Pentecost

A Time To Share:    How many of us here today celebrate birthdays not just with a card but with a party every year?  What is your celebration like?   Did you know that Pentecost is sometimes considered the churches birthday.  Anyone know why? Just for fun how do you think we should celebrate the birth of our church the church of Christ.

June 12 2011 Readings Numbers 11: 24-30 Psalm 102, John 7: 37-39

Today is Pentecost Sunday and usually we read the story of the tongues of fire that come upon the people, there heart were set on fire and they began to speak in other languages.  Today we found out that a form of Pentecost existed back as far a Moses time as we read from the book of Numbers.    Well let me tell you another Pentecost story this morning. 

It is a story about a well known author and preacher by the name of Fred Craddock who was about to give a lecture to a theological class at Seminary.   Just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal."  Now there is no reason to disclose the denomination of the preacher here, but the room began to grow silent.     The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody.  Craddock was totally caught off guard and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?"  The student replied "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?"   “No” said the student “I am asking you if you are Pentecostal."  Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?"  The student again replied, “No,   I want to know if you are Pentecostal."  Craddock said, "I sorry but I don't know what your question is."   The student then replied, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal."  at that, the student got up and left the lecture room.   What is it about the word Pentecostal that seems to through most main line church people into a frenzy?    What exactly are we talking about this morning? It is almost automatic for most of us to use the word Pentecost only as a noun, meaning to name a person, place or thing as being Pentecostal.  The scriptures on the other hand use the word Pentecost as an adjective?  Not to describe a person, place or thing but to It describes the characteristic of “THE EVENT”, in other words we need to consider what happened at the Pentecost.  People’s lives were changed and the church as we know it today began to take root.  Happy birthday Church!
In spite of the fact that the church hasn’t grasped the full meaning of the event, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, a group of people or an event in the history of the church.  The church insists that the word is an adjective; because it describes the Christian church as a whole.   Sing the song:  “We Are One In the Spirit” folks we are to be of one accord.

We are a Pentecostal people and the event is where we have our root, it is full of hope and excitement, of newness, of change and full of the spirit.  The word, then, is "Pentecostal." And so I ask you this morning Are you ready, ready to accept your Pentecostal roots?  I believe that If the church is alive and well in our world, it is Pentecostal.  And you thought we were Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Catholic, or whatever label you grew up with, didn’t you.    Now that we know the rest of the story, how do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning in our hearts, and the spirit moving within our lives and within our Church today?   What must exit from us, around us, and through us, if we are to be truly to be a spirit fill people, a Pentecostal people?    I believe we need to consider these three things:

1. We Are To Be Of One Accord The Scriptures Tell Us.

The biggest fear all denominations have to face today is still no different than

it was for the followers on that special day of Pentecost, the fear of change.  The fear of loosing our independence as individuals, as individual churches within a denomination or the whole denomination in general.  This is a legitimate fear.  Now I know that this might be hard for some of us to accept but standing alone is not very healthy nor is it wise.  We need each other desperately.  Not just our denomination or our church, but we need to be as the scriptures tell us:   of ONE MIND, ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT.

When Pentecost comes to us, and it will folks, when the sprit of the living Christ the HOLY SPIRIT comes upon us as a church or as individuals, our eyes will be opened and we will no longer fear change but want to embrace it.

      2.  We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer That Turns To Action: 

Want things to change in your life, or in the life of our church we must put our prayers into action.  If you pray for something don’t just stand around waiting for God to do something, look for your part, all prayer requires us to be active and present to our condition.   You can’t change anyone else but If you change, if you become active then everything around you will have no choice but to change.   

3. We Are To Repent:  To Turn Away From That Which Is Holding Us Back. 

One of the hardest things in live to do is to look at ones self and see that I am  part of the problem.  Scapegoating is an old biblical practice that we often use ourselves.  Putting the blame on some thing or someone.  When we are afraid we look for other people to blame for our fear, and too often we hate, revile, and demonize those whom we blame. We all see others and their problems, but what about us.  We need to accept our part in whatever the circumstances are surrounding our lives and turn away from anything that is holding us back.  What stopes you in your tracks or holds you in bondage.  As we begin to think differently, respond differently, and act differently others will not be able to respond to us in the same old way.  They too will have to change.  Here again if I change my attitude, my way of responding to life, to situations or persons within my life, they cannot respond to me in the same old way any longer.   When the spirit comes upon us as individuals or as a group, example being the reading from numbers this morning, there will be those who resist but our lives will change, we will be refreshed and renewed, and transformed then we can move forward.