Sermon – Acts 2:1-21 – Amazed and Perplexed

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Acts 2:1-21 – Amazed and Perplexed

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Pentecost

June 4, 2017

Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and just ten days after his ascension to heaven his followers met in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem.  The group numbered 120, roughly the same size as New Covenant Church. They had been told by Jesus to go back there and wait.  The great crowds that had followed Jesus in his ministry were gone.  They had expected Jesus to be the messiah and lead a military revolt against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.  They had seen his miracles and listened to him teach that the Kingdom of God was near.  But all this seemingly was not to be.  Jesus had been arrested and crucified.  Some rumors went around that he had been seen alive, but how could these be true?  So all that was left was around 120 people, about the same size as New Covenant Church.

The remnant of the followers of Jesus was filled with fear.  If they ventured into the world they might be arrested as followers of Jesus.  They might be ridiculed by others for continuing to believe in a rabbi who had been executed by the authorities.  They were afraid that maybe their faith was based on a fantasy.  They didn't know what to do.  They were stuck.  As they waited they did the best they could.

The retold the stories of Jesus' life on earth.  They did what Jesus did and searched the Old Testament for clues about what his life, death, and resurrection were all about.  They broke bread and drank wine just as Jesus had told them to do.  And, of course, they elected officers and formed committees just like any church waiting for Jesus to return.

This should all sound pretty familiar.  We are still waiting for Jesus' return.  We gather each Sunday morning to retell the stories of Jesus and search the scripture for meaning.  Once a month we break the bread and drink the wine just as Jesus told us to do.  And, of course, we elect officers and form committees.    The 100 or so Presbyterians in Middletown are not very different from the 120 followers of Jesus who met in that upper room as the feast of Pentecost was beginning.  Just like them, we fear to bring our faith into the community around us.  Just like them, we fear that we will be ridiculed and made fun of.  So we come to church on Sundays here in this room but remain silent about our faith the rest of the week. We are just like the 120 who gathered in that room and like them, we need to pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

All of sudden something happened which changed everything.  It strengthened them and empowered them just Jesus had promised.  So what happened to this group of 120 followers of Jesus?  Listen to the account in the second chapter of the Book of Acts.

NIV Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome  11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"  12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"  13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."  

So the thing they feared the most happened.  The Holy Spirit came and empowered them to proclaim the gospel to everyone regardless of language or ethnicity.   And when they did people made fun of them and called them drunks. Isn't this our greatest fear?  If we leave church and witness to others sharing our faith and proclaiming the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life aren't we afraid that we will be ridiculed, made fun of.  Won't modern people call us stupid for believing in miracles?  Won't people be offended if we offered to pray with them?  Won't the atheist try to stop us from proclaiming the gospel in the public square?  According to scripture the answer to all these questions is yes.  We will be ridiculed.  We will be made fun of.  We will be called stupid.  

But if we are filled with the Holy Spirit none of this will matter because the Holy Spirit strengthens us and directs us.  With the Holy Spirit, we are empowered as witnesses of the resurrection of Christ in spite of the ridicule we will receive.  With the Holy Spirit, we will leave this worship space and go into the world as ambassadors of Christ and the leading edge of the kingdom of God.

You can see all of this through the example of Peter.  Peter was just an illiterate fisherman.   On the night of Jesus' arrest, his courage failed when his sword was taken away and three times that night he fearfully denied that he even knew Jesus.  That was just 50 days ago.  But now Peter is empowered by the Holy Spirit.  His fear is gone.  The ridicule doesn't affect him at all.  The possibility of arrest doesn't concern him.  He had strength and courage that not even he would have expected.  And he did the most unexpected thing:  he proclaimed his faith in public.

Act 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!  16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:  17 "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

With boldness, Peter declared that the prophecy of Joel had been fulfilled.  The Holy Spirit of God had come into the world.  And now everything was about to change.  The Holy Spirit had come to transform the world into the Kingdom of God just as Jesus had promised.  The Spirit's had begun transforming 120 followers of Jesus into leaders of a movement that would change the world.

What if the Holy Spirit did the same the same thing right here in Middletown?  What if the Spirit filled us with the ability to witness our faith in Jesus Christ?  What if the Spirit calmed our fears so that we could proclaim our faith even in the midst of ridicule?  What if the Spirit strengthened us, the Presbyterians in Pocomoke, to begin a transformation that would change the world?  All of this is possible if we allow the Holy Spirit to empower us.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped into a restaurant here in Middletown.  Grace was away visiting her family in California and I was on my own.  When lunch was over the waitress gave me the check.  When she returned for the payment I gave her my business card and told her that I pastor this church.  I asked her if she went to church.  She “Oh yes.”.   But when she tried to tell me the name of her church she couldn’t.  It has been so long since she went there she forgot the name.  So I told her that she would be welcome right here.  

Ordinarily, I have a difficult time starting conversations with strangers.  But this time it was easy.  The Holy Spirit wanted someone to talk this woman and chose me to do it.  And Holy Spirit empowered me with the words I needed to speak to her.  The empowerment of the Holy Spirit is something I count on in sermon preparation.  I am not a particularly good writer or speaker.  But somehow the Holy Spirit tells me what to say to you each Sunday.   Sometimes I wake up early in the morning knowing what I need to preach on this Sunday.  Sometimes it comes to me as I listen to a podcast or read a commentary,

 Sometimes sermon ideas come to me in morning prayer.  I am always aware that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to me and empowering me to do what Jesus wants me to do.

This empowerment is available to the whole church.  The first church received the promise of empowerment from Jesus.  And ten days later after a time of worship and prayer, they received power from the Holy Spirit.  This power enabled them to speak to the jewish immigrant who has resettled in Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire.  Each person heard the good news in the language they were most comfortable speaking.  And upon hearing the good news spoken they came to faith in Jesus Christ.  

New Covenant Church is filled with Holy Spirit.  You are a loving, faithful church.  The Holy Spirit has brought you together with the gift of community.  All we need to do is to ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to leave this church and spread the good news throughout the community.   Beginning just after worship we will do this.  I will be teaching a class called “Gateways to Empowered Leadership” from the Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International.   Though this course we will look at how the Holy Spirit empowered people in scripture.  And we will look at practical ways of receiving the Holy Spirit’s power.

So I urge you today to attend this class and pray for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Dedicate yourselves to regular prayer, worship, and meditation on God' word.  The Spirit will come upon you just as it did to those 120 followers of Jesus some two thousand years ago, and through you, the Spirit will transform the world.   Let's pray.  

Holy Spirit, on this Pentecost Sunday we pray that you enter New Covenant Church just as you entered that upper room.  Fill us with the ability to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life with boldness.  And use this proclamation to bring people to belief in our Lord Jesus Christ so that more and more people will experience your transforming power.  This we pray in the name of the one who sent you to us, Jesus Christ. Amen.