Sermon Text

May 23, 2010 -- Pentecost Sunday

A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY
Acts 2:1-21

In the Walt Disney animated version of “Alice in Wonderland,” there is a scene in which Alice visits the Mad Hatter’s tea party and they sing a song wishing everyone a “very merry unbirthday.”

Well, in many congregations this morning, the Day of Pentecost is being celebrated as "the birthday of the Christian Church," as though the Church came into being on that day. Birthday cakes are baked for Jesus and his Church, and special "parties" are held. It's an attractive, fun idea, and I've preached on it and done children's sermons on it myself, but it’s really more of an “unbirthday.” The Church of Jesus Christ had its beginnings long before that day.

For many centuries before the birth of Jesus, people had been offering praise and dedicating their lives to the one true God. They called this God El, or El Shaddai, or Elohim, or Yahweh, and they affirmed this God as righteous Creator, gracious Sustainer, and merciful Judge. Their understanding of this God and this God’s dealings with people were sometimes colored by their own prejudice, self-interest, or blindness (which, of course, is true of us, as well), but God kept drawing them back into relationship, over and over again. In a very real sense, the Church of Jesus Christ was present already in these Old Testament forebears of ours, and it is important that we remember that.

But in Jesus Christ, humankind was given a new perspective on God and on us people and the lives we lead. This perspective tells us that life was meant to be spent in joyful gratitude to a loving God for the gifts of life, love, and beauty. Through what God accomplished in Jesus Christ, we have been empowered to overcome the sinfulness that taints all areas of our lives, even to the point of no longer having to fear the ultimacy of death, because it, too, had been conquered.
All of this was good news, gospel. But how to communicate it? This was the dilemma which faced Jesus' disciples as they bided their time in that borrowed upstairs room, waiting for . . . well, who knew what they were waiting for?

It was the festival of Shavuoth, the Feast of Weeks, which the Greek-speaking Jews called Pentecost. On that day, the followers of Jesus were gathered in the upper room to wait and pray. The new day began with the sound of a mighty wind. Things were coming loose, breaking open. Could it have been the same wind which on the very first of all mornings swept across dark waters, the wind of creation?

Luke tells us that God's Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus in that moment in the same way as on the judges and prophets of old, and they were empowered to tell of what God had done in Jesus, whom they proclaimed as the long-awaited Messiah. Their fervor was so great that even people who didn't speak Aramaic were caught up by the power in their voices -- foreigners in the crowd were able to understand what the disciples were saying.

Obviously, just understanding the words wasn't enough. The bystanders were "amazed and perplexed" by the whole event, asking, "What does this mean?" Others of the bystanders didn't really care to know. They had their own cynical, mocking theory for what was going on: "They are filled with new wine!"

More than one interpretation can be offered for whatever it was that happened on that day. But no single theory can really do the story justice. But the real miracle was not the "speaking in tongues" of the disciples, or in heightened understanding on the part of the bystanders. The miracle here is one of proclamation. Once frightened disciples found their tongues to proclaim the truth of Christ.

How were they empowered? One way we might express it is to say that they were emboldened to tell the story of Jesus, even though it was certain that they would encounter opposition and danger for doing so. A new and mighty wind was set loose upon the earth, provoking a storm of wrath and confusion for some, and a fresh breath of empowerment and hope for others. Through the Holy Spirit, God gifted the Church so that they might tell this new story, live in its light, and minister to one another and to others.

That is what we celebrate on Pentecost Sunday -- the day when the Church found its voice, and was empowered for its life and mission. That same empowerment is present in the Church today. That same empowerment is both present and potential here, among us, St. Philip Presbyterian Church. As I look around this Sanctuary today, I can see the faces of people with and to whom I have ministered, and who have ministered to me, and taught me something of what it means to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. There is love here, active and growing, as well as joy, peace, gentleness, and all the other gifts Paul mentions. They're not always here in full measure, of course, but that is because the Kingdom of God is among us only in bits and fragments, and in divine potential. But, in bits and fragments, I can see it, and I think you can see it, too. That mighty wind is still blowing through us.

Many of us who are convinced that the union between St. Philip and Central Presbyterian Church is part of the blowing of that same wind of the Spirit, that same empowerment for ministry and mission, that the first disciples experienced on Pentecost.

It’s not our birthday – Central’s birthday is April 1st, and St. Philip’s is September 10th. But today and next Sunday are watershed moments, not only for our two churches, but also for Presbyterian witness in the city of Houston. It isn’t just our organizations that will be merged into one, but our people, our heritage, our devotion and commitment, our excitement and our fear and trembling, all that goes into making up a community of God’s people, all these things will be united as we worship and pray together next Sunday, and in the months and years beyond.

Today is Pentecost -- the celebration of the empowerment of the Church to carry on the ministry of Christ in the world. Thank God that the Spirit of Christ sustains and supports God's people in their worship and work. With the Spirit's help and guidance, and together with our sisters and brothers with whom we are about to unite, we can prove equal to the many tasks that await us.