Church
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Acts 2:1-4
I must first dispel the myth that the church was conceived on the Day of Pentecost. The church was birthed in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday when Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Lord’s Sipper. It was on this Thursday evening that Jesus firmly put in place the institution – the Body of Christ – that would carry forth his ministry after his death, resurrection and accession. I would like to think there was total and complete solidarity in the room that evening, but I know better. Judas disrupted and sabotaged the common cause with his selfish ambitions.
Pentecost means “the Fiftieth.” Another name for Pentecost is “the Feast of the Weeks,” because it is the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. This gives Pentecost a historical significance to the Jewish community and those Jews who later converted to Christianity, often known to us as Messianic Jews.
The reference to the prophecy of Joel 2:16-21 is an important testimony of faith for the Jews who were present at the Feast of the Weeks. Joel said in part: “never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.” After an age of doom, Joel prophesized the restoration of the land. He prophesized that the Israelites will return to Jerusalem.
On Pentecost this prophecy was fulfilled, though it extended far beyond Israel to include all the nations of the world. Luke presents us with what has come to be called the “table of nations,” a listing of the nations involved in the Pentecost experience. There is controversy on how this should be interpreted, but Jacob Myers in his commentary, written for The Abingdon Bible Commentary, summarized it with this theological statement: “What if he has crafted this ‘table of nations’ to weaken the prevailing ethnic infrastructure so that a new found foundation might burst forth according to Luke’s theological vison, a vision that transcends facile ethnic divisions without forsaking the importance of ethnic identity?”
This ethnic inclusion, that included both Jews and Gentiles, is supported by a number of scholars that conclude that the Pentecost experience moved from East to West, from Asia Minor to Rome. This movement of ideas is confirmed in Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, published in 2017, and won the Pulitzer Prize. Diamond demonstrated that ideas do not spread north to south, but east to west following similar weather patterns.
The universality of the Pentecost experience is again supported by a number of scholars that the confused language isn’t so dramatic as we would like to relish. With this east and west participation all of those present, spoke Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The common language is less significant than having come to a common understanding of the role of the church as the continued representative of Jesus in the world.
William Barclay, in his commentary The Acts of the Apostles, wrote regarding this morning’s devotional reading, offering four purposes that should be associated to the Pentecostal experience: 1. The Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance; 2. All the leaders of the church were men of the Spirit; 3. The Spirit was the source of day-to-day courage and power; 4. The degree to which we can possess the Spirit is conditioned by the kind of people we are.
In our daily reading, “wind” inspires, the indwelling Holy Spirit; “fire” is divine energy, the voice of the Lord.
We will never know what precisely happened that day, as most of the story will remain an enigma. It began in the Upper Room where 12 were present, and then we read it mysteriously moved to a hall accommodating 120. In biblical numerology the number 12 represents leadership; the number 120 represents moving from the age of the flesh to age of the spirit.
And Peter, in his sermon, like all of us, tried to make sense of it all. Though Peter did understand, as we do this day, the underlining message is unity, solidarity, among the gathered one-hundred-and-twenty.
Solidarity is a group experience. Every year, since 1876, London’s Royal Choral Society has performed the Hallelujah chorus each Good Friday at the Royal Albert Hall. Only two performances were cancelled, and this was during the Second World War when London was being bombed by the Germans. Though, in the year, 2020, when the coronavirus circled the globe, a third performance was creatively performed. A total of 82 members recorded their individual parts at home, and then these individual performances were stitched together for a video presentation on YouTube. The conductor, Richard Cooke, confessed that the performance was not perfect, but it was important to London and the rest of the nations around the globe. Cooke said, “In these strange times, when we are missing our rehearsals and concerts together, performing ‘virtually’ has been the next best thing, and we hope that singers around the world will join with us to sing this great piece of choral music on this special day.” The virus made “the next best thing” the real thing and a good thing.
But let us never forget that we are the 120; the unseen members of the Body of Christ. We must never underestimate our contributions in supporting others and providing others with hope. We are a part of the solidarity movement.