Walking with Power
Acts 2:1-21
May 10, 11, 2008, Pentecost/Mother’s Day

In his book It was On Fire when I Lay Down On It, Robert Fulghum remembers his days as a preacher: “For 25 years of my life, the 2nd Sunday of May was trouble!” “I was obliged in some way to address the subject of Mother’s Day—it could not be avoided! “The expectation was summarized in the words of one of the more outspoken women in the church.” She said: “I’m bringing my mother to church on Mother’s Day, Reverend.” “And you can talk about anything you want.” “But it better include MOTHER—and it better be good!”

I can’t guarantee the second part of those expectations—but I’ll try to take care of the first before moving on to a third expectation for this day.Many of you are familiar with Dr. Tony Campolo—a highly-respected, inspirational speaker—he’s kind of a Christian version of “Dick Vitale.”. He has spoken around the world—and usually his wife, Peggy, has stayed home to care for their children, Bart and Lisa. On those rare occasions when Peggy has traveled with him, she talks to some of the most influential people in the world. After one trip, Peggy confessed that she felt intimidated by these powerful people—and questioned her self-worth at times. Tony said: “Well, come up with something you could say?” “Let them know how strongly you value what you do!” “Tell them that you feel that being a mother is dramatically urgent, crucial, and important!”

Not long after that, Tony and Peggy were at a party. A woman said to Peggy in a rather condescending tone, “Well, my dear, what do you do?” Peggy proclaimed: “I am nurturing two Homo Sapiens into the dominant values of the Judaeo-Christian tradition in order that they might become instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of eschatological utopia God envisioned from the beginning of time.” The other woman said: “O, my, I’m just a lawyer.” So, Happy Mother’s Day!

AND SPEAKING OF TRANSFORMATION, WE NEED TO ADDRESS THE THIRD EXPECTATION FOR TODAY—THE STORY OF PENTECOST—A STORY THAT WAS ON FIRE WHEN WE PICKED IT UP! The story of Pentecost in Acts 2 boggles our minds to this day! The Holy Spirit comes and touches all of the disciples. Suddenly, they are able to speak in different languages! Thousands of people get baptized and start following Jesus! The mysterious, miraculous stuff of this story grabs our attention! But there’s something more going on that we need to notice.

In the midst of all these bold signs of God’s presence, something is quietly happening that is essential to the story. Look closely. The wind, the flames, the tongues bewilder the crowds! But Peter overhears some of the people’s comments. He realizes that they don’t understand what is happening. So he stands up to explain. Now, for those of us who have grown up in the church, we have moved past the “remarkable” stage. We have heard this story so many times. We have lost a sense of the power of this moment. There is something extraordinary happening here! How can Peter stand there and preach like that after what he had done? What nerve!

Just before Jesus was killed, Peter promised to stick with Jesus. But as soon as Jesus was arrested, the promises gave way to denial, abandonment, fear… In the back of our minds, we might remember the end of John’s gospel—Jesus restores Peter by telling him to “feed his sheep.” But that is not the way Luke tells the story. Remember, Luke wrote both the Gospel and the Book of Acts. Luke ends his Gospel with no reinstatement of Peter. There is no moment of forgiveness between him and Jesus. So the question hangs in the air: “How will Peter respond to Christ’s death and resurrection?” What will Peter do, now that the crucifixion is over and Christ has been raised? When Peter stands up to explain things to the crowd, something incredible is happening in the primary relationships in his life. For instance, his relationship with God is powerfully transformed! Imagine being Peter, knowing how miserably you had failed. On Pentecost, after they had prayed and waited and waited and prayed—the Holy Spirit comes upon all of the believers! ALL of the believers—Peter is included! He receives the power of the Spirit of the Risen Christ.

Can you imagine his joy at the new start he receives from God!? The denial, the abandonment, the broken promises… All of those troubled waters are washed away. And Peter accepts the “clean slate” God gives him! How can Peter stand? He is living out his forgiveness with the power of the Spirit. He is bearing the fruit of a spiritual reality. Peter is what a person freed by God’s love looks like. He stands boldly, proclaims freely, shares generously. He moves from “I do not know who Jesus is” to “Let me tell you who Jesus is!” Peter’s relationship with people outside the circle of believers is also powerfully transformed! Peter’s heart is moved by those who don’t know what’s going on. He “pleads with them.” When you’ve received forgiveness like Peter, when you’ve gotten that kind of relief, you want to share it.

Pentecost Day catapults Peter into becoming a person of compassion for people who are outside of his circle. And Peter’s relationship with people inside the circle of believers is powerfully transformed. When Peter does stand, notice Peter does not stand alone. Acts 2:14 says: “Then Peter stood up with the eleven and addressed the crowd.” When he rises to speak, the others stand with him—together. Yes, they know about his faults and failures and flops. But they also know they have fallen short themselves. This is a powerful picture of forgiven people…forgiving each other. They become believable witnesses to the grace of Jesus Christ. Together, they are transformed into a redeemed community.

FOR THE CHURCH TO BE HEALTHY, ALL OF THESE RELATIONSHIPS NEED TO BE STRONG. We need real and vibrant relationships with God, with people outside the church, and with each other. We have been praying and thinking about this a lot at Beargrass. Today, Pentecost, is a “crossroads” moment for something that began back in Lent when we studied Unbinding Your Heart, and which continued with the “Way of Light” series after Easter. If you read Martha Grace Reese’s book, you may recall that she has done research on vibrant, mainline churches all across the country. She found that the healthy churches paid attention to the relationships that we have thought about today. I wonder what the community sees when they look at our church? Do they see a community of redemption, a place where people are genuinely merciful to and supportive of one another? Do they see folks who are content with their inner circle? Do they notice any efforts to reach out beyond these walls? Which of these three relationships needs attention in your life? Which needs attention in the life of our church?

I invite you to be real and honest with God and with yourself. Take a deep, gentle breath…exhale slowly…close your eyes. Simply ask God, “What relationships need attention?” Just listen for a moment… I have been so thankful to God and pleased with what has been happening within and through our faith community. More people are talking about their faith and sharing stories. People are inviting friends to church—and living to tell about it. More people are devoting more time to prayer—and a new prayer group is meeting every week now.

Some Sunday School classes and small groups are going back through the Unbinding Your Heart book—letting it soak in and take deeper root in their hearts and souls. Our staff meetings have been flipped upside down—we now begin in reflection and prayer and save the “business” for later. Our former board chairs and elders have been in dialogue, trying to discern the next steps for making our ministry more effective. Folks have gone on retreats to think about matters of the Spirit—mission trips are planned for this summer—one is happening right now. There is talk about sponsoring another refugee family. The community-building, relationship-strengthening Farmers Market will get bloomin’ and boomin’ again next Saturday! And ideas are cropping up about sharing the bounty from the market with folks living in the west end—where groceries and access to fresh food are limited. These are all powerful Pentecost projects and proposals—relationship-builders with God and people of many circles.

If you’re a guest today, you have come to a church that is on an incredible journey with God. We’re asking how God wants to transform us spiritually to continue to be a growing community of faith! When we stand in God’s love, when we stand together, and when we stand for people outside of our circles, it’s Pentecost all over again. And as we heard from the story from Acts 2 today, when God gave birth to the Church, it “was on fire when God lay down on it!” Keep the Fire burnin’! Please repeat after me…keep the Fire burnin’! Again…keep the Fire burnin’! Keep the Fire burnin’!