Pentecost

The different branches of the Armed Forces have trouble operating jointly because they don’t speak the same language.

For example, if you told the Navy to “secure a building,” they would turn off the lights and lock the doors.

The Army would occupy the building so no one could enter.

The Marines would storm the building, capture it, and defend it with suppressive fire.

The Air Force, on the other hand, would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy.

There are over 7,000 languages in the world and communication researchers believe that most of them share one common word. This one word has the same meaning in every language, and it has a similar pronunciation in almost every language. What is the “universal” word I’m talking about? It’s “Huh?”

N.J. Enfield is a professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney in Australia. He and his colleagues studied 31 languages from 16 different language family groups, and they came up with the same conclusion: “Huh?” is the easiest and fastest sound to make when we don’t understand something said in a conversation. It is also a sound that can be made when the tongue and mouth are in a relaxed position, so it doesn’t require much effort. It’s one strange little word that encourages clarity and better communication.

In an article for American Scientist magazine, Enfield writes, “. . . Huh? does not stand for universal confusion. It stands for universal cooperation. It shows that there is a global need, and willingness, to pause a conversation and sort out a communication problem as it occurs.”

It’s pretty big when people from different parts of the world can all communicate in the same language. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in today’s lesson from Acts of the Apostles. The believers who met together to pray had no idea how God would answer their prayer. They only knew that Jesus had told them they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Since one of the features of Pentecost is that God enabled people to speak in other languages, I thought you might enjoy learning a new word – a German word. The word is sitzfleisch.

In Germany, it’s a professional compliment to tell someone that they have sitzfleisch. This word, which is literally translated “sitting flesh,” refers to the ability to focus on a task and not stop until it is completed. In other words, you sit there until you get it done, whatever “it” is. We might be more effective in all our daily tasks if we had the ability to focus on a task and not stop until it’s completed.

So the believers were committed to sitzfleisch – to sit and wait as Christ had instructed them until they received the promised Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, the 12 apostles were gathered in Jerusalem for a harvest festival called Pentecost, meaning “50th day” — the 50th day after the celebration of Passover. Jews from around the Mediterranean region were gathered to celebrate this festival in Jerusalem, including “Parthians, Medes and Elamites,” along with residents of a dozen other regions (Acts 2:9-11).

The 12 apostles were sitting in a house in Jerusalem, probably feeling uncertain and a bit powerless. Yes, they had been inspired and energized when Jesus was raised to new life on Easter. But his time among them had come to an end just ten days earlier, on Ascension Day, when Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (1:9).

Now what were they supposed to do?

Then it happened. “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.”

This is a pivotal moment in human history. It’s the beginning of the worldwide Christian church. It’s the kickoff of the Great Commission, when Jesus commanded his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28: 19).

The apostles were not the bigshots of religion or politics, people who made an impression on others with their insights or influence. In fact, when they began to speak in other languages, the God-fearing Jews from other nations were utterly amazed. They asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?”

Galilee was the backcountry. The boondocks. The sticks. No one expected a group from Galilee to master all the diverse languages of the world. You may know the old joke: What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks only one language? American. The same was true for the Galileans. They were not bilingual … until the day of Pentecost.

The apostles were also in the right place: Jerusalem. They were gathered for a religious festival, which was a good place to be as they showed their devotion to God. But their position in Jerusalem also gave them access to God-fearing people from every nation from around the region. They did not hesitate to declare the wonders of God in a variety of languages.

On Pentecost, the apostles discovered the secret to spiritual power: Right numbers, right size, right place. And we can employ that power today.

The apostles were effective because of their numbers: There were 12 of them, not just one. So many of God’s previous power-people had been individuals … John the Baptist, Moses, Elijah. But now God was working through a community

The first mention of the Greek word ekklesia in the Bible is found in the gospel of Matthew, and it is translated “church” (16:18). What the word literally means is “gathering,” and it comes from the ancient Greek assembly of citizens in a city-state. The word appears again in Acts, when “Barnabas and Saul met with the church” — the ekklesia — in Antioch. It was in this city that the disciples were first called “Christians” (11:26).

We need to gather in numbers to be the church. Jesus is with us when we are together in community, just as he promised us in Matthew, saying, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (18:20). Assembling for community worship and Bible study gives us the most inspiration, insight and guidance. When we stop taking part, our faith tends to cool off. If the isolation of the pandemic taught us anything, it is that gathering in person is a critical factor in the vitality of the church.

Assemblies are also needed for effective ministry and mission. Individuals can have brilliant and creative ideas, but implementation requires a team. Far too often, individuals pursue ministry ideas on their own, only to become frustrated when they cannot achieve their dreams. For any effort to be successful, at least five passionate people must commit themselves to it. Ministry and mission require numbers.

As Christians, we also need to be the right size. This has nothing to do with the number of people in a congregation. Instead, Christians need to be small enough to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and then act boldly in the world.

Look at the apostle Peter in the book of Acts. He didn’t see himself as a bigshot or a spiritual superstar. In fact, he had denied Jesus three times just a few months earlier. Peter had no special status in the religious, political or financial communities of Jerusalem. He was exactly the right size to be a disciple of Jesus.

Our challenge is to make sure that we are the right size for ministry and mission. You may be a powerful officer in the military, but you can be the right size for serving a meal to the homeless. You may be an influential attorney, but you can be the right size for serving on the vestry. You may be an elementary school student, but you can be the right size for serving as an acolyte. All that matters is that you be right-sized for discipleship.

The third secret to spiritual power is place. This means being in the right place at the right time, just as the apostles were in the right place, Jerusalem, at the right time, the day of Pentecost. For many of us, there will be places that are the right spot for us: Home, school, work, neighborhood, gym, church. But sometimes we need to leave the comfort of familiar places to accomplish our purposes.

At Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit on a group of believers to fill them with the mind of God and enabled them to share the truth of God with grace and power. And that power is freely available to us as well. What kind of vision does God have for you? How does God want to work through you? Who needs to hear the hope of God from you?

There are powerful and awesome dreams God has for this world that He wants to accomplish through ordinary people like us. And God will turn those dreams into reality by pouring out His Holy Spirit on us. God has promised us this gift. Are we willing to pray for it?