A Mighty Wind

Acts 2:1–21 NRSV

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 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—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

There are many books published these days (really for a long time now) that follow a certain pattern. Something happens and someone begins to investigate to find out just what happened and who did what. These are, of course, mystery novels, or mystery thrillers. They give us a sense of something that we do not get in our lives. A sense of something that we don’t understand or don’t know. See, we live in a time of knowing. We know (or somewhat know) how things work in nature and in the mechanical world. But it is what we do not know that intrigues us. We want to have some mystery in our lives as long as it does not involve us personally. How else can one explain why the Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie novels are still in print and still popular with our culture? We want something mysterious.

The disciples, all 120 of them, were in the midst of a mystery. Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem where they were to receive the Holy Spirit. What that was he did not tell them. When this was to happen, he did not say. They were to stay in Jerusalem and wait.

So, the disciples were waiting. But as in all good mysteries they were busy while trying to understand the events around them. They are in prayer. They were busy filling Judas’ spot in the twelve. But most of all they were busy trying to figure out what Jesus meant when he said that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

While they were waiting, something happened. They were waiting in the upper room which was probably near the temple as rooms to hold large gatherings of pilgrims to Jerusalem were. And there was a pilgrimage going on. It was Pentecost. This was one of three festivals that brought in many pilgrims to Jerusalem. It marked the 50 days after Passover and was known as the Festival of Weeks. It was a harvest festival that gave praise to God for the first fruits that were gathered. Later it was a festival that marked the giving of the law from God to the children of Israel in the wilderness.

It was during this time that the disciples are gathered. They are again in prayer for what Jesus told them to wait. As they are praying, there came from heaven something that was like the sound of a violent wind. Have you ever been around a tornado? It is said that they sound like the roar of a freight train coming through at top speed. One knows that something big is coming. I imagine that this is what the disciples heard.

With the wind comes something that looks like fire. The text says that it was like tongues of fire. These would be individual flames that were separated from a larger body of fire. Each of these tongues of fire came and rested over the heads of those in the room. The mystery is this: what are these things and what do they mean? Is this what they have been waiting for? It would seem that something big is and will be happening.

For now, we are told that the Holy Spirit comes upon them and causes them to begin to speak in foreign languages. Most of the group would have spoken Aramaic with some Greek thrown in. Others might know a little Latin or some other language, but Aramaic and Greek would have been the most common. Now, they are speaking in languages that they normally would not understand. And notice that it was nothing that they did that enables them to speak in these languages. It is the Holy Spirit that gives them the ability. The mystery deepens. What will happen now?

There seems to be a crowd that gathers around the area. Because this was a pilgrimage festival, there were many people who were in the city and probably gathered around the Temple. They heard the noise like that of a mighty wind and came running. They were probably asking the questions that anyone would have asked: “What happened?”, “Are you ok?”, “Is anyone hurt?”, “Do you need help?” and so on. And these would have been in their own languages as most people would slip from the language understood by all to their native tongue.

And here is the thing: they are hearing replies in their native language. It is said that “Pentecost is as much a “miracle of hearing” as it is of “speaking,””[1]. Those listening were probably being told that all was fine and that they did not need any help but that something new was occurring. A movement that would not be contained to the upper room or to the confines of the Temple or even Jerusalem for that matter. This was something bigger.

And those gathered around were baffled. They knew what they were hearing and knew that there should have not been others who knew their language. This They were from other lands and they should not be hearing their native languages. But here they are, being told a new story and a mystery that came with the mighty wind. A mystery of how this came to be and how they were hearing the languages of the world.

But there were those from the area who knew the dialect that was being spoken. These people were from Galilee. This was a place where the people spoke differently. This was a place where they were not too…. educated. This was a place that was “provincial”. And so, the question was raised: “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?[2]” How could a group of what we would call country bumpkins know the languages of the areas where these people were from? For they were from the entire known world. It said that those gathered were from four quadrants of the world with Jerusalem at its center. This would have been a worldview of the Jews gathered there because of the thought that Jerusalem was to be the center of the new reign of God.

And the areas where the people were from are numerous. They range from Mesopotamia, to Rome, to Egypt with all other places thrown in between. Is it any wonder why those gathered around were astounded when they heard their languages being spoken? The mystery of how this happened added to their wonder as I am sure they were informed of the events in the upper room.

But there were some who had a logical solution to the mystery. They claimed that those in the upper room were drunk on new wine. This was an insult to those who were in the upper room. While Greeks and Romans were known to drink to excess, Jews were not. And even if they did drink to excess at parties and dinners, Greeks and Romans only did so in the evening or at night. At best, they would have a hangover, not be drunk that early in the morning.

Peter goes and clears up the matter of the being drunk by replying that it is only nine in the morning and therefore the people would not be drunk. He then explains the solution to the mystery of what has happened. He begins a sermon based on the prophet Joel who told of when the last days would appear and there would be what was happening in this area at this time. When he is done with his sermon there are more than 3,000 who join the ranks of the believers.

The mystery of the mighty wind is solved when it should have not been a mystery at all. Jesus told those gathered that the Holy Spirit would come upon them. For them this was no mystery. But for those outside the group, this was a great mystery and it took Peter preaching to clear it up. But clear it up he did and the world was never the same.

We don’t like mystery in our lives. Sure, it is fine in books, TV, and movies. But in our everyday lives? No thank you. We want the certainty that comes with knowing. And the Holy Spirit does not give us what we want to know. It gives us a mystery.

Today is the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is, as we all know, the coming of the promised Spirit. Next week we will be exploring the Trinity and the Spirit’s role there. But after that, if we follow the lectionary, talk of the Spirit and Trinity goes quiet. I have said before that I believe that these two Sundays are placed where they are because they deal with two topics for which we moderns would rather not talk about. They are both a mystery that requires us to come to grips with our not knowing what to do with them. And so, we speak of them very quickly and then go about our merry way.

Why is that? Why do we fear the Holy Spirit? Most theologians, pastors, writers, etc. believe it is because the Spirit is uncontrollable. Jesus said in John that the Spirit is like the wind, going to and fro with one never knowing where the Spirit will lead. Ezekiel watched as the Spirit revied the dry bones of the tribes of Israel and Judah without knowing from where the Spirit came. We do not like not knowing where we are going. We like our Jesus and God where we can see them and where we can “control” them. The Spirit however, is uncontrollable. The Spirit tells us to move and reach out to those who are different from us, those who speak different languages. The Spirit tells us that it is unity in Christ, not uniformity in worship, that makes the Church. The Spirit gives us the orders go and do things that we would not be able to (or really, would not want to do) on our own. It can be scary. If there was a roaring wind and tongues of fire come into this place today, how many of us would still be seated, or even in the building for that matter?

If we are honest with ourselves, we like the comfortable lives that we live. The Holy Spirit does not allow that. The Holy Spirit takes our lives and turns them upside down. It may be in a whisper with a nudge that moves us oh so gently toward where the Spirit tells us to go. Or it may be in the sound like a mighty wind that may scare us and propel us forcefully into the arena where we might not go on our own. This could be in the area of race relations, or that of standing for the oppressed of the world. It could be taking in refugees who have no place to go. It could be anything that makes us realize that God is in control and that we are to help the least of these.

We have in our confessions many parts that tell what we believe about the Holy Spirit. In A Brief Statement of Faith, it says this:

We trust in God the Holy Spirit everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

We have the Spirit just as the first disciples did. While sometimes we may not understand what and where the Spirit leads us, we know that we can do whatever because the Spirit is with us and is our Advocate, our Companion, our Helper, our Counselor, our Comforter. And this one tells us that now it is time to go and be what Jesus told us to be, witnesses to the world. Let the mighty wind and the fire come upon us. Do it again God. Do it again. Amen.

[1]Parsons, Mikeal C. Acts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Print. Paideia Commentaries on The New Testament. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.