The story of Pentecost from the book of Acts is
powerful, isn’t it? (Acts 2:1-4) It’s easy to imagine ourselves as some of the
apostles who gathered together early on that morning. Without warning, a gust
of wind sweeps down from heaven and into the room where we are gathered: a wind
as strong as a category 5 hurricane; the kind of wind that uproots entire trees,
sweeping through a room where we are sitting. As we are hanging on to our chairs
for dear life, wondering what in the world is going on, trying to stay put in
the middle of all the uproar, fire follows the wind – a fire that settles on
the tops of our heads, burning brightly but without destroying anything. In
fact, we can’t even feel any heat. But all of a sudden, we find ourselves
speaking foreign languages! You find yourself speaking in Mandarin Chinese,
your best friend sitting next to you is speaking in Russian, while the woman in
the chair across the room is speaking in Portuguese! According to the book of
Acts, that describes the coming of the Holy Spirit. It was sudden; it was unexpected;
and it led to amazing results! I didn’t read farther in the story this morning,
because that story is a long one; but to sum up the story, after hearing Peter
deliver an impassioned sermon, over three thousand people ended up believing
that Jesus was the Christ; and all before Bob Evans opened for breakfast! That
is a good morning’s work if ever I saw one!
But this story can lead to a big
misunderstanding in how, where, and when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. When we read this story – how
the Holy Spirit swept into an early-morning gathering with great power and lots
of fanfare – I’m afraid that many people expect the Holy Spirit to work this
way all the time. People gather in churches expecting the Spirit to arrive in
their sanctuaries with the same kind of flourish – especially today, on
Pentecost Sunday. I’m told that sometimes the Spirit does just that. Our Pentecostal
sisters and brothers witness that they have seen the Spirit arrive in their
church sanctuaries with power that has people dancing in the aisles and
speaking in tongues. I don’t doubt them; but their experience isn’t mine. I
have yet to lead a worship service on Pentecost in which tongues of fire
settled on the heads of everyone in the congregation! I suppose that might
happen; but it sure hasn't happened to me.
So, I understand this story from the book of
Acts as being descriptive instead of prescriptive. There is a big difference
between the two types of stories. A descriptive
story describes something that happened without assuming that it will ever
happen again. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush; but I hope that none
of us feel the need to leave the house and seek out a fiery shrub every time
that we want to communicate with God. That story is descriptive. God spoke that way once, but it God may not ever speak
that way again. A prescriptive story,
on the other hand, tells us not only what did
happen, but what should happen. The
Sermon on the Mount is a great example of a prescriptive
text. In those chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives us all kinds of
directions concerning how to live as his followers. Descriptive stories tell us what did happen, while prescriptive
stories tell us what should
happen.
It’s easy to read the story of Pentecost as prescriptive – telling us what should happen – instead of as reading it
as descriptive – telling us what did happen. When we read this story as
what should happen, we limit the
power of the Holy Spirit! Although the Spirit arrived on that first Pentecost
early in the morning when Jesus’ followers were gathered, the Spirit doesn’t
always follow that pattern. If we expect the Holy Spirit to arrive only when we
Christians are gathered together for worship on Sunday mornings, we have pretty
well ruled out the Spirit’s activity right now, as well as for the foreseeable
future; because we aren’t going to be gathering that way for a little while
yet.
The reality is, though, that throughout the
Bible, God’s Spirit falls when, where, and on whom it likes. The little story
of Moses and the elders from the book of Numbers (Numbers 11:24-26) is witness
to that. I’ll bet that you had never heard that story before. Moses took
seventy of the tribal elders of the Israelites to the Tent of Meeting where
Moses routinely talked with God. God had promised to give those elders a share
of the Spirit so that they could be of assistance to Moses. It’s kind of like
our gathering for worship in our sanctuary, isn’t it, and expecting to meet
with God there? And sure enough, God showed up and filled them with the Spirit.
But God also showed up back in the
camp, and gave the Spirit to two fellows who never set foot in the Tent of
Meeting! The Spirit shows up at times, in places, and to people that we never
expect, whether we are gathered or alone, in church or in our home, regardless
of the time of day.
On this day of Pentecost, we’d like to be
gathered together in our own Tent of Meeting, wearing our best red outfits, listening
to the choir singing, looking at the beautiful stained glass picture of Jesus in
our chancel, and expecting the Holy Spirit to show up and fill us once again.
But we aren’t there, are we? Instead, we’re back in the camp. We probably
aren’t expecting the Spirit to show up this morning, because we aren’t where we
expect to meet that Spirit. But the good news is, friends, that the Spirit
isn’t limited by time or by place. The Spirit blows where it will. In Jesus’
conversation with Nicodemus, he said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You
hear its sound, but you can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going. So
it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Just like the wind, the
Spirit goes where it wants, when it wants, and to whom it wants. On this day of Pentecost, don’t be distressed
that we aren’t gathered in our Tent of Meeting. We may be back in the camp, but
the Spirit knows where to find us. The good news is that it will find us; and it will fill us once
again! Thanks be to God!
No comments:
Post a Comment