MEDITATION
SCRIPTURE
READING: Acts 2:1-21
Let
us pray. Gracious God, send forth your Spirit so that all of us may be renewed
by the Good News You have to speak to us.
May my meditation be pleasing to you, O God, and may each of us hear the
Word you have to offer us this day. You are our strength and our redeemer,
Lord, on whom we rely for breath, life, and all we need in this life and in the
life to come. Amen.
Fred
Craddock, a well-known preacher, teacher, and author tells a rather funny story
about a lecture he was giving. Craddock says this:
A few years ago, when I was on the West
Coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first lecture one of the students
stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know, sir, if you are
Pentecostal." The room grew silent.
I looked around for the Dean of the seminary! He was no where to be found. The student continued with his quiz right in
front of everybody. I was taken aback, and so I said, "Do you
mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said, "No, I mean are you
Pentecostal?" I said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" The student said, "I am asking you if
you are Pentecostal." I said, "Do you want to know if I speak in
tongues?" He said, "I want to
know if you are Pentecostal." I said,
"I don't know what your question is."
The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." And he left.
For
many of us the claim to be Pentecostal would refer to people whose faith
communities and identities primarily revolve around being “caught up in the
spirit” – caught up in the spirit in such a way that we, in the mainline
church, would look askance at them. We
associate such spirit-filled people with strange behavior and weird expressions
of faith. Many of us would claim that being Pentecostal means being prone to
what looks like epileptic fits of hysteria –
their bodies moving and swaying, even contorting themselves in strange
ways when they are spirit-filled. Such
folks may even speak a language we don’t understand – a language simply not
translatable, except by the one speaking – a language identified as
glosallaia. So, if someone were to ask
if we were Pentecostal, we would most likely respond, “Absolutely
not!”
And
yet, I wonder whether “Pentecostal” means something completely different. I
wonder whether we can associate Pentecostal with more one stylistic expression
of being “caught up in the spirit.” I
wonder if we in the mainline church know what Pentecostal really means. Does
the mainline church use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as
an adjective?
In
spite of the fact that the mainline church doesn't know what the adjective
means, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an
adjective. The church is unwilling for
the word simply to be a noun. The church
is unwilling to allow Pentecost to simply represent a date, a place, an event
in the history of the church. The church
refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere.
The church insists that the word is an adjective; an adjective to describe the
church, a church that is alive in the world. If the church is alive in the world, it is
Pentecostal. (And you thought we were
the United Church of Christ.)
Before
Pentecost and the unleashing of God’s Spirit, the disciples were a sad and
sorry bunch. During Jesus’ ministry, they
fought over who had first place, who was greater in Jesus’ eyes, in God’s eyes. Often
much of what Jesus said, the disciples simply didn’t understand. And, they certainly didn’t “get it” about
Jesus, about who he was and who he was called to be. Even when they sort of understood, the
disciples still left Jesus alone – alone in his agony and to go it alone to the
Cross. Peter even denied that he knew
Jesus – three times. After Jesus left
them, so discouraged were they that they were ready to go back to their old
lives. Without the gift of the Holy
Spirit, the disciples might have simply disbanded. But, by the power of the Holy Spirit the
disciples who had once been disheartened, frightened and depressed came alive. This motley crew was empowered to be alive in
the world. The Spirit empowered to understand,
to understand one another, to understand all those with whom they had gathered. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the disciples
understood their calling, and they were empowered to bring the gospel to all
people, regardless of race, nationality, age, gender, religious background,
socio-economic background, social status or profession as Peter’s profession of
faith attests. The Spirit empowered them
to be Jesus’ voice, Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. The Spirit empowered their ministry.
I
wonder that if the Holy Spirit could breathe such awesome power into such a
motley crew that they could carry the Gospel to the world – is it not possible
that even the most ordinary of us can be filled with the wonder-working power?
(Janice Hearn)
When
God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen. In less than 100 years after Jesus’ death,
the gospel of God’s all-embracing love and grace was carried as far as Spain to
the west, India to the east, and Ethiopia to the south. Throughout time, the good news of God’s
extravagant love and grace has continued to be spread throughout the world by
those who are spirit-filled. Down through
the centuries the fire of God’s love has burned brightly. The faith grew because people found their
lives changed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. They came to know God’s love and grace. They came to know the peace which passes all
understanding. They came to know
undaunting courage in the face of those who sought to silence their witness by
persecuting them even unto death.
Today
amazing things continue to happen through the power of the Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are
able to listen to one another and understand one another, regardless of who we
are, what language we speak, what faith we practice, or even where and how we
live. Through the power of the Spirit we
are able to connect and communicate; through the power of the Spirit we are
able to become community. This is a
miracle, especially in this day and age.
A
testimony to that is a small town in Israel, Neve Shalom, which demonstrates
day in and day out that the differences between people, cultures, languages and
religious beliefs can be bridged. Located
about a half an hour from Jerusalem, the small town of 250 people is half
Jewish and half Arabic (Christian and Muslim).
There are Arab homes next to Jewish homes. Children learn both languages, and make
friends across traditional lines. Young
adults intermarry. It hasn’t been easy.
There have been arguments and hurt feelings. But they have pressed on to resolve
differences, determined to raise a generation of children who have friends
across lines of racial, religious and ethnic origin. (L.A.
Times. Ken Ellingwood, “A Small Town is an Exercise for Peace”)
Through
the power of the Holy Spirit amazing things continue to happen. Barriers are
broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established,
addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is
established, people are blessed, and church, Pentecostal church, happens. (Rick
Kirchoff) So, I ask you, are you
Pentecostal? Are you alive in the
Spirit? Is the Spirit alive in you?
William
Blake wrote this poem about Pentecost:
“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
all of us feel the fire and power of the Holy Spirit. May God’s Spirit live in us, renew us, and
set us forth to be alive in the world with God’s love and grace. Amen.
Sermon
preached by Reverend Jane Anderson at First Congregational United Church of
Christ, Appleton, Wisconsin on Mother’s Day, May 11, 2008.