Universal Charger

Universal Charger Acts 2:1-21 Tesla, Chevy, Nissan, Porsche, Audi, VW, a dozen major car-makers are now building electric vehicles, and the market is expected to grow. But there’s a problem: The charging ports are all over the cars. When you go to a gas station to fill up your gas-powered car, you can be pretty sure that you will pump gas into the tank from the side of the car, near the rear. But where do you put the charger into your electric car? Or better yet, if you have an electric car, where do you find a recharging station, especially out here in the country? Better yet, take your phone, or computer, or tablet or game station or Kindle and see if any have the same charger or cord. One end might be a USB adapter but good luck trying to use the other end in anything other than what it was intended for. We need a universal charger. The book of Acts tells us that “there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.” There were “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.” The whole world was there. Lots of tribes and nations, even among the Jews. There were Zealots, Sadducees, Pharisees, Publicans, and Essenes, Samaritans, Scribes, Rabbis and Nazarenes just to name the major groups. The first followers of Jesus were just one brand of Jew Galileans. They weren’t the most highly educated residents of Jerusalem, and most people expected their language abilities to be limited. But God was at work on a surprising design. The followers of Jesus were “all together in one place,” says the book of Acts. The King James Version says that they were “with one accord.” They had come together to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, which was focused on God’s gift of the Law to the Israelites. Suddenly from heaven “there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Flames of fire that were the size of and looked like tongues of fire, appeared among them, and a flame rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, or hear a foreign language in their own vernacular, as the Spirit gave them ability.” The Greek translation here is confusing as the author was trying to describe something that had never been seen before, but as we know from throughout the Bible, God likes to make His presence known in fire. The point is, just as the Spirit of God rested on the nation of Israel; after Pentecost, God’s Spirit divides and rests on every individual of the new covenantal community of believers in Christ. 2 God was determined to fill them with power. The Holy Spirit came with the rush of a violent wind, like the wind from God that “swept over the face of the waters” on the first day of creation (Genesis 1:2). The Spirit danced with divided flames of fire, like the burning bush that revealed God to Moses - a bush that “was blazing, yet it was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). The flames of fire may have looked like tongues, which leads us to believe that God wanted us to communicate, use our instrument of speech to make known His presence and His story of saving His people. The Galilean disciples began to speak and hear in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability, making it possible for them to communicate with devout Jews and non-believers alike, from every nation under heaven. And they were filled with power, purpose and persuasion. The Holy Spirit was a Universal Charger. This same Spirit is available to us today, and it can charge us in the same way that it charged the first followers of Jesus. Our challenge is to receive what the Spirit wants to offer us, and then to share that divine energy with others. We are being given a Holy Spirit Charger with power being given into our hearts and minds and ambitions and purpose just waiting to be discharged. The Holy Spirit is a creative force in our lives, just as the wind of God was a creative power in the making of the heavens and the earth. In Acts, the Spirit creates the Christian community, which is why Pentecost is sometimes called the “birthday” of the church. Notice that God’s Spirit is first poured out on a collection of believers. The Holy Spirit is not a ‘personal’ gift from God that each believer privatizes. The fact that the Spirit appeared to a group is the distinguishing mark of a people belonging to God. We tend to have an individualistic view of faith in the United States, and many people talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus. That’s all fine and dandy, but what is created by the Spirit on Pentecost is a distinctive and powerful community faith. The challenge for us as the Christian community is to be in one accord, simultaneously, both one and many. This means that we are one in our worship of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we are many in our expressions of the faith, because we are connected as Christians who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. One and many. That may seem like an impossible contradiction, but remember that God is also both one and many: One God in three persons. In God’s own self is a single God who is also a community, a common-unity made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost to a diverse collection of believers, and this Spirit created something new and powerful: The Christian community, the Church. 3 The Spirit also shows us that God is right in front of us, just as the fire of the burning bush told Moses that God was present in his life. On Pentecost, the flames of fire, the presence of God, came in an individual way but also all together, appeared among them, and rested on each of them. This fire was impossible to ignore, and it brilliantly showed that the power of God was with them. Such fire is nothing new in Holy Scripture. When God liberated His people from captivity in Egypt, the Lord went in front of them “in a pillar of fire” (Exodus 13:21). Then, “the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel” (Exodus 24:17). When the prophets Elijah and Elisha were walking along, “a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). The Lord “will come in fire,” promises the prophet Isaiah, “and His chariots like the whirlwind” (Isaiah 66:15). And in a vision in the book of Revelation, John says that the eyes of Christ will be “like a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:14). Pillar of fire. Devouring fire. A chariot of fire. A flame of fire. Eyes of fire. What unites these blazing sights? All are signs of the presence and power of God. Again and again, God comes into the midst of human life and appears to us. Sometimes these appearances are brilliant, like flames of fire on the day of Pentecost. Sometimes they are more subtle, like the squeeze of a hand, an encouraging word, an expression of forgiveness, a statement of love. But whether God comes in blazing fire or in warm or comforting words, God is present and powerful. The promise of Pentecost is that God is with us, always with us. It echoes the promise made when Jesus was given the name Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23) and when Jesus departs, saying, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). God is our Universal Charger, giving us the healing and help we need, in every time and place and situation. So what are we supposed to do now? Well, the Holy Spirit has given us the ability to communicate with people of every race and culture, just as it enabled the first followers of Jesus to connect with the diverse Jews of Jerusalem. The apostle Peter quickly discovered that the gift of the Spirit was not a private gift to him. It was given to him so that he could share God’s deeds of power with others particularly the Gentiles. Taking a bold stand, Peter announced to the people of Jerusalem, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” Yes, the Spirit was coming to fill not just Peter and the other followers of Jesus, but a diverse group of sons and daughters, young men and old men, and even men and women who were 4 slaves. All of the cultural barriers that had previously existed were breaking down, and now, said Peter, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Holy Spirit wants us to engage and share God’s energy with others. This may involve learning a new approach to sharing the story of Jesus. It may challenge us to reach people who do not feel comfortable entering a church building. It may require us to learn more about the Bible and how we might better communicate our faith and understanding to reach folks who are wrestling with faith questions at a pivotal time in their lives. So often, we are content to hold worship services for ourselves and focus or center our Bible studies and discussion groups on people who are already in the church. But the book of Acts challenges us to be a Universal Charger, connecting us with people who are unlike ourselves. The Holy Spirit remains a creative force in the world, one that is continuing to form the Christian community. The flame of God’s presence is always with us, working powerfully in our lives. And the Spirit pushes us to reach outward to every person, every neighbor, every race and nationality, sharing the Word, sharing divine energy, sharing what a difference God has made in our lives, with others. Something most of us learned years ago in science class is for an electrical charge to flow from a wall circuit into a light bulb, and make the bulb glow, there has to be a complete circuit. The common, two-pronged electrical plug is an example of that. In order for a lamp to work, power has to flow into it from one of the prongs, and return again through the other. Cause a break anywhere in the circuit - a frayed wire, a broken filament or a bulb insufficiently screwed in - and you’ll have no light. The miracle of Pentecost is like that. God prepares spiritual power to flow into creation, but no inspiration will take place if the circuit is not completed. We need to position ourselves in such a way that the connection is made. We become the conduit for God to reach into the lives of others. Had the followers of Jesus not been “all together in one place,” ready for something miraculous to happen, there would have been no miracle - at least not in that place and time. So, the first and essential action of the spiritual life is showing up. Then the Holy Spirit can fill us with the power of God and challenge us to share that divine energy with others.