"The Most Frightening Day of the Year" (Pentecost 2012)

05/27/12 Pentecost 2012 Grace UMC

Something I say with some frequency is that Pentecost is the single most frightening day in the entire church year. Often, when I say that, I get funny looks, as though people can't understand why Pentecost would be a frightening day. After all, it certainly seems like it is a time of great joy and celebration. It is indeed that, but it is the most frightening day of the church year nonetheless.

Why is that? I had the tremendous privilege at my last appointment to preach, passage by passage, through the entire Gospel according to John. It took two and a half years, but it was a significant time of growth for myself and, I hope, for others. As we spent a great deal of time looking at that particular account of the life of Jesus, we found ourselves paying attention to what the disciples were doing. It was an incredibly encouraging time because we realized that the disciples were so far from being perfect and unattainable examples of what faithfulness ought to look like, that they were just as messed up as we are. Time after time, we read about disciples putting their feet into their mouths, saying things they immediately regret, doing things that only a moment's worth of reflection would tell them is a bad idea. We realize that if Peter can still be a disciple after breaking his promise to stand by Jesus' side until death only hours after making it, then we can still be disciples in spite of all the mistakes that we make. In fact, Peter makes just about every mistake you could imagine. There is probably not anyone else in the gospel narratives that should fill people who make mistakes, which is everybody, with hope than Peter. Peter was given his name, which means "rock" by Jesus and throughout the gospels, you can't help but think that the name is meant to be ironic, since he is probably the least stable, least reliable disciple of the bunch.

And then comes Pentecost. All of a sudden, the Peter who didn't seem like he could do anything right, the Peter that we all too often can identify with, starts to act differently. All of a sudden, the man who's name "rock" only served as an ironic reminder of how not firm he was, starts to be bold in a new way. The Peter who was unable to stand firm for Jesus in front of a servant girl the night he was betrayed, stands up before thousands of people, including some of the leaders, and proclaims the good news, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him."

What exactly has happened? We live in a world where the disciples have been glorified to an almost unhealthy degree. They were the ones who followed Jesus, they were the ones who wrote the New Testament, they were the ones who took the gospel out to the ends of the known world at the time. They are the kind of people that we sometimes even name our churches after. When we read the accounts of the life of Jesus, it takes us a while to get used to the fact that these people are, in so many ways, just like we are. It is almost as if we are afraid to really say that the people who followed Jesus so closely could be just as broken and messed up as we can be, but that is what we read.

However, it seems that it is right as we are getting comfortable with this idea that the disciples had just as many problems as we do that we run into the story of Pentecost and the rest of the book of Acts. All of a sudden, it becomes much harder to relate to the disciples. After all, how many times have you been walking down the street and someone who is sick asks for help and, simply by reaching out your hand to them, radically and dramatically cure their disease and send them on their way rejoicing? I must admit that it has never happened to me. It is almost as if we have just gotten used to the disciples being just like us and now we are made to come face to face with mighty heroes of the faith, miracle workers and life-changing preachers. What in the world has happened?

I remember the first time that I asked the question, "What is the difference between the disciples in the gospel accounts and the disciples in the book of Acts, and what is it that brought about that change?" There is no real conflict of opinion about what happened. The disciples were radically transformed. Within the space of a single chapter of the Bible, we see just how amazing this transformation really is. At the beginning, the disciples are all huddled together, frightened that the people who killed Jesus would kill them, as his followers. By the end, we find that they are proclaiming the good news of Christ to everyone around, in every language, with such passion and such anointing by the Spirit that over three thousand people, something like a quarter of the population of Spencer [2010 census], gave their lives to Jesus that very morning.

So, if we can see that the transformation went to the very root of who these people were and we could see that, for all intents and purposes, it happened in a moment, we have to ask what actually brought it about. Really and truly, at the end of the day, there are no sociological reasons why the disciples should have changed so radically in such a short period. There must be something beyond the merely natural to account for this. Some people want to figure out other explanations for the miracles of Jesus, but I think that the transformation of the disciples on Pentecost is every bit as amazing and is something that actually goes to the root of your life and mine.

According to our text, the only real difference between the disciples before Pentecost and the disciples after Pentecost was the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The people who were shy, who had so clearly misunderstood Jesus, because they thought he was going to be a political king who would overthrow the people they thought were the enemies of God, who were afraid of being killed because of their association with Jesus became people who stood up and made the name of Christ known to those around them, who did not stop short at just sharing words, but followed through with deeds of love and kindness, and became people who were indeed killed because of their association with Jesus, and went boldly to their deaths.

Now why is all of this frightening? It just sounds like great news, and it is indeed great news, the greatest of all possible news, but that doesn't make it any less frightening at the same time. The reason why this news is so great is because it reminds us, once and for all, that what God has done in Christ is not just something that happened once upon a time, a long time ago, that God did not stop interacting with us once Jesus had died and been raised. It means that the very same God who came among us as Jesus Christ is still at work in us, that the ministry of Christ did not stop when he ascended into heaven, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, it has been entrusted and imparted to ordinary people like you and me. What's more, we see that all our mistakes that we have ever made do not disqualify us from being called and equipped by God to be about his work here and now. After all, the disciples made all kinds of mistakes and yet the Spirit had no problems coming on them. If it could come on the people who scattered when Jesus was betrayed and denied him within hours of pledging their undying loyalty to him, what have we done that makes us think for a moment that the Spirit cannot do in us what it did in the lives of the disciples?

And that is why Pentecost is the single most frightening day in the whole Christian year. The fact of the matter is that many people not only relate well to the disciples in the gospel narratives, but like to relate to them. We love the compassion that Jesus shows to his disciples who make so many mistakes, many of which are so foolish that they are almost laughable, because it reminds us that, in spite of all our own foolishness, God's love and grace is there. Even if we remember that this love and grace is still available, we don't necessarily like to relate to the disciples after Pentecost.

The moment we realize that the only difference between the weak disciples before Pentecost and the bold disciples after Pentecost is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the moment we realize that this same Holy Spirit that radically transformed those disciples is not only available, but promised, to us, we are forced to ask the question, "Does this mean that God might want to so transform me that I go from looking like the disciples before Pentecost to looking like the disciples after Pentecost?" How can we avoid that question? Well, we might try to say something like, "I love Jesus, but I don't really want the Spirit." However, in what we could call one of the most significant chapters in the entire New Testament, Romans 8, Paul says this, "But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." It seems that, according to the New Testament, it is simply not possible to really be a Christian if we do not have the Spirit dwelling in us.

When all of these things weave themselves together, we are forced to answer that question from a moment ago, "Does this mean that God might want to so transform me that I go from looking like the disciples before Pentecost to looking like the disciples after Pentecost?" with a loud and resounding "Yes!" Now, that boldness, anointing and strength might look a bit different from person to person. After all, not everyone who was radically changed because of the gospel and the indwelling of the Spirit did the same thing. Yes, the twelve apostles had a strong preaching ministry, but there were more people transformed by the Spirit than just them. We read about seven people selected to be deacons, to help make sure that all the Christian widows in Jerusalem were taken care of. We know there were wealthy Christians who were empowered by the Spirit to give boldly of their resources, not only by taking care of the poor but also by providing the means for the other Christians to do what they were called to do, not least by providing the upper rooms in their homes for the church to meet in.

We know that Paul, one of the people who was changed perhaps more than anyone else, acknowledged that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are bound to one another as the body of Christ, with gifts as different from each other as eyes are from hands and ears are from feet. He says, "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness."

By all of this, I hope that you take two things to heart. First, make no mistake; if you belong to Christ, you have the Spirit dwelling within you and if you do not have the Spirit dwelling in you, you do not yet belong to Christ, though God yearns for you to receive that Spirit. Though the strongest examples that we see in the book of Acts of people being empowered by the Spirit are preachers and teachers of the gospel, there are a wide variety of gifts that God gives in order to build up the church and if you have not received one of them, you most certainly have received another one. If necessary, recruit the help of friends, but find out where God has gifted and called you.

The second thing that I hope you have noticed is that, in many of you and in many ways, this transformation has already begun to take place. The fact of the matter is that there are at least several people in this congregation who have witnessed miracles in their lives or in the lives of those close to them. Undeniable miracles; miracles that can be explained in no other way than as the result of the almighty power of God intervening in our lives. There are those have seen a transformation, not altogether unlike the one we see on Pentecost, take place in their own lives. There are people who can go into great detail about what their lives were like before God transformed them and what they are like now and the difference is like night and day. There are people who have found strength in times when they thought they would have no strength, who have found boldness in difficult situations, who have tried something new and found that they were really good at it. I know that these people exist, even in this congregation because I have met you, I have heard your stories, I have seen the mark of grace on you, in worship, in studies, in your homes, in the hospital, and even in the grocery stores. I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but if you have experienced the Spirit in your life, if you have had your life touched in any way by the power of God, if you have tasted any of these first-fruits of the transformation of the Spirit, will you please raise your hand as a testimony to the goodness and faithfulness of God.

Those of you who raised your hands (and those of you who could have raised your hand but didn't), share your story. Share it with me if nothing else, but share it with others. Remind others of what God has done in your life. Not only will you encourage them when there may seem to be no hope, but you will remind yourself of what God has done and how far he has brought you. Tell the stories, rejoice in what God has done, fill your hearts with joy that God has transformed your life. Always remember the amazing transformation of the disciples on Pentecost and always remember that the same transformation, in whatever form it may take, is promised to you today just as much as to those disciples two thousand years ago. Who knows? If you can get excited about sharing and hearing what God has done in this community, we might be able to have a Sunday morning where we have a love feast like the first Methodists, where we set aside time to bear witness to what God has done and is doing so we can be reminded of what God has promised he will do, and maybe God will move among us in the midst of that sharing like he did among them.

God has given his Spirit to his people, his church for whom he died. This Holy Spirit is not just some kind of Spiritual substance [spiritual energy goo] that we use for our own purposes, but the high and holy God of all, who takes up residence in our hearts and lives. With confidence that the only thing you need to be transformed into a bold, equipped servant of God is the Spirit that God gives freely to all who believe, go out into the world and do great things! Go heal the sick, go raise the dead, go be the means through which the world comes to know the healing and transforming love and power of God. Let us pray.

AMEN