A church going family took a little girl who was visiting with them to church one Sunday. This girl had never been to church in her life but seemed to enjoy the experience. When they returned home and were eating lunch, they asked the girl what she thought about the experience. She said she liked it, but she was confused about one thing. She asked why the Whole West Coast wasn't included. Nobody in the family knew what she was talking about. So, she explained, "The man in the front kept talking about the Father, Son and Whole-East-Coast." (1)
God didn't leave out the West Coast, God included everyone in the celebration of this day. Today we've gathered to worship and to celebrate Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday is the third most important Sunday of the Christian year. On Christmas we celebrated the birth of Christ and the entrance of the divine into the midst of humanity. On Easter we celebrate the sacrifice of the Son of God for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead which promises us eternal life.
And on Pentecost we celebrate the birthday of the church. It's the day the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of Christ, entered into the life of every believer. Before this day, God's Holy Spirit was only present to God's chosen. But from Pentecost on, the very Spirit of God is with and empowering all who believe, all who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives.
Pentecost is the day the Earth was filled with the Wind and Fire of heaven, thus the title. Let's look at the passage that describes that first Pentecost.
Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV)
[1] When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
[2] 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.
[3] Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
[4] All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
[5] Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
[6] And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
[7] Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
[8] And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
[9] Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
[10] Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
[11] Cretans and Arabs, in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
[12] All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
[13] But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
[14] But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
[15] Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
[16] No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
[17] 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
[18] Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
[19] And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
[20] The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
[21] Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Today we celebrate the outpouring of God's Spirit upon all flesh and the birth of God's Church. Today I want us to look at that event and what it means for us through EARTH, WIND AND FIRE.
I. Earth; Us
A. Obviously the EARTH in the EARTH, WIND AND FIRE which I'm talking about is US.
Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth."
If you remember, salt was a precious commodity and had three purposes in ancient times. It was a preservative, a restorative and a spice.
As a preservative, salt was used to preserve meat and fish. It's still used that way today. Most of the cured pork we eat today has salt in it as a curative and preservative. It may not be as much as in times past but it is still used to help preserve the meat for a later use.
As a restorative, salt was used for medicinal purposes. It was used to clean out a wound which had become infected. We still use it that way today occasionally. My doctor still prescribes gargling with salt water when I have a sore throat.
And then salt was simply a spice to enhance or draw out the flavor of food. Can you imagine popcorn without salt?
We're called to be the salt of the earth. We're called to be the Preservative, Restorative and spice in the world. We're called to Preserve our relationship with God. We're called to be instruments of Christ's healing in the world. And we're called to be the spice of the world, those folks who add extra flavor and enhance the flavor of life in the world.
If you remember, Salsa and Hot Sauce is now the number one condiment in the world. So maybe a more appropriate modern interpretation of that might be that we are "the Cholula" of the world.
B. Now some folks have always thought that this was a Mission Impossible. That there is no way that we can reach out to the whole world. Or that we can influence even one other person.
On our own, that's true. On our own, we have no power to carry out this Mission. On our own, we don't even have the WILL or inclination to carry out this Mission. On our own, we can't do anything.
But the Good News is that we're NOT on our own. Pentecost proved that. Pentecost moved us from being on our own. Pentecost filled us with the very power of God to carry out God's mission as initiated by God's own Son, Jesus. WE AS THE EARTH ARE FILLED WITH THE WIND AND FIRE OF GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT AND EMPOWERED TO CARRY OUT GOD'S MISSION IN THE WORLD.
II. Wind; Holy Spirit
A. How do you explain the Holy Spirit? That's more of a Mission Impossible than being the Salt or Cholula of the Earth.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE BREATH AND WIND OF GOD.
Scripture describes the Holy Spirit as Wind and Fire. Both here in Acts and in other places as well. From the very beginning, the Spirit of God has been described as a wind. In Genesis 1:1-2 (NRSV) we read: [1-2] "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters."
Let me see if this helps. I have three balloons here. They are all balloons. But there is a slight difference between all of them. This one isn't inflated. It's no less of a balloon than these other two is it? But it's more of a balloon with potential. Or a balloon that hasn't reached its full potential yet isn't it? I would compare this to the rest of creation. The rest of creation doesn't have what we have and that's the image of God imprinted on our souls.
This balloon represents humanity. Scripture says that we are created in the image of God and that God breathed life into us. We know about the fall and how we turned our back on God and sought to do things our own way. But that didn't take away our heritage or the breath of God. This balloon represents life before Pentecost. We are filled with the breath of God, or what John Wesley called "Prevenient Grace." The presence of God's Holy Spirit in our lives before we are aware of God.
And this balloon, the one filled with helium, represents life after Pentecost. Not only are we filled with the breath of God, but we are filled with God's Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us, lifts us beyond the weight of the earthly things and makes life joyous and buoyant.
That's not the best description but it helps me understand.
B. Dr. J. Henry Jowett, the well-known English preacher was talking to an old salt about sailing a ship and he asked him, "will you explain to me the phenomenon of the wind?"
The seaman replied, "I don't know what you mean, Sir."
Jowett persisted, "well, how do you explain the wind which propels your great ship?"
The sailor came back, "I don't know anything about the wind, but I can hoist a sail."
That's the way it is for us. We may not be able to adequately explain the working of the Holy Spirit, but we can experience the Spirit's power our lives and ministry. (2)
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE BREATH AND WIND OF GOD.
III. Fire; Holy Spirit
A. Scripture also describes the Spirit as fire.
There are a number of other places in which Scripture describes God's Spirit as fire. (USE FLAMING BIBLE)
First there is way God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, that wasn't consumed. And then the Bible describes God leading the Israelites through the wilderness as a "cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night."
Symbolically, the Holy Spirit set our hearts on fire. Not with heart burn. We get enough of that from eating the wrong things.
No God sets our hearts on fire in a different way. Wesley described it as having his "heart strangely warmed."
(USE ZIP BAG AND SILKS) Acts says that God gathered all the disciples together in one place 50 days after the resurrection, 10 day after Jesus' ascension. They were still uncertain, still maybe even a little frightened even though their numbers had grown. But God took all of those fears. All of that anxiety and all of that uncertainty and put them in His heart so they wouldn't have to carry it any longer. And then God opened their hearts and poured out his Holy Spirit upon them and the Spirit rested on them like tongues of fire. And their hearts were "strangely warmed."
That warmth, gave them the power they needed to carry out the mission of God.
B. Monsters, Inc. is a movie about a monster world that is fueled by fear, literally. The company motto is "We scare because we care." Each day, Mike, Sully, and the other monsters line up on the shop floor as a machine carries dozens of closet doors to individual scaring stations. A scream collection canister rests beside each closet door, which is a portal to the room of a small child. If the monster does his job correctly, he will elicit a scream from the child that will be sucked into the scream canister and, voila, is converted to power.
Mike and Sully are the number-one scare team. Sully, an easygoing, large, blue, fluffy creature, is the primary scarer. Mike, his assistant, is an impatient green Cyclops, 90 percent eyeball and 10 percent arms and legs.
By the end of the movie, the scream-collection business isn't going very well and the company is scheduled to shut down. Mike and Sully lament the closing of the company as they depart Monsters, Inc. for what appears to be the last time.
Mike responds, "Yeah, but we had a lot of laughs."
We see an idea crossing Sully's face. "Laughs," he says thoughtfully.
In the next scene, the closet door of a child's room opens and an ominous shadow falls across the frightened child and his bed. The light comes and we see Mike, who pulls out a stool and begins a comedy routine. "Hey, it's great to be in your room! You're in kindergarten, right? Hey, I loved kindergarten. Best three years of my life!" The jokes are so bad that Mike has to resort to lowbrow burping humor, but the results are magnificent. The child begins to laugh hysterically, and on the other side of the closet door, a canister fills up with laugh power.
It turns out that laughter is ten times more powerful than fear. I personally think there is a ton of truth in that line. The Monsters of Monster's Inc. Discovered a new and more powerful energy source. And so did the disciples. So do we.
The heartwarming of the Holy Spirit is ten times more powerful than the fear of God's wrath. And that's one of the reasons God set their hearts on fire.
Where do you get your power?
Conclusion
I'll bet you've noticed this gift I've been carrying throughout the service, haven't you? I'll bet you've even wondered what's in it. I hope it hasn't distracted you too much. But it represents the gift of the Holy Spirit. But a gift isn't really a gift until you open it, is it? Until we open it, it's only a promise. Once we open the package we get to realize the promise and all of its potential. This morning, I invite you to open the gift of God's Holy Spirit. Let it fill you and, lift you and set your heart on fire for God.
You and I are called to be the salt of the earth, the Cholula of the earth. As the earth are filled with the wind and fire of God's Holy Spirit and empowered to carry out God's mission in the world.
1. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), August 2000
2. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), July 1984
3. Monsters, Inc. (Disney/Pixar Production, 2001), rated G, directed by David Silverman and Pete Docter, produced by Darla K. Anderson, written by Andrew Stanton; submitted by Dave Slagle, Lawrenceville, Georgia