Pentecost Sunday 2005
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-035
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23
Ah,
fire. These past few days
a fire in a fireplace would have been lovely indeed. On these past unseasonably cold, wet spring
nights a little fire blazing in the room…nice…
Were any of you able to do that? Bill?
You’ve got that nice fireplace in your house? Did you use it?
It’s one thing to have a fire in the day time. Another to have a fire
going on a dark night. Like when
we burn the Christmas trees! The blaze
has more appeal when we have waited for the sun to go down before we light the
first match.
Funny thing about fire, we appreciate it more in the
dark. Sitting around a campfire, sending the shadows
off into the woods. Or
after a cold day of ice fishing or working outside.
Like water, fire can be cleansing, warming, renewing. Or dangerous. Overtaking woods and homes in a flash.
Interesting, isn’t,
that on this Pentecost day we have the image of fire. Sometimes we see the Holy Spirit as a
dove. Cooing gently, flying elegantly, soft and light as the breeze.
But today we have fire.
In all it’s unpredictable glory.
The Holy Spirit makes an entrance in a dramatic fashion. It is a rush of a might wind, ( we’ve heard some of that this week) and divided tongues,
as of fire!
And then,
to add to the drama, it
stays noisy and there is somewhat
controlled chaos as the disciples start speaking and the crowd hears their own
language. Simultaneous translation!
Amazed and astonished most of the crowd is overwhelmed…what
is this?
But some sneer and blame an early morning drink or two. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been with people who have had a little too much to drink, one’s speech usually doesn’t become
clearer. And not much translating into
other languages seems to happen!
Then Peter, good old Peter the rock who professes faith
one minute and denies Jesus the next,
gives the first sermon. This is
what happens when the spirit comes:
And Peter quotes Joel, those beautiful words about sons and
daughters prophesying, young men seeing
visions and old men dreaming dreams. “Even
upon slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit…”
And there is blood and fire and smoky mist when the Lord comes in glory.
More fire.
Now would be a good time for some special effects, maybe some dry
ice, some plants from the foreign
language department….
Drama and amazement!
Sorry. I didn’t plan
ahead. (All I can do this morning is thunder and some
dripping into buckets).
Frankly,
the Christian life isn’t always so dramatic. Most of us grew up in the church and grew
into our faith. Even some of you who
joined later in life still came the quiet route, more of the dove than the fire.
But even so the fire is there. In the daytime we might miss it. When all is going well, the kids are doing good and the job is
fine and the parents are healthy, we don’t
even notice the Spirit burning around and within us.
But when it is dark; when the storm clouds of life threaten to overtake us,
when we are lost in despair, caught up in grief, wandering in a dark cloud….we need the fire
of the Spirit. And there it is. Burning through the fog, chasing the shadows back into the
woods.
Even then it may not be a dramatic scene or experience. But it is fire, warmth in the night, light in the dark. A break in the clouds….
The Spirit
of God. Unpredictable, wild, seemingly chaotic at times, burning it’s way into our very souls. Seeping out through our tears, bubbling up in our
laughter, glowing in our eyes. Bringing hope and courage and energy into our most
trying times.
But we don’t do it alone.
It isn’t one little fire over here and another over there. We are not each individual little candles
waiting for the great acolyte in the sky to come and set us alight.
But we exist together in the same Spirit. We are part of the same fire. We are members one another in the same
body. This fellowship we share at Lord
of Life is not simply a family feeling or like being a member of a club.
It is a part of something larger than ourselves. It is a reflection of the greater fire of the
Spirit. It is a belonging to the great and glorious
and world wide
This is no small fire contained in a fireplace, carefully
tended. It is a burning raging brush
fire…catching us up in it’s energy and enthusiasm and
wildness.
Even when we don’t feel like we’ve got the Spirit, it still smolders
in us, waiting for us to come in contact
with one another, gathering strength and
warmth from simply being together in this place.
Fed by the wine and bread, blown on by the word, strengthened in silence…
The Spirit rages among us.
Maybe not as dramatically as some might like or expect. But there it is… burning, burning, burning…
Never extinguished even though we may fall
away from church or forget to pray. It is still present. Sometimes we forget about it in the light of
day. But it is still present. Sometimes we think we’ve lost it, but it still burns.
For God has poured out the Spirit upon all flesh. Our sons and daughters prophesy, our young men see vision and our old men dream dreams….
The fire of the Spirit blazes in our midst, bringing heat when hearts grow
cold, light when the path grows
dim, energy when lives grow stale.
Together with God’s people of every time and every
place, around the world, speaking in many languages, living out their faith in many different
cultures, we are united,
ignited with the same Spirit of God.
Indeed, we are part of something much larger than
ourselves. More than our simple minds
can comprehend. Yet our hearts burn
within us whenever we gather together in Christ’s name.
Water, wine, bread, fire!
Amazing what God does with such simple things. Amazing what God can do with us!
O Lord, Come! Bring
the fire of your Spirit to cleanse us, warm us, and give us energy to do your work in this
world. May the fire of your Spirit burn
within us so that others may see and wonder what’s up. Then let the Spirit speak through us that
others may also feel your power and come to see by your light. With
hearts on fire let the people say AMEN.
AMEN!