Another one

 There are a lot of these! I've been a priest for a long time and Pentecost comes once a year....

PENTECOST 2006

 

          The lesson from Acts today ended two verses too soon. We heard all about the wind and fire and falling of the Spirit on the disciples. We heard all about how everyone from the known world at that time understood the disciples, no matter what language was their own tongue. Great drama. Remarkable story. Yet the lesson ended two verses too soon.

          The two verses that came after all the excitement on the first Pentecost in Jerusalem was simply this: Acts 2. 12-13…

          All were amazed and perplexed, saying, “what does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

 

          Two first hand reports on the events of the very first Pentecost—and they are very different.

          One report is: “what is going on here? What does this mean?” And the other is, “these guys are drunk….”

 

          There is a saying a dear friend of my uses when she thinks she truly has something to contribute to the conversation. What she says is this: “I’m not just a guy at a bar….”

          There are lots of insights and opinions you can get from a “guy at a bar”. Some of them are wondrous and helpful and most of them are “filled with new wine” and not worth much.

          There are lots of people who think Christians like us are “filled with new wine” and that what we have to proclaim makes next to no sense. However, there are more folks out there who are asking “What does this mean?”  They are wondering about the good news of God’s love. They are pondering the teachings of Jesus. They are engaged in the questions and the inquiry of how to find “meaning” for their lives.

          And Pentecost is the day that compels us to move into the world and spread the news, to invite others to the journey and the joy, to share the wonder of God’s love.

          On Pentecost, when the fire fell and the wind blew, the disciples were blown out of hiding into the streets of Jerusalem. And whatever they said was heard—clearly and without translation—because they were speaking of the Spirit of the God that loves us all best of all.

          It is no different for us. God’s love compels us “into the world”—into the streets and out of our hiding places. God’s love commands us to include everyone in the Hope and Wonder of the Kingdom. We are driven—as individuals and as a community—into the world to spread the news of God’s remarkable Love.

 

          We do that as a community quite well. There is always room for improvement, but I’d say we, as the people of St. James, have opened ourselves to the world in life-giving ways.

 

          As individuals…well, I’m not sure. But I know this: Pentecost commands us to go into all the world and proclaim the good news of God’s love.

          I’m inviting you as individuals to go into the world—out to the streets of Jerusalem—and tell others of God’s love.

          I don’t mean you need to get a floppy Bible and stop people on the street as ask them it they are saved. But I do mean, just like the wonderful love song from My Fair Lady that says “don’t talk of love—SHOW ME”, each of us need to “show” the world compassion and inclusion and a commitment to justice and equality. So that the world might wonder: “what does this mean?” and we might be able to tell them….