Thomas J Parlette
“Catching the Wind”
Acts 2: 1-21
5/28/23
It’s called The Windcatcher. When it’s finished it will be as tall as the Eiffel Tower. It will be as wide as the world’s largest cruise ships.
Built as an enormous metal grid, it will contain 126 wind turbines. It will float on a platform, anchored to the ocean floor using the same technology employed by the oil and gas industry.
A Norwegian company has been developing this new system to generate electricity from wind power. Fast Company magazine reports that when it becomes operational next year, “it could deliver five times the annual energy of the world’s largest single turbine. That’s because the system is three time taller than the average turbine, exposing the blades to higher wind speeds.” (1)
Imagine 126 turbines spinning in an enormous grid. The Windcatcher’s blades will be smaller than those on a typical windmill, which will enable them to spin faster. And the position of the grid in deep water will enable it to catch the strongest of winds.
Numbers. Size. Location. Put these elements together, and you have a single structure that will generate enough electricity to run 80,000 European homes.
That’s a lot of power.
The Windcatcher is still in development, so its performance is still uncertain. There are certainly questions yet to be answered. “What happens when a big storm or a hurricane hits it?” Could it tip over in high winds? Would about rough seas? Or the blades – will they chop up all kinds of sea gulls? Just some of the questions that need to be answered.
The subject of wind and power is certainly on our radar today as we celebrate the Day of Pentecost. This is the day that the 12 apostles were gathered in Jerusalem far a harvest festival called Pentecost, meaning “50th day” – the 50th day after the celebration of Passover. Jews from around the Mediterranean region were gathered to celebrate this festival in Jerusalem, including “Parthians, Medes and Elamites,” along with residents of a dozen other regions mentioned in the book of Acts.
The 12 apostles were sitting in a house in Jerusalem, probably feeling uncertain and a bit powerless. Yes, they had been inspired and energized when Jesus was raised to new life on Easter. But his time among them had come to an end just a few days earlier, on the Day of Ascension, when Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
So, I think they took a long look at each other and thought “Ok, Now what? What are we supposed to do now?”
That’s when a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. This wind was as fast as the air that rushes at high altitudes, and as strong as the breeze that blows over deep waters. But this wind was no hurricane or freak storm.
No – this wind, this power, came from God. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
The Apostles became like the proposed Windcatchers, powered by the Holy Spirit. They were effective because of their number. There were 12 of them, not just one. God had been working through individuals, like John the Baptist, Mary and Jesus. And they were certainly big turbines. But now God was going to work through a community, just like the Windcatcher employs an array of turbines.
The apostles were also the right size – small. They were not the big shots of religion or politics, people who made an impression on others with their insights or influence. In fact, when they began to speak in other languages, the God-fearing Jews from other nations were utterly amazed. They asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?”
No one expected a group from Galilee to master all these diverse languages. They were from the boondocks – they weren’t supposed to be multi-lingual – until the Day of Pentecost arrived.
The Apostles were also in right place – Jerusalem. They were gathered for a religious festival, which was a good place to be as they showed their devotion to God. But their position in Jerusalem also gave them access to God-fearing people from every nation from all around the region. They did not hesitate to declare the wonders of God in a variety of languages. And Peter was not reluctant to raise his voice and address the crowd, saying, “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.”
On Pentecost, the apostles discovered the secret to spiritual power – right numbers, right size, right place. And we can employ that power even today.
We benefit from numbers, just as the first apostles did. But notice, that doesn’t mean it has to be a big number – they only had twelve. But they were in community, they were 12 apostles, together. We need to be in community with one another if our faith and Christian commitment is going to grow. This means we put a focus on gathering for worship and Bible study, and fellowship, as well as working together in ministry and mission.
The first mention of the Greek word “ekklesia” in the Bible is found in the gospel of Matthew, and it’s translated as “church.” What the word literally means is “gathering,” and it comes from the ancient Greek assembly of citizens in a city-state. The word appears again in Acts, when “Barnabas and Saul met with the church” – the ekklesia – in Antioch. It was in this city that the disciples were first called “Christians.”
We need to gather in numbers to be the church. Jesus is with us when we are together in community, just as he promised in Matthew, saying, “For when two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Assembling for community worship and Bible study and Fellowship gives us the most inspiration, insight and guidance. When we stop taking part. Our faith tends to cool off. If the isolation of the pandemic taught us anything, it is that gathering is a critical factor in the vitality of the church.
Assemblies are also needed for effective ministry and mission. Individuals can have brilliant and creative ideas, but implementation and follow-through requires a team. Far too often, individuals pursue great ideas on their own, only to become frustrated when they can’t achieve their goal. For any effort to be successful, it takes at least a group of people to support and encourage each other. I have no hard proof – but five feels like a good number to me. You don’t need a huge group to get started – but a group of five, committed, enthusiastic people can get a lot done. Ministry and mission require some numbers.
There was once a member of a certain church, who had always been an active member, attending services regularly, but then he just stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home, alone, sitting by a roaring fire.
Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable, but said nothing. In the silence both men contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.
After more than a few minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.
As the one lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then it’s fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead as a doornail.
Not a word had been spoken since the pastor first arrived.
Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.” (2)
We need to be in community or our faith will cool off and end up dead as a doornail.
As Christians, we also need to be the right size. Now this has nothing to do with height or weight or the number of people in a congregation. Instead, Christians need to be small enough to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and then act boldly in the world. This is similar to the Windcatcher system, in which small turbines spin quickly in high wind.
Look at the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts. He did not see himself as a bigshot or a spiritual superstar. In fact, he had denied Jesus three times just a few months earlier. Peter had no special status in the religious, political or financial communities of Jerusalem. But he was exactly the right size to be a disciple of Jesus.
Although he was small in the eyes of the world, he was big enough to speak the truth. “These men are not drunk, as you suppose,” he said to the crowd. They had assumed that the words of the Apostles in all these languages were the babblings of people feeling tipsy from too much wine. “No”, said Peter, “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Peter was just the right size to do what God wanted him to do; Connect the gift of the Holy Spirit to the prophecy of Joel, and to share this news with the people of Jerusalem. He concluded by assuring them that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Our challenge is to make sure that we are the right size for ministry and mission. You may be a powerful executive at a top company, but you can be the right size for serving a meal to the homeless. You may be an influential attorney, but you can be the right size for teaching a Bible study. You may be a sixth grade student, but you can be the right size for singing in the choir. All that matters is that you can be right-sized for discipleship.
The final secret to spiritual power is place. This means being in the right place at the right time, just as the apostles were in the right place – Jerusalem – at the right time – Pentecost. For many of us, there will be places that are the right spot for us: Home, school, work, the gym, church. But like the Windcatcher, we need to position ourselves correctly to catch the wind. Sometimes we need to leave the comfort of familiar places and familiar ways of doing things to accomplish our purposes.
Today, on Pentecost, we are in the right place, we are just the right size for discipleship and we have the right numbers gathered here today. God is only too pleased to bless us with the power of the Holy Spirit Wind.
David McKirachan tells the story about when he took his four-year-old son sailing for the first time:
“At that age, my son was just big enough to enforce “No” and “Mine” with more developed language. Her fought with anything that looked like authority. He was “establishing identity” according to the counselor with whom I shared my angst. He was grabbing for power. Dinner time, bed time, play time, school time, any time was another battle. I was exhausted.”
“One day, I took him on a jaunt to a park where we could rent a little sailboat for the afternoon. I told him that the rope I was going to give him was like the gas pedal in a car. If you pulled the rope, we go faster. If you let it out, we go slower. Then I handed him the rope. His eyes got big. I put the rudder and we drifted off the luff. I said, “Ok, pull.”
“Sailing is one of the most spiritual activities I know. It requires a finely developed sense of humility and patience, because you don’t go anywhere without the cooperation of the wind. And keeping the sail full of wind requires attention and a constant adjustment of rudder and sheets (the lines that come from the bottom corners of the sails). When the wind fills the sail, you feel more than a tug on the rope. It is the wind, “Ruach” in Hebrew. It’s the same word they use for Spirit. It’s what moved across the deep at creation. It’s not an atmospheric disturbance, it’s power, raw, elemental power in your hand.”
“That day, on that big pond, in that little boat, the storms of our relationship were stilled. He gave up his search for power and I relaxed, only focused on keeping the breeze in the sail. Teaching him to duck when we came about was fun, but even that became part of the dance that day out there on the water. The spirit of creation blew into our small lives and left us with a peace that passes understanding.”
“He still struggles for power. Life isn’t easy for him. But as a grown man, with bigger issues than bedtime, he remembers that day on the pond. And he remembers that I trusted him with the power of the wind.” (3)
Today, on Pentecost, we are called to be windcatchers. God trusts us with the power of Ruach, the power of the Holy Spirit, moving like the wind, to bring God’s Kingdom into existence.
So let us receive that trust, and strive to catch the wind!
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved 5/5/23.
2. Ibid…
3. Ibid…
