Acts 2:1-21
"We're Not Drunk It's Only 9 a.m."
The first Christian Church was a motley crew, if there ever was one!!!
If there ever was a more ‘messy’ looking group of people, this was it!
These folks came from just about every walk of life, speaking all kinds of different languages.
There is no way they could get along—let alone thrive and grow together!
Imagine, both Jews and converts to Judaism calling one another “brother”; “sister.”
Imagine Arabs and Israelites coming together in love for one another…
…breaking bread together, praying together, eating in one another’s homes, praising God together, and having everything in common!
On the day of the Jewish festival of Pentecost some 2,000 years ago there were 120 women and men whom the Bible describes as “believers.”
Many of them had lived and followed Jesus for quite a while.
They had watched Jesus love persons—all kinds of persons--in ways that no one else had ever loved before.
They had witnessed with their own eyes—miracles of healing and transformation.
They had heard Jesus describe, countless times, a Kingdom where unconditional love was the standard bearer and God was the One Who was fair and just and kind and merciful.
They heard about the dream, they even caught glimpses of it…
…they got caught up in the excitement of it…
…but they didn’t really understand it.
Then the day came when their Leader was arrested, taken from them and executed in the most cruel and demeaning of ways!
It scared them to death and seemed to smash their hopes and the dream…
…but only for a few days…
…because this same Jesus Who they had come to love and adore, despite the fact that they did not fully understand Him or His message…
…came back to life and lived among them once more.
Then, after 40 days Jesus left them again.
But not before giving them these instructions, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
They didn’t have a clue what Jesus was talking about, but they waited none the less…
…this little band of funny folks…
…former prostitutes, tax collectors, blue collar fishermen, folks who had once been lame and crippled, people who had been demon possessed and lepers, persons who had been despised and shunned by the world!...
…they waited…
…they trusted and dared believe what they did not understand.
And then it happened.
"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak."
The crowds of people in the streets "were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, 'What does this mean?'
Others jeered at them, saying, 'They're full of new wine'"--in other words--they are drunk!!!
But Peter stood and with a loud voice said, "These people aren't drunk, as you suspect; after all, it's only nine o'clock in the morning!"
And then Peter preached a sermon about how this is what was "spoken through the prophet Joel" and that we can experience both God's purpose for us and the beginning of the age to come by allowing God to set up God's throne in our hearts.
"And those who accepted Peter's message were baptized.
God brought about three thousand people into the [Church] that day."
And right away, as we are told in Acts 2:42-47, "All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them...
...they praised God and demonstrated God's goodness to everyone."
And, "The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved."
To be saved is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to begin to be renewed into our original image--the image of God--the image we had before we rebelled in the Garden.
It is to become part of God's new creation.
It is to continually be receiving the love of God and then reflecting that love back toward all of creation.
It is our true destiny.
It is what we were created to do.
And yet so many of us miss it!!!
If you are not doing what you were created to do; if you are not being who you were created to be--you cannot be happy, you cannot be at peace.
To quote the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:10: being saved and thus filled with the Holy Spirit is to "change [your] former way of life..."
...and...
..."renew the thinking of [your mind] by the Spirit...[clothing yourself] with the new person created according to God's image..."
You know what I want more than anything in the entire world?
I want to have the mind of Christ.
That doesn't mean I want to be super smart, although I don't think I'd turn it down.
It doesn't mean I have to know the meaning of all things.
What it means is that I want to see people the way Jesus Christ sees people.
More than anything in the world, I want to love like Jesus loves.
I want to love ALL people like Jesus loves ALL people.
And so, I press on.
I make so many mistakes.
But you know how I come to love people more?
I come to love people more by getting to know them, listening to them and becoming involved in their lives.
And of course, Jesus is the ultimate example of The One Who does this best.
Some of my favorite places in the Bible are where it talks about Jesus' compassion for people.
In Matthew Chapter 9 it says, "Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages...
...when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to His disciples, 'The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers.
Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest.'"
We are to be the answer to that prayer.
This is our true destiny.
This is what God calls God's disciples to do.
Remember last week, when we talked about Jesus' Ascension in Acts Chapter 1?
What did Jesus say to the 120 believers right before He ascended back to heaven?
He said, "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
That's us.
We are Jesus' witnesses.
We are Jesus' Body on this earth, if His Spirit lives within us.
This past week the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission chopped down plans by Mustard Tree Ministries to build 32 tiny homes on a farm owned by the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The plan would have helped provide needed, affordable housing for those who are homeless and wanting to live in a rural environment.
The farm of vegetable crops, chickens, rabbits and goats would have helped employ many of those living in the tiny homes.
Sadly, more than 1,800 petition signatures were presented in opposition to the project from three different high-fallutin' homeowner groups in the area.
The Ooltewah area residents complained that the development would devalue their property.
Since when did we decide that "property values" are more important than people?
Well, I guess we decided that long ago.
But for those who call themselves "followers of Christ"--nothing is more important than those whom God loves.
Can you imagine the first Christians, the Apostle Paul, Peter and the rest saying: "It is more important to keep the value of my land up than it is to help my neighbor"?
Or what if Jesus said, "Blessed is the person who acquires the most wealth. They win in the end."?
"The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine..."
We need to be reaching out to the rich and self-satisfied...
...and not because we want their money...
...side note: They aren't the ones who tend to give anyway...
...but because Jesus loves them and has compassion on them, just as He has compassion on us, for they are like sheep without a shepherd.
How spiritually bankrupt, selfish and lost we humans can be.
It's very sad.
It's so easy to get lost; to believe the lie.
2,000 years after the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ...
...where are our hearts?
Where are our minds?
Are we being transformed into the image of God or are we regressing--have we been sold a bill of goods that says:
"build bigger barns, take it easy! Eat drink, and enjoy yourself.
Don't concern yourself with anyone else"?
This is the way of the world.
But it is foolishness.
Don't sell your soul for lies.
Don't sell your soul for fear that the price of your land will devalue.
Never put "stuff" above people and God.
What did Jesus say?
"No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other.
You cannot serve God and Money."
In the first Christian Sermon--given by Peter, Peter quoted the Prophet Joel: "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit in all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young will see visions.
Your elders will dream dreams."
Are we seeing visions?
Are we riding the dream?
Are we free in Christ Who said, "Don't be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom"?
Again, where is your heart?
Where is my heart?
I want my heart to be transformed.
I want the mind of Christ.
I want to be a new creation.
How about you?
