Acts 2:1-21 with
John 7:37-39
Since we have already all had
cupcakes, I don’t need to remind you that this is the Birthday of the
church. Pentecost is the day we honor
and celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit among the Jesus community. It is the day that the fledging followers of
the Jewish Jesus begin to grow and define themselves as a separate group, a new
religious movement. It is the day that a
fire came among the people, the good news was spread far and wide, and the
Christian church was born. Certainly a
day worthy of a little cake and frosting.
But to tell the truth, there is
something about our celebration that rings a bit hollow. Like someone getting up there in years, the
church has had a lot of birthdays now.
Think of your own life. Few
adults I know are as excited to see another birthday as they were when they
were children. Olivia will be 8 next
weekend and the excitement in our household is palatable. We have been talking for months about what
she wants for her birthday and you can feel it like electricity in the
air. When I turned 39 last April there
wasn’t nearly the same amount of energy.
In fact, the older we get, the more our birthdays are less of a big
deal. Those first 21 years are awesome,
and then we hold back on the celebrating until it becomes meaningful again like
80, 90, or even 100.
So imagine the church celebrating a
birthday today; it’s been like 1,984 years give or take a few. The church is getting up there in years, and
just like we do, it seems to be slowing down a bit. We certainly don’t seem to have that spunk
and vigor that the writer of Acts describes on this Pentecost birthday. And so while we might enjoy a bit of cake,
the celebration itself sometimes rings a bit hollow.
And yet, here we are anyway, and the
question is why. The answer, I believe,
is in that small reading from the gospel of John. We are here because we are thirsty. It’s the last day of the Fall Harvest
festival and Jesus announces to the crowd that those who have thirst should
come to him. It’s a bit of a play on
words as the festival included a water ritual but the point is clear. Jesus has what will quench our thirst.
I think all of us can get in touch
with the idea of a thirsty human spirit.
Our world wears us out. We are
parched, we are dry, and we are wandering lost in a desert of false gods and
misinformation. We are thirsty for
meaning, we are thirsty for truth, and we are thirsty for love. We are thirsty for connection with each other
and with our God.
In the gospel of John, Jesus promises
that our thirst will be quenched with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The writer of Acts describes that moment with
the day of Pentecost. Our thirst is
quenched not with water, but with fire.
We are burned, we are cleansed, we are fed, and we are sent out to feed others,
to make connections with others.
In the Pentecost story, the people are
given a gift of language. Not babbling tongues
of glossolalia described by Paul and experienced in the Pentecostal traditions;
but actual language. The people speak
the languages of all those gathered from near and far, and connections are
made, community is formed, and the church is born.
I love that the church is based in
connection. The early disciples don’t
ask folks to conform to their tradition, rather they go out into the world and
conform to the traditions of others. You
don’t learn the language of the church.
Rather, the church learns the language of the people. Outsiders like Elamites, Parthians, Asians,
and Arabs don’t learn the language of the Jews to become the church. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jews
learn the languages of others. The
church is made when we conform, when we humble ourselves, when we strive to
learn about others so we can make those connections that we are so thirsty for.
This may seem like a stretch to you
but I am sure you can find examples of this in your own life. I am reminded of my relationship with my
children. They are big fans of a Lego
cartoon show called “Ninjago” which I am truly not interested in. And yet, I learn the language of “Ninjago” so
I can follow the adventures of Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane with them. This is a way I learn another language, a way
I conform to make connections.
Similarly, when in Malawi I picked up a few small phrases. Haltingly offering a “Muli Bwanji”, “Zikomo”,
or “Yewo” to those I meet is a way to conform myself and to make connections
with another. When we take the time to
learn the language of another, we are rewarded with the community that we are
so thirsty for.
In the reading from the gospel of
John, Jesus says that “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow living
water.” Those who receive the Holy
Spirit, those who are part of the church community, will be able to share this
Spirit with each other. We will be able
to quench the thirst of others, with the connection that flows from our hearts.
Now in my study this week, I noticed
that the Greek doesn’t really say “heart” in this passage, it actually says
“belly.” A better translation of this
verse is “Out of the belly of him, will flow rivers of living water.” This idea of “belly” really got to me. Ages ago when I studied the Korean martial
art of Tae Kwan Do I learned that the source of my power was in my belly. If I was going to punch or kick with enough
force to break a wooden board I needed to harness my belly power. So it makes sense to me that out of my gut,
out of my core, out of the center of my body, will flow the water that will
quench others. Out of my belly comes the
power of connection that I form with God and with other people. This idea really works for me, as I think of
my faith as the core of who I am, and my belly; not my mind, not my heart, my
belly is my true core.
What does that feel like for you – to
imagine the center of your faith down in your belly instead of your head and
heart? How does it frame your ideas of
relationship to other people to consider that a connection in the belly? Perhaps those Pentecostal tongues of fire,
were really a fire in the belly, urging the early believers to forge deeper
connections with others.
This Sunday of course, we are
celebrating new connections as we welcome new members into our midst. People everywhere are thirsty for God, they
are thirsty for connection, and that thirst has led some people into our
midst. We have been eager to share with
others the joy of our faith and so we thankfully celebrate this opportunity to
reach out. Today is a great day for us
to make commitments to learn the private languages of these new folks in our
midst. Let us conform ourselves to them,
and seek opportunities to learn and grow together. Let us share the fire for God that lives in
our bellies as we make connections here in the church community.
The power of God is always the power
to surprise us. I am sure that as the
early church community gathered together in prayer that Pentecost morning, they
had no idea what was about to happen.
They had no idea what God was about to do in their midst. They could not imagine the fire that would be
placed in the bellies, urging them to go out into the world and learn new
languages to form new connections in the name of Jesus Christ.
So too, I am sure you had no idea that
you would be leaving this place this morning thinking about your belly. Though the church may feel old and boring
some days, we still have that fire in the belly. We still have that opportunity to learn new
languages and to make new connections.
We still have that chance to share our joy of faith with others, to
announce to the thirsty people of the world that we have the living water; we
have the fire of faith, deep within our core.
People are thirsty for meaning, for love, for truth, for God, and for
community. Here in this church, we have
the power to quench that thirst with the gift of the Holy Spirit. I charge you to go out in the world this day,
and embrace that fire in your belly. Learn
new languages and share your faith with our thirsty world this day! Amen.
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