The Spirit....power unleased. We're On the Road

If you are following the blog and are not a member of Luther Memorial - or haven't been in church for the last 2 months - you may have missed mention of our On the Road with Jesus event taking place this Sunday, June 12th.  It is just by chance that our event and the Festival of Pentecost occur on the same day this year.  Perhaps we should have re-named it On the Road with the Spirit, because, of course, that is the what Pentecost is all about.

Acts 2.1-2

 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 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. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

We are only using this shortened version of the assigned Pentecost text, but it does include all the essential elements of Pentecost for us. 

The Festival of Pentecost is a Jewish festival that occurs 50 days following Passover (notice the 'pente')  That is why all these folks - the disciples and other believers - were gathered together with a large crowd of folks from many other regions and cities.  They weren't gathered in order to receive the Holy Spirit.  They were gathered according to Jewish tradition, and the gift of the Holy Spirit gave the gathering new meaning.

Well, more than new meaning.  It gave those gathered new power as well.  Now we Westerners are prone to think of power in terms of what it can accomplish - but in a more pejorative sense, looking for how power can be used to our advantage.  Here we watch as the gift of the Spirit does accomplish amazing things, but those things benefit only the group, not the individuals present.  When the Spirit moves over the crowd, these folks who spoke in different languages were now able to understand each other.  That is amazing in itself.  The Spirit reverses the curse of the Tower of Babel and enables diverse people to be of one voice.  You can see the unity theme developing here.

Even more amazing, in my book, is that all those who were present listened to each other.  The scriptures say that those present indicated they were able to hear in their own language.  From parent to teacher to preacher, we know that speaking is one thing, but being heard is something far more precious.  Each foreigner was able to hear in his own language. 

So what is God doing here?  Jesus has ascended; the disciples are a bit confused and adrift.  So God meets them where they are - both emotionally, spiritually and geographically - right there with lots of strangers, and gifts them with the power that will make it possible for them to be one in service to God.  This is how God is going to build the Church - and the vision was global from the beginning.

Makes this a perfect text for our Mission Sunday - where we step out into the world and having identified places where the hand of God can bring new life to others, where we can serve others, we put ourselves to work.  It is not for the sake of completing tasks, but in order that we might identify places where God is at work already, and we are there to put on our labor. 

Acts of the Apostles is the book of the Bible that teaches about the early days of the Church.  It is a book about the work of the Holy Spirit, calling people into faith, bringing folks to baptism, protecting Paul in shipwreck, freeing Paul when he was a prisoner and much more.    When we go out on the road this Sunday, this will be a powerful Spirit which accompanies us.  If you haven't decided where to serve, now is a great time to choose one of our teams or a project of your own. 

For no matter where we are throughout the city, we will be one, powered by the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the other.
Blessings.