SERMON FOR PENTECOST, MAY 31, 2020          TEXT: ACTS 2:1-21

          The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts form one continuous narrative. The Holy Spirit appears at the beginning of each as the driving force of God’s saving action. Think about the story of Jesus. According to Luke, the savior is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit: The angel tells Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God” (1:35).

          When after the birth the family travels to the temple in Jerusalem to present the child, the Spirit moves again: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (2:25-34).

          Years later when Jesus is baptized by John, the Spirit descends upon him as God announces, “You are my Son the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (3:21-22). The Spirit then leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by the devil and trained for the ministry he is about to undertake (4:1-2). “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee . . . and began to teach in their synagogues . . . .” (4:14-15). Luke gives us a detailed account of Jesus’ teaching in his hometown of Nazareth: “He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (4:16-21). The reign of God has begun.

          At the end of Luke’s Gospel, when the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples, he opens their minds to understand the scriptures and tells them “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (24:45-49). The power of the Most High that brought the Son into the world is now poised to carry the promise of salvation in his name to all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Israel.

          And so the Spirit descends once more at the beginning of the Book of Acts, not as a gentle dove in a private moment, but as a driving force of wind and fire that carries the disciples into the public square. Once again an Old Testament prophet is cited, Joel this time rather than Isaiah. And once again the prophetic word is fulfilled in the hearing of those present. Luke makes a subtle change in the wording of the text to indicate the significance of this extraordinary event happening in their midst. “After these things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” in the Book of Joel becomes “In the last days, it will be, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” Now is the great and glorious day of the Lord, or as St. Paul proclaims, “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2). The power of the Most High is on the move, stirring the disciples’ compelling witness. Their work flows out of Jesus’ ministry and carries it forward.

          Pentecost is often described as the birth of the church, but it is first and foremost the birth of the mission. The church is a means to God’s gracious purpose, not the end in and of itself. To be part of the reign of God in the world, that is the mission entrusted to the disciples of Jesus on the first Pentecost. One can only marvel at their boldness, their confidence as they embrace this new life with what the author of Acts describes as “glad and generous hearts” (2:46-47). Women and men, young and old, from all walks of life, they were called to prophesy, to see visions, to dream dreams, and to act.

          This has been a brutal week in our country. “We are tipping into chaos,” in the words of one Washington Post columnist, “as the world erupts around us not only with the pandemic and hints of future scares but with the protests and violence that often accompany despair.” You don’t need me to rehearse the details of what has happened in Minneapolis or review the conflicted response to a disease that has now claimed more than 100,00 American lives and three-and-a-half times that number worldwide. As comforting as it will be to find a way to gather again for worship, we are called to meet far greater challenges with our gifts of the Spirit. How can we embody the reign of God in the world in this time of crisis?

          “No fact in human nature is more characteristic than its willingness to live on a chance,” wrote William James in his remarkable lectures on The Varieties of Religious Experience. “The existence of the chance makes the difference . . . between a life of which the keynote is resignation and a life of which the keynote is hope.” We live each day in the chance, the very real possibility, that things can be different, that we can see our world through the lens of God’s grace, that we can dream of its future with the clarity of God’s justice. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. Amen.