They Shall All Prophesy

Pentecost 2010 “They Shall All Prophesy” St Paul’s Lutheran Church
May 23, 2010 Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8:14-17, John 14:20-26 G. Steven Plonk

The experience of mostly uneducated working class Galileans speaking foreign languages attracted a lot of attention among the other Jews in Jerusalem. Some of the Jews who saw and heard things that day were permanent residents but many Jewish visitors were in town for the annual celebration their harvest festival. They called it the ‘Feast of Weeks’, or the ‘Day of the First Fruits’ or ‘Shavuot’. Another name for the festival was ‘Pentecost’, “pente” meaning 50. It was 50 days after their Passover. It was a big deal for practicing Jews and the city was crowded. It’s kind of like the old days of the Harley Davidson motor cycle rally in Myrtle Beach. (Well, maybe not just like that.) But it was a city full of folks, Jews from all over the known world, there to worship in their glorious temple and to praise God; to give thanks for the blessings they have so far received and to ask God to keep on offering the blessings of protection, prosperity and peace.

I do not think the followers of Jesus were celebrating just yet. Let me tell you why. According to the Luke version of the story it has also only been 50 days since Jesus’ crucifixion. That’s hardly enough time to work through the grief process. To top it off, though Jesus did appear to them, resurrected and alive, he has now left them again. On a Thursday forty days after the resurrection Jesus leaves them again; he is lifted up into the sky and shuttled off in a cloud. We have named that holy day Ascension. It is always observed ten days before Pentecost Sunday. So while we Lutherans celebrate ‘The Real Presence’ at our communion table, those disciples for ten days between Ascension and Pentecost were experiencing the ‘Real Absence’ of their Lord. Perhaps they were hopeful that what Jesus promised them would come true; that an advocate would appear; that heavenly Father and Lord Jesus would come and dwell in their hearts and minds. Perhaps they were indeed trusting. But I don’t think they were celebrating; not yet. They were gathered together Luke tells us, all of them; perhaps as many as 120 of them as I read the first chapter of Acts.

And then it happened, the “rush of a mighty wind”, a freight train or tornado like sound I imagine. Tongues of fire dancing over their heads, and filled with the Holy Spirit they fell out into the streets speaking languages they had never studied. Bewildered, amazed, astonished, perplexed, Luke tells us the throng of Jewish pilgrims were; at hearing these fishermen and tax collectors and peasant women from Galilee speaking about God’s deeds of power. The cosmopolitan crowd expresses curiosity and scorn. They clamor for an explanation, for meaning. "What does this mean?" (2:12) Simon Peters gives an answer in Acts 2, verses 14 – 36. Like many preachers I know he borrows some of his material from someone else, the prophet Joel to specific. What Peter preaches and teaches is that God plans to turn all of his followers into prophets.

Peter does not speak of prophecy as predicting the future. Instead, prophecy is truth-telling. It is naming the places and ways where God initiates or intervenes in the world. One of my seminary professors suggested ‘a prophet is the one comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.” Biblical prophecy, from a Lutheran point of view, is not about predicting the future like Nostradamus. It is not about predicting the second coming of Jesus a la the “Left Behind” series. It is more like the challenge we lived with during our vision quest, using the guidance of Dave Daubert and Kelly Fryer. Prophets are the ones who notice ‘God is loose in the world’. Not only was God loose in the world once upon a time in Jesus of Nazareth. God is still loose. God is loose again wherever there are followers of Jesus. In Jerusalem that day when 120 folks apparently did not know what they were saying but knew they had to say it, God was loose in the world. When Peter preached and then answered the questions of the flabbergasted congregation, God was loose in the world. When the congregation asked Peter what they needed to do, Peter told them, ‘repent, be baptized, have your sins forgiven, receive the Holy Spirit and the promise of salvation.’ Oh my, God was loose in the world. The other eleven disciples and the rest of the 120 followers found water for the baptisms and ‘about 3000 were added that day.” Then ‘they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.” Um, um, um, God was loose in the world that day.

And God has been loose in the world many other days; days long before that first Christian Pentecost and many days and places since that first Pentecost. Our work last year on Purpose Statement and Guiding Principles bore fruit in the words printed on our announcement sheet. I want you to know what a good start I think that is. But it is only a start. The next step is to let those words come to life among us. To proclaim as those first disciples did that Jesus is our Savior and Lord; to be open to the surprising ways God does indeed transform us (though even as I say that I acknowledge how scary it is that God might really transform me); to give ourselves over to Worship, Word, Sacrament and Prayer that they do indeed strengthen our faith; to courageously share the good news and to invite others to join us in the sharing. Or maybe better said, the next step is to acknowledge that God and Jesus and Holy Spirit are already alive among us. They are loose in the world. May you catch them at it this week and may you share it with others. Amen.