2009-05-31 Pentecost

2009-05-31 Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21

If you're from East Tennessee, or West Virginia (like I am), or anywhere else in Appalachia, you've probably heard about Pentcostal Churches all your life.
You may have even belonged to one, or worshiped in one.
At the Pentecostal church, you may have been overtaken by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and shouted, whooped, hiccuped, danced or rolled down the aisle.
But probably not, which is why you're here - and not there.
Pentacostals are are blessed with the gift of being able to tune in to the Holy Spirit's frequency.
When we Presbyterians, on the other hand, are overtaken with ecstatic spiritual experiences it looks like this.
Want to see it again?
We Presbyterians celebrate the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for sure.
But our celebrations are, shall we say, more muted.
But we who do things so decently and in order need the Pentecostals.
God needs the Pentecostals to remind us - to remind all the world - that God does things that aren't in the bulletin.

Pentecost literally means, "The fiftieth day." In the Christian church, Pentecost is a holiday to remember that 50 days after Easter - and you can count them on the calendar when you go home - 50 days after Easter, God gave the church the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So fifty days after Easter, the disciples are all in a room together.
Suddenly the sound like a violent wind comes from heaven and blows through the room like a hurricane.
Then, they have a simultaneous vision.
What seem to be like tongues of fire separate and came to rest on each of them.
Then, they begin to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enables them.
Did they babble in incomprehensible stutters and squeals?
No.
We know because people passing by began to hear.
Parthians, Medes and Elamites. Mesopotamians, Judeans and Cappadocians.
(It's a busy street.)
Libyans, Arabs and Cretans.
Now it's time for the Cretans, Cappadocians, and Cyrenians to be amazed, to have their belief and disbelief crash together over what the disciples are doing.
They're utterly amazed, the Bible says.
They say, “Are not all of these Galileans?
(Subtext: “They ain't usually that bright in Galilee county.”)
Then how is it we all hear their preaching, in our native tongues?”
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Maybe the greatest gift of Pentecost isn't the gift of being able to speak in different languages.
Maybe the greatest gift of Pentecost isn't the gift the disciples received.
Maybe the greatest gift of Pentecost is the gift the WORLD received -- the gift of being able to hear the gospel in their own words.
The greatest gift of Pentecost is translation.
Translation of the word of Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior into all the languages of the world.
The disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and from the Holy Spirit they received the gift of speaking in the native languages of the world.
But here's the twist.
It doesn't matter if you speak one language, two languages, or a hundred languages if there's no one to hear you.
It doesn't matter if the Holy Spirit, it doesn't matter if Jesus Christ himself teaches you fluency in a hundred languages if there's no one around to speak to.
Greater than all the other gifts of Pentecost to the disciples is the gift of the Holy Spirit to the people who heard, and understood their preaching.
All those Cretans and Cappadocians had their receivers turned on, and they picked up the signal of the Holy Spirit.
And what did they do?
They did exactly what we'd expect them to do.
They went, “What are we supposed to do with this? What does this mean?”
Just as the disciples were amazed when they saw Jesus ascending into heaven, so the people are amazed to hear about it.
The people receive the signal.
And their bandwidths just explode.

You believe in Jesus Christ. (You do believe in Jesus Christ, right?) That belief should mean the world to you.
But your belief should have meaning to the world, too.
The gift of Pentecost, the gift of translation of belief from one person to another, means that not only do you receive the gifts of God, but that you should be a transmitter of gifts to other receivers.
It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Because it's the gift of translation.
You receive the Spirit in order to share the Spirit.
That's the way the Spirit works.
As you translate your faith into words and actions you help others receive what otherwise they might never hear.
When you receive the Holy Spirit, it's not yours to keep;
it's your to share, and share again, and keep sharing, even though the rest of the world might think you're crazy, as they did the disciples.

I'm pretty sure that tongues of fire have never landed on your head.
But the gift of the Holy Spirit has.
You may not know it; you may not know what to do with it, but the gift of the Holy Spirit rests every bit as much upon you as it did the first disciples the first Pentecost Sunday.
All they did was open their mouths, and the Holy Spirit made them understood.

Anyone ever had trouble talking about their faith?
Any of you ever felt nervous or uncomfortable telling someone about what you believe?
You're worried because you don't want to sound like a... Pentecostal... or something.
The gift of the Spirit says you don't have to worry.
Just open your mouth and talk.
You may think you're babbling.
But the Spirit will do the translating.

Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And pass it on.