As I was preparing for this message, I realized that I could do an entire sermon series on Pentecost. However, I tried to communicate what I felt was timely for our church. There are two primary reasons I believe the church should celebrate Pentecost each year!
First, Pentecost reminds us that we are to be a WITNESS! I believe that Pentecost is best understood in light of Acts 1:8 - You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The mission was clear and present. It is clear and present for us in the 21st century as well. As I dove deep into the scriptures, God revealed to me that to be a WITNESS in the context of Acts, has to do with being a martyr. Whether in reference to a person who is a witness, the testimony by a witness, it all relates to martyrdom. A witness dies. No wonder we need the Holy Spirit to be witnesses. We need the power to die. The same spirit that anointed Jesus to make him the Christ is the same Spirit that came like a mighty rushing wind at Pentecost. And now, it is the same Spirit that empowers us to be witnesses - giving us the power to die. Just ponder that for a moment. Even though we are not being persecuted for our faith like our brothers and sisters in the middle east or in other parts of our world, we must consider what it would mean for us to die - to be a martyr. Could we do it? Would we do it?
The power to die also means dying to comfort as the Spirit challenges us to go beyond our comfort zones, denominationally, racially, economically, culturally and geographically. The power causes one to die to the familiar and stretches us as wide and far as the ends of the earth. Power is needed to cross boundaries because you will be foreign and what you encounter will be foreign. It is the power to die to the self while living in the Spirit. The power is discovered more deeply I feel when we enter into boundary-crossing mission! That's why I love to venture on mission trips on a global scale because the Spirit empowers us as we rise above and transcend our human boundaries. The Spirit (dynamite) will blow up our cultural cliques. I've seen it and it's a great thing to behold! We have to die to ourselves to be a witness because faith has feet and requires a power that will lead us to places we might have never imagined going and we would surely never go without God!
The second reason we should celebrate Pentecost is because Pentecost affirms the multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-racial mission of the church! The Mighty Wind, the Spirit, blows our way and inspires us not to stay together in the sameness and status-quo. On the day of Pentecost we see God's great deeds of power proclaimed in many different languages. Symbolically, this miracle reinforces that we are to be a community in which all people are drawn together to experience God's great love! There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female! We are all one in Christ Jesus! Pentecost challenges us to rethink our prejudices and our attitudes about those different from us. The Spirit of God will help us do this!
The paradox of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit comes as a Mighty Wind and the Holy Spirit is not always going to be nice and orderly! Are you ready for the Holy Spirit to shake things up for you?
Will you pray "Come, Holy Spirit, Come?" If you are willing to say that pray - be prepared for how your life might be disturbed!
