Kalamazoo Mennonite Church
May 31, 2009
Will Fitzgerald
Today is Pentecost and our scriptures from last week and this remind us of the very early days of the church after Jesus’s resurrection. Just as he was about to be “carried up into heaven,” Jesus tells his disciples to wait in the city until they are “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49-50) and that they would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). And so they did wait.
And so, in a particular city (Jerusalem) on a particular day (Pentecost, circa 30 ) that a particular group of people (the early disciples) were together, and a miraculous thing happened: they heard Ezikiel’s mighty wind. The wind filled up the house they were in, and they started speaking in “other tongues” and visible tongues of fire could be seen over their head. And apparently they spilled out of their houses and into the street, for the excitement attracted onlookers—people from all parts of the Jewish diaspora who came over to see what was happening. And what was happening was that these Jews and proselytes were hearing their own languages being spoken, hearing how God has been working—no doubt a doxology of praise for the life, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Some (as always) mocked them for being drunk, but Peter stands up to tell them what was really happening: the promise of Joel was being fulfilled, and the Spirit was here, and the Day of the Lord was at hand.
In John 15:1-8, the scripture passage from two weeks ago, we are reminded that we need to abide in Jesus; he is the vine, and we are the branches. We heard an excellent homily on our trip to Ireland that Sunday, and one of the things I took away from that is that if we are the branches, we are on the growing edge of the extension of God’s kingdom. As such, we are vulnerable and a bit frail. We need the strength and power of the center, the vine. Our weakness shows God’s strength in this way: we are at the growing edge, we receive the power to continue the growth.
On that day, and on those people, the Holy Spirit came and the Spirit’s power was seen in a particular and miraculous way. This does not imply, I think, that the only sign of the Spirit’s coming in power is to come in speaking in tongues. Rather, it is a reminder that in the new era, God’s power still comes to us.
And so I wonder: What areas in your life do you feel the weakest? What is your growing edge?
What areas in our life as a church do we feel the weakest? What is our growing edge together?
Let’s write down what we think these are, and let’s pray for one another, and wait as we can for the Holy Spirit to come down.