A New Beginning – May 23,2021, Pentecost

Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:1-21
May 23, 2021

Several years ago, on Pentecost, I used for my sermon title, “The Start of Something Big.”  And this was.  The Church of Jesus Christ began that day, and it became the most influential force on this planet – ever!  These eleven men, soon to be twelve again, went out and rode the wave of the greatest religious change in history.

They went out and told people that something amazing, something miraculous, had happened!  God himself had walked the earth!  He had come to this earth to show his love and to redeem all people.  And that message – that Good News – that “Gospel” – spread like wildfire.

We’ve seen a lot of wildfires on the news lately.  Some even just across the river in New Jersey!  Years ago, I asked my firefighter friends which they would rather fight, a building fire, or a wildfire.  They said, “Definitely a building fire!  A wildfire is a whole other beast!”

That’s how the Good News spread in the early days of the Church.  That’s how it’s been described.  It spread like wildfire!  To use another example, one that hits a little closer to home, the Good News spread like the coronavirus spread this past year.  It spread from person to person, eventually went around the known world.  I certainly don’t mean to make light of that by using such a bad thing as an example.  But it does describe it.  And maybe that can put a bit of a positive spin on such a awful thing.

The Disciples, now the Apostles, went out into the world with the Good News.  And what they had to tell the world was so momentous, it was such a milestone in history, that the calendar changed forever.  Since those days, we have marked the passage of time by how many years it’s been since the time of Jesus.  Oh yes, they’re now calling it the “Common Era” or “CE,” instead of “AD,” the year of our Lord.  But it’s still marked from the time of Jesus!

This thing, that began on Pentecost, was “The Start of Something Big.”  It was, as I’m calling this sermon, “A New Beginning.”  “For God so loved the world, that he sent his only son.”  And now, as he sent his Holy Spirit into the world in a new way, he showed that he has, as I like to say, “a great flair for the dramatic.”  Here on Pentecost, we have the story of the rush of the mighty wind, the tongues of fire, and the supernatural power of God speaking to all the people of the world in their own languages.  If you think about it, it was sort of the reverse of the tower of Babel!  It is indeed true, as I also like to say, that “when God starts something, he really starts something.”

Those are some of my favorite quotes for this day of Pentecost.  “God has a flair for the dramatic,” and “when God starts something, he really starts something!”  As I said last week, as the disciples were in Jerusalem, “waiting for the promise,” could they even have imagined this happening this way?  I don’t think so!  And one of the amazing things about the power of the Holy Spirit that day is that it happened out in the open!  The disciples didn’t gather the people out in the desert somewhere, out of the sight of the Jewish authorities or the Romans.  This wasn’t an “underground movement” that “came to the surface” after it had gained momentum.  No, it was “right out there” for all to see.  I sometimes wonder how close the authorities and the Romans were to gathering the troops and arresting the Apostles and dispersing the crowds.  As you know, the Romans didn’t like crowds, anyway.  They were always concerned with stopping insurrections and rebellions!

So, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and the Church was “born.”  This was “a new beginning.”  It was a new beginning for the relationship between God and his people here on earth.  It was not, however, a new celebration.  As you may know, Pentecost was a Jewish celebration.  Pentecost is a word that has in it that word “pente” meaning “Five,” as in “Pentagon,” or “Pentateuch” – the first Five books of the Bible.  And in this case it actually means “Fiftieth.”  It was a celebration that took place fifty days after Passover.  It was primarily a harvest festival, celebrating the giving of the “first fruits.”  It was also called “The feast of weeks,” and eventually it came to be associated with another supernatural event, the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

So this event took place on that day.  Pentecost was already a thing.  It wasn’t that this thing with the Holy Spirit happened, and then the church said, “What shall we call this day?”  But it was added to the celebrations of the Church using that name.  And it is recognized as the day the Church of Jesus Christ began.  We’ve even called it “the birthday of the church.”  And I’ve known churches who have celebrated this as a birthday, complete with balloons, and streamers, and a birthday cake.  I was never fond of turning this into that, but hey, any excuse to have cake, right?

This was definitely the beginning of the church.  And it was “A New Beginning” for some five thousand people that day.  And it only increased from there.  And ever since that day, coming to faith in Jesus Christ has been seen as a new beginning for each person.  “If anyone is in Christ they are a new Creation.  The past is finished and done.  Behold, the new has come!”  So this is a new beginning for the world, and it has represented a new beginning for each believer ever since.

And now, as we celebrate Pentecost this year, it comes at an interesting time, doesn’t it?  As the pandemic restrictions ease, as we’re beginning to see a light at the end of a long tunnel!  And it does seem like it’s a time of a new beginning!

And like the people in the early days of the Church, we’re asking, “What happens next?”  Like them, we too have some new things to figure out.  What’s it going to be like?  What things will we go back to, and what new things will we keep?  What things will change, and what will stay the same.

Those are always hard questions.  And as we think about that, as we ask those questions, I would go back to last week’s passage, which was the one right before this, and remember that the disciples “devoted themselves to prayer.”  And I would ask you to join me in prayer for the church as we make our way forward.  This can indeed be a new beginning for us.  Let’s make it a good one!

We celebrate today the new beginning of the relationship with God and his people.  We celebrate the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ.  We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into the life of the church, and we recognize the promise of the Spirit with us.

As we move now to this sacrament, may we seek to know the touch of the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that empowered the beginning of the Church so long ago.

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to be in tune with your Spirit.  Help us to know of your presence here with us as we share this sacrament together.  Fill us with the joy of your kingdom as we too go out to share your love with the world.  For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.