Ormond Beach Presbyterian Church - Sermon May 20, 2007

                                                            Pentecost 2008
                                                             Acts 2: 1 - 21
                                                             May 11, 2008

          When a baby is born everyone listens for that first sound - that cry that indicates that a new life has entered our world. And there is the holding and the beholding as momma and papa hold and behold their son or daughter. Oh look, they often say, he has your eyes - she has your nose. And there is that overwhelming sense of joy that this precious gift has been entrusted to them, which of course gives way to the overwhelming terror that this precious gift is going home with them this afternoon and they will be wondering and worrying late into the night, “now what do we do.”

          Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the church. The book of Acts records for us these reflections on the birthing. The first sound was the sound of a violent wind from the heavens and there was the wondrous beholding of tongues of fire that rested upon and filled each one of the gathered disciples with the promised power of the Holy Spirit.   Then there was the overwhelming joy of bold unrestricted speech that made them sound as if they were drunk and perhaps there was the terror that “now” there was something that they were to do because of the power that was given to them and because they were called to be witnesses for Jesus in their inhabited world.

          Several years ago on a Pentecost Sunday I tried to recreate this Pentecost birth story with my congregation for it seemed to me that the wind was not stirring in our midst and the fire had gone out. As I was reading the text I had cued the organist that when I got to the line “and suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind” that he was to open up the organ and let it rip, which he did and which startled those who were settling into their mid-morning nap. And I had prepositioned several of the senior high youth in the congregation with Zippo lighters for the tongues of fire resting above their heads. And then I asked the congregation to make loud noises and sound as if they were excited which is hard for Presbyterians. All in all it was great fun and they enjoyed the silliness but it did little to put us closer to the formative event of our birth. I will not try to manufacture a Pentecost experience for us today.   The miracle of Pentecost is not the dramatic wind that blows or the heavenly fireworks. The miracle of Pentecost is that timid disciples who had been hiding and praying behind closed doors came out into the street and started speaking. Listen again to the way Luke describes the reaction of startled onlookers to this scene - How is it that we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power, each of us, in our own native language Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia? At Pentecost the church - that is all the believers gathered together were gifted with a voice by the Spirit and they were given something to say and the power to say it and they were given a message that would be a blessing to all nations.

          So the question that I am pondering this Pentecost is this - what has happened to the voice given by the Spirit to all the believers - what is the urgent message that God wants to speak not only to this nation but all the nations of the world? All too often when we think of the church having a voice that speaks God’s message we think of pastors and we think of preaching. Sometimes the preacher has something to say and he says it with clarity and conviction and power - sometimes - and sometimes the preacher looks out over the congregation and wonders if anyone is all that interested or eager to hear God’s message. I was with a group of pastors this week and we were talking about many things including what we were going to say this week. One member of our group wondered how our congregations would react if we had the misfortune of having a Jeremiah Wright moment in the pulpit - that is saying something so inflammatory that our words would be the topic of dinner table conversations and played endlessly in the news and be quoted or denounced by Presidential candidates. As a result most pastors labor over how to speak God’s word without offending. Maybe that is one small part of the problem. God’s word and God’s message is like a two edged sword - it comforts and it cuts. God’s word is a little like playing with fire - it can warm us and it can burn us. God’s word has the potential to build up and to tear down. Richard Niebuhr once gave this definition of a good sermon - he said, “A good sermon should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” So why do I do this on your behalf - why do I labor over my words each week? The point of preaching is so that you might have something to say this week. Not whether or not you liked the sermon or got something out of the sermon. The point of preaching is to help you find your voice and speak God’s message beyond the doors of the church this week.

          So here is a wild thought. What if at the end of every worship service every person sitting here this morning had to turn to their neighbor and tell them what word from the Lord they were going to say this week and where they were going to say it. Like I said, a wild thought. Yet that may be what Peter had in mind when he stood up and began to speak. Pastor Peter seemed to understand as the Prophet Joel understood that when the spirit of God moves in our midst it moves everyone to speak. Not just the usual suspects Prophets, Pastors and Sunday school teachers but a whole new assortment of God’s children - mothers and fathers - grandmothers and grandfathers - sons and daughters - young and old, college educated and high school dropouts - all will speak because the Spirit of God will not be restricted to those standing up front wearing fancy vestments but to those sitting in the pews.

          So let’s practice - Let us imagine together what good news you are going to speak to startled onlookers this morning in the middle of Alfies as they are enjoying their mother’s day brunch?

          What do you think that……should say? Nothing - people may think he is drunk or a nut.

          God loves you. For some people that is good news.

          What good news would you speak to a waitress who just got chewed out for messing up the order at the next table?

          What good news would you speak to the young man bagging your groceries?

          What good news would you speak to the neighbor next door who is all alone on Mother’s day?

          Alfies may not be the place to start for shy Presbyterians.   Yet there are places and opportunities to speak of God’s love and experience the miracle of Pentecost. The miracle of Pentecost is not that we speak the good news in church sanctuaries Sunday after Sunday. The ongoing miracle is that the Holy Spirit moves in our lives and gives us the courage to speak and our words do make a difference when they are spoken in the name and the power of Jesus Christ.