Acts 2:1-18, John 14:8-17
When the day of Pentecost had come… Pentecost falls on the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which is a harvest festival and comes 50 days after Passover. Like Passover Shavuot is a pilgrimage festival and people who are able travel to the Temple in Jerusalem to bring the tithe offering of their harvest. That means that the crowd which had gathered for Passover was back and people from many places crowded the streets of Jerusalem and filled the Temple. The soldiers would have been back, too, to keep the peace and control the crowd.
Jesus’ followers were still there – or maybe returned after going home for a while. It’s not clear, but they were gathered. They were still in hiding, concerned that they might be executed next because of their association with Jesus. They were still confused and afraid.
The way the Pentecost story is told, the Spirit of God begins rushing through the room, sounding like wind and looking like fire. They all rush out into the streets and begin talking about Jesus and resurrection with such enthusiasm that people think they are drunk, even though it’s morning. They spoke with such conviction that people heard what they had to say in the many languages spoken among the crowds of travelers. Peter preaches a sermon and 3,000 folks become Christians and the church is born.
I love this story. It’s such a reason to celebrate! It’s such an exaggeration. We know that Rome wouldn’t have let a mass baptism happen. We know that Jesus’ followers weren’t called Christian for several decades after this. We know that the church as we know it didn’t emerge for several centuries. But this is a birth story and it’s okay to exaggerate. Remember the old song, “on the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true”? This story is like that. It helps us remember that the continuation of Jesus’ ministry by his followers was a miracle and changed the world.
When we hear this story we focus on the part where God sends the Spirit. First the disciples didn’t have Spirit and then whoosh! they did. Like wind and fire. I want to think about that in another way today. In the Gospel of John, which is the last Gospel in the Bible written, the disciples ask Jesus to show them God. Jesus points at himself and at them. You know God because God is in you. I wonder if the Spirit “sent” on Pentecost wasn’t also already within the folks who had gathered. In each one and in the gathering itself. We’re used to thinking about God – over there – and us – over here – as separate. Lots of what Jesus teaches in his years of ministry is about God being in the people and among the community. If that’s the case, then maybe on Pentecost the people didn’t get covered with Spirit as something new. Maybe they woke up to the fact that Spirit was already there. God was there. Jesus was there – resurrected and living in them. Maybe they just got tired of being sad and scared and hiding and said, “to hell with it. Let’s keep telling Jesus’ story.”
And what’s the story? How do we summarize the message that created the church we’re a part of two thousand year’s later? We’ve heard that the message is “Jesus died for your sins.” That’s an “outside” message. Here you are in trouble for being a sinner and over there is God, mad about that, and Jesus, dying on the cross so God won’t be mad any more. All the action takes place outside of us, in some cosmic battle. That’s not the way Jesus told the story. He said, “God is love. Love one another.” Love is the heart of the message and love is an “inside” story. We’ve been told that we’re made in the image of God. If that’s true, and God is love, then so are we. We are love and when we act on that love, when we truly work at being love in the world, then God is in us and we are in God – just like Jesus said. If you want to see God, look at the places where folks are living out God’s love.
Lots of times the battle between Jesus and Rome or God and Rome is told like a power struggle. Rome killed Jesus because they were afraid he’d stir up a rebellion. They were in control and they wanted to stay that way. Some folks thought Jesus was going to start a war and overthrow Roman power. He didn’t, and he wasn’t trying to. But he was giving control back to the folks through love. An occupying force can tax you, scare you, starve you, beat you, crucify you. But they can’t control who you are if you are determined to love yourself and your neighbor. Nonviolent resistance works like that. Community organizing works like that. If you’re determined to love, nothing has power over you – the power comes from deep within. If a community is organized around love, nothing can stop them. They can change the world.
Jesus talked about the Reign of God being among us. People at first thought that meant God was going to raise up an army and overthrow Rome. But that’s not how love works. Empires use power to control the people and the environment they live in. But love transforms people and environments and nothing can stop them. The Reign of God doesn’t have to wait for an army to win a battle. It’s alive and well and can grow through us no matter what.
I suspect the true story of Pentecost isn’t nearly as dramatic as the way we tell it. Maybe a bunch of Jesus’ followers just got sick and tired of being afraid and quiet. They decided they were going to tell the story of the time they spent with Jesus. They were going to talk about how he made them feel and how he gave them hope. They were going to believe that his message about God’s love was true and live to make it a reality wherever they were. Since God was right there in them and the Spirit was already moving through them, they came back alive. They got set on fire with enthusiasm and hope. They committed to live with love. They changed their world and slowly they are still changing ours.
I’ve been reading lots of deep thinkers lately who want us to transform the way we see God and the world. They are done with a God off somewhere waiting for us to get things right so he can bring us to a better place. Some of them talk about God being the life energy of the universe. Everything is made up of the vibrating love of God, permeating all creation. Some of them talk about God among us evolving into more and more awareness of love and connection. Creating a new life in this time and this place.
Pentecost is an invitation to see God right here, right now. Pentecost is the awakening to God living in us and through us. It’s the power of love bringing us more and more alive, making the whole universe new. We can dream dreams and see visions and share the amazing story of God-with-us because God IS with us. Jesus LIVES in us. The Spirit MOVES us out of fear into freedom and life.
No wonder this is my favorite day! Let’s live it together today and always!