Pentecost: We’re All In This Together

Acts 2: 1-21

Roger Lynn

May 15, 2016

Pentecost Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

It’s all very dramatic. If Pentecost were a movie, the special effects team would have to be called in early. There is wind and fire and sound. The casting supervisor would be responsible for finding lots of ‘extras’ to fill the roles of people from all around the then-known world. The costume designer would be busy dressing those extras in the various clothing traditional to their assorted regions. The dialogue coach would be working with everyone so that their accents and dialects were authentic. And then, when the pieces were brought together, it would all be over in a matter of minutes. It is a wonderful, powerful, exciting story, but the outwardly dramatic parts of Pentecost don’t last very long. And that’s OK, because the real heart of things has enough staying power to endure down through the ages.

After the wind and the fire, after people really wake up to the presence of the Spirit in their lives, what emerges as the dominant theme, not just for that moment but for every moment, is the bringing together of that which was separated and the healing of that which was broken. The real story of that first Pentecost is the shattering of the myth of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ When God’s Spirit is allowed to get into the act, the chasm of our differences can be bridged by understanding. Unity is formed not of sameness but of true, deep, intimate sharing.

Listen again to the list. I share it with you not just because they are fun names to say, but because they make a powerful point. “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” (Acts 2:9-11) They had gathered together from across the then-known world. I don’t know much about the details of those places, but I do know something about human nature and human history. With that many different kinds of people, with all of their different customs and loyalties and traditions, you can’t tell me that some of those groups didn’t have issues with some of the other groups. Maybe it was the folks from Mesopotamia who didn’t get along with those Pamphylians. Maybe it was the Egyptians who were offended by the Libyans. Perhaps the Cretans were still upset with the way the Arabs had treated their great great grandparents. Who knows what the details were, but I would be willing to bet that there were issues. And then, suddenly, all of that changed. They were brought together by an experience which transcended their differences. They were able to hear the good news of God’s love in words they could understand. They were no longer the ‘outsiders.’ There was genuine communication and understanding. They were presented with a vision of the world where borders were less important than people and differences were cause for celebration rather than separation. Those who witnessed the wind and the fire and those who heard the sound of the story of God’s love shared in a language they could understand were reminded that we really are all in this together. That’s what the Spirit of God does. And when we align ourselves with God’s Spirit that work becomes our work as well. 

It isn’t easy. It isn’t always quick. Sometimes it is a long, hard, painful process. But where it is often impossible when we try it on our own, by sheer force of will, it becomes possible when we allow God’s Spirit to infuse us with new understanding. I’ve seen this play out in the Church any number of times over the years. The issues are really challenging and painful. People are entrenched in their own pain. But with the help of God’s Spirit, partnered with people’s own genuine courage to roll up their sleeves and stay with the challenge, a path to healing and reconciliation is found. There is still work to do. There is still healing that needs to take place. We have not yet reached the promised land, but we can begin to see it from here.

After the wind and the fire, was everything perfect? Were all those differences which had so effectively divided people suddenly banished in favor of some perfect new harmonious existence? The story is a bit vague on that point, but I doubt it. Even in that moment there were those who simply couldn’t find a way to wrap their heads (and their hearts) around this amazing reality. “But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ ” (Acts 2:13) What we read in the rest of the New Testament (to say nothing of the rest of the 2,000 year history of the church) tells us that there continued to be conflicts and divisions and brokenness. And there is also hope. We read this story every year, in part to remind ourselves of what is true and what is possible. Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, we are all in this together. With God’s help we can transcend that which divides us and discover genuine unity.

Who are the Cretans in our lives? Who are those from Mesopotamia that we just can’t stand to be around? Who are the Phrygians that we wish would just go away and leave us alone? Today the ‘us’ and ‘them’ divide is just as likely to occur along borders defined by social status as nationality. Perhaps ‘they’ are the people who go to ‘that’ church across town. Perhaps ‘they’ are the folks who hold different political views from our own views. Perhaps ‘they’ are the neighbors with the loud music or the barking dog. Perhaps ‘they’ are the boss or co-worker with whom we seem always to be in conflict. ‘They’ can be most anyone if we see them as separate and divided from us. ‘They’ might even be ‘us’ when we discover brokenness within ourselves. And on our own, the solutions are likely to remain illusive. But the lesson from Pentecost is that we are not on our own. We are, indeed, in this together, and we have nothing less than the power of God’s Spirit blowing in us and through us to inspire us and enable us to communicate with the language of the heart. When we participate with that Spirit of God, the impossible becomes possible. Who is God calling us to embrace today?