Pentecost- What does it mean?

It is amazing how three people can read the same passages and hear different things. I guess I just tend to skip over the speaking in tongues. People I love and respect claim it as a true spiritual gift. I do not have that gift. In the context of scripture it makes more sense for me to understand it as the different languages. The amazing thing at Pentecost was that everyone could hear of God’s deeds in a language they could understand. The message of God was comprehendible to all. That is a message of inclusiveness and diversity.

We have been trying to help Mekonen Wube (from Eritrea) get his driver’s license. The BMV allows to have the test translated, but they don’t provide a translator and they must certify all translators. Around and around and around we go with newcomers to our country, our language and our processes.

We can exclude people, or make them feel like outsiders, unintentionally. Loui mentions wearing red on Pentecost. We decided not to stress that tradition this year for precisely that reason. We don’t want a visitor to walk in and be the only person wearing brown or green in the congregation. So those who want to wear red will. But visitors should not feel out of place.

The coming of the Holy Spirit fulfills Jesus promise and is the most important event in the life of the early church. The God who created the entire world is at work in this small group of disciples. The breath theme from creation is replayed at Pentecost.

Pentecost is 50 days after Passover and was the Festival of Weeks. It began as a harvest festival and then became focused on preserving Jewish heritage. By the first century the festival became a celebration of God giving the law to Moses. So compare the fifty days from the Passover of Israel to the giving of the law at Sinai to the fifty days from Jesus’ crucifixion to the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Old Testament-
Winds from God swept over the water in creation
The whole earth had one language confused at Babel
Moses received the law amid smoke, thunder and fire

Acts
The violent rush of wind from heaven
Jews hear the disciples speak in many languages
Disciples receive Holy Spirit amid tongues of fire

As for the speaking in tongues…it is clear that it happened in the early church. Paul shares many accounts. Paul claimed it was a gift from God and an ecstatic experience.

The passage moves on to Peter’s sermon. He quotes the prophet Joel to explain the behavior of the disciples.

I think Luke would be shocked at how the modern church separates the resurrection, the ascension and Pentecost into three distinct events. Luke saw them all part of the same action of God. The God who raised Jesus from the dead and took him into heaven sent the Spirit to the disciples. All one God. All one act.

Luke’s account tells us a story which can be interpreted in many ways. It is an account of something strange and miraculous. It is a story filled with mystery and wonder. The power of God enters the ordinary in a most extraordinary way. The purpose of this intervention is to provoke proclamation. The people ask questions and the disciples stand and speak.

Today many folks feel the power of the Holy Spirit to be something they experience inside themselves, alone, in a personal way. But this account says that’s not the way it worked. The Spirit came in public, in fire, in wind, in noise, in a crowd, in confusion, and the purpose was to get the disciples out of hiding and out proclaiming the gospel.