Pastor Rich's Sermon for Sunday, June 20, 2004

Have you seen Storm Watch on the weather channel? Each show highlights storms, blizzards, hurricanes, and tornadoes. They show the awesome yet violent power and the path of devastation the storm leaves behind.

The second chapter of Acts is the Bible’s version of storm watch. The disciples had gone to Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them to at the time of His ascension. Gathered together scripture tells us that,

“suddenly a sound like the blowing
of violent wind came from heaven.”
(NIV)

The message translation reads,

“Without warning there was a sound
like a strong wind, gale force.”

We are talking winds of 35 - 60 miles an hour. The kind of winds that snapped trees in half ripped roofs off houses and knocked pedestrians off their feet. There was no path of destruction left by these winds except the destruction of preconceived notions about how God works.

Acts 2 states,

“the blowing of violent wind
came from heaven and
filled the house the whole house
where they were sitting.”
(NIV)

It filled the whole house. The physical evidence of God’s awesome power was undeniable. It was undeniable to those in the house but also to those in the neighborhood.

Vs. 5,6
“There were many Jews
staying in Jerusalem just then,
devout pilgrims from all over the world.
When they heard the sound,
they came on the run.”

Isn’t that exactly what we do when we hear the violent crash of automobiles coming from outside our house? Strange noises outside our house draw us to the windows or to our porches like metal is drawn to a magnet. Likewise in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. The sound of this gale force wind drew people to the house.

What they found is this,

“Each one heard them,
that is the disciples,
speaking in his own language.”

The people found the disciples, Galileans, speaking in a number of different languages. There wasn’t a single person who did not hear the Good News of Jesus in his or her own native tongue.

If the sound of the violent winds didn’t get their attention then certainly hearing Galileans speaking in a language they had not been educated in obviously did.

“Amazed and perplexed,
they asked one another,
“What does this mean?”
(NIV Translation)

“Their heads were spinning;
they couldn’t make heads or tails of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused:
“What’s going on here?”
(The Message Translation)

How awesome that moment must have been? Can you imagine witnessing the miraculous speaking and experiencing the tremendous presence and power of the Holy Spirit?

Sadly, truthfully, we can’t! We may believe that God is capable of doing such things, but we don’t expect it. We don’t expect it in our life, or our church, or our community. In truth experience the life changing presence and power of the Holy Spirit scares.

What does this mean? What does it mean when we dismiss and avoid people who talk about Jesus.

What does it mean when two parents are talking about their teenagers? One confides with the other that she fears her son is using drugs. The other reveals her son is a born again Christian. The neighbor responds, “I guess we all have our problems.

What does it mean when we are almost as uncomfortable with born again Christians, as we are with Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons ringing our front bell?

What does it mean when we call someone a ‘holy-roller’ and we don’t mean it as a complement. Is it possible that we are saying what the crowd in Jerusalem said, “They have had too much wine to drink.”

What does it mean when we are reluctant to let go and let God?

What does it mean when we resist talking about God, sharing our faith with our neighbor?

What does it mean when Fathers in America spend hours teaching their children how to swing a bat, or catch a football, or kick a soccer ball, ride a bike, and casting a line while spending so little, if any time teaching their sons and daughters how to pray or how to worship? We wonder what’s happening to American youth today?

Scripture says,

“Listen, my sons (and daughters)
to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.”
(Proverbs 4:1,2)

What kind of instruction are we giving to our children and youth?

Proverbs 9:10
“The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom
and knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding.”

What happened in Jerusalem on Pentecost IS NOT the exception. The same awesome presence and power of God is available to us. The choice becomes yours to make. It is your choice to plug into the power and presence of the Holy Spirit or not. Just like it is your choice to sit at home in the dark tonight or plug a lamp into an electric outlet and sit in the light. When we choose not to plug into the power of the Holy Spirit we are choosing to walk in the darkness. When we plug into God’s Spirit, when we surrender to the power of God’s Holy Spirit we walk in and with the presence of the

‘Light of the World’.