“That was totally wicked!” the young boy exclaims after waiting for weeks to see something amazing. Jesus tells the disciples to not leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. The little boy waited outside on the curb, and Mr. Incredible asks him, “What are you waiting for?” “Something amazing, I guess.” The disciples waited in Jerusalem, and something amazing did happen!
Our text today begins with all of the disciples in one place. This past week Methodists gathered in one place for Annual Conference. It was a blessed time together. Dot Miller, Debrah Griffith, Lynne Givens, Ray Owens and Diane Turner were there with us, representing Broadmoor, and you should ask them about their experience. It was a spirit-filled four days where we worshiped together, praised God for lifting up new clergy, we debated and argued and ate together. One exciting legislation which was passed was the Task Force on Church Extension report, in which the Louisiana Conference was challenged to make developing new congregations a top missional priority. This is a good thing. The most effective way to bring new people into the church is by planting a new congregation. This does not mean established churches like Broadmoor are ineffective in bringing new people to Christ, but it is a challenge to our established churches to regain the fire and excitement of new churches, making hospitality a top priority, introducing people to Christ as the number one mission.
Our story today is what it’s like to experience the start of something new and exciting. The disciples were there gathered together, “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them.” Notice that the wind came from heaven. As I said last week, God did not send Jesus to establish a kingdom of Israel, but a kingdom of God for Israel. Israel means, “One who wrestles with God.” Jesus was sent not to establish a kingdom of those who wrestle with God; rather Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God for those who wrestle with God. This heavenly wind sounded like the rush of a violent wind. In the greek, the word “violent” is more like the word, “burdened.” It was a heavy wind, a burdened wind, a wind which was carrying something heavy. Then this wind led to divided tongues, as of fire . . . do you hear the symbolic language? It was like a violent wind. Divided tongues, like fire, rested upon them. Sometimes our human language just cannot adequately express the work of God. Nevertheless, these tongues of fire rested upon them, and it seems a strange occurrence.
Throughout scripture God appears as fire. Moses stood before a burning bush, which was not consumed. God led the Ancient Israelites through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night. Elijah, while facing the prophets of Baal, called down fire from heaven to consume his offering. Instead of being caught up in what the tongues of fire were or what it was like, notice that this is the first time that this fire from heaven rested upon mortals. The tongues were divided for the first time, being gifted upon the disciples. In the past the fire was in one place, the bush, the pillar, the altar, but now the fire is divided and given to the church. God is doing something extraordinary, and the miracle isn’t the fire, it’s that the fire is now divided and offered to the church. Maybe this is what Jesus was getting at when he broke the bread and divided it among his friends and his enemy during their last supper together? Maybe this is what Jesus was getting at when he sat down with the multitudes and he divided bread among the thousands so that all would have their fill?
All of those who had gathered were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. There were others there who were asking what was going on. It’s a bird? It’s a plane? What’s going on, and one of the funniest verses in the Bible is recorded. Some said, “they must be drunk,” but Peter says, “No, they are not drunk, for it is only 9:00 in the morning.” Any way you slice that, that’s funny! All of the people there, no matter their language or heritage or ethnicity heard the disciples speaking in their native language. Some time ago there was a husband and wife missionary team who was sent to some islands in the pacific. One day a little boy began climbing a coconut tree in order to get some breakfast. As he steadied himself at the top of the tree, he grabbed his machete, ready to cut. His mother ran out of the hut and started yelling at him. The female missionary told her husband, “She’s warning him to be careful.” Their translator was amazed saying, “I didn’t know you could speak our native tongue.” The woman replied, “I can’t, but I do speak ‘mother’.” You see, the disciples were not blabbering or speaking a spiritual langue in which no one could understand. Quite the opposite. They were speaking in different languages so that all could understand.
In a way, this moment is a reversal of the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 11 humanity gathers to construct a tower which would reach into the heavens. In another very funny verse, God comes down from heaven just to see what they were up to. God says, “Come let us (trinity reference, by the way) go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” With the tower, humanity had gathered to build a city for themselves, so God confused their language. On the day of Pentecost, the community had gathered to begin building the Kingdom of God, so God blesses them with the Holy Spirit, bringing them together for the work of God. This moment of the outpouring of the Spirit is a celebration of diversity, but it is not a celebration of diversity for diversity itself. We are a diverse people. You are you and I am me. I am not expected to be you and you are not called to be me; however we are all united into the life and unity of Christ. If this text was about simple conformity, then the disciples would have spoken one language in which they could all understand. If this was simply about diversity, the disciples would have been telling different stories. The text is about people recognizing their distinctness, but they are being called together into one life, one Lord, one God.
A man visited a church for several weeks and he quickly became discouraged. After one of the worship services he asked the pastor when he was going to do stuff. “Stuff?” the pastor replied. “Yeah, the stuff in the Bible, like feeding 5,000 people with bread and fish and healing the blind, you know, that stuff.” The pastor answered, “Oh we believe in those things, but we don’t do them.” Needless to say, the man never returned. This outpouring of the Spirit which laid the foundation of the Church, has blessed the church with an extraordinary gift, the gift of power and meaning. The Spirit gives teaches us the meaning of what Christ is calling us to do and the Spirit gives us the power to do it. David Brooks, in a recent New York Times article wrote, “Most successful people don’t look inside and then plan a life. They look outside and find a problem, which summons their life.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t solve our problems; rather it gives us power and meaning in order to recognize them and work them out for the glory of God, and these two things, power and meaning, are held in tension with one another. If we had power without meaning, we would align ourselves in a survival of the fittest, dictatorship in which power is the answer to all problems. If we had meaning devoid of power, we would understand the mysteries of the world, but be impotent in how to apply them within the world. Power and meaning, the Spirit provides, and these two gifts lead us toward vocation, our calling, our purpose.
Fredrick Buechner once wrote, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” What fills you with gladness? What nourishes your soul? I love asking people, “If you could do anything all day, what would it be?” My next question is, “Then why aren’t you doing it?” What are your dreams? What is your passion? But it’s not just about our desire. Truth be told, I would wander around Epcot all day if given the opportunity, but that doesn’t seem to benefit God’s kingdom. I should know. I’ve thought about it. It is where our passions align with the deep hunger of the world. What is your passion and how is God calling you to use it in the Kingdom of God? This is the super power with which you have been blessed. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us to hear God’s voice and to respond to God’s voice.
This may get me into trouble. Don’t wait for a committee. Don’t wait for the church council to give you a mission. Now, it would be helpful to talk to a pastor about what God is calling you to do, and I only say that because when someone says they’ve been talking to God, it’s helpful to seek affirmation from the community. Never mind the fact that when someone says that God has spoken with them and they want to be a minister that one of the first requirements is a psychological assessment. It’s just helpful, but understand that God is asking you to receive a blessing, not seek permission. The Louisiana Conference has adopted new church development as its top missional priority, which means that our number one priority is for our churches to be captured by the excitement and fire and passion of this Pentecost experience. What has God been putting on your heart? Are you being called to feed the hungry? Are you being called to spiritually nourish your brothers and sisters here? Are you being called into a Disciple Bible Study? Are you being called to teach scripture in Cuba? Are you being called to form a cell group in your home on Thursday evenings? Are you being called into the jail cells to love the unlovable? We have been given a Holy gift of power and purpose, and it is “Totally wicked.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!