Polk City UMC
June 3, 2001
Mark Haverland
Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together 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? All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
I experienced a Pentecost a few weeks ago right here in Polk City Iowa. Marion Conover of the Iowa DNR led a forum about the draining of Big Creek Lake. The crowd in attendance was sure that no one understood what they were saying, least of all the government bureaucrats. Conover seemed to think the same thing. He kept repeating that the science was clear: gizzard shad could not be managed in a small lake like Big Creek. His claim that all other such lakes cleansed of fish and restocked experienced a huge increase in traffic within a few short years fell on deaf ears. Neither side appeared to believe the other. It was as if the opposing sides were speaking a foreign language, just as at Pentecost. Only the skill of Marion Conover kept the meeting from turning into a shouting match.
Modern day flames must have touched Marion Conover, however, for the next day we discovered that the DNR intended to implement all of the suggestions of the Big Creek enthusiasts. 50,000 wipers were placed in the lake before the week was out and more predatory fish were on the way. We'll have restricted limits on fish in Big Creek for the first time and boaters will in no way have their summer fun interrupted. It looked to me as if the two sides were talking right by each other, neither side hearing the other. But in fact, perfect harmony was achieved when the voices in the crowd were not only heard but heeded. I think that the DNR was happy not only to please the public but also to test the science which said it couldn't be done. Both sides got what they wanted when, as it turns out, at least the DNR was truly listening to the other side. Perhaps Pentecost has at least something to do with good will on the part of the listener.
It reminded me of a modern parable: Two children were in the kitchen fighting over the one orange
in the house. Each needed the orange for a recipe. Mom came in, saw the problem, and with great
apparent wisdom, cut that orange in two and handed one half to one, one half to the other. No one
was satisfied. If only someone had listened. You see, one recipe called for the meat of the orange,
the other called for the skin. BOTH could have had what they wanted...if only anyone had bothered
to listen. Pentecost is not magic. It's about the miracle God works in our hearts if we truly listen
with good will to each other.
If there is a single word that captures the mood of every person present when the Spirit was poured out, it is surprise. The crowd that gathered to witness the strange phenomena on Pentecost was surprised. The exact words used by the writer of Acts are "bewildered and amazed." They were devout, biblically literate folks, people who worshiped regularly and knew good preaching. If anyone understood the will of God, it should have been these devout, church-going followers of Jesus. They, after all, just like us, studied and followed the word of God closely. Surely they, and we, understood what God was doing here. But when the Spirit descended on them that day, they were surprised. It turned out that they had no idea where all this Jesus business was taking them. They just did not realize what their lives would be like after Jesus rose and ascended. For instance many still hadn't given up on the idea of a political Messiah who would restore the kingdom to Israel. And when Jesus gave them instructions and then departed through the clouds, most stood staring at the sky as though there had been some mistake. Angels had to shoo them away. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come upon them, but didn't say exactly how or when this would occur. The last thing they expected as they gathered on the first Pentecost was that wind and flames would descend on them, changing forever the way they experienced the world. Who would have thought that the Holy Spirit would enable them to speak and understand previously incomprehensible foreign languages? The world was now a different place for them.
We experienced a secular version of such a transformation when Neal Armstrong landed on the moon in1969. The world has been a different place ever since. When we sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand," we can now picture what this looks like for we have a picture of the whole world, taken from the surface of the moon. We now know what the world looks like from a brand new perspective. The famous picture of the earth rising over the horizon of the moon appeared on college dorm walls almost instantly. It was as if people suddenly understood what before had been eclipsed. That new perspective on the world inspired the environmental movement into an enthusiasm which has not yet subsided, and which even President Bush is now joining. The Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and a host of environmental advocacy groups emerged from the new awareness that the earth is one interdependent whole. Even today the debate over the energy problems we face is complicated by those whose picture of the whole earth makes them worry about global climate changes. There can be no doubt that seeing the earth from the surface of the moon transformed our world view.
One creation that was the direct result of that photograph was the Whole Earth Catalogue. I think it is still around. It sells new age kind of stuff relating to environmentally gentle uses of the world's resources. It's name acknowledges recognized that we were changed by the new perspective on earth. Because Neal Armstrong remember to take his camera, we now know that we live on a relatively small planet. We know that we must learn to get along with our environment and our neighbor if we are to survive the fragility of our existence. We now know that we must begin to listen to and understand the cacophony of voices which share our beautiful but delicate sphere.
The disciples also learned to see the world from an entirely new perspective. Without the aid of space travel, God showed them that life in this world depends on our willingness and ability to listen and understand the world in which we live. They didn't have to fly to the moon to see the importance of a life lived in harmony with our neighbors. If they listened so that others could speak and if they spoke so that others could hear, God would be present.
The result of all that? That little band of believers grew. Big time. They had the biggest revival any church ever saw. They exploded from being a few dozen members to adding 3,000 more that day and a couple thousand more soon after. People saw this divine "Force" in action and wanted to be a part of what was happening. Their lives were changed. They began to share. They were so caught up in the Spirit and so happy with one another that they just pooled what they had to the glory of God and the power of the kingdom. They shared all they had with each other and each one had enough. Imagine that?
The lesson of Pentecost is that God's purpose is not thwarted by our lack of understanding, our inability to communicate. In spite of our inability to communicate, to listen, to understand, God saves us anyway. We need not be discouraged by our inability to know where the flames of God will appear next. Religious people have always failed to recognize Christ in their midst. Even the disciples didn't get it when they saw the risen Lord. But God's purpose in raising Jesus from the dead was not hindered by shortsighted human expectation. That the disciples did not know where God was leading them did not stop the Spirit of Christ from visiting them. The disciples ignorance was not an impediment to the coming of a Savior. Neither is ours. We frequently don't understand what God intends. We often don't understand our neighbor, even those who speak plain English. That Marion Conover understood the concerns of the public last week surprised everyone in the room no less than the disciples were surprised to understand the babel of voices they heard.
This should give us confidence as we think about the future of the church. Whatever errors we make in judgment, however feeble our efforts at evangelism, no matter how polarized we are about what constitutes "good" worship, God's work in the world will not be stopped. The Spirit was poured out. The flames did appear. The wind did howl. The dove did descend. The voices did make sense. Not because the people expected them to. The spirit of God is not limited to human expectations. One sure sign that we are following Christ is that he leads where we did not expect to go.
The disciples were surprised when the earth rose over the horizon of the moon, but they were no longer bewildered. They recognized the Spirit of God in the flames and wind. They recognized the voice of God in the words of stranger. They found Christ though they had no idea where to look. Test the spirits to see if they are of God, the Bible reminds us, and if the Spirit is of Christ - then follow!, even if it surprises you.