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The church is the world’s greatest hope. The church
offers a sense of hope to a world bent on destruction.
People who have had a difficult time in their lives are
welcomed in the church where we proclaim new beginnings
and new life in Christ. It is possible to change, to
turn away from sinful behavior, and come to Jesus.
Our problem is that we are not always perceived in a
positive light by those outside of the church. People
with different life experiences do not always feel
welcome in church. We can and must do better.
Today is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church.
The Holy Spirit energized and empowered the apostles to
take the gospel message out into the streets.
The dramatic arrival of the Holy Spirit certainly caught
the people’s attention. Jesus instructed the apostles
to wait and pray which was exactly what they were doing
when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Luke reports
that they “were all together in one place.” The
believers were not scattered about running errands, or
doing their own thing, but were together in one place.
There is no telling what the spirit empowered church
might accomplish when all its members are together in
one place. We are strongest when we are with other
believers. For too long people have viewed their faith
as something private, never to be shared. Our faith
has a public aspect as well.
“Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush
of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where
they were sitting.” The arrival of the Holy Spirit was
like nothing the believers had ever experienced. The
whole house shook, it might have felt as though the roof
was about to collapse. The startled believers looked up
to see what looked like “tongues of fire” and they were
“filled with the Holy Spirit” just as Jesus had
promised.
Everything happened so fast. Before the believers knew
it they were out on the street. It was as if the walls
of the house where they were meeting disintegrated.
People on the street took notice and could not help but
wonder what was going on with the apostles. The crowd
drew closer to see for themselves what was taking
place.
To
revitalize the church in our community we need to be
more visible. We need to be where people are already
gathered. Too many people living in surrounding
neighborhoods do not even know we exist. Many people do
not have a clear understanding of what the church is
about or why they should attend. We have to do better.
Speech was the first gift of the Holy Spirit. The
apostles spilled out into the street where a crowd had
gathered. The spirit-filled apostles began speaking in
other known languages. It just so happened that in God’s
divine plan there were people from many nations gathered
in Jerusalem that day. Each person heard the apostles
speaking in their own native language. The people were
both amazed and astonished. Nothing like this had ever
happened to them or anyone else. Galileans were not
known for their mastery of foreign languages either. It
was truly amazing to hear these persons speak in their
own language. People listening understood what was
being said.
There were skeptics in the crowd that day. They
concluded based upon how the believers were acting that
they had too much to drink. “They are filled with new
wine” they sneered.
We
have to continue to find creative ways to communicate
the gospel message to people out side of our church.
The gospel message does not change but the way we
present it does. The believers were able to speak in
such a way that people were drawn to them.
The second gift of the spirit, I
believe, is courage. The biggest coward among them,
Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit stood to address
the crowd. It was just five short weeks before that
Peter denied even knowing Jesus to strangers. Peter
denied Jesus not once but three times. As Jesus was
dying upon the cross Peter was hiding fearful of his
very life. The Holy Spirit changed everything giving
Peter and the others courage. Peter did not shy away
from standing up for Jesus. He was no longer afraid to
be identified with Jesus either. He no longer cared
what people thought of him. He addressed the crowd,
telling them that the believers were not drunk that
morning but rather are filled with the Holy Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit in our lives we too have courage.
When we find ourselves in situations that we never
dreamed of we have courage and confidence to stand up
for what we believe. The Holy Spirit has a way of
pushing us out of our comfort zones. With Jesus in our
lives we need not be afraid, it does not matter to us
what people may think of us. We are with Jesus and that
is all that matters.
The first gift of the Holy Spirit was the gift of
speech, followed by the second courage. The third gift
was the gift of interpretation. Peter relying on the
Holy Spirit began teaching the crowd quoting the Old
Testament prophet Joel who foretold of the great day
when God “will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…”
The Holy Spirit descended upon all people, young and
old, men and women. The new age has dawn where such
distinctions no longer matter. “Then everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Peter continued
his message. People responded and “were cut to the
heart.” The people asked what they needed to do and
Peter told them “repent.” Repent means to turn toward
God. That day three thousand people became believers
and the church as born. It was all the Holy Spirit’s
doing.
Imagine for a moment how we might respond if suddenly
three thousand people came into our church this morning.
There would be challenges, where would they sit. There
are of course physical limitations to our building. We
would not have enough Bibles and hymnals and we would
have to send someone to the office to run off more
bulletins. It would be an unmanageable miracle.
I
read of a church that initiated a door-to-door
visitation program. Like too many churches this church
had lost touch with the neighborhoods surrounding the
church. The program was a success. People began coming
to church. The people who began attending were
different from the people inside the church. People
came with all sorts of problems, people who were down on
their luck, or at the end of their rope.
“We were forced to admit that we
wanted to grow,” the pastor explains, “but not just in
any direction! We wanted to grow in our direction rather
than God’s.” We honor God be welcoming all people to our
church.
Come Holy Spirit, fill us anew
today. Give us the words to speak to capture the
attention of others, give us the courage to live out our
faith in bold new ways, to engage people with the
gospel. Give us the gift of interpretation that we can
help lead others to Jesus. And may we welcome all
people who come to our church in the name of Jesus.
Lord, light the fire within us once again. The church
is the greatest hope.
Amen.
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