The Spirit Binds Together

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

Acts 2:1-21

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Sermon Script

The Spirit Upon the Devout Jews

After Jesus rose from the dead, it gave the disciples hope. Easter showed the power of life over death.

The only thing was, they didn't know what to do with this hope.

Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. He promised that he would send the Spirit to them.

The Spirit would lead the way. The Spirit would also give them power, and they would be witnesses to that power.

This is what he said:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

This is the theme verse for us this year. It's what I'll be reflecting on more deeply at the retreat.

Today's passage is the story of what happened when the Spirit came upon them.

The Spirit came upon them in a powerful way. The Church was born.

The Spirit comes like a rushing wind.

Tongues of fire come upon each person, and they begin speaking in other languages. Many people witness this amazing phenomenon.

The scene is quite dramatic:

Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs (Acts 2:5, 9-10)

The author of Acts didn't spill all of this ink for nothing. This scene is the key that unlocks the meaning of this experience.

There were devout Jews born and raised in all corners of the known world. They were diaspora Jews.

All Jews used to live in one homeland in Palestine. But over the course of history, they were scattered across the known world.

They spoke the language and understood the cultures of the places they were raised in.

They were like many of us, whose ancestors are from places like Korea, Italy, Jamaica and elsewhere, but who have lived in Canada.

Yet, as devout Jews, they did not completely feel like they belonged in their surroundings. They struggled with what it meant to be a Jew living among non-Jews.

So they came to Jerusalem to be connected with their people in their ancestral homeland. But even in Jerusalem, they were different.

Everyone there spoke Aramaic. Their culture was different. They didn't feel completely at home in Jerusalem either.

They were in between two worlds without really belonging to either one. This must have been very unsettling.

But look at the disciples and first followers of Jesus as well. They were all from Galilee. Which was like the rural country.

People in Jerusalem could tell their Galilean dialect right away. They stood out and were not settled in Jerusalem either.

What we see is the Spirit bringing these unsettled people together.

That is the real meaning of this event: the Spirit powerfully bringing together unsettled people, united in their vast differences.

Brought Together

This was the first Church. A Church of diverse, unsettled people.

This event at Pentecost has captured the imaginations of Christians throughout the centuries.

It was an experience and a phenomenon never seen before. It was a powerful spiritual experience.

Many people want to replicate this kind of powerful experience.

Many Christian movements focus on having the same kind of experience that these people had on Pentecost.

The focus is on the experience.

But this is where proper understanding of Scripture is important.

More important than the experience is the question that the witnesses to this experience asked:

All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? (Acts 2:12)

What does this mean? – that is the important question.

When the Spirit comes upon you, it can be a powerful experience. It is wonderful to experience that if God chooses.

But understanding is more important than experience. More important is what the Spirit is doing.

It's not about the phenomenon of speaking in tongues.

It is about the Spirit powerfully bringing together these diverse, unsettled people into a new community.

That's the real meaning of Pentecost.

The Power of Language

The Spirit used language to bring people together. Each person heard of God's deeds of power in their own language.

Language is a means of communication. It helps you relate to others.

Once during a Young Families get-together, when Nolan and Hayoon (children of St. Tim's community) were much younger, Hayoon kept speaking Korean to Nolan but Nolan couldn't understand her. A bit frustrated, he finally exclaimed: I don't understand your language!

Yes, language helps you connect, and the Spirit used language.

But this is not a story about language or speaking in tongues.

It is about the power of the Spirit to unite.

Language was merely the tool that the Spirit used to bring people together.

In fact, language does not always bring together.

You can speak the same language as someone else, but still not understand that person. You may speak the same language but feel like you're speaking a different language.

Language can also be used as a tool of power.

The minority has to use the language of the majority. The powerful party can erase the language of the conquered.

Language can divide and fracture relationships.

This was the policy of our country with respect to indigenous peoples. Through residential schools, they tried to erase their language, erase their identity. To kill the Indian in them.

Connecting at the Heart

Connection is about more than spoken language. It's about understanding. Connecting at the heart.

This is what the Spirit was doing at Pentecost.

They became a new community that transcended differences in language. They became a new community bound together by the power of the Spirit.

Diaspora Jews had to conform and speak the dominant Aramaic language. But now they were hearing of God's deeds in their own languages.

They were being connected in their hearts.

When you are filled with the Spirit, you receive power to bind together.

Power to overcome differences. Power to understand. Power to speak the language of the other. Power to connect, heal and reconcile.

This is the true miracle of Pentecost. This is God's desire and will for human beings.

The Canadian government and churches erased much of the language of our indigenous peoples.

When we go to Sioux Valley this summer, we may not speak the language of the Dakota people who live there.

But when we go, our desire is to connect at the level of hearts.

Despite our differences, we go with faith that the Spirit will powerfully bind our hearts together. We witnessed some of this last year, and we prayerfully ask the Spirit to lead us again.

A Movement Guided By the Spirit

God has a burning desire to bring together.

The Spirit didn't come gently. It came like the rush of a violent wind.

God's desire is intense.

That is what St. Paul discovered after he met Christ.

There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

People are anxious with all the change that's happening. This anxiety is making people angry and tearing us apart.

People don't know where to turn to for answers. Many people don't trust traditional, institutional religions anymore. This includes the Church.

If anything, people are turned off by the institutional Church. There have been too many sins, too many harms done. That too, is a part of our history that we can't or shouldn't erase.

In times like this, we need to go back to our origins – our essence.

The Church is not an institution. It's not a religion. It's a movement of the Spirit.

A powerful movement that binds together.

Pentecost teaches us that God is an active agent.

God is not a passive spectator watching from a distance. God is involved. God is on the move.

You don't need to seize control of your situation. Don't fall into that temptation.

Do what the first followers did: wait and pray for the Spirit to come upon you. The Spirit will lead you in a powerful way.

In your families, among friends and in your communities, don't be someone who tears apart.

Be someone who binds together. The Spirit will give you this power.

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