ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION

Pentecost Sunday

June 3, 2001

Acts 2: 1-21 (2: 37-42)

I remember being told by many people in my growing up years that there is no such thing as a dumb question. There may be misplaced questions or inappropriate questions, but questions are an appropriate way to learn. We are afraid to show our ignorance. I remember clearly a time when I was in high school biology class. In the midst of a presentation by our teacher, Mr. Roys, one of the girls in the class raised her hand and said, "Mr. Roys, is it proper to pick your nose in public?" Wow! Where did that come from? It broke up the class in laughter. It was a good etiquette question, but right in the middle of a discussion on worms, or whatever it was?

It is a gift to be able to ask the right question at the right time. For a businessperson, asking the right question may be the difference between a growing business or one that goes under. For a counselor, asking the right question makes the difference between no progress and a breakthrough in self-understanding for the person seeking help. Frequently it means sensing the bigger picture; it may be realizing that something is happening that is more than surface level change but larger, more cosmic, changes taking place. For instance, during the 1960s our culture went through a lot of transition. When we were in the midst of all the confusion and upheaval of the Vietnam War, the music scene change with the Beatles, civil rights, the women’s movement, the drug culture, many people were asking, "What is going on?" There was a natural resistance to the changes as well as a desire to hold on to the way things were in the 1950s. Church attendance began to decline in the mid to late 1960s; many thought it was a temporary drop, nothing to worry about. However, there were a few voices raising the possibility that we were in the midst of a dramatic cultural change like no one had seen in several centuries. The evidence of time proved them right. There was a great societal shift taking place, deeper than anyone imagined. We call it the postmodern era; in the church we call it the post Christendom era. We are not yet sure what to name it because we are still becoming, sorting it out.

Pentecost Sunday was one of those societal shift moments in the life of the monotheistic faith. The transition from one person, Jesus, living on earth and being the central focus, to his departing and then the movement of the Holy Spirit of God to come mightily upon the people in Jerusalem on a particular day was dramatic. Instead of one person present at one place at a time, the living Spirit of that person came to empower the followers to carry on what he had started. People from various countries could hear the words of the apostles in their own native language, all at the same time. Excitement filled the air; there were reports of a loud rush of a strong wind and even tongues of fire dancing around the people.

The question that was asked that got to the essence of what was happening was not, "Are these folks drunk?" Or "Where are the police?" or "What is all the commotion?" but "What does this mean?" And the answer was that God is doing something new! Yet, Peter goes on to tie it in to their history, their tradition, by quoting the prophet Joel. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh – sons, daughters, old men, young men, women and slaves – everyone will be filled with the Holy Spirit." The symbolism of all the countries present who heard in their own native language, was to proclaim that the Spirit of God is to fall on all people, not just the Jews. Christ, through the Spirit, is for all people in all nations. God is doing something new! Yet, it is tied to the old. The wind of the Holy Spirit that came upon them was the same Spirit (wind) that moved over the waters of creation. The fire of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the same fire that led the Hebrew children in their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness 1,200 year earlier.

The philosopher and theologian, Alfred North Whitehead writes that "any lasting revolution will revere the sacred symbols of the past all the while ruthlessly revising them." Change and transformation takes place when it is grounded in the past yet is being brought into the present in a new way at the same time. As communities change there is the need to revere the sacred symbols of the past yet be willing to evolve into what is new. A business may have a particular product it makes; however, the needs for that product may change over time. Adaptation and adjustments are constantly needed. A congregation does not forget its mission, but how that mission is accomplished may very well change with the times.

Just as a baby being born forever changes the lives of that family, so does the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the faithful forever change the vision of that congregation or group or individual. Though few of us may have had a dramatic experience of God’s Spirit that shook us to the bones, that very Spirit, however, has been and is with us each and every day. It is becoming sensitive to that Spirit that is the challenge for us, and in becoming sensitive to that Spirit to let that Spirit shape and guide our lives. It is the ability to ask the right question: What does this mean? Where is God leading us? Is God telling us something? Is this a new thing that God is directing us towards?

There is another question that is asked on this Pentecost Sunday that is not in the text that was written. It is the question raised by the people at the end of the sermon by Peter after he has accused them of crucifying Jesus Christ. The question was: What should we do? Peter replied, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (2:38) [The 5 Finger Exercise: believe, repent, baptism, forgiveness of sins, Holy Spirit] And 3,000 people responded and were baptized. The call was to change, to repent, to turn around and go a different direction. Peter was speaking to Jews, to believers! To children of Abraham, not to unbelieving foreigners!

If someone who is here has never made their Confession of Faith and been baptized, Peter made it quite clear that this is the beginning step of faith. That invitation to make that commitment is open every Sunday and we are ready to receive you. Yet, Peter’s message also speaks to those of us who have been believers for a while: that we, too, need to repent some times. We need to rethink our faith because we may be stuck believing something that Jesus is trying to change. We may have an interpretation that God wants to transform. We may be trying to lay on Jesus something that the Holy Spirit is trying to overcome. For the Jews, the message of Jesus Christ the early church proclaimed undercut the belief system they had lived with for centuries. And it was through the Holy Spirit that their eyes were opened to new understanding.

God is doing something new! The message of Pentecost is not held captive to an event 20 centuries ago, but is alive today as the Holy Spirit moves among the faithful. "What must I do?" is a valid question for every age. It may mean repenting – changing our thinking and acting; it may mean reclaiming a sense of the Holy Spirit as we open ourselves to the movement of God. It may mean that we are to get out of the easy chair and get to work.

Pentecost is about a new direction in how God is working and acting in the world. Pentecost is about being open to hear and respond to that call. Pentecost is about a birth, a new beginning. "What does this mean?" and "What should I do?" are valid questions to ask. What do you need to ask today?

Are we open to the leading of the Spirit? Is God seeking to do a new thing today? Are we helping or hindering? Do you sense the Spirit of God at work in your life?