Acts 2:1-21 What Does This Mean?

What do you think of when you think of Pentecost? Is it as special to you as Christmas or Easter, does it touch your heart like Good Friday services do? We often overlook Pentecost and yet Pentecost is the most exciting day of the year, it’s God coming close to us, sending his Spirit to live right inside each of us to keep us focused on Jesus and remind us of everything he taught and to reassure that we are blessed loved children of God. How more special can a day be?

It’s Pentecost today, 50 days after Easter and 10 days after Jesus returned to heaven, and today is the day the Holy Spirit was poured out into the world onto those who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Pentecost has been around for a lot longer than we realize. In Leviticus, the people of Israel are called to celebrate Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks. It comes 50 days after the Passover. It’s a harvest festival, celebrating God’s blessings on his people. On Pentecost, you bring 2 loaves of bread made from the first fruits of the wheat harvest and offer it to the Lord. It’s also a time to remember the gift of the giving of the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai to the people to shape them into who God wants them to be as his people.

The time of waiting is over, the gift Jesus promised of his Spirit arrives in the blowing of a violent wind, with tongues of fire and the ability to speak in other languages. For the disciples and thousands of others there, it’s an echo of God’s presence at Mount Sinai where God meets his people after saving them from slavery and death by leading them through the waters of the Red Sea and destroying those who wanted to keep them in slavery. Exodus 19:16–18, ^“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.”

Pentecost has often been a day for doing baptism when we remember how God has saved us through Jesus, washing away our sins and leading us into new life in him from the things that we’ve become slaves to; how God comes close to meet us. This is why it’s so special to be able to celebrate Nicole’s baptism this morning. Pentecost in the New Testament brings in a new chapter in God’s work of saving his people and creation.

The apostles are touched by flames from heaven, filled with the Holy Spirit and they rush out into the streets. Words telling about Jesus flow out of their mouths like streams of living water, telling everyone around them about how God has sent his son Jesus to earth to bring us back to God the Father because our sin has built this barrier between us and God, a barrier that we can’t bring down ourselves because of our sin. The apostles remind the people how Jesus died on the cross, cursed for us so that our sins are paid for, washed away through the blood of Jesus and how Jesus rose from the grave and is now in heaven and now is pouring his Spirit on us to bring this good news to all people.

The covenant, that promise of a close relationship with God made at Mount Sinai, is renewed in our hearts as Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 31 is coming, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The people listening to the apostles are perplexed and amazed at what they’re hearing, especially since it doesn’t matter where they’re from, they’re hearing the apostles speak in their own languages. “What does this mean?” they ask. Now there are always mockers and they laugh, “They’ve had too much wine.” Peter turns to the crowd to explain what’s happening, he reminds them of what the prophet Joel said, “‘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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

God’s Spirit is poured out into the world and it’s a life changing Spirit. It causes our sons and daughters to prophesy, to speak out what God is doing in our world, to see visions of what God is doing and how God is working in the world, building his kingdom here. I really appreciate how over the years it’s the young people and young adults who keep inspiring me through their dreams of what can be. You see only possibilities, something many people lose as they get older. Older people dream again, finding hope again, seeing the world with renewed eyes, seeing the potential in our world again, renewing their energy and passion again for God’s plans. God’s coming close to his people, revealing his presence in the world, reminding us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, words of reassurance and grace.

What an exciting picture of the church! It’s not about committees and groups and meetings that make sure everything runs just so, it’s about dreaming, about training our eyes, ears and hearts to see where God is working and then dreaming how we can join him in reaching others, about coming alongside people and helping them to dream with the Holy Spirit, dream of full lives, of changed lives, of healthy communities that know Jesus and are helping each other reach for their potential, building each other up, being an encouraging community that lives well, forgives well, laughs and lives life well together in our day to day activities and work and study and play.

The picture is of the Holy Spirit flowing into the world like a river, pouring out of heaven and filling the earth. It’s a river we are part of, sometimes it’s an exciting white-water river ride, other times it’s a lazy river where people are refreshed and renewed, but either way, we’re in it! Dreaming and visions are not about the future, they’re about seeing right here where Jesus is at work around us and then dreaming of how we can join him, dreaming of what Jesus is making possible. Martin Luther King Jr dreamed of a time where all people would be seen as equal, where slave and free men could sit together and his children would be treated according to their character instead of their skin. It took hard work and great sacrifice, but it was a dream that was possible based on a changing culture.

Dreaming frees our imaginations so that we can see past “this is the way it is,’ to sense and see how God is pouring out his Spirit onto all people, including us. Dreaming helps us see how events and circumstances connect to God’s desires. We look backwards on Pentecost to Joel in order to see where God is found today. In Joel’s time, the people were drifting away from God, sound familiar, yet Joel comes to them with the news that God still wants a close relationship with them through his Spirit. Joel encourages, instead of condemns. Today, people still need encouragement rather than someone beating over the head because they’re not following God properly. Pentecost is about encouragement and excitement as God comes close to us through his Spirit, helping us to speak Jesus into peoples’ lives.

The pouring out of the Spirit, dreaming and vision making is not about making more church work, creating more programs or ministries, or getting busier. Pentecost is about learning to see what Jesus is already doing in your life and the lives of the people around you, helping them see Jesus. Backyard bbqs with friends or neighbours who are not connected to Jesus yet, ball games with your kids’ teams, relaxing on the beach with friends are all times where the Spirit can flow through you onto others. Dreams help us to see how this is possible, to see the opportunities that are here. Dream this summer, have visions about how Jesus can work here in our community, and allow the Spirit to use you to speak Jesus encouragingly into one person’s life this summer.