Using the Gifts of God
by Rev. Rick Mason
based on Acts 2:1-21
It’s Pentecost Sunday: the day when we remember the birth of the church--
when God sent the Holy Spirit to empower the apostles. Since the beginning of
this century, Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing segment of
Christianity around the globe. Today in South America, Pentecostal Protestantism
has replaced the Catholic Church as the predominant faith of the people. A few
months ago I read a story about a Pentecostal couple who felt that it was very
important to own an equally Christian pet. So they went shopping. At a kennel
specializing in this particular breed, they found a dog they liked a lot. When
they asked the dog to fetch a Bible, he did it in a flash. When they instructed
him to look up Psalm 23, he complied with unusual dexterity in his paws. They
were impressed, purchased the animal and took him home. That night they had
friends over. They were so proud of their new Christian dog and his skills that
they showed him off a little. The friends were equally impressed and asked
whether the dog was able to do any of the usual dog tricks as well. The couple
didn’t know. “Let’s try him out,” they said. Once more the dog was
summoned; and they pronounced the command carefully, “Heel”. Quick as a
wink, the dog jumped up, put his paw on the man’s forehead, closed his eyes in
concentration and bowed his head. A friend on the Internet asked an interesting
question earlier this week: “What do you think would happen in the church if
the Pentecost event occurred today?” Think about it. Look again at the
event’s description in Acts, chapter 2. What do you think would happen
if........
“...suddenly... there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it
filled the entire place where (we are) sitting”? I bet the first thing that
would happen in many churches would be a meeting of the Building Committee!
“How much did we pay for this shoddy construction? The wind’s blowing
through cracks where there shouldn’t be any cracks.” Others might comment:
“Something needs to be done! That sound is sooooooo distracting.” And,
“Never mind the sound, that draft is making my feet cold. We’re supposed to
be comfortable in God’s house.”
Or what do you think would happen to the church if “divided tongues, as of
fire, appeared among us, and a tongue rested on each and every one of us”?
“Now, don’t go getting folks all heated up, pastor,” one might say.
“We’re here for pats on the back, not for flames on our heads.” And
another might worry, “Wait just a minute! These flames don’t mean we have to
get up and do anything, do they? We’re here to sit and listen.”
Or what would happen if “all began to speak in other languages......” Oh
my, what chaos!!!! “Who’s making all that commotion? How can I talk when
you’re talking?” Or, “We need decorum and good order. That is what the
church is all about.”
Or what do you think might happen if-- God forbid-- each one heard the Gospel
in his own native language? “Which version of the Gospel do you claim to be
hearing? The NIV, that New Revised Standard Version, the Good News Bible, or
God’s own King James?” And what about the presentation of the Gospel? “I
relate well to dramatic presentations,” says one person. “Oh no, I learn
best with a lecture style,” says another. “Storytelling, that’s the way to
present the Good News,” offers a third. “But God is a poet,” says another,
“and poetry is the language of faith and love.”
Or what might happen if each heard the music that is native to his or her
soul? Reggae, Spanish, classical European, Afro-American spiritual, country?
What would happen in the church if Pentecost happened today? I’m afraid it
would reek havoc!!! This extraordinary event would greatly disturb many in the
church who much prefer the “ordinary”, the easy, the traditional, the safe.
But do you know what? The Pentecost event is supposed to happen in the church
today. The outpouring of God’s Spirit was not a once-for-all happening. The
Holy Spirit and the gifts he brings are for each and every Christian to receive
and to use. If we-- as Christians and as a church-- would have trouble with the
noise, the lack of decorum, the diversity of voices present at Pentecost, then
we much question our birth into Christ’s Church. The Pentecost event in Acts 2
calls us to unity and to diversity for the proclamation of Jesus Christ. I spoke
about unity in Christ last Sunday, so I won’t belabor that point today. As
Paul writes to the church in Corinth: “There are varieties of gifts, but the
same Spirit; there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; there are
varieties of activities, but it is the same God...all the members of the body,
though many, are one body...” But this unity doesn’t just tolerate
diversity, it thrives on it!! The church is not meant to be just another social
club where we gather so that we may associate with like-minded people. The
wildly divergent attitudes, angles, and activities of the various members of the
body of Christ are actually for the common good of the faith community. Two
lifelong friends had a running argument. The black friend would argue that God
was black; and the white friend insisted that God was white. One day on the way
home from a fishing trip, the two renewed their disagreement. Before they knew
it, they were in an accident and found themselves standing before St. Peter at
the Pearly Gates. “Is God black or white?” they shouted nearly in unison.
St. Peter invited the two to have a seat in the waiting room and God would come
out and talk with them. As they waited, they continued to argue. Then they heard
some loud footsteps. They turned to look. The door swung open, and God stepped
in and said, “Buenos tardes, caballeros!” As the song says, we are-- “by
God’s design”-- a skin kaleidoscope. We are called to work together-- the
Parthians, the Medes, the residents of Mesopotamia. As the unified body of
Christ, the church is called to honor and to utilize the diversity of God’s
creation in proclaiming salvation to all the world. The birth of the church
takes place not just when the Holy Spirit comes down, but when the Spirit’s
presence evokes a proclamation-response from the disciples’ mouths. The
Spirit-powered mission and the message of the church are clearly evident in the
outpouring of the divergent languages. God’s saving action in Jesus is a
proclamation that must be spread by us to all people, in all languages, in all
forms, to the ends of the earth. The birth of the church was a birth to action,
not to management. When the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
they didn’t rent the Upper Room and stay there to hold holiness meetings.
Jesus did not command all the world to go to church. Jesus commanded his church
to go to the whole world. It’s like the farmer who was frustrated after a long
drought. “Please tell God to send us some rain,” he said to his pastor. Who
replied, “I’m sorry, Abe, I’m in sales, not management.” The Pentecost
event reminds us that God is the one in charge of the management of his church,
not us. We’re the sales force, folks. It is our job to unify our diverse gifts
to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. If we truly tried that, who knows,
maybe a Prince of Peace Pentecost would result in another 3000 baptisms in one
day. I think “the Boss” has the “Goods” all lined up, if we will only
speak the Spirit’s words. What do you think?