A WORD FOR TODAY, May 24, 2023
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, May 24, 2023
Lectionary Scriptures for May 28, 2023, Pentecost: Numbers 11:24-30; Psalm 25:1-15; Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39
“It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:21, WEB
There is a popular saying among Christians, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.” The origin of this saying is unknown, or rather, it has been credited to several different people. There are certainly scriptures texts that suggest this very thought. It means that God will provide whatever you need to do His work. Sadly, many people think they are unqualified to be witnesses for Jesus Christ, unable to be His servants or to share His Gospel. There seems to be people who are more able to preach or teach or serve. They are. They are more able because God called and gifted them according to His plan. He has called and gifted all of us to do something for His Kingdom. We are all unqualified by our own power or gifts. It is God’s power and His gifts that make us His witnesses in the world in word and in deed.
Moses was blessed and the people feared him because he had a close relationship with God. Moses glowed with glory whenever he went into the Tent to meet with the LORD. Yet even though Moses was the greatest prophet of the Israelites, the glow did not last. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote that Moses wore a veil to prevent the people from seeing that the glory faded away. God poured His Spirit upon men and women in the Old Testament, but it was temporary. He gave it as needed.
Moses was overwhelmed. He was leading a million people away from slavery into an unknown Promised Land. He only knew what God had told him and he believed that God was faithful. He did not know when they would arrive or what they would find when they got there. The people were tired. They were hungry. They were scared. They wanted to go back to Egypt, despite the reality that they would go back to being slaves. They remembered having food to eat and water to drink. In Egypt they had roofs over their heads, and they did not have to walk endlessly through the desert. Slavery seemed the much better choice. They complained, and Moses did not know how he, one man, could possibly handle the people any longer.
God told Moses to gather the elders of Israel. When they were gathered, He took the spirit that rested on Moses and divided it among the other elders. He gave them the authority to lead the people, to share in Moses’ responsibilities. He took some of the burden from Moses and laid it on others. Joshua was not ready for Moses to let go of control. It was not a problem that the elders were gathered and given some of the Spirit. Sometimes we are surprised by the people who have received gifts from God. It was not a problem that those who had been gathered were going to share in the responsibility and burden of care for the people. However, he was disturbed when the Spirit also fell on some men who had not come to the gathering. “Tell them to stop,” Joshua told Moses. Moses was not bothered by this development because he knew that it came from God. God is in control, not Moses. Moses would have preferred for every Hebrew to prophecy for the Lord. This was a hope that would come into fulfillment long after Moses died, after Jesus, when God did give the Spirit to all those who believe.
We can join in the song of the psalmist, seeking God’s grace for our life of faith. The psalm is about the hope we have for a relationship with the divine. We ask that we not be put to shame and that God will not allow our enemies to triumph over us. We believe that those who trust in God will never be put to shame, but the treacherous will. We hope that God will show us His ways and teach us His paths. We want to be guided be in truth and taught by the only one in whom we can have hope. We hope God will remember His mercy and love and forget our sin. “Remember me according to your loving kindness, for your goodness’ sake, Yahweh.” Our hope is based entirely on God’s goodness. The psalmist described the reason we can trust in God: God is good and upright. He instructs, guides, and teaches His people in the right way. His way is loving and faithful. He takes care of those who live according to His Word. God answered these prayers with Pentecost.
One of my favorite books is Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe.” Adams has created a funny and incredible universe where people can travel from planet to planet and even galaxy to galaxy. If we think we have trouble with languages, imagine what kind of trouble they could get into! They have an advantage, though. The travelers wear a “Babelfish” in their ear that automatically translates any language so that strangers can understand one another. It isn’t quite so simple in the real world, though it is getting much easier with the internet. There are apps for your phone that will help you communicate when traveling, and other websites that can help with translation. Companies have created language learning tools. Unfortunately, those apps, websites, and tools are only as good as the languages that have been inputted into the system, and there are still many languages that are not available.
The story of Babel from Genesis is not in the lectionary for Pentecost this year, but it tells the story about how our languages were confused. Mankind had settled together and founded a city. Together they decided to build a tower that would reach to heaven. It is typical of human nature to try to become like the gods. The Lord saw how they could accomplish great feats together, so He confused their language and sent the people to the four corners of the earth. Archeologists have identified what they believe could have been the original tower and it is interesting to note that it is dwarfed by the amazing skyscrapers of today.
The problem was not that they were able to build a tower that would reach into heaven: that is impossible. Heaven is not a place we can identify in relation to the world. We have sent rockets to outer space, even cameras to the far edges of our universe, but they will never reach heaven. The problem in Babel was that the people thought they could become like God. Though the language has been confused, human beings have never let that stop them from accomplishing great things. Even in the ancient world people were able to communicate with people of other nations. Today with modern technology, the world has become a very small place. But God had a plan to bring His people together no matter their language or nationality.
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the day when God overturned the judgment at Babel. Though they once were divided by different languages, God gave them a new language which would draw them together: the Gospel. The words might be different from nation to nation, but the Gospel is the same everywhere. Jesus Christ died for the sake of the world so that all who believe will be saved.
What is Pentecost? The word Pentecost means “fifty days.” This festival was known as the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot or Pentecost and was celebrated the fifty days after Passover. It was a harvest festival of joyful thanksgiving to God for his blessings. They celebrated by giving offerings from the first fruits of their fields. Pentecost was also a time to remember the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Just as the people stopped briefly between their exodus out of Egypt and their journey to Canaan, so too the people stopped briefly in the spring to thank God and hear once again the words given to them on the mountain. The giving of the Law occurred fifty days after the Passover in Egypt, so Pentecost occurred fifty days later in the yearly calendar. The reading of the Law was an important part of this festival.
Jews from all over the known world were in Jerusalem for the Pentecost celebration. They brought with them offerings of wheat, figs, olives, and grapes to praise God for His goodness. I imagine it was an exciting time, but also a confusing time. After all, though they were Jews, they lived in foreign lands and knew foreign tongues. They may have been familiar with Hebrew from the scriptures, but Hebrew was not the commonly spoken language of the day.
Jesus was crucified during the celebration of Passover, taken to the cross as the perfect Lamb of God. It is no surprise then that the Holy Spirit would come upon the disciples fifty days later while the city was filled with people attending the Feast of Pentecost. On the first Pentecost, the people of Israel were given God’s law. On the first Christian Pentecost, the people were given the Holy Spirit, along with God’s power and authority. God’s Word was written on their hearts instead of tablets of stone. The differences in language did not matter that day because they all heard the Gospel in their own tongues.
God did not leave them orphaned. Ten days after His ascension, Jesus came in power and rested His Spirit upon each of those believers, making them new. He gave them all they needed to continue His work on earth. On that fiftieth day, they world was changed forever as the Spirit came to dwell among men and the kingdom of God was made accessible through faith.
Luke tells us how the listeners felt about this experience in the passage from Acts. Some were perplexed, others were amazed, and some just thought it was silliness due to drunkenness. Peter stood up before the people and explained that this was the fulfillment of the hope of Moses, the promise given through the prophet Joel that the Spirit would come upon all people, and they would do amazing things. Certainly, the fact that people from all over the world could hear the message in their own language was a most miraculous thing, especially since most of the disciples were uneducated laborers who probably knew Aramaic fluently, enough Hebrew for worship, and perhaps just enough Greek necessary for business. Those disciples barely even understood the message they were giving with their own tongues! But Jesus sent the helper, the Spirit of God who gave voice to what they knew to be true in their hearts and the words to make it understandable to others.
Pentecost was not only the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to His disciples, but it was also the fulfillment of prophecy. In Acts, Peter quoted the passage from Joel about how in the last days God will give His voice to His sons and daughters and they will prophesy. This was not a gift that would be kept for only an elite few, but it would be given to all who believe. We have to understand prophesy, however. All too many now believe that prophesy means predicting the future and that humans can be trained to be prophets and they are teaching people to speak words from God. These words are often cryptic, based on dreams or visions and then interpreted to fit into the events of the day.
But those first followers did not prophesy in such a manner. They spoke the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the hearts and minds of those listening. They told of God’s mercy, grace and the salvation that comes from faith in Jesus. The promise found in Joel shows the purpose of the prophecy, “And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Those first Christian prophets did not point to the future, warn the wayward listeners of impending doom, or predict the end times, they pointed directly at Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
The Holy Spirit was speaking through the Apostles into the hearts and minds of the listeners that day. The miracle at Pentecost was both vocal and auditory: the words were spoken and heard and lives were changed. He spoke through Peter’s sermon to help those gathered to understand that God was doing a new thing.
Aren’t we so much like Peter? He was chosen by Jesus; he was a leader of the disciples. He was in Jesus’ inner circle, perhaps even Jesus’ best friend. He was given a lot of responsibility, and in many ways filled Jesus’ shoes when He ascended to heaven. He was the first to speak in Acts 1:16, encouraging the gathered assembly of believers to get on with the business of the Church. His speech at Pentecost was their first public ministry without Jesus. Yet, this Peter who is given so much authority by Jesus and the other disciples was as imperfect as the rest of us. He failed Jesus in many ways while He was still among the disciples. Peter never fully understood what Jesus was teaching. Peter might have gone his own way if it hadn’t been for God’s answer to the prayers of today’s psalmist. We might not have walked with Jesus like Peter but we are chosen but imperfect, too. We don’t always understand. We want to go our own way. But God provides us with His Spirit and leads us as we on the path He has ordained for our lives.
Jesus said that if we believe in Him, He will give us living water that will flow from our lives. We are filled with the Holy Spirit, to live and work to God’s glory. As believers, we live in Christ, baptized into His body. We are joined with other believers by the power of the Holy Spirit as He moves in our lives. God has blessed us so that the living water will flow through us into the world. Our Father gives us the greatest gift when we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us His Spirit so that we can join in the work of sharing His mercy and grace. The Living Water flows from us so that others will be able to drink from the fountain of life.
The Jews had other festivals during the year, including Sukkoth or the Festival of Booths. This was another harvest festival, but while Shavuot celebrated the first fruits in the spring, Sukkoth was in the fall and the people thanked God for His abundant generosity at the harvest. The adherents built small booths, or tabernacles, to represent God’s protection. They lived and ate in the booths for seven days. Other rituals accompanied the celebrations. Jesus spoke to them on the seventh day, when great quantities of water were poured over the altar. The water ran off of the altar, onto the floor and it flowed out of the temple into the valley below. Though this was not originally part of the festival, it had become an important aspect to the people as they sought God’s blessings for their winter planting. It was not an act of faith or obedience, defined by God to be a part of the celebration. It was a pagan ritual that the people had adopted so that they might feel assured of God’s provision. It was as if they thought God did not know they needed water to live.
Jesus saw this ritual and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” When we drink of the water that comes from God, by His Holy Spirit, living water will wash through our lives into the world. The promised Spirit came to the disciples at Pentecost; He comes to us at baptism and continues to come to us as we live our lives of faith. The Spirit does not come for our own assurance or benefit, but so that the living water of Christ might flow into the world. We use our gifts to share the forgiveness which Christ came to give. He sent the disciples, and so now sends us, to take that message into the world so that the world might be saved.
As we look at the motley crew of disciples that Jesus called, we know that He didn’t choose people who were equipped to continue His work. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen. Others may have been fishermen, too, although we don’t know the occupation of all the disciples before they met Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector. Simon was a Zealot and possibly a warrior, passionate about defeating the Romans. Judas may not have been a criminal, but he certainly had scandalous intentions. They weren’t schooled in religious teachings beyond what they learned at the feet of their mothers and in the temple or synagogues. They weren’t trained to be preachers or teachers. They probably knew as much about the scriptures as the average Christian knows today. They were no different than you and I.
Yet, they were called to do great things! I doubt any of them could have imagined where their lives would lead after meeting Jesus Christ. We may never accomplish as much as those disciples. Very few of us will be involved in the establishment of new churches. I don’t think many of us will ever say that we’ve been the hands through which God healed someone who is sick or raised someone that was dead. Most of us don’t even think we can speak well enough to share the Good News with our neighbors. The scriptures tell us the disciples did all those things. The church grew in number and geographically. People were healed and raised. God changed the world through that motley crew of people. He calls us to continue the work they began that day two thousand years ago.
Will it be easy? Of course not. The disciples learned immediately that there would always be someone unwilling to believe that God is at work. They will blame and accuse; they will harass and threaten. Some Christians will even die at the hands of those who want to degrade and shame God’s people. But we know that even if we do face the terror of persecution, God is on our side. He will not let us be shamed; He will be faithful to all His promises. He’ll guide us, teach us, and encourage us. He will give us power and strength. He will give us the words. He does all this from within, filling us with His Spirit who dwells in our hearts. His Living water will flow from us into the world. And in that day when we no longer live in this world, whether we die by natural causes or at the hand of an enemy, God will be waiting to take us into eternity to live with Him forever. Our death will not be our shame; it will be our greatest moment of glory.
Today we recall the Pentecost when the church was born, how by His Spirit the body of Christ is manifest in this world. Ever since that day in Jerusalem, Jesus has continued to give the Holy Spirit so that we too might have the voice to speak and the words that will bring salvation to others. In the beginning, there was some confusion. Some even thought they were drunk. Things are not much different, for there are many who consider Christians nothing more than silly storytellers. And yet, Jesus promised that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Every day people hear the message that we speak and miraculously some believe. The miracle is not in our ability or in our words, but in the Holy Spirit who gives faith to those who hear with a humble heart.
The world is different because Jesus passed His ministry on to His people. As we celebrate another Pentecost, it is time for us to pause and consider whether we have been using our gifts to pursue our calling, glorifying God with our lives. And so, we ask on this Pentecost, what is our purpose? Why were we born into such a body as the Church? Why did God fill us with His Holy Spirit? Are we responding to the opportunities that God provides to speak His Word and serve others? Are we carrying healing and life and hope to a world that so desperately needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The psalmist recognized that life is not perfect, but even more importantly that he was not perfect. “For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” We are not worth being saved, but the psalmist knew that God’s promises make our lives valuable to Him. He asked for God’s pardon, not for himself, but so that the world would see His faithfulness. He asked for God’s teaching and guidance for those who fear Him, for he recognized that it is only by God’s grace and power that any of us can be blessed by God.
You may not be a prophet, but all Christians are called and gifted to prophesy: to speak the word of God that points to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are all gifted with special talents and abilities to be used in sharing God’s grace in our own individual ways, each a part of the whole doing what we are called to do. Our lives have been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, so let us go now in peace and let the Living Water flow from our hearts so that all might hear, believe, and be saved.
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