.

We'd also have a real Pentecost experience if we released balloons. Do you see that red light in the corner? That's our alarm system that sends an infrared beam across the ceiling. If that beam is broken by smoke, the fire alarms will go off and the ladder trucks would be here in a minute. A wayward balloon could also do the trick. So Chris Emery attached these balloons v-e-e-rry carefully.

The Pentecost story in Acts is all about an experience of what the Victor Turner, the philosopher of religion, would call "communitas." A moment of communal fervor in which people are caught up in a feeling of joy and ecstasy. You know, sort of like what we experience every week here. ... No? .. Well then, like Boston sports fans were experiencing most of this year.

Anyhow, this is one of the most beloved of our faith stories about the kick-start of the early church when, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the first disciples-about 120 of them-were gathered in Jerusalem for a Jewish festival. They were using the occasion of that conference to discern what would happen next now that Jesus was no longer with them. Here's a brief summary of the story:
 
PENTECOST ACCORDING TO ACTS 2:1-21 ~ ACTION-PACKED AND PUBLIC
2 ..... suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.

Peter uses this attention-getting phenomenon to preach a rousing sermon which results in a mass conversion that would put Billy Graham to shame.

41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The book of Acts is written by Luke who is the most imaginative storyteller among the Gospel writers. He's the one who populates the heavens with angels when Jesus was born. Scholars believe that Luke has taken the first decades of the Christian movement's explosive growth and blended them together into this dramatic story. The growth was real, the preaching was persuasive, the disciples were on fire with spiritual fervor, the Gospel did get proclaimed through all of the known world in many different languages-it probably just didn't happen in one day. But Luke's story is all about action.

There's another text for Pentecost found in the Gospel of John. The theme is the same: the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. But the context is poles apart. Only the remaining 11 disciples are there and they are huddled together in a locked room after Jesus' crucifixion, fearful lest they be the next ones to be seized, questioned, and perhaps condemned to die as horribly as he did. Suddenly he appears.

PENTECOST ACCORDING TO JOHN 20:19 ~ QUIET AND INTIMATE
... Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."


JOHN, THE GOSPEL OF THE INNER LIFE
John is a more contemplative Gospel. He is concerned with the transformation of the heart. This is not to say action does not follow-it is not about navel-gazing . But John's focus is the inner person.

I love how unlike the Gospels are from one another. There is no single Christian experience that is definitive. Although they are different, both of these stories are about overcoming fear by the divine spirit which inhabits us. In both, the Spirit becomes part of the disciples and motivates them.

OUR OWN PENTECOST
I actually think the Acts story can get in our way as we ponder the meaning of the Holy Spirit. Imagining the Spirit as tongues of flame, rushing wind, pentecostal drama makes it just a little bit too special and extraordinary. Notice how in the John story, the emphasis is on peace. Twice Jesus repeats "Peace be with you."

Jesus connects the spirit breath with inner peace. "I do not give peace as the world gives," he says. "Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." That could be as revolutionary as any Pentecost miracle. What if we were so filled with the Spirit of peace that we didn't need external security to ground us? We could use a little of that in these anxious times.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS EVERYWHERE!
In John's story, there is intimacy and calmness. The Spirit of God is as close as the breath of Jesus. That's a helpful way to comprehend it. God/Spirit is always here, as present as the air in this room, in our own breath, known in the comradeship and love that flows among us. David Craig has written a short poem that goes like this.
What is this Holy Spirit?
And what is it doing in the eggplant?

The point is that God the Spirit, is everywhere-active in the most mundane experiences of life. We're floating in a sea of grace, held by love, made strong by God's power. Jesus trusted us to receive this gift and to run with it-live it, trust it. Just as the disciples in Acts tumbled out of that room to live the good news, so are we commissioned as Jesus breathes his spirit into us. His words are perfect for a Sunday in which we receive new members and baptize a child into the faith. "As the father has sent me, so am I sending you."