Presence, Prayer, and the Power to Proclaim
Acts 2:1-21
1When
the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And
suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent
wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided
tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each
of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5Now there were devout Jews from every nation
under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at
this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one
heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed
and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our
own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans
and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s
deeds of power.” 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one
another, “What does this mean?” 13But
others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his
voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in
Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed,
these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in
the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet
Joel: 17‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams. 18Even
upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my
Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19And I
will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20The
sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the
coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21Then
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Acts
2:1-21
It happened like this: After Jesus was crucified, the
remaining eleven disciples and some unknown number of followers found
their way back to the room where they had celebrated one last meal
with Jesus. Doors locked
and windows closed, they huddled together for fear of the authorities. They were afraid that those who
had called for Jesus’ crucifixion would come looking for his
followers. Then on Easter
Jesus appeared to them. For
the next forty days, he spoke to them about the Kingdom of God. Then shortly before Jesus
left them again, he gave them a simple instruction: Stay in Jerusalem and wait for
what God had promised. They
asked him if this meant that the day that kingdom would be restored to
Israel was at hand—the day of the Lord in which all the broken
things would be made whole, the poor would hear good news, the blind
would see, and the captive would be set free. Then Jesus said,
“That’s not for you to know. But
I can tell you this much. When I leave, you will be given
power—power so that you may be my witnesses not only here in
Jerusalem but in Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the world. And then as they watched, Jesus
ascended to heaven.
So they remained in that room and they waited. For 10 days they waited.
But in the meantime, they took care of a few
pieces of business. They returned to Jerusalem—as Jesus had
commanded. They gathered
back in that upper room with other disciples and they prayed. They selected another follower
to fill Judas’ empty slot on the board of disciples. And they waited.
Then after 10 days, the promise was finally
fulfilled. On
the day of Pentecost, the day in which faithful Jews celebrated the
giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave them something
new—the Holy Spirit.
While the Holy Spirit plays a large role in the
Hebrew Scriptures, but the Spirit seems to sweep down, give someone
(usually a man) the power to prophecy or to slay a lion, then leaves
the person as quickly as it came.
But on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit sweeps down and empowers
everyone! Everyone—young and old, male and female, rich and poor,
all nationalities. Granted
on that first Pentecost, only Jews received the Spirit but in just 8
chapters that would change too and the power that comes from the Holy
Spirit would be granted to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Best of all, this time the Spirit came to stay,
to dwell in us, and to speak in and through us. As a result, the world
would never be the same! This
is how this ragtag group of fishermen, tax collectors, zealots,
prostitutes and lepers became the church. This is how 120 followers in
an upper room became 3120 on the streets by the end of the day. This is how a small reformation
of Judaism became the worldwide church we know today. This transformation from a
group of scared followers to bold disciples is what we have gather to
celebrate today!
So as we gather today to celebrate the birthday
of the church and to celebrate three young people making a commitment
to Christ and to Christ’s church, I want to focus on three things we
can learn about what it means to be the church from this passage: presence, prayer, and the power
to proclaim.
Have you ever thought about what a roller
coaster ride Jesus’ disciples had been on? One day they had 5000 men
plus who knows how many women and children attending their services. On Palm Sunday, they had been
welcomed into Jerusalem like a victorious army attending the new king. Then on Good Friday, it seemed
like everyone had turned away. Now they were down to a mere 120 folks! Surely, they must have wondered
if there were enough of them to make a difference. They must have seen the faces
of those who had left their ranks and wondered where they were and why
they weren’t with them. They
must have felt that they were somehow lacking.
Yet, they continued to gather together. They continued to pray. And they continued to wait for
whatever God had planned. They
gathered together. They were present for God and for each other. And, in the end, 120 was just
enough to begin with!
I’ve been thinking about those 120 followers
of Christ a lot this week. I think it is because we are currently
averaging around 129 in worship each week. And I can’t help but wonder
what would happen if we opened ourselves up to the Spirit of God like
they did. Is it possible
that we could become so Spirit-filled here today, that people would
gather outside the church to see what was going on in here? What would happen if we were
truly present—not just sitting in the pews—but truly focused on
God and God’s word for us and for this community? Would we leave so changed that
our community would be changed also?
That’s what happened on that first Pentecost. Could it happen here today?
Or is it possible that we don’t truly believe? Maybe we are secretly afraid
that if we let God’s Spirit truly grab hold of us that things will
have to change? We’ll
have to live differently. We’ll
have to quit gossiping, quit getting drunk or high, quit treating sex
like a sport, quit wasting time and get busy doing God’s work! If we truly let God’s Spirit
grab us, then we would no longer get to choose whether or not we’d
go to church on Sunday or if we’d fill out a “Living beyond
ourselves” brochure. We’d no longer get to choose our
friends—God would choose them for us and we might not like the folks
God chooses. We’d no
longer have to decide if ball or dance practice or work was more
important than worship or Bible study. And we’d no longer be able to
keep quiet about Jesus!
Being truly present to the Spirit of God is a
dangerous venture. Last
week, we talked about the power of the church to turn the world upside
down, but the even scarier truth is that we have to first allow God to
turn our lives upside down! When
we become truly present to God, God becomes truly present to us. God
moves into our lives, our homes, our church, and our community and
nothing can ever be the same.
From those first followers, we can learn the
value of being present—to God and to each other—and we can also
learn the value of praying together.
While they waited on God, the 120 weren’t simply gathered
together in a room drinking, coffee and talking. When God calls us to wait, God
doesn’t calls us just to sit and do nothing. Instead, the call to
wait is a call to preparation. While
they waited, Jesus’ followers made sure they had leadership in place
and, most importantly, they prayed.
Prayer should be the driving force behind every
ministry, every worship service, every committee meeting, every
service project, and every fellowship event. Prayer is the way we keep
connected to God. Prayer
is essentially our spiritual power cord which allows the Holy Spirit
to remain within us and to flow out of us. Prayer is essential to the work
of the church.
If you are not praying for this congregation and
the leadership of this church, I beg you to do so. I truly believe that God has
big plans for New Life. I
truly can’t imagine why God would have called so many gifted people
into one place if God did not intend to use all those gifts to make a
difference in this community. But
without prayer that will never happen.
Prayer is the means by which God will show us what we are to do
and it is the means by which he will empower us to fulfill his
calling. Prayer is the
means by which we keep our individual lives connected to the power and
presence of God, but it is also the means by which we keep ourselves
connected to God as a community. As
we pray for each other, as we pray for God’s vision for this
congregation, and as we pray for the means to fulfill that vision, God
will unify us, equip us, and empower us to be the people God has
called us to be. Not the people we are now—but the people we were
created to be!
Remember Jesus parting words to his followers? “. . .you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the
earth.”
We’ve spent the last month discussing our
calling from God and the gifts God has given us to fulfill that calling. By baptism, we are all called
to ministry. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, which is granted to
us at our baptism, we are gifted to do that ministry. And while we all have different
gifts and we all have unique vocations, one thing remains the same for
all of us. Those who call
themselves Christians are called to be witnesses to the gospel of
Jesus Christ in the world.
Whether you have the gift of service, the gift
of hospitality, the gift of evangelism, the gift of preaching, you are
called to be a witness! Truthfully,
this isn’t even a choice you get to make. From the moment the waters
of baptism touch your head, you become a witness whether you want to
or not. The question is whether you are a good witness or not.
Even as I speak, we are being watched. Our children are watching us. As I mentioned last week, the
un-churched are watching us. Those
who consider themselves Christians but who have given up on the church
are watching us to see if we are different from the congregations
which hurt them. Those who
are on the fringes of this congregation and trying to decide whether
to become involved again are watching us. Those who left because of hurt
or frustration are watching us. Your
neighbors are watching to see if they should visit or if they would
recommend this congregation to anyone. Most importantly, people who
need Jesus are looking at us to see if our belief in Jesus Christ
makes any difference in how we live our lives.
People are watching and what we do and don’t
do witnesses to the kind of faith we hold. When we gossip about each
other, when we fight amongst ourselves, when we disobey the commands
of Jesus and live immoral lifestyles, we are witnessing to power of
sin, death and evil. But
when we accept one another, love the unlovable, reach out to the
alienated and the forgotten, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and
help people break the chains of addiction, then we witness to the
power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Through our actions and through our words we proclaim the good
news that ALL who call on Jesus will be saved—healed/made
whole—and will have a place in the body of Christ!
Thankfully, the good news of Pentecost is that
when we are fully present to the power of God and when we stay
connected to God through prayer, then God grants us the power to be
good and bold witnesses!
Just look at Peter! Fifty-three days before
Pentecost, he didn’t have the nerve to tell a serving girl that he
knew Jesus. But on
Pentecost, he stood on the steps of the temple, called on the crowds
to repent, and declared that Jesus was Lord!
And shouldn’t we be like Peter? After all, if
we truly believe that God reached out to us when we were not worthy
and rescued us with a mighty hand, shouldn’t we want to shout that
good news from this mountaintop?
In my office, I have a framed quote from St
Francis which reads, “Preach the gospel always if necessary use
words.” Without a doubt
our loudest witness will always be the way we live our lives. But we must not forget the
importance of sharing the good news through words! This broken hurting world needs
more than we can give it. This
world needs Christ. Our
actions are not enough in themselves if they don’t point toward the
one who can bring healing, forgiveness and new life. We have to proclaim the good
news.
Telling others about Jesus is not just the job
of evangelists and preachers. Telling
others about Jesus is the job of all Christians and that according to
Luke was the purpose of God sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within
us. We are called to
prophesy. Now
fundamentalists limit that function to predicting the future and
liberals limit it to naming social ills, but a Biblical understanding
of prophesy is simply speaking the word of God to others. Prophesy is recognizing God at
work in the world and calling attention to what God is doing. The events of Pentecost teach
us that this is not simply the role of the ordained pastor but of each
and every Christian—young, old, male, female, rich or poor.
As the Apostle Paul once reminded the Romans:
13
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
14 But
how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how
are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are
they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they
are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news!" (Romans 10:13-15)
During the Renaisannce, the scholar Erasmus told
a story about what he thought happened when Jesus returned to heaven
after the Ascension. When
Jesus arrived, the angels surrounded him and asked him about his
experience on earth. Jesus
told them about the miracles, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. When he finished telling them
about his life on earth, the archangel Michael asked him, “But what
happens now?” Jesus
responded that he had left behind 11 faithful disciples along with
some other men and women. “They will declare my message. They will express my love. They will build my church.” Then Michael asked him, “But
what if they fail? What is your other plan?” Jesus responded, “I have no
other plan.”
You are Jesus’ plan to bring the good news to
this community!
This Pentecost, let us commit
ourselves to bringing the good news to this community. Let us commit to be present in
worship and in bible study, let us pray for God’s Spirit to work
through us, and then let us commit to living our lives as bold
witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The poet, William Blake, put it
this way:
Unless the eye catch
fire, God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catch
fire, God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue
catch fire, God will not be named.
Unless the Heart catch
fire, God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catch fire, God will not
be known.
May the power of the Holy Spirit
catch fire in our hearts, so God will be known through our witness and
our community and world will be changed by God’s love working
through us!
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