Sunday’s sermon: The Sounds of Faith

Text used – Acts 2:1-21

More than just about any other story in Scripture, the story of Pentecost is a story that is meant to be interacted with – meant to be told and retold, not in a “let me read you the words on the page” sort of way but a “let me spin this tale for you with the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts” sort of way. It’s the kind of story that can’t (and shouldn’t!) sit still – a story of movement – a story born of the movement of the Holy Spirit, a story that inspired the movement of the earth Church, and a story that continues to move in and through us today. It’s a story with life and breath and speech and SOUND! So we’re going to explore our own faith through the sounds of this ancient story today.
FIRST, the WIND

- Interactive reading → wind

[sound of wind]

One: With rushing wind and holy fire,

Many: God who moved over the deep in a holy breath,

One: Come to us this day, this Pentecost day,

Many: Arrive in the wind!

ALL: Come, Holy Spirit, come.

[sound of wind]

- With everything that’s been going on with the weather lately, this one feels a little too acute … a little too intense. We know just how powerful wind can be.
  - Make or break moment in a variety of outdoor sporting events
    - Story of the boys’ first soccer game this year: very windy day → many a goal ended up flying wide because of the wind
    - And I’d be willing to bet that Geoff and Lance and Kim might have some stories about various golf shots flying off in an unintended direction thanks to the wind.
  - Less trivial side = terror and devastation that can be wrought by wind
    - Recent headlines of tornadoes in Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, Tennessee, and more
    - Derecho winds that hit Iowa in Aug. 2020 (126-140 mph winds)[1] or the Boundary Waters and Canada in July 1999 (started with 58 mph winds in eastern ND and peaked at 100 mph winds in the Boundary Waters area before blowing through southern Canada and all the way to the coast of Maine at an average of 70-80 mph)[2]
    - Story of the St. Peter tornado when I was 14 yrs. old
      - From news report done by KARE 11 last year on the 25^th anniversary: It’s been 25 years, but few in southern Minnesota have forgotten. On March 29, 1998, an intense supercell spawned 14 tornadoes in the St. Peter-Comfrey region, killing two and injuring 21 others. In about a four-hour span, the storm caused roughly $300 million in damage, including heavy damage to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. … On the same day, that same weather system produced an EF-4 tornado that flattened the small town of Comfrey. Three-quarters of the buildings were either damaged or destroyed by 200 mph winds, including the school and local churches. … KARE 11 meteorologist Belinda Jensen says the twister that touched down in Comfrey was on the ground for 56 miles, and debris was found more than 130 miles away.[3]
- Wind can be a nice gentle respite – a cooling breeze on a hot day. Wind can be an ally, filling the sails of a ship to get it moving or drying out a wet field so a farmer can get back to work after the rain. Wind can be insistent – hurrying us along as it pushes us (gently or not-so-gently) from behind or impeding our journey as we try to best a strong headwind. Or wind can be outright ruinous as we see in hurricanes, tornadoes, and derecho-type weather events.
- Text: When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting.[4]
  - Gr. “wind” = “breath” = Spirit → And the rest of that phrase makes it clear that the wind-breath-Spirit that blew through the disciples’ place that day was a powerful one. It was a strong breath. It was a violent wind. It was a forceful Spirit.
    - Wind to catch attention
    - Wind to get things moving
    - Wind to burst open the doors and fling wide the shutters – to make sure that the whole house (and everyone in it!) was open and ready for the work God had for them to do
- We all know that feeling of being buffeted by the wind – pushed and nudged and taken by surprise. Sometimes it causes us to stumble. Sometimes it causes us to close our eyes or turn our faces away. But we cannot help but be moved by it. As you listen to the wind this morning, think about how God might be nudging you … pushing you … surprising you … moving you.
  - [play wind sound]
SECOND, the FIRE

- Interactive reading → fire

[sound of fire]

One: With tongues of flame and hopes rekindled,

Many: God who lit a fire over the heads and in the hearts of the disciples that day,

One: Come to us this day, this Pentecost day,

Many: Arrive in holy flame!

ALL: Come, Holy Spirit, come.

[sound of fire]

- Fire is a lot like wind in that it can be both useful and dangerous.
  - Useful: candles (in the absence of electricity or when you’re in a meditative/contemplative/quiet/romantic mood), cooking over an open flame (camping, bonfires, campfire nights here at church), warmth (story of staying on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation during Spring Break in college)
  - Dangerous: fires that consumes homes … businesses … communities … millions of acres burned by wildfires every year
    - Current fires burning in Canada → poor/potentially dangerous air quality here and across the northern part of the U.S.
    - Did you know that there’s even a bird in Australia – the Black Kite Bird – that will pick up a burning stick from one fire, carry it to a safe space, and drop it into dry grass to start another fire so it can prey on the other creatures escaping the fire it just started?[5]
  - And yet even in the aftermath of that danger and destruction comes new life. → plant life that is renewed and regenerated following a forest fire
- New life … new vision … new hope … new opportunities … new challenges … new faith. These are the things wrought by the flames of the Holy Spirit amongst the disciples that first Pentecost morning. – text: They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.[6]
  - More than 1000 yrs. later, a similar experience would strike a particular English clergyman by the name of John Wesley (excerpt from Wesley’s own journal): In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.[7] → That burning flame of the Holy Spirit that lit upon each of the disciples that morning has been burning throughout the ages – igniting people’s faith, warming their souls, and illuminating the work that God has for them to do in this world.
    - Not always a flame that burns brightly → Sometimes the people … the circumstances … the environment around us try to douse that flame, to hide it under a bushel and keep us from sharing and even keep us from experiencing the joy and life-giving nature of our faith. But the flame of the Holy Spirit is a persistent flame – a flame that may flicker but will never truly go out.
      - Lyrics of “Soul on Fire” by Third Day: God, I’m running for your heart. I’m running for your heart ‘til I am a soul on fire. Lord, I’m longing for your ways. I’m waiting for the day when I am a soul on fire … ‘til I am a soul on fire.[8]
      - So as you listen to the sound of the flames, think about what part of your life needs the light and warmth and spark of God’s Holy Spirit this morning.
        
        [play fire sound]
THIRD, the COMMUNITY

- Interactive reading → crowd

[sound of a crowd]

One: With spacious grace and depth untold,

Many: God who is present each time we gather together,

One: Come to us this day, this Pentecost day,

Many: Arrive in conversation and connection, companionship and sacred sharing!

ALL: Come, Holy Spirit, come.

[sound of a crowd]

- It is no secret that I’m an introvert, friends, and I know I am not the only one in this room.
  - Clarification: “introvert” is not someone who hates being around other people or someone who is excessively shy → actual definition of an introvert is someone who tends to focus inward instead of outward and who gets their energy from time on their own
    - By extension: “extrovert” = someone who tends to focus outward instead of inward and gets their energy from being with other people
  - So with that working definition, the “crowd” aspect of this Pentecost story is admittedly intimidating for me. Crowds are not always my favorite places to be.
    - At a conference/meeting/retreat → need my own room to process, unwind, and rejuvenate at the end of the day
    - And yet I will also admit that some of my most formative faith experiences throughout my entire life have been in the midst of crowds.
      - Call to ministry happened in the midst of a crowd of hundreds of college students
      - Confirmation of choosing Dubuque as my seminary happened in the midst of a crowd of others exploring their calls
      - Jesus’ words in Mt: I assure you that if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.[9]
  - Granted, this initial Pentecost crowd was decidedly bigger than “two or three.”
    - All the disciples
    - “The crowd” big enough to contain people from a wide array of places – hundreds of square miles of territories: Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs[10]
    - And amidst that crowd – amidst the multiple languages being spoken AND all the crowd noise AND all the muttering about drunkenness and new wine AND whatever else may have been going on around them in that moment – GOD SPOKE. The Good News of the gospel rang out in the ears and minds and hearts of each and every one of them in their own language, not because of any effort on the part of the disciples (no Duo Lingo or Babbel for these guys!) but because God knew the word about Jesus and grace and salvation needed to spread. So as you listen to the sound of the crowd this morning, think about where and how God might be calling you to speak.
      - [play crowd sound]