Pentecost - What it's not

 

Pentecost

What it's not

Well, last week was Pentecost and we saw from the scripture exactly what was happening. It was a wild moment. It also brought clarity. It was not without confusion. It also brought understanding. When God is at work, what seems strange and unexpected becomes clear and concise when the Holy Spirit is leading the way.

However, it won't be long til people like the Apostle Paul will run into a disorginzed mess in place called Corinth. There are those when John is writing his first letter who are confused about the origin of sin and think they don't have any. Some seem to think they know more than the disciples and apostles who actually walked with Jesus. There is a disparraging line between what people think they know about Jesus, God, Christianity and the Holy Spirit. Even in the church. Yet, it is not up to us to decide who those people actually are. Jesus makes it clear that He will, someday, decipher the goats from the sheep. On this day of Pentecost it is said that some three thousand are added to the fold. Three thousand confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior; they are baptized, and become apart of this new thing called "The Church". That, in itself, should be the central focus of the event. The message of salvation is shared. People listen and respond. It's simple. 

Instead, what has happened, maybe more so in our culture than way back in that first century, is that people have looked for ways to be free of a structure or organization telling them what to believe. Ever since the Reformation began to tinker with the parts and pieces that make up what we believe as a Church, people have been looking for ways of elf-expression that shape what they feel. And, that might be our biggest issue. Human beings are given to following their feelings. Maybe more so in their religion than in any other facet of life. And, it truly is the reason why we misinterpret so many things in our path. Sadness. Depression. They give way to a dreary outlook. Anger and rage make it hard to function. Even those mountain top experiences when everything sounds and looks incredible can cloud our judgment. It did for James and John and Peter when they went up on the mountain with Jesus. It also works that way for people interpreting what happened here on Pentecost. Do we focus on the twelve guys talking in different languages or do we focus on what these twelve guys actually had to say? That, at the core, is really the difference between knowing the truth about the Holy Spirit coming upon these men or following some off kilter approach. 

Pentecost is not an excuse to do whatever we want.

For those who would come to a passage such as this and clam that anarchy is how God intends to work is so far off balance I can't even begin. Having culture and background in more Charismatic, Pentecostal, Apostolic worship settings, I can honestly say I have seen it all. From groups of people chanting and shouting, to watching people being smacked on the back while being prayed over, to listening to someone chanting their list of "I don't believe" this or that and then snapping out of it like they were under some sort of trance. Human have this desire to do whatever they want to do as long as hey have a means or an outlet to blame their whole rhetoric on at the end of the day. God becomes a crutch to lean on so that we can get what we want, however we want it. Independence and freedom in our American societal way of life and thinking has contributed to this great desire. 

When people first came to our piece of geography in this world, they brought with them their customs and belief systems that they, in turn, had trusted in the "old world" of Europe. Why would it be any different for them here? Coming to the "new world" did not encourage them to look at life with any new way of thinking or deep critical thinking. It presented them with the option to continue looking at things the same old way they had been, but with more geographical room longitude and latitude to spread out and be further apart from one another. That's really what people thought they could do. Freedom. And, with it, no real responsibility or accountability to each other. This sense of anarchy close out as some read through a passage such as Acts 2. We see twelve guys out on a balcony over looking a large crowd. There is a choice here. Do we focus on the twelve men here who "began to speak in other tongues" (v4) or do we read through to understand what the purpose was in sending these twelve out there to speak like this?

Pentecost is not freedom to say or do anything we like

Sadly, I have been in the midst of worship setting where the people are aimless and directionless in the ambition to reach out to God. Lets take a closer look at those opening words from Acts 2, again.

To often what is missed, or simply misinterpreted, is the statement in verse 4.
"as the Spirit enabled them"
It seems that the mindset for many (and I have heard the argument in personal conversation) is that "God gave the gift to me. If he didn't want me to use it, he wouldn't have given it to me." Ok, well, my return statement would be "Just because you have some basic idea of how to do a thing, does that mean you can just do whatever? Or, should you develop the gift? Learn how to use it properly?" You and I are not the lords and masters over these gifts just because they were given to us. Take a long look at the list of gifts the Apostle Paul would draw out to his Corinthian audience in chap 12 of that letter. He also uses similar language as the doctor, Luke, used here in recording the opening events of the young church here in Acts. Paul would state that "the same Spirit distributes them". These gifts, speaking in tongues or preaching or healing others, comes from the Spirit. They are not ours to do whatever we want to do with. They belong to the Spirit. Maybe, what we ought to do is seek wisdom and understanding from the Spirit as to how to use them. 

Maybe, we can look right here in Acts 2 and see for ourselves how these twelve men used the gifts given to them. Maybe and important question we could ask as we look into this scripture should be, Were these men speaking in this way to draw attention to themselves? Or, were they trying to communicate something to their audience? As it turns out, the center of Acts 2 is that these twelve men were speaking to this crowd about Jesus Christ and what he had done for them on the Cross. These twelve men were not standing there babbling in some unintelligible language leaving the crowd looking at them wondering what in the world they were saying. Acts 2 is clear that there was bewilderment (v6). Why? "because each one heard their own language being spoken" It was not some crazy, lose control, moment for them. There was a clear point to the whole event. These twelve were speaking Hebrew. Maybe Arabic. Their own basic language. What did the crown hear? Not some random babblings. They heard their own language. How could that be? I would be as if I, an English speaking guy from Ohio, went into a Latino, Spanish speaking neighborhood to share Jesus, and the people heard exactly that. The conversation that would ensue among the people should be and could be similar to what happened that day in Acts 2. (I do not claim to have the gift of tongues, not have I ever been used by God in that way.) If God wanted to do something like that, it would be God who brings it about. It would be the Holy Spirit who makes it happen. Not me. And, there certainly would be some clear motive and intention as to what would be happening in the moment. 

finally, Pentecost is not ours to control and own. 

In his impressive sermon, Peter does exactly what he needs to do. Put the focus and the center on Jesus. He does encourage the crowd to look at them or focus on them and their speaking in tongues. He shows them why they are standing out here on this balcony speaking to the crowd. The whole reason has to do with Jesus and happened to Him on the cross. 

The central focus of Pentecost is not twelve guys standing on a ledge speaking in tongues. 
The center of Pentecost is in what Jesus has done for us. Not that God gave twelve guys the ability to speak in tongues, but why he gave them that gift. The blessing was not for the twelve themselves. The interpretation going forward from there would be that every person who believes in Jesus has to speak in tongues. And, I have heard that argument over and over. The Holy Spirit gives the gifts. He gives them for a reason and the intention is so that we can serve. Not so people can stand around looking at us in bewilderment. The men on Pentecost were bewildered because they heard their own languages being spoken. They also heard a message about Jesus and what He had done for them. Even if we are speaking in our own language to people of the same dialect as us on a Sunday morning, are we making it clear what Jesus has done in his life and resurrection for us? If we are not and we off on some strange tangent, can we change out course and begin to get it right? I believe we can. During his three and half years of ministry, Jesus spent a lot of time trying to correct the course and understanding of a people and a belief system that had gotten off course. And, He is still working in our midst today. 

Focus. Center. On Jesus. Today.