Our scripture about Pentecost can be broken down into three parts: the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples, the reaction of the Jews in Jerusalem, and Peter’s response to the Jews.
Pentecost was held seven weeks or fifty days after Passover and was a celebration of the Ten Commandments being given to Moses. This was one of the three major festivals on the Jewish calendar and was a time when Jews from all over the world would try to return to Jerusalem. Pentecost that year occurred just ten days after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven.
We cannot be sure where the believers were in Jerusalem but we know from the first verse of chapter two that they were all together. In the previous chapter of Acts we learn of Judas Iscariot’s death and the election of Mathias to be a new member of the Twelve. I think we can safely assume that at least the twelve apostles were all together. This verse may refer to the entire community of believers that included Jesus’ mother and his brothers. From some of the scripture this may have been up to one hundred and twenty people.
In the previous chapter, Jesus had instructed the community to stay in Jerusalem and before long they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
This promise was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit suddenly came from Heaven like a great wind. I imagine that is sounded something like some of the storms we’ve had in the last couple of weeks. The Holy Spirit filled them and they began to shine so brightly with God’s glory that it appeared as though they were on fire. As they were filled with the Holy Spirit they began to speak in other languages. What did they speak of? Our scripture tells us that they spoke about “God’s deeds of power.”
Have you ever had great news that you wanted to tell everyone, including perfect strangers? I remember that after I found out that my wife was expecting each of my children I just couldn’t keep it to myself. I remember telling a checkout person at Wal-Mart before my daughter was born. The subject just managed to come up somehow.
Perhaps this was the way it was with the disciples. They were so filled with the Holy Spirit and the joy of wonderful news that they just couldn’t keep it to themselves. They had to share it with everyone they could, and the Holy Spirit had given them the ability to be understood by anyone they met.
Some theologians believe that all of the disciples were in the Upper Room when this all began. In my mind I have always pictured the Upper Room as a cozy little area just big enough to hold the table shown in the painting of the Last Supper. If it was large enough to hold one hundred and twenty people it must have been much larger than that. From wherever they were I think they all began to spill into the street in a flood and began to loudly and passionately tell anyone they could find about God’s glory and the risen Christ. As they did so a large crowd gathered to see what all the commotion was about.
My family moved to southern Mexico when I was ten. In that part of Mexico there were very few people who spoke English and for the first couple of years I didn’t speak Spanish very well. One weekend we went up into the mountains to see the town of San Cristobal de las Casas that has one of the oldest cathedrals in all of the Americas. The countryside around San Cristobal has a large indigenous population that speaks very little Spanish. While at the market there my father was haggling with an Indian woman over the price of some fruit and in English I reminded him that we had seen better prices somewhere else. I was completely shocked when in perfect English she told my parents and me that she would beat anybody’s price in the entire market. The rest of the transaction was carried on in English, which she spoke much better than she did Spanish.
I imagine that the foreign Jews that gathered felt somewhat like I did. Here were people speaking to them in their own languages as if they were natives of that country as well. What was more, the ones speaking were Galileans. In those days people from the province of Galilee were considered to be uneducated and were generally looked down upon.
From our scripture we know that there were at least fifteen languages being spoken. There were probably many more languages than that since the Jews had been spread out among the entire known world. It would appear that any one of the disciples could talk in the native tongue of anyone they came across. Mastering another language is not an easy task, but to hear people from Galilee speaking all of these languages must have been amazing to those who heard them.
Some in the crowd wondered what all of this meant, while others just scoffed and said that they were just drunk. It makes no sense to me that being drunk could give someone the ability to speak in another language. To give the scoffers the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were natives of Jerusalem and to them all the other languages were just babble.
Peter then defended the integrity of the believers by reminding the crowd that it was only nine in the morning, which according to the custom was much too early to be drinking, let alone to be drunk. He went on to say that the prophet Joel had foretold everything that was happening.
Today as we remember that Pentecost two thousand years ago, what does our scripture say to us? Is Pentecost relevant to us today or is it just history. Is the Holy Spirit present with us? The flame in the symbol of The United Methodist Church says it should be. If it is, what are we doing about it?
I think many if not most of us are not comfortable with sharing our faith with others. It’s easier to just come to church on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening then sit back and listen to the preacher speak to us than it is to cross the line and introduce someone to the good news of our Risen Savior. We just don’t want to leave that comfort zone. Perhaps we’re too comfortable to share the Holy Spirit.
I read an article a couple weeks ago that said that churches were growing by leaps and bounds in impoverished countries while here in the United States they were in decline. Why are they growing? Because when you don’t know where your next meal is going to come from you have to trust the God will provide. Here in the United States even in a recession many people have it so good that they think they are the ones who will provide, not God. Perhaps we’re too comfortable to share the Holy Spirit.
One of the few churches in the United States that is growing is the Mormon church. Why? When each of their young people reaches a certain age they have to go out and evangelize. I saw them in Mexico all the time. There would be two of them in long sleeve shirts and ties walking around town no matter what the weather. They endured many hardships for their faith. Most of us wouldn’t even dream of doing that. Perhaps we’re too comfortable to share the Holy Spirit.
Why aren’t we willing to share the Holy Spirit with others? Perhaps we don’t want to be ridiculed as the disciples were. Perhaps we just don’t have the time. Perhaps we’re just too comfortable to share the Holy Spirit with others.
I submit to you that if we are truly filled with the wonder of God’s love and the knowledge that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose on the third day then ascended into heaven and if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we must not, no, we CAN NOT keep it hidden! Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples. We need to get out of our comfort zone. We have to spread the Good News throughout the world. We must let everyone we meet hear about God’s deeds of power just as the disciples did two thousand years ago! If we do this, the Holy Spirit will pass on from us to that new disciple. That new disciple will in turn pass it on to someone else. Instead of being some event in history, Pentecost will be a living event that happens every day as more and more people are filled with the Holy Spirit.
