Primed for Joy: May 19, 2024

Year B, Pentecost Acts 2:1-22

Last week I had the opportunity to complete my women’s leadership training through Princeton Seminary.  It started 18 months ago and included women from across the country.  We were split into small groups and our group had 7 women from 6 different states and 5 different denominations.  I have learned a tremendous amount from these women over the past year and a half.  

One of them is at University Baptist Church in Austin-- right across from the University of Texas.  During our time together, she shared what it was like opening her church up as a respite center for the college protesters.  Her church became not just a safe space, but a place of healing.  People could come after being sprayed with pepper spray and tear gas, a place people came to weep after being released from jail.  She said she never saw any violence from the students, but excessive use of force from the police in riot gear.  She spoke of poetry readings, interfaith worship, and the joy that accompanied these unexpected moments.  The group she encountered was made up of Jews, Muslims, Christians and agnostics, all working together.  One of the other pastors in our group said it sounded just like Pentecost and I thought…well Pentecost with riot gear. It made me wonder what would happen if Pentecost happened today.    

A lot of people think that Pentecost was always a Christian holiday, one of the originals that we invented.  But it was, and still is a Jewish holiday. Our story from Acts refers to a crowd gathering.  It says, “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.” That crowd was there to celebrate the Jewish feast of Pentecost. In the Jewish faith, Pentecost marks the end of the spring harvest.  People gathered together to present their first fruits of the harvest.  It was a time to praise God and show gratitude for all God had given.   

Later in chapter 2 of Acts, it says that 3,000 people were baptized. Presumably not everyone present was baptized which means this crowd was at least 3,000 people.  That is significant crowd. They were there for their own purposes (the Jewish feast of Pentecost) and it must have been rather jarring to have their holiday suddenly usurped by 12 Galilean fishermen who were speaking in different languages. Their behavior was so bizarre that people assumed these disciples of a crucified Messiah were drunk.  It had to be very unsettling.    

Peter defended himself and his companions by quoting the prophet Joel and talking about the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood.  That’s just a weird way to try to calm a crowd.  It seems to me that would have just stirred people up, which is exactly what the Holy Spirit is known for, stirring things up.  But the crowd didn’t know that.  They were there for a harvest festival.  They were not there for tongues of fire, blood moons and seemingly intoxicated disciples.  This was in Jerusalem…a city. This wasn’t in a field in the middle of nowhere.  What do you think would happen in Old City if there was an event like that…without a permit? Would there be police? Almost surely.  I would probably be the one calling them, because this would be alarming  

After Peter preached his disturbing, but inspiriting sermon, the people were clearly moved. That was why they were baptized.  Yet I can’t help but wonder what the Roman authorities were thinking. We don’t actually know if there were any Roman soldiers on the scene at Pentecost. The Roman military was known for getting involved in anything that might be perceived as disturbing the peace.   The years 27 BC to 180 AD are referred to as Pax Romana because it was a period of relative peace and security for the Roman Empire. Jesus’ life and death and the birth of the church falls squarely in that period.  But that peace was enforced by the Roman military.  One of the reasons that Jesus was killed was because they feared rebellion.  Yet, even if there were soldiers on the scene, they didn’t respond with violence, because that would have been included in the story. 

When I started thinking about this sermon, I wanted to talk about why our nation and world seems to deal with things so violently and I was going to contrast our present day with the peaceful Pentecost 2000 years ago. But the reality is that humans have been hurting each other since Adam and Eve’s eldest son killed the younger one.  We have just found more and efficient ways to do it.   

Now I understand that some of these protesters are bad actors and that many are breaking rules that are there for a purpose.  I also know that some of these protests have included anti-Semitic behavior.  And that is one of the reasons I have not wanted to discuss it. I have heard personal stories of some horrific anti-Semitic behavior. It’s terrifying and heinous.  But there has to be a way for people to express themselves on divisive issues without it escalating to violence.  Not every college protest has ended with the police coming in.  We are capable of disagreeing in this nation without it leading to violence. 

I have struggled so much with this sermon because while I never pretend to have all the answers in any sermon, I try not to leave you more confused at the end.  I have been thinking, what’s missing in our world…or maybe not missing, but it short supply?  What had made us so quick to attack rather than finding ways to communicate? We had our last class on spiritual disciplines, which Noah brilliantly led.  And our final spiritual discipline was celebration.  We spent a lot of time talking about the things that bring us joy.  And I realized…that’s what’s in short supply.  It’s joy.   I am not talking about happiness which we often equate with worldly things or even things that we have to earn---I am talking about the joy that comes when we see God in the world around us—when we show gratitude for what God has given us, which is exactly what the first Pentecost was. 

When my friend at the University of Texas talks about everything going on, it comes out in a mixture of tears, smiles, laughter, and more tears.  She has found so much joy in this new community that she is witnessing. She has also seen a lot of pain. If she can see joy in that tense and volatile situation, then we still have hope.  There is joy in our world.  Sometimes it is more subtle and sometimes quite obvious. We have a beautiful opportunity to witness joy today in our service because what is more joyful than a baptism?   What is more joyful than welcoming a new person into our community? What is more joyful than telling someone that they are marked at Christ’s own forever? 

But what about those times when joy is harder to recognize?  Our Acts reading is full of energy and joy.  The reading from Romans speaks to those times when joy and hope are elusive---times when it’s hard to pray and praise. In those times Paul (the author of Romans) writes that the Holy Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just come to us on happy occasions, or in tongues of fire, or even worship.  It comes to us in one on one conversations, sometimes painful conversations.  Sometimes moments of silence, or when we choose to listen instead of talk.  It come in sighs too deep for words…  

The Holy Spirit is here for all of it. I wonder if the answer is in that very first Pentecost.  That crowd gathered was there to praise God, to thank God for the harvest God had given them.  That joy and gratitude—it primed them to hear what the disciples were saying, even though it wasn’t at all what they expected.  That is why prayer and praise helps us, not just in our relationship with God, but in our relationship with one another.  It primes us for joy.  

Hearts Broken Open: Pentecost

Year B, Pentecost                                        Acts 2:1-11, Romans 8:22-27                 

May 20, 2018 

            There are some weeks--and I know that we have all experienced them, where we just feel a little beaten down by life. It may be one huge serious thing, it may be 1000 small things that build around us until we feel suffocated… It could be anything.  It could be everything.  It might be something personal, or something more global.  For instance, this has been a difficult week in terms of the news.  In the beginning of the week, we were bombarded with reports from Gaza. It is a land that seems to know no peace, a land that every major religion prays for, a land where our Lord and Savior lived, died and was resurrected. A land where over 2000 were injured in one day this past week.  In our nation, our week ended with yet another school shooting.  This time, 10 students were killed by a 17 year old boy.  The carnage never seems to end in our schools.

While our week ended with the royal wedding and the uplifting and encouraging sermon by our presiding bishop, I still found myself struggling to find the good in the good news. It was especially challenging, because this week is Pentecost.  It’s the day we mark the coming of the Holy Spirit and to some extent, the birth of the church. We wear red.  We talk about fire and light.  We eat cake.  It’s supposed to be about joy, right???

            And yet, the biblical description of Pentecost is a little more complicated than the birthday of our Christian Church.  The fire we talk about in the Pentecost story is not created by birthday candles.  The fire in the Pentecost story is tongues of fire over people’s heads. When I hear about tongues of fire resting on people’s heads, I often wonder why people did not duck.  Would that not be the most natural reaction to fierce winds and tongues of fire descending on your head? The first thing I would do would be to dive for cover.  Had they not yet heard of stop, drop and roll? 

All the paintings that depict the story of Pentecost have the people looking serene.  Some look almost bored, like there was nothing strange about flames hovering over their heads.  A couple of the paintings depict people looking a little surprised, even scared, but that is certainly the exception.  And there is not one that I could find where people are actually ducking.  If someone could find me one, I would be most appreciative.

            I cannot help but wonder what gave those people in the Pentecost story the presence of mind to stand still, to know that there was nothing to fear. Perhaps the Holy Spirit had some sort of calming effect. If the Holy Spirit could give them all the ability to speak in other languages, surely the Holy Spirit could also provide some sort of natural sedative…like lavender infused wind. However, for some reason I have an easier time imaging every person speaking in different languages than people being calm when tongues of fire were resting on their heads. 

            The thing is, they had every reason to be afraid.  The scary truth is that the Holy Spirit brings change and transformation.  Those are anxiety provoking things. No amount of calming lavender will take that away. The only time the Holy Spirit is not terrifying is when we let the flames just hover over our heads (like in the paintings) rather than break into our hearts.

But the intention of the Spirit is never simply to hover.  In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he wrote, “And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit…”  Earlier in Romans, Paul wrote: “…hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” 

            That all sounds great, and it is very lovely imagery…but what does it mean?  The text almost makes it sound like we are just passive recipients.  God searches our heart.  God’s love is poured into our hearts.  It almost seems like we don’t have to do any work…we just sit around and wait for the dancing flames.  Actually, there is something we can do—or rather something we can’t do.  We can’t duck.  We can’t run for cover.  We can’t hide behind something that is safe and secure, like the brick walls of a church, or willful ignorance that may shield us from pain, or fear that keeps us from taking risks. 

When it comes to the Holy Spirit, nothing is safe from its violent winds or tongues of fire.  It does not discriminate in what it chooses to transform. That makes it sound as though it is unstoppable.  However, this is not the case. There is one thing that can stop the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, and that is our hard and uncompromising hearts. In order for God to search our heart….in order for God’s love to be poured into our hearts, we have to open our hearts.

People always talk about broken hearts like they are a bad thing. It’s true, they are painful, but they are necessary.  I do not know about you, but when I have weeks like this, weeks when the small things or the very big things threaten to tear me down, I have a tendency to bury the pain.  Sometimes I want to ignore the bad or thought provoking news and watch reality TV or read fashion magazines.  Sometimes I do.  But then there are weeks when I can’t, because I have to preach to you all.  So here is what I did this week.  I read the news. I cried. I cried a lot and watched Bishop Curry’s sermon about love and then I cried some more.

And then I prayed that the Holy Spirit would touch all your hearts when my words were not enough.  I even prayed that your hearts would break a little.  I believe that we have two options when our hearts break—when we face pain and fear.  We can sew them back up tight, maybe even encase them in a hard shell.  Or we can just piece them back together, leaving the heart cracked, but much more open than before.  Because if we leave those cracks, those tiny imperfections, we leave more space for God’s love to break through.

Those people at Pentecost…they had every reason to be afraid.  But it was not the flames or the wind that should have scared them.  It was what would come after, that should have scared them the most.  When the wind died down, the flames disappeared, and the great crowd dissipated, their lives were forever changed.  I don’t think the Holy Spirit provided them with the presence of mind to stay calm.  I believe the Holy Spirit gave them something far greater, courage and hope to stand still and open their hearts to something new and different.  My prayer for all of you is that when the wind comes and the flame burns just a little too hot, that you will find the courage to stand still…to lean into the wind and the flame, knowing that God may let you fall, may even let you get burned a little, but will make sure that whatever hardship you might face will bring you closer to the person who God created you to be.