Pentecost, 2007; Acts 2:1-21

Those of you who have known me for awhile wouldn’t be surprised to know that I’ve been a long time fan of the Gary Larson comic called the “Far Side.” With all the talking animals, and aliens, and the whole lot. Picture a drawing of two deer standing together (on their hind legs) in the woods, and one has a red and white bulls eye on its chest. And the other one says, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal”.  Cracks me up… 

My favorite was the one where professor somebody tries out his new dog decoder, and becomes the first human to ever understand what dogs are actually trying to say to us. And you see these dogs down the street with voice bubbles over them, all saying the same thing: “Hey!  Hey!  Hey!” Now, I am a dog lover, but when I look into Gabby’s eyes I have to admit that there’s probably not much more than that going on in there! They don’t have a whole lot to say!

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Today, as you likely know, is the day called Pentecost. It’s the day that we remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of that early gathering of believers in the Upper Room; a coming that changed the way that God interacted with his people from then on. This was the day that prophets like Jeremiah and Joel foresaw, the day when God would dwell in the hearts of all believers. A day when God would give his people their voice. The day God would give us something to share with the world. 

As we read the familiar words from Acts 2, and picture that sound from heaven like “the roaring of a mighty windstorm filling the house”, when we read of something that looked like “flames, or tongues of fire” settling on each of them, we know that something important was going on. I would like to focus in this morning/ evening on what happened next, after those tongues of fire. When the Holy Spirit fell on these disciples it says that they “began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” And they took it to the street. 

They began speaking in other languages – this was not the ecstatic prayer language that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 – these were actual human languages. These were the native languages of the Parthians, Medes, the Elamites, Mesopotamians, and eight other named people groups. And, more to the point, it wasn’t just the ability to speak these languages that was the miracle of Pentecost that continues to this day, it was even more so what was being spoken. It was what the people were hearing. In vs. 11 they say, “We all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” We hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done...” 

Now, it wasn’t part of this morning’s reading, but if we had skipped down to verse 41 we would have read another significant detail about this day: it says there that 3,000 people came to faith.  3,000 people were added to the church on this one day. 

I would like to suggest to you today that the miracle of Pentecost was a combination of cause and effect, of action and reaction: God’s presence descends into the hearts of his people, and the result is that they are given a message, and they are given the means to share that message with the world in an effective way. That Word, that message, changes lives. And, I believe that this miracle is still taking place today, in every place where true believers are found. But I don’t think that it is limited to actual languages, per se. 

Now, I’ve known some people who have such an amazing aptitude for learning languages that it reminds me of Acts chapter two.  The president of the college I attended, Dr. Dennis Kinlaw, spoke something like 20 languages, from ancient languages like Ugaritic, (written in cuneiform) to a number of Modern Chinese dialects. Fluently! But his amazing ability to learn and remember and use languages was not his Pentecost gift. Although he had a Pentecost gift! 

For him, the gift of Pentecost was his ability to proclaim the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, using his personality, his gifts, his intellect – through his life and his words - in a way that profoundly affected the lives of thousands of young college students. He could reach us in a way that few others could. And he did. 

But his was a specific voice. It didn’t reach everyone! Those who received the language of the Egyptians in Acts 2 wouldn’t have expected to be able to communicate very well with someone, say, from Rome. That wasn’t their gift. Those who spoke the language of the Ethiopians weren’t out trying to communicate to the Elamites. They might not have even known where to find the Elamites. (Which, by the way, would have been the country of Elam, today, the southern part of Iran).

In the same way, there were limits even to Dr. Kinlaw’s ability to communicate with effectiveness. He was so smart, that his messages required great attention; they were masterful linear constructions of inductive reasoning… and when he got to the end (which he would signify by smiling and saying, “Now…”), either your heart would be racing as you sat on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear where he was going to take you.  Or, you would by then be sound asleep! There were very few ‘in betweens’! He had a gift, a Pentecost gift, but he didn’t speak everyone’s language. 

I went to a community prayer and praise gathering a week ago Friday.  There was a group there from one church that played loud, frenetic music their entire hour. Now, I certainly wasn’t offended, or anything like that, but, it really didn’t do too much for me. But, they had a number of people with them that night – and a lot of young people. And I could tell – this kind of medium was speaking to them. 

I couldn’t help but notice as I pulled into the parking lot that night that there was a fine looking black Harley-Davidson parked there. And once I was inside, I saw the owner of that bike. He was a big, tattooed guy; had a denim jacket on (sleeveless, of course, so he could show off his ‘guns’) with his colors on the back. It said Bikers for Jesus.  Now, I don’t want to be stereotypical, but I look around our church and I don’t see a lot of biker dudes here. I still have a valid MC license, and I’d love someday to get back on two wheels, but let’s face it, I’ll never be a biker dude! You know what I’m saying? 

It was more than the music, there is an anointing, a Pentecost gift on that church that enables them to speak the language of a certain part of our culture. God gave that church the ability to reach a group of people for whom Christ died. People who have infinite value, and who are greatly loved by their Creator – just like us. If they were to come here and speak that language, for the most part, we wouldn’t get it. We would treat each other with respect and love, I’m sure, but we wouldn’t want to worship like they do. Nor would they be particularly tuned in to what we are doing here. That’s OK! 

This church, as a whole, has a specific voice as well – God has allowed us the privilege of touching the hearts of a rather diverse group of people. That is a great responsibility and a blessing, but still, not everyone hears us. I have a tendency to trust in the Holy Spirit working in your minds, to the point where I will typically leave the application of a lot of my messages rather open ended. You have to figure out – as the Spirit leads you – what you want to do with as a response to a message.

In my teaching, I would rather help you come to a conclusion on certain controversial subjects, and make your own application of various scripture passages – again, trusting that the Holy Spirit is our final teacher – and I know that over the years, that style has frustrated some people to the point of their finding other churches. But, on the other hand, there are people here who thrive on that, you are growing, we’re communicating. And God is honored here. 

Now, we are always looking for ways to expand our voice, so we can include as many others in this open community as God will allow, that’s long been part of our history; but we will never be a ‘one size fits all’ community.  There is no such thing in this multi-faceted world! But then again, we don’t need to be. We are part of the Body of Christ. Part of the Body. We have a voice. We have a mission. 

What we need, is to use what God has entrusted to us as best we can. We need to continue to find our voices and use them wherever God sends us to communicate with our hurting world the wonderful things that God has done for us all. 

At this weekend’s Saturday night service, I had the privilege of commissioning Lee and Carol Talbot once again, as they are preparing to head to the town of Mitla, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Over the eight or so summers that they have been volunteering their time down there as missionaries with SIL   (Summer Institute of Linguistics, a ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators) they have managed to learn, to me, an impressive amount of Spanish. I watched both of them last Summer communicate effectively with native Mexicans, and Carol can negotiate prices in the market with the best of them! 

But again, that is not their Pentecost gift. Their gift is wrapped up in their servant hearts, and Lee’s engineering skills, and Carol’s hospitality gifts and their love of the Mexican people, and their desire for the success of Wycliffe’s work of translating the Bible into every indigenous language in that area. And through their work of running the facility’s operations and scheduling during the summer, they have been an incredible blessing to the ‘lifers’ down there – the full time translators and staff. This is an incredibly important niche that God has put them in. 

There aren’t very many  couples who could step in and do exactly what Lee and Carol do down there. But God has given them a voice. They’ve found that voice, and in using it, God is glorified and people are blessed. People are finding their way into the Kingdom. That’s the way it works.

Now, you get this, I’m sure, but lets be clear: not everyone’s ‘voice’ is going to be used in what we might, from our human perspective, describe as ‘big’ things.  There aren’t many Dr. Kinlaws in the world – affecting the lives of thousands of students. Proportionally, there aren’t a lot of Talbots, either, people who will uproot their lives and go into a different culture for months out of a year! 

Like a great choir, our voices are different. Some sing high, some low, some are soloists, some fill in the chorus. (Some turn the lights on, or hand out programs, because Lord knows you don’t want them actually singing!) God may have given you a gift to be able to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ with thousands of people. You may be someone that has the ability to communicate cross culturally, through preaching, or music, or art. 

God may just as well have given you  a voice that allows you – and only you –  to describe the tender love of God to a little child in a way that they will never forget. Maybe your own children, maybe some one else’s children. God may have given you just the exact combination of life experiences, the right temperament, enough truthfulness that someone else notices – all working together through the Holy Spirit’s Pentecost power, so that a neighbor, or a co-worker, or a spouse, or a stranger on the bus will notice and hear you. You will be speaking their language. There is someone out there, in this hurting world, with whom you – and maybe only you –  can communicate the good news of God’s mighty acts in this world. 

That, I believe, is the gift of Pentecost. It wasn’t limited to the first disciples. It wasn’t limited to people being given a gift of languages. That was a symbolic act of God to demonstrate the deeper significance of what happens when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon a group of people.

Or upon a church. 

The Word goes forth. Lives are changed. People find freedom in Christ. And joy. They discover that they are loved by God. Because someone uses their Pentecost gift. 

What language has God given to you? Where does your voice fit in this noisy, hurting, world?  Trust in this: if you are in Christ, you have been given a voice!