Together

They were all together! And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.( Ac 2:1).When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (Ac 2:1–2).

This past year during the height of the pandemic we often heard we are all in this together! though it sounds good this pandemic show us how untogether we are. Depending on you ethnic background, your income level, the neighbor you live in you had a very differnet experience during the pandemic. Yes COVID had the ability to infect anyone our communities disproportionately suffered in our communities!

If we are all in this together we must start off by acknowledging that everyone has had a different experience with church — some good and some pretty painful. It conveys that Christians are not perfect and can do hurtful things, but God is perfect, loves us all and wants us to spend time with Him. The signifcance of this text is that when we come together we can see the promises of God manifested in our lives!

This Sunday marks the day called Pentecost Sunday. Before it was associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit it was a feast set up by God that counted 50 days after passover. Jewish celebration The Feast of Weeks! The Feast of Weeks was the second of the three great Jewish feasts. Its name signified that it concluded the period of seven weeks which began with the presentation of the first sheaf of the barley harvest during the Passover celebration (Lev 23:15–16; Deut 16:9). Thus it was originally an agricultural feast marking the end of the grain harvest and was celebrated during the month of Sivan (May/June).

Yet this Feast of Weeks was like no other! Acts 2 opens up tying chapter 1 together with this moment when the church would be birthed

There were about 120 gathered together as instructed by the Lord. Acts 1:4-8 says : 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. ( Ac 1:3–8).

What do we when we come together?

First don’t just do nothing!

The 120 who were gathered and Peter now the early leader of the Church said we have to appoint another apostle. Judas had abandon his ministry has scripture foretold. He was now dead. His guilt caused him to hang himself. So Peter and the others decided to call another. Two were put forth and Matthias was chosen. Given we don’t heard anything else about Matthias the 120 were not just idling waiting on the coming of the Holy Spirit. I am sure they did not have a full understanding of what was to happen. They could have pondered Jesus words that they would be baptised by the spirit.

We should be finding work to do even right now that will honor and bring glory to God!

Secondly Be ready for the moment

The word said Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty wind

Thirdly Understand the experience

Pentecost is an invitation to take flight, to cast off the bounds of earth and to soar on the winds of hope and promise, to bring together a broken world, to connect with others who seek to fly into a kingdom way of living.

Pentecost is about joy, and the invitation is to let the Spirit be poured out on you. That same Joy that Jesus talked about last Sunday is on fire this Sunday as it is delivered person to person. But remember, that “you” is plural.

Let the Spirit be poured out on all y’all.

1) It was because they were gathered together that this happened.

It was because they were together where Jesus had instructed them to stay. So, what if we can’t be gathered? What if we have to keep our distance? The Spirit can still be corporate. The technology is difficult, to be sure. But every time someone speaks for the church, remind people that all are included. When we transform church from a building into a Spiritual connection that is powerful. This gift, the Spirit poured out, is for the whole body, not just for a few. Pentecost is a unifying time, regardless of the environment in which we live.

We all long for a familiar sound, for the language of home. We long for a connection. That was what was heard on that Pentecost morning. That was what the languages offered the passersby. So, they stopped and listened. Some wondered and, I suspect, hoped. Others scoffed, being of a cynical bent. “They must be drunk!” they shouted. If there is an alcoholic beverage that allows you to speak in foreign languages, I’m going to get some.

The tongues that were not quite like fire and not really like tongues either, but some visible manifestation of an invisible presence, were making connections. They were fire yes but they were also the word of God manifested in flesh. You see the word of God when spoken is empowering, the word in engaging, the word of God spoken restores, restarts, and resets. It was one, divided and settling on each, says Luke in his struggling for words. It was one presence, one sound, and it was heard by each, who then echoed the sound so that more heard. It wasn’t an experience to keep to one’s self that much is plain. It was meant to be shared. It was meant to be community building. It was the same primordial birth words of creation spoken once again to birth the church and to usher in the Kingdom of God.

These Pentecost Words Tongues spoken by God through the Holy Spirit were creating the Church, birthing the church, the holy church, the universal church, the Black church, the apostolic church.