Thomas J Parlette
“All About the Spirit”
Acts 2: 1-21
5/24/26, Pentecost
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say “Pentecostal?” Maybe it’s an image of worshippers dancing around with their hands in the air. Maybe there is some snake-handling involved. And maybe you see a room full of people mumbling gibberish and speaking in tongues. I would say – accurate or not- that’s probably what comes to mind for most mainline Christians when you say the word “Pentecostal.”
The well-known preacher and author Fred Craddock tells the story about a lecture he once gave. He was on the west coast, speaking at a seminary, and just before the lecture was to begin, one of the students stood up and said, “Before you speak, Dr. Craddock, I need to know if you are Pentecostal.”
The room grew silent. Being the good mainline Christian that he was, Craddock was taken aback and looked around for some assistance from the Dean of the Seminary, but he was nowhere to be found.
The student asked again – “Dr. Craddock, are you Pentecostal?”
Craddock didn’t know quite how to respond, so he said, “Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal church?”
“No – I mean are you Pentecostal?
Craddock responded, “Are you asking me if I am charismatic?”
“I am asking if you are Pentecostal.”
Craddock said, “I don’t understand, do you want to know if I speak in tongues?”
The student said, “I want to know if you are Pentecostal.”
A bit flummoxed, Craddock said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what your question is.”
The student started packing up his things, “Obviously, you are not Pentecostal.” And he left. (1)
Not too surprising, anytime you bring up the word Pentecostal, it can make mainline Christians a little uncomfortable, including us Presbyterians. The word is filled with images of exuberant worshippers with hands raised above their heads shouting “Amen” – very uncomfortable for we who bear the nickname “Frozen Chosen.”
But we shouldn’t be embarrassed about calling ourselves Pentecostal – for it simply means “filled with the Holy Spirit,” which is a good thing. Maybe we should look at Pentecost as an adjective instead of a noun.
As Christians, we are called to be Pentecostal, as in, filled with the Holy Spirit. All the lectionary passages for today share this in common – they are all about the Spirit.
In the Book of Numbers, we hear about the forgotten Pentecost, when the Lord sends the Spirit to the elders of Israel and they prophesy.
In Psalm 104, the Lord of creation sends the Spirit to renew the earth.
In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, we hear that in the body of Christ there are a variety of gifts, but one Spirit.
In our Gospel reading assigned for today, John 7 tells of how Jesus promises the Spirit as living water from the believer’s heart.
Today, on Pentecost, it’s all about the Spirit.
This passage from Acts 2 that tells the story of the first Pentecost, is one of the few passages that is assigned all three years of our lectionary cycle. It really is part of Luke/Acts, which many scholars are increasingly looking at as one story, told in two parts, with Luke being Part 1, and Acts being Part 2. Pentecost stands at the middle of the story of the Church, founded by Jesus, and continued by his disciples.
Some interpreters have seen the Pentecost story as a sort of reversal of what happened at the Tower of Babel. In Genesis, the people decided to build a tower to put themselves on equal footing with God. Well, we know from the Garden of Eden story that that’s not a good idea, God doesn’t like that – so God destroys the Tower and scatters the people, giving them all different languages and cultures. Some say Pentecost reversed that story and brought all people back together.
But perhaps it’s better to look at this story as one that enables the diversity of the world’s cultures and languages to be seen and experienced and appreciated – rather than something to be overturned and reversed. If we look at it like that, Pentecost is the beginning of universal evangelism. (2)
Last week we noted that in Jesus’ prayer for us before he ascended to heaven, he prayed that we would have a sense of unity in our common purpose – to lead people into God’s presence so they can experience God’s love and forgiveness, mercy and grace.
In the Pentecost event, we receive more than a prayer, we receive the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to forth and share the good news Jesus has entrusted to us.
God confirms the coming of the Spirit with three signs:
- A sound, like the rush of a violent wind,
- Divided tongues, like fire,
- And the ability to speak in other languages.
When these signs first occurred, the devout Jews who were gathered there didn’t know what to make of them. They asked, “What does this mean?”
Peter, with his typical boldness, stands to give an answer:
“This is a prophecy from God. Remember Joel, he said, “God declares, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” After running through a list of rather dire events to take place, he continues, “All these things will be a sign of the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. The day when everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
On this occasion, tongues – different languages – serve as a sign explaining what this outpouring on Pentecost is all about. It’s all about God’s Spirit empowering God’s servants to speak God’s message across all barriers. (3)
So what are some of these barriers?
Language is certainly one of them. It’s hard to share the good news if we do not share a common language.
Cultural barriers are certainly another. Missionaries spend a great deal of time learning the culture of the place where they are stationed.
Trust is perhaps the biggest barrier of all. If you are trying to share the good news, you need to earn trust first.
Language, culture and trust, just a couple of the significant barriers that can stand in the way of our common purpose – leading people into God’s presence to experience God’s love, forgiveness, mercy and grace. But with the power of the Holy Spirit blowing at our backs – all the barriers we face can be overcome.
I think of the people of our congregation who have been so faithful in reaching out to the people of B’decan. For the last 15 years, a group from this church have gone to lead a vacation bible school and get to know the people of the B’decan Church. It would be presumptuous to say we are ‘evangelizing them’ – we’re not, our people learn as much from them as they do from us, they already know Jesus. But what we are doing is showing our Christian unity in being a part of their ministry alongside them. Together, we are partners, united in our common purpose of leading people into God’s presence to experience God’s love and forgiveness, mercy and grace. That is the Holy Spirit at work.
I heard one of the frequent travelers to B’decan say something interesting. She was talking about asking the people there if something we were saying was offensive to them – and one of the B’decan people said, “We know you, we trust you. You’re one of us.”
That’s the Spirit of Pentecost in action, breaking down barriers of language, culture and trust. By virtue of a lot of shared time, and the gift of the Holy Spirit – they know us, they trust us and we’re one of them. That’s when we can proudly call ourselves “Pentecostal” – a people filled with the holy spirit.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. “Are You Pentecostal?”, sermons.com.
2. L. Shannon Jung, Connections, Year A, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2019, p 334.
3. Craig Keener, Connections, Year A, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, p 336
