Pentecost
Notes
Transcript
ME
I have somewhat of a reputation of being the go-to-guy translator at MCBC. In fact, I was told by my former senior pastor this was what popped in my resume as I was new and green to ministry and they would hire a fresh graduate from seminary. I am fluent in Cantonese and can get by with Mandarin. That’s why I translate at General Members meetings, and during staff meeting for my Cantonese and Mandarin colleagues when they want to share more openly and in their colloquial expressions on a devotion or a point. It’s not an easy thing to switch in your mind as you hear one language and parse through what English words would best fit the translation. Idioms and slangs are the worse. Those compact succinct four character phrases loaded with a ton of meaning are harder still.
Fortunately, very few people come afterwards to correct me. So I assumed they understood.
WE
Not everyone can do this I know, and I am thankful God give me this gift. Now whether it is a gift of language or a sub-form of speaking in tongues, I am also thankful I am not the only one. After all, I only know three languages. So I can only reach those three language cultures. But the gospel needs to be heard urgently all around the world, for people who need hope. For people who are trying to make sense of a good God and a terrible pandemic. I am so thankful there are people who have been called to share about the life and work of Jesus by going to where the people are at.
But how about those of us who decided to stay put, what might God be calling us to do? Whatever we do, we are assured we are not alone because the Holy Spirit has come. On Pentecost sunday, let’s reflect on his historical revial and its implication on Jesus’ continuign mission. Turn with me to Acts chapter 2.
GOD
The Book of Acts was written by Luke in 60 A.D. It was written as “part 2” to the gospel of Luke, and its purpose was to reassure the reader, Theophilus, of God's plan of salvation. This plan of salvation is rooted in the promise to Israel which continues through the new movement of the Holy Spirit's work. God’s plan was to further the kingdom of God from Jews to the Gentiles after Jesus's ministry, death and resurrection. The instruments of the plan are the apostles, no longer just disciples, as they have been restored and will be sent to proclaim the gospel. No sooner has Luke stated his goal in chapter 1:1-3, that he launches immediately into continuing the story. The story picks up from Luke 24 about Jesus’ imminent departure.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So already here the baptism with the Holy Spirit is foreshadowed to occur soon. But there is still a matter of replacing the traitor Judas Iscariot and thus complete the twelve apostles. It’s significant because they represent symbolically the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthias was chosen, and now they wait for the Holy Spirit to arrive. Here’s the big idea:
The promised Holy Spirit came to declare presence, power and judgment to the nations.
The promised Holy Spirit came to declare presence, power and judgment to the nations.
I. The Powerful Arrival of the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the languages for their mission.
I. The Powerful Arrival of the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the languages for their mission.
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
The apostles, the twelve indeed obeyed Jesus and did not leave Jerusalem. Luke meticulously recorded the day the Holy Spirit came. It was Pentecost, otherwise known as the Feast of Weeks. It’s one of the three agricultural festivals celebrating the bringing in of harvest and giving thanks to God. It’s also been seven weeks (50 days) after Passover.
In Deuteronomy 16:9-11, it says this about Pentecost:
9 “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. 11 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.
But notice who the feast of weeks are to be celebrated with? Not just among the Jewish households, but across classes (male or female servants). To rejoice, that is share the harvest with servants in those days was rare. Servants are to be exploited. But to include female servants would be unheard of, as females would be even lower in class and have no rights except servitude to their masters. But it also says to the sojourner, fatherless and widows. The ones no one is obligated to provide for since they were expendable, and had no protection. God is saying if my generosity is in blessing you a bountiful harvest, you are to bless the nations with it. This has profound implications on why is it on Pentecost the Holy Spirit arrives. He’s about to reap a spiritual harvest of the nations, irrespective of social status or gender!
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And just like that, the Holy Spirit came. Although the apostles anticipated this because Jesus told them the Spirit would come, it still totally caught them by surprise. But Jesus taught Nicodemus (and assuming his disciples were with him) that’s what they are to expect of the Holy Spirit.
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
And with a mighty theophany, an appearance of the supernatural! Its source is heaven, where God dwells, and it’s audible, like a mighty rushing wind. The original Greek word suggest it’s not merely mighty, but violent rushing wind, filling the entire house. The next verse seems a bit puzzling. Why a divided tongues as of fire? Fire we can understand, as fire has been long associated with God’s appearnce. Be it the burning bush where Moses encounters God, or later in the wilderness, God leads his people in exodus with a pillar of fire. Though to the Jews there’s an even closer image, in Isaiahs 5:24:
24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Which points to the other property of fire in the Old Testament, that of judgment. The way back to the Garden of Eden has been blocked by cherubim with flaming sword, and literally Sodom and Gomorrah were charred to a cinder as judgment on their sin.
Presence and judgment, these are the works of the Holy Spirit. But judgment is primarily not for eradication, but for leading into repentance. As you may recall a few weeks back I preached on the Holy Spirit’s work is to convict the world of sin, righteousness or justice, and judgment.
They rested on each of them, no one having more or less of the Holy Spirit. This was true regardless of whether you were Peter the spokesperson, or James, who would become the leader of the early church.
So the apostles were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. This other tongues, is it a new language? a secret language? Or as we see later on their own language but heard differently? Is this gift only for the early church? Is it a confirmation of the filling of the Holy Spirit, as in Acts 10:46 with the household of Cornelius the Roman centurion, and Acts 19:6 with the twelve men in Ephesus, or does it still happen today? Why do only some people seem to receive this gift, and not others, like myself? This has been a hotly contested discussion within Christian circles, especially between the charismatics, otherwise aptly named the pentecostal brothers and sisters. While we shouldn’t deny the Spirit can work powerfully in amazing ways, the context around this verse seems to refer to languages that they did not know. Our second point:
II. The Powerful Arrival of the Holy Spirit brought the known world together to hear the mighty work of God.
II. The Powerful Arrival of the Holy Spirit brought the known world together to hear the mighty work of God.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
There’s no coincidence with God. Just as it’s not a coincidence the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, just as Jesus died on Passover as the Passover lamb. So these Jerusalem Jews, showing their devotion to God, came from far away. They gathered from all parts of the known world. (Previously, they had scattered there in the first place because of the Exile and subsequent rules of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greeks, and Roman occupations). They come to this important God-decreed festival. Their devoutness will be rewarded.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
Apparently the Holy Spirit’s arrival was loud and probably what’s louder is the apostles’ utterance as the Holy Spirit gives. It “woke up” the whole town and people gathered. Here we see why this speaking of other tongues is more likely not a secret language. The devout Jewish men heard a language they can understand from these Galileans who they recognize do not know their language or dialect. The miracle is a miracle of hearing. Twice in these passages they were amazed, astonished, bewildered and perplexed. It was an emotional and bizarre experience to say the least. Verse 12:
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
It means God’s presence and judgment is upon his people, irrespective of class or gender. While we don’t have time to unpack what Peter says next, he begins his message by defending the accusation they were drunk. It’s interesting that, just as some doubted when Jesus resurrected in Matthew 28, so some doubted and thought the apostles were inebriated. Quoting the prophet Joel, Peter sees they are now fulfilling the prophecy.
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Again, presence and judgment. Presence from verses 17-18. Judgment imagery in 19-20. Salvation in verse 21. But notice who is counted among those who will receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: sons AND daughters! Old and young. Even (even Joel thinks it’s absurd) EVEN on male servants AND female servants. They will prophesy, that is, give an account of God’s mighty work. His work of salvation. His warning of unrepentance. His choice for salvation, for those who call upon His name. This is where I want to reaffirm unequivocally that this and many other passages, if read in its context, truly affirm the preaching and teaching gift as a role for both men and women. There are some wonderful recent works written by female scholars on this matter and I would encourage us to have a more open mind to read them on their own merits, from a historical and theological lens: Kristin Dumez’ Jesus and John Wayne and Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womahood (which I have a copy here), and Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Womanhood.
Then Peter launches into recounting the life ofJesus Christ and attests to his mighty works which we don’t have time to go into. Suffice it to say when the Spirit-filled Peter finished speaking about the crucified and risen Saviour Jesus calling for repentance from the Jews, many were convicted of putting their Messiah to death and ask that they’d be forgiven:
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Hopefully when we are back in the church building and with zoom fatigue behind us we can unpack Peter’s speech in a message in greater detail to truly give it the justice it deserves.
Some of you who are keen may have notice I skipped a few verses, 9-11. There’s a reason because there’s a lot of places and they don’t mean anything to us on paper. However, when you compare it to a biblical map it all makes sense:
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Now look at this map and see what you notice? Where are these cities? Where are these disapora Jews, born in a bilingual culture, coming from? And does it remind you of Jesus’ final words:
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
God is at work, these three thousand souls led by the Spirit and sent by the apostles. The apostles, themselves, would very soon be scattered from Jersualem and be witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Their known earth. As far west as Rome, as far south as Egypt, as far East as Media, and as far North as Pontus. And that’s only the beginning. From there Paul will reach Bythinia next to Pontus, the whole of Macedonia. Traditionally, Thomas, the doubtful one, went as far East as India. And finally to the ends of the Earth! Praise the Lord!
YOU
Of course we the Chinese churches are the beneficiary of missionaries long ago who understood “and to the ends of the earth” to mean that every place on this planet needs to hear the gospel! I am sure glad someone didn’t just take the literal meaning of the verse and say we don’t need to reach China, or Hong Kong, or Taiwan, or Malaysia. And the Holy Spirit continues to move powerfully in the world today, especailly in the Southern hemisphere and the 10/40 window, in Africa, South America, India (again), the Middle East, and China. But the world has also come to us! Toronto is one of the most diverse metropolitan.
Perhaps some of us will be called to go and make disciples abroad in a remote country, learning a foreign language, adapting to the local culture to bring the gospel to the heart of the people. But I bet for a lot of us, we are staying put. And God through the Spirit is sending us to boldly go across the street and declare the life and work of Jesus! We have the answer as to why there still can be hope in a pandemic, it’s not a what but a who, and what he did for us and the world, reconciling both to his father.
We who live in the West can largely take it for granted. A lot of us have the means to give our children a comfortable life. Women here have the opportunity to be CEOs and career women (even though there’s still a pay gap in some industries). However, the poor, the refugee, the undocumented and the vulnerable are still with us. They are still looked down upon, or forgotten. The event of Pentecost paints the Kingdom picture that because we are all image bearers of the Holy God, we are all of equal worth and precious in His sight. Therefore, we as fellow iamge bearers must love everyone the same, repenting of our prejudice and bias.
WE
MCBC began and still is predominantly a Chinese church. But can you see a day when we as the English congregation have been given the privilege to paint. All races, all genders, all classes, equal and working out our differences, serving irrespective of assumed and imposed status, and learning from one another how to become a global Jesus following community which represents the love of our heavenly Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit!