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"Remembering Pentecost"
May 30, 2004
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson
"Don't ever do that to me again!" That's what a minister said one day after he had prayed for a woman. The circumstances were these: An ordinary minister who was doing ordinary visitation. He went to see a woman in a hospital. She had been crippled for a long time--hadn't walked in months, had no hope of walking. So he went on an ordinary visit and said an ordinary prayer. But then something extraordinary happened. After he prayed for her, she began to get a smile on her face. She began to move around. She began to put her legs off the bed onto the floor. And, lo and behold, she stood for the first time in months! She began to walk around--little baby steps, but then she was walking more and more, then up and down the halls. She began to shout, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I've been healed! This minister has healed me! Isn't it wonderful!" She went on and on and just told everybody. The minister was going around, shaking everybody's hand. Then the minister finally got into his car. He looked up into the sky and prayed, "Lord, don't ever do that to me again!"
I think sometimes that's what happens when Presbyterians start talking about the Holy Spirit. We get a little bit nervous about this "thing" we don't understand, but we hear a lot about, especially on this day of Pentecost. Our banner is the fire of heaven coming down from God. Sometimes us Presbyterians, because we tend to be--as Garrison Keilor says--shy and not too outgoing, or at least more reserved, aren't sure what to do with that. But today is Pentecost. It's not simply about this power from heaven, though it is about that. It's also about remembering what God has done. God has done something big and new. God has started something that will one day encompass the earth.
I'd like to read you a couple of Scriptures. One from the Old Testament, a familiar passage, Jeremiah 31. It talks about something God is going to do in our day, on the day of Pentecost and forward. It says this:
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
And from Acts--I'm going to add Acts chapter 1, verses 7 and 8:
". . . But 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 ends of the earth."
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all gathered in one place. 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, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
A man was reading his paper early one morning and eating his breakfast. His wife came over to him and patted him on the shoulder. She looked at him, smiled, and said, "I bet you don't know what today is, do you?" He looked at her and said, "Of course I know what day it is!" and went back to reading his paper. But he really didn't know, and all day he worried about it because he knew his wife was very sensitive about birthdays and anniversaries, but none of those things seemed to fit and he just couldn't figure it out. So he decided to take care of it. He went and bought candy, and flowers and a large present and brought them home to his wife and gave them to her. She said, "Oh, honey, this is the best Ground Hog Day I've ever had!"
Memories. Memory is hard sometimes. There are things we ought to remember, but we don't. Things that we shouldn't remember that we do. Sometimes we have these tapes that we play in our head that we'd like to get rid of. On the other hand, it seems like (especially as I get older!) there are things I forget all time. And God, of course, knows this. In the history of salvation, and the history of God's people, God has instructed His people to set up monuments, or memorials, or have special days to remember. After passing over the Red Sea or the Jordan, the people set up stones so that when people would come and see it later on, they would be able to say, "This is when God performed this miracle." And of course there are days that have been set up that have been observed throughout history.
Pentecost is one of those days. It is about the Holy Spirit, but it's also about remembering what God has done. Let me tell you what I mean. We all have heard of Passover, correct? And if you haven't read about it, you have at least seen part of it in the movie the Ten Commandments, I suspect. Do you remember what happened at Passover and why it's called Passover? Do you remember how Joshua, in the movie, ran around with a bucket of lamb's blood and painted the doorposts of each house, and how the angel of death and the destruction and judgment came to kill all the first-born of Egypt, but the houses that had the blood were protected? And you remember what happened later, how all the first-born of the Egyptians were killed and Pharaoh finally relented and let the people go. And how they went through the Red Sea and in the movie how it divided up and they went through, and Pharaoh pursued and Pharaoh's army was killed. Then later on--just a little later on--Moses goes up on the mountain for 40 days, receives the law and comes back. And the people made a covenant with God that they will be His people and He will be their God.
Now, Passover has been celebrated by Jews for hundreds of years. But Pentecost was also celebrated. Now Pentecost originally was 50 days ("pente" means "five") 50 days after the barley harvest. But as things go along, it developed into something else. It became a day that was celebrated 50 days after Passover. Passover was, of course, this salvation event in which God and His judgment delivered the people of Israel and they were protected from this judgment by the blood of the lamb. Then 50 days later, as they counted it, the law was given. And so in Jesus' time, some very important things began to happen. You know, the Bible--I want you to hear this--the Bible fits together in remarkable ways. And God did things on purpose so that what had happened in the past goes with what happens in the future, or the present. So remember when Jesus died, He died on Passover. And in Christian theology, Jesus' blood covers us from God's judgment. Jesus' death and resurrection is seen as like a new Passover.
There's an old story about this, about some people who settled out on the great plains. One day the farmer was looking out and he saw a huge fire coming towards his house. Soon his whole house would be enveloped by flames. But quickly, he did something. He started his own fire and he literally burned out the area around his house so when the fire was coming down the plains, it literally went around them, because it wouldn't burn the already-burned-out spot. That is, in a sense, what Jesus has done for us. There is the judgment of God on sin. But Christ took that judgment for us. And in Christian theology that's seen as a new and bigger Passover.
But even more, it doesn't just end at the crucifixion and the resurrection. It goes further into Pentecost. You see, that day of Pentecost in Jewish theology began to be the day when they celebrated the giving of the law at Sinai. So you had Passover and the escape from Egypt and then the giving of the law. And it wasn't just the giving of rules and regulations; it was the day that God said to the people of Israel, "I am constituting you as my people and I am blessing you with my Word and I will be your God and you will be my people." In the same way, Jesus' death and resurrection at the new Passover--50 days later comes the Holy Spirit. And in that day, God made a new thing.
Think of the parallels. Do you remember how long Jesus stayed with the disciples after His resurrection? It was 40 days. Well, duh! Jesus is said to be like the new Moses in the New Testament, only bigger. He stays with the disciples and teaches them for 40 days and then He leaves, but not forever. He said, "Stay in Jerusalem and a power will come upon you." And indeed it does. The prophecy in Jeremiah is going to be fulfilled. It will be not like the time in which I gave you the law at Mount Sinai. It will be a new thing. I will write the law on your heart and give you the promises of God inside. It will be a new thing because the Holy Spirit will come upon you, upon everyone, from the least to the greatest. The Holy Spirit was only given to the prophets and the leaders in the Old Testament times, but now the Holy Spirit will come upon everyone. And the parallels are there. Just as the Israelites heard the voice of God at Mount Sinai, so everyone hears the voice of God at Pentecost.
You know, sometimes we get wrapped around the axle with this idea of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is a biblical thing, but you have to remember what was going on at this point. It was simply that they were given the ability to speak different languages. In this particular celebration, people came from all over the place. We just read the list of people, and that was the short list. There were people from all over the Mediterranean. Different languages, different tongues, and these people given the ability to speak. It would be like I would be given the ability to speak Italian (and I can't, believe me). (I say that. My daughter just took an exam in it. She's the one who's going to learn how to sing. I should ask her to speak some of it.) It would be just like that. But you see what God is doing. God began with one people and one place. Now God is about to do something new. He says to the disciples, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and the whole world." God not only speaks the language of Hebrew, but speaks in hundreds of languages through the church. God not only gives the Spirit to Moses. He gives the Spirit to everyone, and we need to remember that. In Pentecost God re-birthed His people so that everyone who confesses the name of Christ becomes part of the people of God--and we're it. Whether you be Jew or Gentile, Scandinavian, or whatever it happens to be, you're part of the gift of God. But God was also doing something new in terms of a relationship. Again, Jeremiah says, "I'm going to write the law on your heart." What does that mean? You know, it's interesting to me as you read the New Testament history, how over time the Israelites began to get it wrong.
And, believe me, when I say that, I'm not simply pointing my finger at them because they were simply doing what most human beings do. They began to look at the laws of God and say, "Here are the laws, and if we just keep them, we'll be OK with God. Our relationship is constituted in keeping the rules." I find many Christians to be exactly the same way. You may ask yourself, "What constitutes your relationship with God?" I find so many people say to me, "Pastor, if you would just give me a list of what I'm supposed to do." Now, there's nothing wrong with a list, but the list does not constitute a relationship with God. And if you keep the list perfectly--if you go to church, read your Bible, give your money. If you do this and do that, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have a good relationship with God. A relationship with God is constituted in a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit in Christ. The Christian life is about allowing the Spirit to work in your life to change you, to make you more like Jesus, to give you a mission, to show you what to do. Keeping lists is a good thing, but it's not what it's about. It's about knowing God, and knowing Him in our hearts and minds. It's not simply about keeping a list. But, boy, we really like lists. "Just tell me what to do, pastor." I try to do that, but it isn't all I want for you or for me. It's not about that.
You know, sometimes I think when we hear that, that's when we get nervous. There's a story about a pastor named Robert Short. He wrote one of my favorite books. It's called The Gospel According to Peanuts. He took the "Peanuts" cartoons and began to do theology with them. But when he was a young man, he was a real hell-raiser. In high school he became an agnostic. (You know what an agnostic is--someone who says I don't believe in anything or I can't believe in anything.) His mother sat with him at the kitchen table and said, "I can't believe it! I thought I raised you correctly. I'm your mother. How can you do this to me? My son--an agnostic!" Well, flash forward a few years later and he has become a Christian. He decided God has called him to the ministry. He's at the very same breakfast table with his mother saying, "I can't believe this! I thought we raised you right. I'm your mother. My son--a religious fanatic!"
We're so afraid of being fanatics. We're so afraid of what people would think of us. We're so afraid, sometimes, that if we get in touch with God through the Holy Spirit, that God will make us do something weird. I think there's a big difference between being a fanatic for God and being passionate for God. I think the Holy Spirit is about creating passion in our hearts, because it is about a relationship. And any relationship we have in which there is not passion, the relationship is dead, or almost. That includes our marriages. It includes our friendships. It includes anyone in our family--any relationship we have. There is no spark there. It's almost dead. There's no passion. It's not real. I guess we need to ask ourselves on this Pentecost, is our relationship with God real and passionate?
Last, but not least, we've been given not only a new church, a new people of God, a new relationship, but also a new mission. I mentioned earlier and said last week we are, in fact, missionaries. And Jesus says to the disciples, "I am going to send you out to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the whole world"--concentric circles going out and out. And God is now moving out to the whole world through Jesus Christ. We are simply called to be witnesses of a new message. What is that message?
I'm reminded of a story Max Lucado tells about a man who goes to a grocery store. He's just there to get milk and bread. He gets in line, you know, and he's handed some kind of pamphlet with a number on it. As it turns out, the grocery store is giving away, to whoever wins this raffle, this contest, free groceries. You go through the line, if you get the right number your whole basket of groceries is free. Lo and behold, he's a winner. And all he's there for is bread and milk! He doesn't know quite what to do, but then he looks behind him and sees a woman who has two baskets fully loaded with stuff and an idea comes into his head. He looks at her and says, "Dear, guess what! We won!" She doesn't know him from Adam, but then he kind of winks at her and she catches on. And together, they get the groceries. He is the winner. He has handed it off to her, in a sense. She gets free groceries. And they get out into the parking lot, she thanks him and moves on her way. Max Lucado says, "Yeah, I know, it's a little bit shady. But she's going away with an incredible story to tell." In grace--without thinking about it, without deserving it at all, she got a gift. And that's our message.
That's what Pentecost is all about. And the message of Pentecost is we don't have to go around and tell this message by ourselves. We have the power of God within us, through the Holy Spirit that helps. And if we have this relationship with God that's real and passionate, it will come out. It is a message not about following the old law (which is a good thing), but it's a new law of grace in which God gives us a free gift through Jesus Christ. A free gift that comes upon us like groceries in a grocery store, or anything else. What a story we have to tell. That's what Pentecost is all about.
Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for Pentecost. And we thank you for what it means for us. Help us to remember. Help us to have in our minds and hearts what you have done for us, that you have sent us out in a new relationship with you. We pray these things in your name. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson Senior Pastor Faith Presbyterian Church Minnetonka, Minnesota
[Transcribed from an audiotape of the 9:00 a.m. worship service on May 30, 2004.] |
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