It''s Pentecost--What Really Happened?

 

A little boy visited the Grand Canyon with his parents. And when they got there they walked out on the edge and looked down and it was scary. Nobody said anything. And then their son spoke. Looking out on that vista and it’s enormity and wonder he said, “Something Happened Here.”

And when we come to the story of Pentecost Luke says something happened here. It was after the horror of the cross. Some could not get that out of their heads. It was after Easter. It was after Ascension when they stood there looking up and he left them. Went upward. They were left empty and grief-stricken. They wondered what in the world they were going to do. They had left jobs and families and for what. It all seemed to be over. There was Rome always breathing down their necks. And a whole cadre of people that hated them and killed some of them. They just fell apart. Oh, they kept meeting week after week but their hearts weren’t in it. They were just going through the motions one morning and guess what? Something happened. Something changed their lives. They were never quite the same again.

They were just sitting there hopeless and sad. In total shock with Jesus gone. And then something happened. That day lightning struck. And they got up no longer hopeless, no longer immobilized. They went out after that Pentecost morning and changed the world. And if the challenge of Pentecost had not happened there would be no church here and on this spot there would have been a Dollar General and Jesus’ name would be consigned to the history books. 

But that did not happened. Why? Something happened here.  A little group came together in that hard year of 1789. George Washington was Inaugurated as President. The Constitution of the United States became law. Benjamin Franklin and a colleague met and began to lay out plans for a place called Washington. Bill of Rights introduced by James Madison. Down in Kentucky Rev. Elijah Craig distilled bourbon whiskey for the first time in Stamping Ground, Kentucky. By the way the Reverend was not a Presbnyterian but a Baptist!

But that’s not all. In a place called Pendleton Village a little cluster came together and started a Presbyterian Church. It was a hard time. They were  attacked more than once by Indians. And in 1796 their little church burned. And they rebuilt in 1797. And in 1802 they built a worship center called Old Stone Church. And in 1820 they moved to Pendleton and built this building. And for 233 years you have opened the doors and said welcome.

Is it all over? Is anything happening today? Yes. It is Pentecost and it is not just a day for looking back. It is a day that looks toward the future. Is what happened here just in the history books or is there a door that slowly opens in this strange time and the people here you and you and you and me, too know something is happening here still.

Wind

What happened? Wind. Suddenly there came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind and it filled the whole house.” They couldn’t see the wind but they could feel it.  Wind comes from the old Hebrew word: breath. The breath of life. 

They were turned inside out by that wind that came. And here today—without breath what happens? We die. Breath energizes. Breath puts wind in our sails. It keeps us going.

Fire

But not only was there wind but there was also fire. “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them and a tongue rested on each of them.” Each of them. Everybody here too. Yes. Their hearts burned within them as they walked and talked with him along the way. 

And we know that sometimes the lamp flickers low—but it doesn’t go out. A man wrote a story about this boy that fled from home and did the dumbest things. He was in jail more than once. And in desperation he decided to go back home hungry and penniless. He remembered his Daddy always told him if you decide to come back—we’ll leave a candle burning in the window. So in desperation he staggered down the road and saw his home. And guess what? The house was dark and there was no candle burning. The house was dark. And a man that read the story told the writer:’You devil put the light back in that window!” And sometimes we think the light has gone out. But no. “The light still shines and the darkness cannot put it out.”

Tongues

Wind. Fire. But Luke adds another word. Tongues, too. “All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability.” It was not the unknown tongue. Everybody heard in their own language. Everybody.                                    

Something happened there. And no one was a stranger or a visitor. No back of the bus. No inside/outside jokes. No pecking order. No one better than others. Just one big family. “Parthinians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia,  Judea and Cappadocia.”That’s not all the languages that Luke gives. But we have got to go home and get lunch. That first Pentecost everybody heard and everybody belonged. They looked around and most realized they were all part of a great big family.

Prophecy

But there’s more wind and fire and tongues. But there was prophecy too. What did that mean? “In that day God will pour out his spirit on all people.” He said: there will come the peaceable kingdom. And old and young and slaves and free, and women and men…all will be touched with the Spirit of God. And the prophecy said: There are hopeful days ahead. Not just back there. But here and in 2023 and 24 and more.

Power

But one more word about what happened. Don’t get scared we are gonna eat lunch. The last word is power. We are living at a time like theirs when we just don’t know what the future holds. Ukraine worries. So do we. This is a hard, hard time and most of us feel hopeless.  And we don’t know what to do about guns or inflation or gas prices or if our kids will come home safe from school. We feel powerless. But put down beside our TV news and our newspapers another word: Power. We don’t hear that word much these days. But that’s Pentecost. 

When I was pastor in Memphis the phone rang one night and it was Paul who called to see how I was doing. And he said, “Do you remember when you helped start the AA chapter here and people didn’t want us to do it? But we decided to try anyway and that first night we had five that came. And people would call you up and say:”We can’t do this.” “They’ll tear up this good church.” “We’ll lose members.” Well, we kept meeting. And then Paul said, “Now we’ve got 40 people that come every week. Some here still don’t like it but it’s the strongest AA group in East Memphis. He told me: I haven’t had a drink in 13 years.” Some of those that came repented of their self-destructive behavior. Some got back together with their wives and children. Some started going to church on Sunday. Some found joy, joy, joy down in their hearts. That’s power. The power of God was there. And it’s here too.

So we are gonna have lunch after all. But let us remember Pentecost when something miraculous happened . And let us know that here where so much has happened in the past God is still here and his power has not dried up. The candle in the window still burns. And the darkness can never put it out. Thanks be to God.

This sermon was on preached on June 5, 2022, Pentecost Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church, Pendleton, SC

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com