A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

The Day the Church Went Up in Flames

Acts 2:1-21, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, May 31, 2009

A very drunk man goes into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender serves him and asks if he would like to try the bar game of darts. Three in the bullseye and win a prize; only a dollar for three darts. The drunk agrees and throws the first dart. A bullseye!! He downs another drink, takes aim on wobbly feet, lets go... Another bullseye!! Two more quick drinks go down. Barely able to stand, he lets go with the last dart. A third bulls eye! All are astounded. No one had ever won. The bartender searches for a prize. He grabs a turtle from the bar's terrarium and presents it to the drunk as his prize. Three weeks pass. The drunk returns and orders more drinks, then announces he would like to try the dart game again. To the total amazement and wonderment of all the local drunks, he scores three more bullseyes and demands his prize. The bartender, being a sort of drunk himself, and a bit short of memory, doesn't recall what prize he had given. He asks the drunk, "Say, what did you win the last time?" And the drunk replies, "A roast beef sandwich on a hard roll!"

In the days of the great California gold rush some prospectors discovered a very rich mine. "We've got it made," they said, "As long as we don't tell anybody else before we stake our claims." And they made a vow of secrecy.  But they had to go into town for provisions and tools. When they left the town, a lot of people followed them. Why? Their "secret" was written all over their faces. It was impossible for them to hide what they had found. It’s like the gifted speaker who was asked what was his most difficult speaking assignment. He said that it was an address he gave to the National Conference of Undertakers entitled, "How to Look Sad at a Ten-Thousand Dollar Funeral." It was impossible for the disciples to mask their joy on that first Pentecost. They were so happy and so boisterous that some passers-by accused them of being intoxicated. Imagine people driving by our church and seeing us so excited that they think we are drunk. The image is mind-boggling.

The term Celtic Church is used to describe just about the earliest native form of Christianity in the islands of Britain and Ireland; it dates from around 400 A.D or Common Era. The Celtic Church established itself as the most successful evangelistic movement Britain has ever seen with people like Ninian, the first known evangelist in Scotland; David, who had such an influence on Wales; Patrick, a Scot who evangelized Ireland; and Columba, an Irishman who led many in Scotland to Christ. Now in the Celtic tradition the Holy Spirit is represented as a bird, but not the peaceful and serene dove. For their symbol, the Celtic church people chose the wild goose. Why did the wild goose speak to those ancient Celtic Christians? To begin with, wild geese aren’t controllable. You can’t restrain a wild goose and bend it to your will. They’re raucous and loud. Unlike the sweet and calming cooing of a dove, a goose’s honk is strong, challenging, strident and unnerving – and just a bit scary. In much the same way the Holy Spirit can be demanding and unsettling.

The story of Pentecost tells a pivotal event of God's work. This is not a major theological event however to my way of thinking. I say this because what happened is not as important as what was the consequence of what happened. Spiritual flames, spiritual fire burned up the fears and doubts of Jesus’ men and women. They realized God had done a new thing, and they were it; they understood that Christ is resurrected and they were to tell it; they saw they had the Spirit upon them and they lived to show it. That’s what happened when the church was born. That’s what happens whenever churches are born (again)! As Scripture says, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Without Pentecost, everything that came before would be just God’s good intentions. Without the Holy Spirit empowering people, Christian faith would have found legs, or voices. Jesus might not have ever made it beyond being an historical footnote. Pentecost was not theology; it was possibility because the fearful became fearless. Facing the very same Jewish Council which had condemned Jesus, Simon Peter indicted them all for executing Jesus. When the Council warned the disciples not to teach in Jesus' name, Simon Peter relied, "We must obey God rather than men." Those disciples refused to be intimidated. When Simon Peter and John were beaten, they rejoiced over the privilege of suffering for Jesus. When persecution forced them out of Jerusalem, they just told the story over a wider area. The great missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, was fond of saying, "without the Holy Spirit, I'm a mess. With the Holy Spirit I'm a message!" At Pentecost God entrusted the Gospel to a motley crew so obviously underqualified that anybody with common sense would know that the power came from God.

Whenever the church gathers, we gather to be infused with some blessing and gift of the Holy Spirit. When we gather in worship, it is to receive some gift of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we get so focused on the church as an institution, the church as an organization, the church as a business, that we are not open to the Holy Spirit. Churches these days are defined by their buildings, their income, their membership numbers, their personnel, their publicity success in the community. Every living church is a growing church. But not every growing church is a "Day of Pentecost" church. Do we want to grow because we love people and we want them to be included with us, and we love God and want to please God by introducing people to God’s family? Or do we want to grow because we need more contributors to help us pay the bills, because it will make us look good in reports and publicity, and because extra people can take some of the volunteer work off of our shoulders. The church on the day of Pentecost was filled with a Holy Spirit, not a self-concerned one.

On that first Pentecost morning, there was a new sense of mission.  These men and women sensed a new purpose, a new goal, and a new destiny.  Their destiny was to go into the entire world and proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Their purpose was absolutely clear to them: to boldly proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. They didn’t have to ask what their mission was. There was also a new power within. There was a new energy and urgency to carry out their mission. There was energy inside of them to accomplish their goals. These people had new courage to face persecutions. They had new boldness so as to be more outspoken for their faith. They had a new powerful passion within to stand before family, friends, neighbors, and fellow workers and boldly tell the good news of Jesus Christ and his impact on their daily lives. There was plenty of power.
          I like the story of two caterpillars crawling along. They looked up and saw a beautiful butterfly flitting around. One caterpillar turned to the other and said, "Charlie, you'll never get me up in one of those things."  But God wants you to live over your head, borne on the wings of the Spirit. There are miracles God wants you to witness. There are scars he wants to remove, ministries He wants you to discover, fractured relationships he wants to reconcile.

A few years back, Matthew Woodley, a pastor in Minnesota, decided to leave the ministry. Over the years, a negative attitude had taken hold in his heart. He had lost any zeal for the ministry. He was tired of difficult people. He was tired of fielding everyone's complaints. He was tired of living in a run-down parsonage that the church refused to fix. He was tired of the church's constant money problems. He had lost his focus, and he wanted out. Not long after this, the Woodley family went on vacation to Montana. Matthew spent a day in a local park praying and reading his Bible. He was searching for some sign from God that would take away all the negativity in his heart. As he prayed, three dirty, ragged little children entered the park and sat down nearby. The oldest child took it upon herself to make introductions. Her name was Deanna, and she was twelve years old. The other two children were her half-sister, Kristy, 10 years old, and her half-brother, Mikey, six years old. Deanna proceeded to explain that they were each sired by different fathers, and that Mikey's father was so abusive that the children's mother was filing for a divorce from him. The mother had dropped the kids at the park so that she could go gambling at the local casino. With a touch of sadness, Deanna reported that ever since their mother had lost her job, the family had been living in a tent on the outskirts of town. Then Deanna asked Matthew if he had a job. He replied that he was a pastor. Deanna thought about this answer for a while, then she asked, "Mister Pastor, can you tell me something? I've heard stories about Jesus walking around healing people and loving people. Why doesn't he do that anymore?"

Matthew tried his best to answer her question. He talked about the Incarnation, and salvation, and everything else he could remember from his seminary training. But he knew it didn't make sense to the kids. It didn't even make sense to him. These three poor, abused, neglected children needed to know the real story. So he stopped in mid-sentence, and, fighting back tears, said, "Deanna, Kristy, Mikey, let me start over. Do you have any idea how much Jesus loves you right now?" And Matthew Woodley shared the story of Jesus' love with those three children in the park. As you might have guessed, Matthew Woodley never left the ministry. That day in the park brought him face-to-face with the loving, compassionate God that he had forgotten about. It reminded him that ministry wasn't about pleasing people, or having a big church, or preaching the perfect sermon. It was about sharing the message of God with hurting people who desperately need to know that they are loved.

Pentecost is about empowerment. A handful of farmers, fishermen, tax-collectors and housewives became so empowered that they turned the Roman empire upside down. That's quite an accomplishment. Above all, it’s about having God’s Spirit in you, and therefore the courage to live your faith boldly.

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