A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on Sunday, May 23, 2010
Acts 2: 1 – 11; Psalm 104: 25 – 32; I Corinthians 12: 4 – 13; John 20: 19 – 23
“And how is it that we hear, each in his own native language….the mighty works of God?”
These are the words of those who witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit with the force of a wind, and with the appearance of divine fire, which rested over the heads of each individual member of the Church, that first Pentecost day.
Indeed, it’s the coming of the Holy Spirit with discernable power and energy (that is, something like the tongues of fire) that empowered the Church, and gave it the drive to become the Lord’s witnesses to all the ends of the earth.
For that reason, this great Feast of Pentecost is often nicknamed “The Birthday of the Church”. For, on this day, the Church was given birth and its life force.
But, I am getting a little ahead of myself, so let me back up a little.
The coming of the Holy Spirit, which enabled the assembly to testify to the mighty works of God, provided the proof of Jesus’ command to the disciples, as they gathered on the hillside to witness His ascension into heaven, some ten days earlier. On that occasion, Jesus said to them, “But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8)
So, now, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did, indeed, come, and the Holy Spirit came with power: discernable, noticeable power. And, as a result, those upon whom the Spirit came were able to testify in Jerusalem to devout Jews from “every nation under heaven.”
The “end of the earth” had been reached, in one day.
Of course, what would come after this day of Pentecost would be the “sending out” that made these disciples into apostles. And, as these disciples-now-become-apostles went, they would go to Judea, and to Samaria, and then to points north, west, east and south, in other words, to the end of the earth.
Jesus’ charge to these original disciples, to “be my witnesses”, is the same charge that He gives to you and me today.
In order that we might understand a bit more about the task which lies before us in the year 2010, we ought to look at some of the specifics of that original Pentecost event, in order to see how we might apply those same aspects of God’s expectations of us to the task before us today.
We should consider the following from the original Pentecost event:
Each individual was graced with power from the Holy Spirit: Notice that Luke (the author of the gospel account which bears his name, and also the author of the Book of Acts) tells us that the tongues of fire were “distributed and rested on each one of them” who were present (Acts 2: 3). Each individual present received divine power, through the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Each individual’s identity was preserved: Now, notice that Luke tells us that those who heard the speakers recognized that they were Galileans. The personal identity of each speaker was preserved. Their identity could be discerned and noticed.
Bridging the language gap: If the culture gap was bridged by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the language gap was also bridged between these Galileans and the devout Jews, who had come from all over the world. Indeed, this sort of speaking in tongues isn’t the sort of ecstatic, divine speech that St. Paul addresses in his first letter to the Corinthian Church. No, in this instance, the ability to speak, which is given by God, is the ability to speak in another, human language.
The mighty works of God: The reason for all of this is to make the powerful and transforming works of God known to all persons, everywhere. Indeed, the Great Commission (see Matthew 28: 19 – 20) makes this charge quite clear, to all Christians, in every time and in every place. The Great Commission says this, “Jesus said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Now, let’s turn our attention to the task of being God’s witnesses in the time and the place where we find ourselves today, as members of Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon.
Taking the same categories as we did for the original Pentecost event, we make the following observations for our own charge and ministry today:
Each individual is graced with power: Each of us, as baptized Christians, are empowered by the Holy Spirit to use our own talents and abilities in witness to the mighty acts of God that we see in our own lives, and in the lives of others within the faith community. We affirm this in our baptismal service. As each person is baptized, they are anointed with holy oils, and these words are spoken over them as this action is done: “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own for ever.” (Book of Common Prayer, 1979 (BCP), page 308) Furthermore, as the baptized person come to the point of being confirmed, the Bishop who confirms them asks God to send that person “forth in the power of that (Holy) Spirit to perform the service you set before them…” (BCP, page 418)
Our own personal identity will be preserved: I don’t think God likes cookie-cutter Christians. Certainly, if we take even a brief look at the original disciples, we can see that they were a motley crew, weren’t they? Highly individualistic, they came from varied backgrounds, and carried with them into their life in Christ markers of their backgrounds. Today, the same is true: We come from various backgrounds, and have varied perspectives on God’s power to save and to transform the meaninglessness of life into a spirit-filled, meaningful life in God. Indeed, as I consider this point, I think it is proof of the power of the Holy Spirit, that God is able through that same Spirit to meld us into one body in Christ, to unify us, one to another, and to God, through Christ. (From the Catechism, found at the back of the Book of Common Prayer, page 855, which states that the mission of the Church is to “restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”)
Bridging the language gap today: With this aspect of our life in Christ, we come to one of the most difficult issues which confront us today: Bridging the language gap. But, you may say, “Don’t we all speak English?” Indeed, we do. That isn’t the issue for us, as it was on the Day of Pentecost. Today, we encounter people who know little-or-nothing about God, little-or-nothing about Jesus Christ, little-or-nothing about the power and the meaning that life takes on when we come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It’s as if we are speaking a foreign language to many people that we meet. As I reflect on the changes in society in general over the past forty to fifty years, I would have to say that it is a paradigm shift in people’s knowledge of the Bible, and of its basic contents, which has changed the most over that period of time. Years ago, most people could probably tell you the basic stories that are in the Bible, including many of the major life events of Jesus, and many of His teachings. Today, that is no longer true, for the most part. We cannot assume that, when we talk about our life of faith, the people who will hear us will be able to glean any meaning at all from what we say. So, we have to seek God’s guidance as we pass along the Good News of God in Christ. We need divine fire and divinely given abilities to speak in a language that our hearers can understand.
Witnessing to the mighty works of God: God is still at work among His people. He is still doing mighty works among and through us. I suspect that each of us could recount a time when God’s healing was present within us, either physically, mentally, or spiritually. I suspect that each of us could recount a time when someone we know was healed by the power and the intervention of God, in some similar way. I suspect that each of us could look back on our own lives and tell of a time when God lead us, and delivered us, from a difficult and trying time in our lives. These are but some of the “mighty works” which God is doing today.
So, I leave you with some points to ponder, which are taken from the points we made above about the Pentecost event. They constitute a series of things which pose challenges to us, in our time, in our place, and in our Church:
- How do we speak in a language that people can understand about the things of God?
- How do we make sense of the rich heritage we have as Episcopalian Christians to people who probably know very little about our heritage?
- How do we show that our rich heritage as Episcopalians isn’t a dull, boring and lifeless matter, but that it is alive, joyful and uplifting?
- How do we do these things, using our own personal experience as proof of the mighty works of God which are present in our own lives?
May God’s Holy Spirit guide and enable us to be witnesses to His mighty power, in our community, and in our own time, today.
AMEN.
