A Dramatic Change (John 15:26-27;16:4b-15)
Listen.May 31st, 2009
Rev. Dr. Craig A. Wagner
Introduction
Last weekend, I had a great opportunity to take several bicycle rides with my son in La Crosse, WI. The weather cooperated and so the greatest challenge was the hills outside town. Whenever our route took us down various streets in rural towns as well as in La Crosse, I would notice the churches we rode past. I tried to see how many were ELCA or other Lutheran types including Missouri Synod, and Wisconsin Synod. Often we would pass Roman Catholic, Baptist, community churches, and so on. There was a wide-variety of Christian churches in La Crosse and the surrounding environs.
On our way home, as we drove through many small communities, since we stayed on back roads, I enjoyed looking at the churches in each community. ELCA is well represented in southwest Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois.
Of course, my observation of these buildings continued with the thought that the buildings, whatever the denomination, actually represented Christian people who lived and worked in the town or in the countryside. Christian people, who perhaps had differences of thought, opinion and doctrine, still were one in Christ. Liberal and conservative and even moderates claimed Jesus as Lord.
Then my thought and observations moved beyond the simple understanding of unity to the thought that these churches represented the first fruits of believers in this age. The people gathered in worship in these Christian churches are the first fruits of the Spirit’s work today! That includes each one of us here this morning. This means that there are millions of individuals who still need to hear the gospel and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. There are millions of people who need the dramatic change that the Spirit brings in the hearts and lives of those who believe.
This morning is the Day of Pentecost, a day we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the dramatic change brought into the lives of believers as a new era is ushered in.
The Christian Pentecost
Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish festival. It was the day set aside to celebrate and commemorate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This giving of the Torah united the Jewish people and literally gave birth to the Hebrew nation. The celebration of the giving of the Law became connected with the harvest celebration and the offering of the first fruits of the harvest, the new grain and would be offered along with two lambs that were sacrificed. The Pentecost festival was to be held the day after the 7th Sabbath following Passover: 7X7+1 = 50.
They would place the offering and the sacrificial lambs, once they were slain, upon the altar in the temple in Jerusalem and burn them. As they burned them, the fire would grow large and the smoke billowed up toward heaven and the men would dance around in a wild, uninhibited and frenzied manner. Women and those men too old or infirmed to dance would circle the dancers and clap. It was a wild time. They celebrated the law, the covenant and the first fruits offering. Later they would gather the rest of the harvest.
The festival of Pentecost was one of the great festivals in the Jewish calendar. It was a traveling festival, meaning that all the faithful who were able to travel were expected to journey to Jerusalem in order to participate. Regardless of the country a person lived in or the language they spoke, if they were Jews by birth or by conversion they would want to be in Jerusalem on Pentecost. This explains why there were so many people in Jerusalem and why our text this morning includes all those foreign sounding cities and names.
Also, Jesus’ disciples were in Jerusalem at this time. They had been told by Jesus to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high (Acts 1.4).
On the Day of Pentecost a sound like the rush of a mighty wind filled the house where the disciples were staying. The sound filled the house; there was no movement of air, only sound. And all of a sudden a blaze of fire came down and appeared as tongues of fire resting on each of the disciples. The crowd had gathered because of the sound and then experienced the disciples’ speaking in tongues: each person heard the good news of Jesus in their own language. Not all accepted what was happening, some scoffed, but then Peter interpreted the scripture, gave that wonderful sermon and 3,000 people were baptized in Christ. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire fulfilling the promise of John the Baptist. The new era was ushered in. The event was dramatic and these 3,000 were the first fruits of that new era; the Christian church officially was established.
Dramatic change
This amazing and wonderful story of the Christian Pentecost experience shows us the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about dramatic change in the heart and life of believers. What we don’t always think about is that the Spirit that brought that dramatic change in the life of three thousand people that day, from all over the known-world, is the same spirit that is in our hearts and our lives today.
Yet, have we experienced a dramatic change in life or are we like the skeptics in the story today? Do we disbelieve that the Spirit can work in wonderful and marvelous ways today? Are we so sophisticated in our thinking that we think about these events as simply fictional stories, designed for those who are more childlike?
Perhaps we are not skeptical about the Pentecost story itself, but we are hard-pressed to think about others and their expressions of faith as being authentic. We hear of people speaking in tongues and we wonder about their sanity! We experience people raising their hands in worship or clapping or swaying to the music or experiencing an emotion so deep that there are tears in their eyes. They may not be our experiences, but that does not make them suspect or wrong.
The spirit works differently in different people and is expressed in differing ways. There is no one size fits all when it comes to the working of the Spirit of the living God. We dare not place God in a box or in a certain parameter.
Allow the spirit to work in your life; to make a difference to bring dramatic changes. There are so many issues with which we deal today that we need to connect with the life-giving, life-renewing, life-enhancing Spirit. When we feel broken, unloved, forgotten, sick, confused and alienated, we need the touch of the Spirit and we need to acknowledge the spirit’s presence. Allow the spirit to fan the flames of faith in your life and experience the dramatic change that the Spirit can make and you gain new perspectives of what it means to live as a person of Christ; experience the fullness of life as only the Spirit of God can bring.
1st fruits
As amazing and wonderful as that first Pentecost was, I believe that what is even more amazing is that the church today – represent the 1st fruit of the harvest. Those of us who believe and who worship and who allow the spirit to work in and through us are the first fruits today. The harvest is not done. There are millions who need to hear and see and experience what it means to be Christ followers today. They need to experience the love and power of the spirit and they need to have life changing and dramatic experiences.
Certainly churches have problems. There are conflicts and difficulties and some people leave one congregation in a huff to join another, often experiencing the same problems in their new congregation (whose fault is that?). Yet, we are the people of God. We are people of the spirit and the word. The harvest is great.
The people on that first Pentecost not only received the Holy Spirit and were baptized and converted to Christ, but, guess what, they went home to their own lands and began speaking of the wonderful works of God and how Jesus fulfilled the Hebrew scripture. The people they encountered heard the good news and responded in faith and they too received the Holy Spirit and were baptized and so on and on and on. The word was spreading and the harvest had begun and continues to this day.
I pray that on this day the Spirit would renew us in our faith and then send us out to make a difference in the lives of those around. With the Spirit’s power, our faith can be alive; we can be enthused and excited about our relationship with Jesus Christ. And we can share that excitement with others in the way we speak, in our actions, in our attitudes and IN THE WAY WE PRIORITIZE OUR LIFE!!!!
Conclusion
I remember worshipping in a small congregation in the mountains of Tanzania. I didn’t understand a word, but when the people sang –without the help of musical instruments and when they prayed, I felt the power of the spirit. I have worshipped in churches where everyone raised their arms to the Lord and although feeling a bit uneasy, I felt the power of the Spirit. I have been in worship services where people laid hands on you when they prayed, completely outside my experience, the Spirit was present. I have worshipped in churches of high liturgy and was brought into the presence of God through wonderful music and a sense of liturgical awe. What glorious unity we have in Christ knit together by the one Spirit who truly brings dramatic change in believers’ lives and has ushered in a new era of Christ’s church. Amen.