Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Pentecost Sunday - 06/08/14 Sermon - “To the ends of the earth!"

Sunday 06/08/14 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “To the ends of the earth!”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 104:24-34, 34b

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Acts 2:1-21

Gospel Lesson: John 7:37-39

         

Good morning and welcome once again, on this our Pentecost Sunday. This is the Sunday in our church calendar when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and the early Christians like tongues of fire.

Last week, we celebrated Jesus ascending to heaven, and before he left, he told his Apostles and the other followers to go to Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Spirit to fill them. Today is that day my brothers and sisters. For while the early Apostles and followers of Christ had faith, until this day they did not have the passion to fully preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear. On this day the Holy Spirit comes down and fills our souls like fire, and on this day, the Christian Church is born. For on this day, we now have the courage and the power to preach the gospel, not only here, but “to the ends of the earth!”

The word Pentecost come from the Greek word “Pentēkostē,” with translates to “The Fiftieth Day,” or what is called the “Feast of Weeks.” In Ancient Israel this “Feast of Weeks” or “Shavuot,” was and still is a holiday that celebrates God giving the law and Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the Jewish faith, this is more specifically a celebration of God giving the Jewish people the “Torah,” or what we would call the first five books of the Old Testament.

So on this very important Jewish holiday in Ancient Israel that celebrates God giving Moses the “Torah,” or the first five books of the Old Testament, this is when the miracle we are going to talk more about this morning occurred. This morning that the Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles and the early followers of Jesus Christ.

Image for a moment that you are in the bustling city of Jerusalem almost 2,000 years in the 30’s AD. The city is feasting and celebrating the “Shavuot,” or the giving the “Torah,” which once again is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Apostles and the early Christians are in an upper room, perhaps the same upper room that the Last Supper occurred in, as we don’t know for sure. In this place they remain, praying, worshiping, sharing communion, and being together, until the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised arrived. Today is that day.

The portion of scripture from Psalm 104 from this morning, is a very joyous piece of scripture. The portion of this Psalm begins by saying, “O LORD, how manifold are your works!” It then goes on to say, “When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” Today brothers and sisters, God’s spirit is unleashed like a mighty fire upon the Apostles and the early Christians.

Our focus for this morning then is primarily from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. In this reading from chapter-two from this morning, we find the story of Pentecost. The scripture says that all of the Apostles and the early followers of Christ were “all together in one place.” The scripture then says, “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.” Then the scripture says “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.” What a mighty miracle that occurred in the city of Jerusalem of this day, the day of Pentecost.

For those of us who have heard of or have experience a Pentecostal worship experience, our brothers and sisters in Pentecostal Christian Churches often focus on the Pentecost experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and sometimes even speaking in tongues. So for those of you that have seen or have heard about Pentecostal worship, this scripture and a few others, is where our Pentecostal brothers and sisters draw upon speaking in tongues, and having powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit.

So at this point in the story, the scripture says, “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem,” and many were likely there for this Ancient Jewish holiday. In hearing what happened, many of the Jews were “bewildered” scripture says, about what had just happened. Different people have spoken different languages, all at the same time. Needless to say, the Jewish people were confused as to what was going on, and how they heard all different languages from people that likely could not speak most of those languages.

While some were amazed, while some were “bewildered,” some said, “We think there drunk!” Yet the Apostle Peter now stands before them, with the eleven disciples. You remember Peter of course, the one who denied Jesus Christ three times, the one who had great fear and doubt. Yeah that Peter. Peter now stands before them like a mighty lion filled with the Holy Spirit, and ready to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, “To the ends of the earth!” The Apostle Peter then gives the first sermon ever given by a leader in the early Christian Church. First off though, which I think is really humorous, Peter says that he and the other Apostles are not drunk for “it is only nine o’clock in the morning.”

Peter then goes to give a powerful sermon, and that day 3,000 people are baptized and give their lives to Jesus Christ. For Jesus had said them, that he was baptized with water, but that they would be baptized with “Holy fire.”

So what is the point of all of this, and how does this connect to us in the here and the now. Here is how, on this day, the Holy Spirit moved twelve-men and some other followers to make our faith the biggest faith in the entire world. In fact, about one-third of the world is Christian today.

While salvation or getting to heaven begins with faith in Jesus, the Apostles and the early Christians were offering so much more than that. You see many people say in the present day, “why should we go to or be involved in the church.” Perhaps they say, “Well we believe, but why do we need the church?”

The answer my brothers and sisters, is when we are filled as Jesus said with “Holy Fire,” as one parishioner told me very recently, it causes “our hearts to be softened.” It causes us to radically change from the inside out, and we not only believe in Jesus Christ to get a good “fire insurance” policy, we are changed by our faith in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are a new creation, and because of the great faith and fire that we now have, we then begin to feel called to go forth and to make the world around us better. We go forth in love, compassion, mercy, and justice, to preach the “Good News,” but to do so in way that radically transforms other lives.

You see Jesus Christ desires for us all to know him, and in knowing him and in receiving the Holy Spirit, to live in peace, love, unity, and justice. This means that if the Holy Spirit has truly “softened our hearts,” we become concerned with the needs of all of God’s children. Brothers and sisters, sometimes God’s children are not only hurting out there, but sometimes God’s children are hurting within the four walls of this church. Sometimes people with our own family our suffering, and the power of God and the power of the Holy Spirit calls us forth to serve and love those people.

For these reasons, the mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” So is it enough to just know Jesus Christ? Author, pastor, and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that if we just know Christ and do nothing with that, than we have “cheap grace.” I don’t know if this next quote is authentic, but a seminary professor told my class once, that Mother Theresa was once asked, if she could change two things in the world, what would she change? My seminary professor then told our class that Mother Theresa looked the reporter who asked her the question, and said, “I would change you and I would change me.”

You see brothers and sisters, at the heart of Pentecost is transformation, it is our hearts burning with fire, and when we have that fire we are called forth to “transform the world.”

If we truly knew how much power that God has given us to serve and love others, if we truly knew what we were capable of when we radically love each other in this church and in general, and if we then capitalized upon it, the world would be better. People would have salvation, the hungry would be fed, the naked would be clothed, and the hurting would be healed.

Oh my brothers and sisters, I need an Amen right now on this Pentecost Sunday! For this is the heart of preaching the “Good News, to the ends of the earth!” This is why we do we what we do. This is why in the Gospel of John reading from this morning that Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let one who believes in me drink.” Do you know him here this morning? Do you really know him?

I want to share a story with you called “Desmond Tutu’s Confidence.” This comes from the book called God’s Politics by Jim Wallis. “During the deepest, darkest days of apartheid when the government tried to shut down opposition by canceling a political rally, Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared that he would hold a church service instead.”

“St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa was filled with worshippers. Outside the cathedral hundreds of police gathered, a show of force intended to intimidate. As Tutu was preaching they entered the Cathedral, armed, and lined the walls. They took out notebooks and recorded Tutu’s words.”

“But Tutu would not be intimidated. He preached against the evils of apartheid, declaring it could not endure. At one extraordinary point he addressed the police directly. He said, “You are powerful. You are very powerful, but you are not gods and I serve a God who cannot be mocked. So, since you’ve already lost, I invite you today to come and join the winning side!” With that the congregation erupted in dance and song.

“The police didn’t know what to do. Their attempts at intimidation had failed, overcome by the archbishop’s confidence that God and goodness would triumph over evil. It was but a matter of time.”
          Brothers and sisters, the founder of Methodism John Wesley said in in reference to us being filled with the Holy Spirit, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” John Wesley also said, “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

My brothers and sisters, today in Pentecost Sunday, the day that “Holy Fire” descended about the Apostles and the early followers of Jesus Christ. Today is the day that the Christian Church was born. So given all of this, do we on this day have “Holy Fire” in us, and if so, how will we “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?” Amen and Hallelujah!