The sound of violent wind

Religious traditions are full of stories intended to shape the life of the community of believers.  When we loose track of the purpose of the story, we rob the story of its power. How can the story shape our hearts and lives when it has become little more than memorabilia of times gone by?

I have been given the opportunity to preach in the main worship service this Sunday, May 15. It happens to be the celebration of Pentecost, and so I’ve been contemplating, “what does Pentecost mean for us today?”

In the Jewish tradition Pentecost, the feast of 50 Days, is the celebration of the week that Moses spent of the mountain of God receiving the covenant and law from God. Why 50 days? Tradition holds that the Hebrews arrived at the mountain 50 days after Passover (the festival that celebrates the Hebrews deliverance from 400+ years of slavery in Egypt). Pentecost is, essentially, an anniversary of the day when the Hebrew people became the covenantal People of God.

However, in the Christian tradition, Pentecost has taken on a whole new layer of meaning. It is the time when Jesus’ promise of ‘power from on high’ was fulfilled by sending the Holy Spirit of God to, literally, dwell inside each of his followers.

Mind. Blown.

The creator God, the sustainer of life, the Beginning and End of all things, chooses to live, not just along side of, but INSIDE his creation.

What was the effect?

Now we have to pause, because this is the part where we seem to loose sight of what’s going on. The story goes like this:

 

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”Acts 2:1-4

That last sentence “speak in other tongues” is where we seem to get stuck.

Was is awesome? Sure!

Would it be incredible if it happened today? Absolutely!

Was it a hugely significant event that likely made reference to the ancient story of Babel, and signified the reuniting of the world around the Gospel message? Most likely!

Are the languages, the fire, or the sound of wind the point of the story?

No, it’s not.

The point of the story, which we see repeated over the next several chapters in the book of Acts, is that ordinary men and women were emboldened to tell the story of Jesus with an authority and eloquence beyond their capacity. They were given insight and wisdom, position and opportunity, that they would not have otherwise had. Sure, some of these opportunities were accompanied by miraculous signs. Yes, sometimes they really ticked off the people they were talking to.

But the point of the story is not brash preaching, miraculous wonders, or instantaneous lingual genius. The point is that the Holy Spirit empowered and inspired the followers of Jesus to proclaim the Good News with boldness.

So what does Pentecost mean for the Christian Church today? How do we live lives that are empowered and inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God? How do we navigate our pluralistic, secular, and post-Christian culture with both grace and tenacity?

How does the sound of violent wind shake us today?