My question today is: “What does Pentecost mean to you?”
When we read the Old Testament, we discover that Pentecost was one of the Jewish festival days. The Jews called it the Feast of Harvest and it came on the 50th day (or 7 weeks) after the Feast of Firstfruits. The name “Pentecost” came later and is the Greek name, meaning 50th. Today, we’ll look at the time just after the death and resurrection of Jesus, when the Apostles were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of the Harvest, and the Holy Spirit descended on them. Please read the following: Acts 2:1-21 - The Coming of the Holy Spirit Imagine how you’d feel if you were attending a modern-day, multi-cultural meeting, where a group of uneducated people, who weren’t from your city, started speaking knowledgably and logically about God – and in languages that all people who heard them, could understand in their native tongue? All this after hearing a mighty rushing wind and seeing tongues of fire descend and land on each of their heads. There would have been about 120 believers with them at that time, so it must have been quite a sight. I don’t know about you, but I think it would have freaked me out if I was there. The day of Pentecost is often seen as the “day the church began”. It’s the first occurrence of baptism by the Holy Spirit and, therefore, points us to the inauguration of the Christian church. We join the story at a point where the disciples now seem to have re-found their courage and are speaking out boldly. Only 7 weeks earlier, at Easter, they’d scattered and hid for fear of their lives. Even after Jesus had re-appeared to them a number of times, after his resurrection, they were still reluctant to speak in public. It must have been a very confusing time for them. On the one hand, they were sad because their master and teacher had been killed and taken away from them, so that part of their life, which must have been a great experience and adventure for them, was now over. On the other hand, they were about to embark on a thrilling new task for God - taking the gospel to the rest of the world. I guess it could be likened to taking a child to school for the first time. Excitement is tinged with sadness. One part of their life is over (i.e. growing up at home, with day to day bonding between parent & child), but a whole new world of education and new friendships, is opening up before them. They may not fully understand it, but they know that something good, new and exciting, is about to happen. Likewise, it can be a time of big change for the parent, a tinge of loneliness and having to “let go”, mixed with the excitement of knowing that they are preparing their child for the time when they will leave home and commence a new life – one where they have to look after themselves. Compare that to the disciples being with Jesus for 3 years and then experiencing his death & resurrection and the 40 days of teaching and learning, before his ascension. Now they seem to be on their own, but (as promised) Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. It was only after baptism by the Holy Spirit, that they had the courage to speak out in front of their peers. The report that “3,000 were added to their number” indicates that they must have been impressive when they spoke and obviously made sense to those who heard them (and it was even in their own languages). Wow! That must have been a mighty sight to witness. And then Peter addressed the crowd. For the first time, he preached publicly about Jesus, the Son of God. This is the same Peter who was so scared that he had denied even knowing Jesus only 7 weeks earlier. What was different? It was obviously the Holy Spirit that gave him the ability to speak so eloquently and boldly. He started off explaining to the crowd what had just happened, and he defended the other 11 disciples against accusations of drunkenness that were being made by the crowd. He pointed out that it was only 9am and they couldn’t possibly have had too much wine. On a festival day, such as this, they wouldn’t have broken their fast before 10am. Instead, he postulated that what the people were witnessing was a fulfilling of the words of prophesy, spoken by the prophet Joel, when he said that, in the last days, God would pour out his spirit on all people and that miraculous things would happen. The message of Joel can be summarized in three simple statements: (1)Calamities are God’s warning of judgment to come (2)Heed these warnings and return to God with all your heart (3)When you return to God, God’s fullest blessings will be poured out on you and on all people. Joel talked to the people of Judah, some 860 years before Peter quoted him. Peter’s message was the same: You may have done nasty things to God’s son, Jesus, but God is still willing to forgive you and bless you, if you accept his message and are baptised. Peter told the crowd about how Jesus had brought the gift of the Holy Spirit to them and that they could receive it, too - if they repented of their sins. Surely this should be the basis of every evangelist’s message today. As long the early disciples sat and meditated and prayed behind locked doors, they remained defeated and downcast. When they ventured out to share the Gospel, the Good News, they found the gift of the Spirit of God in life-changing ways. Is it an exciting thing we can participate in? Certainly. Are we given a peace within? Absolutely - even if all around is turmoil. Can every Christian receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Definitely – if we follow Jesus in his mission. Can we predict where the wind of the spirit will blow us? No way. So, what CAN we do and how CAN we be as brave as the disciples, when we’re talking to friends and acquaintances in the coming weeks? Well, I certainly don’t find that an easy thing to do and I guess most of you don’t either, but these words from Acts give us hope that God can use even people like us to do his work in the world today. We can be reassured that the Holy Spirit will make our words understandable to those we talk with, just as he did those thousands of years ago. If we plant the seed, God will ensure that it grows and bears much fruit. Therefore, don’t be shy about talking to those who may not already have God in their heart, give it a go and the Kingdom will surely grow. We know that from a little mustard seed, a great tree will blossom. So be out there and be brave, because the Spirit is with you. We go into this week in the peace of Christ, the love of God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Please now read the other 3 Lectionary readings set down for this week. Psalm 104:24-34, 35b - Praise the Lord, O my Soul John 20:19-23 - Jesus Appears to His Disciples 1 Cor 12:3b-13 - Spiritual Gifts Stay well………….Pastor Rick
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