Sunday
06/04/17 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Holy Fire in the Early Church”
(“The Early Church” Series – Part 3 of 3)
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
New Testament
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
Gospel Lesson: John
7:37-39
Happy Pentecost, my friends, my sisters and brothers in
Christ! Today we celebrate the movement of the Holy Spirit in the Early Church.
Today, this movement of the Holy Spirit will be so powerful, that this day is celebrated
as the birthday of Christian Church. For this day of Pentecost, this day of
Holy Fire, is the day that the Christian Church was born.
For the past two weeks I have been preaching a series on “The
Early Church,” and what some of their experiences might have been like.
In the first week of this “Early Church” series, I talked
about how we as Christians, and how our Jewish brothers and sisters
historically have not believed in a God of “graven images”. Like our Jewish
brothers and sisters, the early Christians went forth preaching about a God who
created heaven and earth, and yet was a spiritual being. This God could not be
contained in physical wood carvings, carvings of stone, or castings of metal.
The God is Israel, our God, is a God that is a spiritual being, who is infinite,
all powerful and all loving, and cannot be contained by anyone or anything.
Last week, I talked about how “The Early Church,” or those
first disciples and the other early followers of Christ, were then on their own.
While Jesus rose from the dead on Easter, while he then appeared for 40-days to
the disciples and others, Jesus will then ascend to heaven.
We
Jesus ascends into heaven, the early church, which is a very small handful of
disciples and believers, were now on their own. This is why last Sunday, I
called my sermon, “The Early Church, Take One!,” as if a movie producer was
there at the very moment that Jesus left the disciples and his other early
followers.
What
would that have been like I wonder, to have had your lord and savior get
crucified, resurrected, appear for 40-days, and then finally leave and ascend
to heaven? This must have been a heavy feeling for the first disciples and the
early followers of Christ, as they were now on their own to build the Kingdom
of God, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
At this point in the biblical narrative, where we were at
last Sunday, on Ascension Sunday, the disciples and the other early Christians
still lacked the full courage and conviction of faith to fully go forth
preaching the gospel and building the Kingdom of God. In fact, last week in our
Book of Acts reading, Jesus said in 1:8, “But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NRSV).
At this point in the biblical narrative then, the disciples
might be discussing the gospel, perhaps doing some light teaching and
evangelism, but nothing significant. Not until the day of Pentecost that we
celebrate today, will the disciples really be ready to go forth and preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ, to the ends of the earth.
The Book of Acts reading from last week even went as far as
to name all of the disciples individually, and others, as they were awaiting
this promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
As a reminder, last week’s scripture from the Book of Acts
ended with the disciples and some of the other early followers of Jesus Christ
back, likely in the same upper room that they shared the last supper with Jesus.
In this upper room, they waited for the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus Christ had
promised would come. This scripture from Acts 1:14 says, “All these were
constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain workers,
including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers” (Acts 1:14, NRSV).
This is where we pick up with the biblical narrative this
morning, with the day of Pentecost. Well first off, what is Pentecost? Well, “Pentecost
comes exactly fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover week (Lev 23:15-16). In
the OT it is referred to as the Feast of Weeks (Duet 16:10), the Day of First
Fruits (Num 28:26) and the Feast of the Harvest (Exod 23:16) (African Bible
Commentary).
The
word Pentecost itself was created by the Hellenistic Jews, which translates to “Fiftieth
Day,” This day is also a celebration of being 50-days after Moses received the
10-commandments/the Torah from God on Mount Sinai. This day then, this “Shavuot,”
or Pentecost, is a feast of harvest, and the remembrance of the giving of the
10-commandments/the Torah to Moses.
So on this Jewish holiday, feast day, and festival, Jews
from all over the Roman Empire would come and celebrate. On this day of this “Shavuot,”
or “Pentecost,” the disciples, and other early Christians were in that famous
upper room in Jerusalem. There were eleven disciples, as Judas Iscariot had
killed himself, but Judas Iscariot was then replaced by “Matthias”.
There are now twelve disciples again, to minister to the
twelve tribes of Israel, and to all the world. All the disciples and the other early
Christians are now waiting for Jesus Christ’s promise of the coming of the Holy
Spirit.
On this day, of this “Shavuot,” or Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
shows up in a mighty and a powerful way.
This is again what our reading from the Book of Acts says
this morning,
“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” (Acts 2:1-4, NRSV).
So brothers and sisters, this is the promised outpouring of
the Holy Spirit, that Jesus promised the disciples and the other early
Christians would come. From this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and speaking in
different tongues or languages on this day of Pentecost, we today have an entire
branch of Christianity that developed, called Pentecostalism. In many Pentecostal
Christian traditions it is common to speak in tongues, and have powerful
experiences with the Holy Spirit.
So as the kids say, that just happened.
The scripture then says,
“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 native language? Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God’s deed of power” (Acts 1:11, NRSV).
The
scripture then continues to say,
“All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What
does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine”
(Acts 1:12-13, NRSV)
So some were accusing the disciples
and the others in the upper room of being drunk and ranting and raving.
What happens next is amazing. At this
point the scripture says,
“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” (Acts 1:14-15, NRSV).
The Apostle Peters refutes the criticizers
who said that he and the others were drunk. He then said, that they were not drunk,
as it’s too early in the morning to be drunk. I find this funny that this is
actually in scripture.
The Apostle Peter, the one who denied
Jesus Christ three times, the one who cut a man’s ear off in the Garden of Gethsemane,
and etc., today is filled with the Holy Spirit, and today has turned into a might
preacher indeed. On this day, about three-thousand people repent, are baptized,
and become followers of Jesus Christ.
On this day the “The Early Church”
begins, and in its growth is exponential. On this day, the early Christian
Church grows by at least 3,000 people, and this is only day one! Today there
are many as 2.4-2.5 billion Christians in the world today.
Jesus Christ had told those first
disciples and the early followers that Holy Spirit would show up powerfully,
and on this day it did indeed!
The power of the Holy Spirit, or
receiving the spirit of God within us is so powerful that it can change us, it
can birth the Christian Church, and it change the world.
In bringing this sermon to a close, I
want to tell you a story about the founder of the Methodist Movement, John
Wesley. I know that I have told you this story before, but it is perfect to
tell on Pentecost Sunday.
You see, John Wesley was a highly
educated seminary graduate. John knew the scriptures, he knew the history of
the church, he understood the theology, and in general, he knew his stuff. Yet
with all of this, young John Wesley had never experienced the power of the Holy
Spirit.
After getting ordained in the Church
of England, or the Anglican Church, John Wesley went on a mission to Georgia
that was largely a failure. John considered giving up the ministry. He went
home to London, England, as he was feeling broken and lost. Then one night on
Aldersgate Street in London, England, John Wesley finally encountered the Holy
Spirit.
Here is the story specifically, that I
found from www.christianity.com:
“John Wesley was almost in despair.
He did not have the faith to continue to preach. When death stared him in the
face, he was fearful and found little comfort in his religion. To Peter Böhler,
a Moravian friend, he confessed his growing misery and decision to give up the
ministry. Böhler counseled otherwise. "Preach faith till you have
it," he advised. "And then because you have it, you will preach
faith." A wise Catholic once made a similar statement: "Act as if you
have faith and it will be granted to you."
“John acted on the advice. He led a
prisoner to Christ by preaching faith in Christ alone for forgiveness of sins.
The prisoner was immediately converted. John was astonished. He had been
struggling for years. Here was a man transformed instantly. John made a study
of the New Testament and found to his astonishment that the longest recorded
delay in salvation was
three days--while the apostle Paul waited for his eyes to open”.
“The Moravians assured him their
personal experiences had also been instantaneous. John found himself crying
out, "Lord, help my unbelief!" However, he felt dull within and
little motivated even to pray for his own salvation. On this day, May
24th, 1738 he opened his Bible at
about five in the morning and came across these words, "There are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should partakers of
the divine nature." He read similar words in other places”.
“That evening he reluctantly
attended a meeting in Aldersgate. Someone read from Luther's Preface to
the Epistle to Romans. About 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing
the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my
heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for
salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even
mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
“It took him some time to learn how
to live the life of faith, for he was not always possessed of joy and thought
he had fallen from salvation. It took time for him to see that it is not Christ
and good works, but Christ alone who saves, resulting in good works”.
“As time went on, John Wesley was
mightily used of the Lord to reform England. His Methodists became a national
force. John rode thousands of miles (as many as 20,000 a year) preaching as
only a man filled with the Holy Spirit can preach, telling the gospel to all
who would listen. He acted "as though he were out of breath in pursuit of
souls." Wherever he preached, lives changed and manners and morals altered
for the better. It is often conjectured that his preaching helped spare England
the kind of revolution that occurred in France”.
Today, there are about 60-80 million
Christians in the world that are under the umbrella of being Methodist. The
ministry of John Wesley was powerful indeed.
So friends, on this Pentecost Sunday,
may we receive a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. May this outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on and in us change us, embolden us, and empower us to change
the world, like the first Christians did, like the founder of the Methodist
Movement John Wesley did. God bless and Happy Pentecost! Amen.
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