Disclaimer: Although I still follow my ancestors’ spiritual path, I have incredible respect for the varied traditional paths my friends follow…and for those who follow no specific spiritual tradition. This post, which is the text of a sermon I gave today, does not and should not imply anything beyond my desire to share… and to lift up love where ever we find it.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 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.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:1-13

Today is Pentecost Sunday, which marks the end of the Easter celebration and the beginning of what we call “Ordinary Time” in the church’s calendar. 

(By the way, that’s ordinary as in ordinal… days we count…. Not ordinary as in mundane)

The first half of the liturgical calendar tells the story of Jesus – starting with Advent and ending today, with Pentecost. The second half, which starts tomorrow, tells the story of the people of God, the story of the community of believers that was born on Pentecost over 2000 years ago. 

It’s not a gentle transition… 

Before we enter Ordinary Time, we leave the Easter season with (literally) a bang… with wind and fire. 

Let’s listen to today’s lesson again, this time from Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible…

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. 

There’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s start at the beginning… “They were all together”… 

Who is “they” and why were they all together? 

A little further in Chapter 2 of Acts, Luke tells us who “they” refers to. It’s the 12 disciples plus 120 other people who became believers because they had seen the risen Christ during the 40 days he walked among them. 

So that’s who “they” refers to… but why were they all together?

The word Pentecost is derived from the Greek Pentakonta, and means “fiftieth”.

“Pentecost” is the Greek word for Shavuot, the Jewish festival that celebrates the gift of the first fruits of the harvest and the gift of being given the Torah at Mount Sinai. It’s a festival that happens 50 days after Passover (hence “Pentecost”). Pentecost, like Passover, was a pilgrimage festival  – which meant everyone travelled to be together to celebrate. That’s why they were all in one place, to celebrate Pentecost… that and the fact that 10 days earlier, at the time of his Ascension, Jesus had told them not to leave Jerusalem.

It had been only 50 days since Jesus’ execution..  But the 12 disciples and the 120 new followers weren’t grieving… 

They knew Jesus was alive, raised from the dead…Because for 40 days after his resurrection Jesus appeared over and over to not only the disciples but to many others. Scripture tells us that he appeared to more than 500 people on one occasion (1 Cor 15:6) and that he gave “convincing proofs to many other people” (Acts 1:3)

At the end of those 40 days, 10 days before the festival of Pentecost,  Jesus ascended into heaven… but not before preparing his followers for what would happen on Pentecost. 

“When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?” 

Jesus answered,  “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit…” The Message

Which brings us to the bang… the wind and fire

I suspect you learned the weird math of Western Christianity like I did.  You know… the 1+1+1 equals 3 which equals 1? It didn’t make sense then, and it’s still hard to understand for me now. 

Let me share some thoughts from Richard Rohr that may help:

Not exactly One, Christian mystics and teachers attempt to explain, and yet perfectly One; not exactly Three but yet Three… No wonder it took us three centuries to even find a word to describe such a nonsensical image of God. Note this for now: the principle of one is lonely; the principle of two is oppositional and moves you toward preference; the principle of three is inherently moving, dynamic, and generative.

One is lonely.
Two makes you choose.
Three is a community.

The mystery of the Triune God helps us understand that God is not “something or someone”, God is community, relationships, connection… “inherently moving, dynamic, 

Richard Rohr also reminds us that when we try to describe God, Christ, Holy Spirit, or even Love with words, we will never do it well. As he puts it “All theological language is an approximation, offered tentatively in holy awe.”

All theological language is an approximation, offered tentatively in holy awe.

richard rohr

It’s so hard to come up with words that let us grasp mystery… so we use images and metaphors. We talk of wind, fire, and water… as we grasp at trying to understand the majesty and mystery of a triune God. 

But maybe it’s not as hard as we think…. 

Maybe it’s as simple as this…

God for us, we call you [Creator]
God alongside us, we call you Jesus
God within us, we call you Holy Spirit 

richard rohr

Which brings me back to today’s scripture…

Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages…

God-within the disciples and those who had seen the risen Christ was ignited and “spread like wildfire”.  God-within spilled out in the words they spoke… and not just any words – words in a number of different languages…Words that let everyone there hear the Good News in their own language. 

Words that let them understand. 

Words that connected each one of them to each other and the mystery of Divine Love. 

It was so loud, so crazy, that the people who ran towards them to see what was going on thought they were drunk. 

Today’s verse is followed by a sermon by Peter explaining that these people weren’t drunk… they were fulfilling prophesy. He walks them through the prophesy and then retells the story of the execution of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, ending with “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

We are then told that the people listening to Peter were “cut to the heart.” and began to beg him to tell him what they should do. 

He told them to repent and be baptized.

The text continues with these words…  “They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptized. That very day about three thousand were added to the number of those converted.” 

The Church was born.

There have been ~70 generations of human beings since that moment. 

Which means.. 

It is highly probable that one of your biological ancestors was there… 

And it is certain that at least one of your spiritual ancestors was there. 

…Because we are part of an unbroken chain of spiritual inheritance kept vital and alive by the roaring wind and tongues of fire of the Holy Spirit present within us and around us … then, now, and always…. 

God for us, we praise you and call you [Creator]

God alongside us, we praise you and call you Jesus

God within us, we praise you and  call you Holy Spirit 

And all God’s people say…

Amen

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