Sermon for May 19, 2024: All Together Now based upon Acts 2:1-21

Acts 2:1-21

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 nation 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.’  
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All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

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     The disciples have been waiting for something. I’m not sure they were expecting all the chaos they got. When I say disciples here, I mean more that the restored twelve apostles. In her commentary on the text, Dr. Wil Gafney makes the case for reading the “they” in our opening verses as being, at the very least, Mary, Jesus’ mom, a group of other unnamed women who are mentioned in chapter one, and the twelve apostles. It might also include the whole 120 people that Peter has been teaching. This room, with every seat taken, can seat about 120 people. Imagine it full to the brim with people and all of them talking at the same time and all of them speaking a different language.

     Michal Beth Dinkler reminds us in her commentary that the people are gathered for a celebration known as Pentecost. We have adopted that name for our church year holiday, but it was first the name of end of the Jewish Festival of Weeks, a harvest festival. Dr. Gafney notes that by the era in which this story would have been written, Pentecost had also become a celebration of Moses receiving the Torah, a story we know from the book of Exodus. It is perhaps fitting that the Holy Spirit knocks their socks off during a celebration of hard work that bloomed into sustaining food alongside the religious revelation that helped define them as a people. What a reminder that the Spirit can move and can help you grow into something more than you could have imagined.

     In his commentary on the text, Dr. Jeremy Williams notes that at this harvest holiday “what was reaped was not produce, but people.” If you want to reach people, you have to speak a language they understand. Dr. Williams reminds us that the Torah that would have been celebrated on that day wasn’t just the religious laws that had been written down but also the interpretations of those laws passed down from teacher to student. These disciples, be they 20 or 120, received God’s Spirit and became teachers... teachers who spoke in languages they hadn’t previously known.

     It is glorious, isn’t it, that we know the Spirit is working when people from different regions, speaking different languages, have their difference acknowledged and addressed. Their distinct regional differences aren’t wiped away... they don’t all suddenly speak the same. Instead, God is seen most clearly at work in their particularity. The Spirit knows what words and sounds will make sense to them and will give those words and sounds to the disciples. Dr. Williams points out that Judaism had found homes across the Mediterranean. Even though the central place for certain religious festivals would be Jerusalem, Jewish life happened in all manner of languages and cultures. The earliest Christians would follow a similar path. The next part of Christianity’s journey begins here, with new teachers empowered by the Spirit to speak in ways to people who had not expected to hear their own languages spoken.

     Some consider Pentecost to be the “birthday” of the Christian church. That’s not the language Acts uses. Instead, Acts understands the revelation of the day to be a fulfillment of prophecy. The prophet Joel once said that God, who would not be limited by humanity’s understandings of power and hierarchy, could and would empower “all flesh.” Dr. Williams notes in his commentary that people of relatively less social power are the ones specifically noted to be receiving the Spirit. It’s not that all people can’t or won’t receive it. Dr. Williams argues, and I’m inclined to agree, that by lifting up those who continue to be ignored and pushed to the side of communities, Joel was calling upon them to use “new tongues” to reach those who already felt safe because of their higher status in society.

     On this Pentecost when we are also celebrating the confirmation of two teenagers from our church, may we remember the gift of every new people who chooses to become a part of this church. May we be prepared to learn from the new teachers God sends us. May we be prepared to listen to the Spirit who invites us to speak of our faith in a new way. And, when we’re confused, may we remember that God can bring us clarity. We in this all together now. May the Spirit help us remember that.
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Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Michal Beth Dinkler: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/day-of-pentecost-2/commentary-on-acts-21-21-17
Jeremy L.  Williams: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/day-of-pentecost/commentary-on-acts-21-21-16
Wil Gafney, “Pentecost Vigil (or Early Service),” A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2023)