Surprise
Pentecost is kind of like a surprise party. No one expected it. Even people who heard Jesus himself promise the coming of the Holy Spirit did not understand what that meant.
The disciples were gathered in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Booths.
I imagine that the doors were locked, barred, and maybe barricaded. It doesn’t say what the disciples were doing. Were they eating? Were the comparing notes? Were they just catching up on family news?
Or they may have still been hiding in fear of the Jewish authorities. It was, after all, just 7 weeks ago that Jesus slipped through their fingers on that first Easter. The leaders of the Jews were still fuming. And the disciples didn't know if they were still wanted, men
Rush of wind
The doors may have been locked, bared, and barricaded. But who needs doors, this is the Holy Spirit. I imagine that the windows are all closed and locked… but then again who needs windows this is the Holy Spirit. The apostles were not expecting anything… but one last time… who needs an invitation. This is the Holy Spirit.
It doesn’t say that the wind blew. The Holy Spirit is not just wind. Notice that it says that the sound was like the rush of the wind. I don’t know who to describe it. I don’t imagine a big 40 mph gust of wind. I was out at Swan Lake this week and the wind was blowing. I was just feeling it blow through my hair. I was listening to the sound. If I listened and watched very carefully I could see Leaves faintly rustling on one side. Then a ripple in the water as it moves almost silently across the water. Then it whispered past my ears and rippled the water on the other side of me going away. And then into the leaves again.
Examples of Spirit moving?
In Genesis, the Spirit of God is described as hovering over the waters. Was this Spirit- wind?
In 1 Kings the lord did not speak to Elijah in the tornado, but in a still small voice that washed past the cave entrance. Was this Spirit- wind?
In the Exodus the Lord caused a strong wind to blow to push back the waves of the red sea so Israel could walk through on dry land. Was this Spirit- wind?
Was it Spirit- wind that made the bones rattle When Ezekiel looked over the valley of dry bones? I’m not entirely sure, but it says that God would put breath in them (wind, breath, and spirit is the same Hebrew word). Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the wind and “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Again, Was this Spirit- wind?
Maybe. Most importantly I think it tells us the Spirit is active and moving in our world and our lives in powerful ways. If you doubt the power of the wind, drive through the Cedar Rapids area since the Derecho last year. There are still piles and piles of trees (not just branches) TREES cut up and laying along the street. And hundreds still laying on the ground waiting for someone to come clean up the very visible aftermath of a powerful wind. The Spirit is active and powerful all around us.
Fire.
Then comes the fire. Well, not really fire. The scripture says, ” Divided tongues, AS OF FIRE. Like fire, not fire but it looked similar to it.
Again, notice that it doesn’t say that it just rested on each one, but that it “ appeared among them,” That Spirit among us real and powerful. Then a tongue rested on each of them.” Or what looked like a tongue rested on each of them. What was it… my only answer is that it was certainly the Holy Spirit. Since the Greek word for the tongue is the same word used for the tongue in your mouth I am sure it represented the gift of speaking in foreign languages, but there is one other thing.
Describing these manifestations as fire, got me thinking. In addition to creating heat and light, fire does one more thing. It causes chemical changes. When light and heat energy are taken out of something, wood, for instance, it is no longer wood, but charcoal or ash. If the explosive energy is taken out of gasoline in the form of heat and light it leaves carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen dioxide (water), and several other gases.
After it is burned there is no way to return to the original wood or gasoline. A chemical change has taken place it will never be the same. Similarly, when the Holy Spirit ignites our hearts there is an irreversible change. The byproducts are faith, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc… and we will never be the same again. We can never go back to being who we were. An encounter with the Holy Spirit turns a fisherman into a disciple, or a disciple into a prophet, or a lawyer, or banker, or farmer into a servant.
The Spirit is real and powerful as the wind, and an encounter with the Holy Spirit changes a person forever.
Some of the most amazing stories of faith are about the power and transformation of the Holy Spirit. Take for instance the story in Chapter 9 of Acts. Saul, who, remember was going from house to house arresting Christians, both men and women, and throwing them in jail… It says Saul was “breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples.” Remember I said last week that the church was spreading out? Saul was afraid some might get away. So he went to the High Priest to ask for what amounted to an all-points bulletin for the Damascus synagogues. That if they found a Christian, or a person of the WAY as Paul called them, they must be arrested and brought to Jerusalem immediately.
Before he delivered the letter, Saul, nearing Damascus, saw a light from heaven. It startled him so that he fell off his horse. Once he had his attention a voice came “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Can you imagine his sheer terror? Who are you, he asked, I’ am guessing his terror only deepened when the answer came, “I am Jesus whom you persecute.” Oh, man. He knew he was in trouble. But the Spirit was not done with Paul yet… he got up and found that he had been struck blind.
After his encounter with the real and powerful, transformative power of God (which we describe as the Holy Spirit) was the end of his persecuting and the beginning of his preaching. He was renamed Paul and became the greatest advocate for the gospel in all of history. We’ll read more about him I the coming weeks.
Whatever the Holy Spirit does in our lives is always amazing,… but Some of the most dramatic stories of the work of the Holy Spirit today come out of the persecuted church. I have read stories of Muslims who are breathing threats of murdering Infidels one day. They fall to their knees when Jesus appears to them in a dream. It is amazing that after seeing Jesus in a dream once or twice, feeling the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives once or twice, some of them find the nearest Christian and ask how they can serve Jesus.
After I left the church in 1995 I was not persecuting Jesus, but I wasn’t serving either. The Spirit tricked me into saying yes to a mission trip and started to work on me. In the end, the youth were asking if I would be their next leader when Brenda retired. I said, absolutely not. I would never go back to work for the church.
The Holy Spirit worked quietly moving in my life for the next 6 months and I applied for the youth pastor Job in January. Asbury and Community of Joy youth was one of the best ministries I have ever experienced. I have never been the same… changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally. In brief the last movement in this story I want to cover today. There were Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths. They heard the disciples talking … and each one of them understood what they were saying. I think this is a better way to understand what happened than the disciple spoke all their languages.
Think about it. There are 15 regions specified. How many disciples? 12. How did 12 disciples speak in 15 different languages? They SPOKE by the power of the Holy Spirit alright, but it seems even more amazing to me that, by the power of that same Holy Spirit, each one HEARD IN THEIR LANGUAGE. In their own language… do you see what I am saying? I preach every week, but sometimes people tell me how the sermon helped them… I realize I did not say what they heard. It was the Holy Spirit working in them to hear in their own language the message they need to hear. The Spirit was not just for the disciples. Not just or the church people. Not just for the faithful, or the insiders. The Holy Spirit is given to all. And I believe it is the Holy Spirit that draws people from all over the world to kneel at the foot of the cross.
Acts says, “6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” How indeed, by the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on each one personally.
Peter begins to preach, citing Joel,
‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men, and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Hear that? on all people. Sons and daughters, regardless of gender.
Young men and old men. Regardless of Age.
Even on my servants- both slave and free.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, the Holy Spirit is active and powerfully transformative in your life… in your personal life… repeat after me in my life. Lounder like you mean it. In my life… the Holy Spirit is working in my life.
Turn to the person next to you or behind or in front and say in your life. say, … in your life. …The Holy Spirit works in your life. The Holy Spirit is really present, really powerful in all people. Thanks be to God. AMEN
