"Tuned" - Acts 2 - Pentecost Sunday

A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor

Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA

Acts 2 - Pentecost - May 23, 2021

“Tuned” 

            Have you heard the story about the great feud between the pastor and the organist? The two just couldn’t get along. The story goes like this:

            The pastor preached a sermon on “dedicating yourselves to service.” On that day, the organist wanted to annoy the pastor. The choir sang the old classic gospel tune, “I Shall Not be Moved.”

            The pastor wanted to think it was just a coincidence. But the next Sunday, this turmoil between the pastor and the organist only seemed to grow. The sermon that day was about “Giving.” Afterward, the choir squirmed a bit as the organist led the choir in the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All.”

            By this time, the pastor was realizing he had a problem. Sunday morning worship attendance began to grow as people waited and anticipated what would happen next between the pastor and organist. The pastor preached a sermon against “Gossiping.” Would you believe it? The organist selected the favorite and familiar piece, “I Love to Tell the Story.”

            Things were going from bad to worse between these two. The following Sunday, the Pastor told the congregation that, unless something changed, he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the choir sang the old revivalist number entitled, “Why Not Tonight?”

            Truthfully, no one was surprised the following week when the pastor resigned, explaining that Jesus had called him there, and Jesus was leading him away. The organist could not resist. He led the choir in “What a Friend We Have in Jesus!” (shared by my preacher friend, Tommy McDearis)

            Isn’t it great to laugh together! 

            It is a great joy to work on such a talented and cohesive church staff. We all support each other and work well together, and we trust that our new organist, Grant Hellmers, who starts June 1, will be part of this good team.

            Today is Pentecost. It is a wonderful day to re-convene in our historic, sacred sanctuary, following a long hiatus from the pandemic. Pentecost marks, as you know, the Birthday of the Church. Pentecost marks the memorable moment when God’s Spirit appeared with power and a vivid experience, to enthuse, to inspire God’s people in faith and life, in worship and service.

            Listen to the story of Pentecost from Acts 2:

            When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.7Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14But 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. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, 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. 18Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

            This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

            Theologian and scholar, Willie James Jennings says that the Book of Acts is about nothing less than a revolution - the revolution of God’s Spirit unleashed on God’s people so they can carry on the powerful and all-important work of Jesus in the world. And that Spirit intends - indeed - to turn the world upside down - into God’s world of justice and joy, redemption and delight, peace and love.

            You might recall how the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible opens. It says, “the wind from God,” the Spirit “hovered” over the formless void and darkness, “swept over the waters.” Then God spoke and . . . . creation came into being. From nothing - then beautiful, amazing creation! 

            It was God’s Spirit at work.

            Then in Acts, following the death and ascension of Jesus, which also created an immense void, the Spirit comes again - hovering, sweeping in with power and purpose. We have a depiction of that Spirit at work in these banners. God’s Spirit inspires, moves among us, claims us, empowers us, sends us. These flames of the Spirit, the wind and movement of the Spirit, intend to direct us in new ways - the ways of God - all our days. (see W.J. Jennings, Acts, pp. 27-30)

            All through the Bible, wind and fire are familiar images of how God appears, how God works. Wind and fire, and now in this passage - language - are effective images of how God gets our attention. This is God touching the frightened and perplexed disciples, taking hold of tongue and voice, mind and heart, body and spirit. God has come to them. God has come on them. God has come to be with them. This moment wants to show us that actually all of life is meant to be about God’s Spirit and God’s important redemption work in the world.

            The word for today - a word that speaks to my own heart in these days, on this day of Pentecost - is the word “TUNED.” Are we TUNED to God’s Spirit?

            The vivid images of Pentecost - wind, tongues of fire, languages being understood clearly - all remind us that our lives are to be TUNED to God’s presence and Spirit.

            There are so many signs of being out of tune - like the pastor and the organist. When we are out of tune with God’s Spirit - we spend lots of energy on silly or fruitless things. When we are out of tune with God’s Spirit, we tend to function in the world in ways that run counter to God’s plans and purposes. 

            The story of Pentecost - the coming of God’s Spirit in wind, fire, and language - tuned the disciples to the ways and work of God in the world. They were just ordinary people trying to figure out life, but Pentecost TUNED them - with the character of Jesus, the convictions of Jesus, even the powers of Jesus. 

            So, think about this word - TUNED - and the coming of the Spirit. When we are out of tune with God’s Spirit, we find ourselves lost and perplexed. We become more selfish, more fearful, more brittle - unable to adapt and adjust to the changes and challenges of life. When we are out of tune with God’s Spirit, we have a hard time seeing Christ in the faces of each other, have a hard time listening because we are so busy talking. When we are out of tune with God’s Spirit, we have a hard time empathizing with others because we are so focused on our own situations, trying to gain for ourselves; and we have a hard time sharing and serving one another. 

            We know about this when we are honest with our lives - we confess our waywardness - our “out of-tuned-ness” - each week in our prayer of confession. When we are out of tune, we are often angry, rude, insensitive. When we are out of tune, we are harsh and unforgiving, with ourselves and others. 

            Where do you think you are most out of tune with God’s Spirit? 

            I keep thinking about the cold, seemingly heartless gaze of Derek Chauvin, with his knee on the neck of George Floyd. It is easy to condemn Chauvin, and think we are not like that. But the coming of the Spirit - the revolution of the Spirit - wants us to look deep into our own hearts and realize we can be cold and heartless too. We may not have put a knee on someone’s neck, but we have been part of a society, that has long had a knee on the neck of others. We always have to be open to the Spirit, to tune our lives to God’s life, God’s love, God’s justice, God’s purposes and then work, apply our lives toward a more wholesome society.

            I keep thinking about our heritage in this church - so much of our heritage is about faith and commitment - serving God in this city. But we also have a heritage that has been full of oppression, and inequity, and we have missed opportunities through the decades for God’s justice and joy for all people. The Spirit of God expects that we are always seeking to TUNE our lives more in line with God’s revolutionary ways of light and justice for all. So we keep working on this!

            I keep thinking about the hard lines that politicians seem to draw, or the divisions that border walls create, or the number of people in our prison system, or how the church has excluded or alienated many people, or the degradation of the planet. To be TUNED to God’s Spirit means to take seriously all these important issues that confront us in these days. We have to know in new and fresh ways that the Spirit of God is coming to us, coming over us, to call us to different lives, different paths that absolutely promote healing and hope for all people, for the earth, for the reign of God. 

            Here is how one theologian puts it: If Christianity is simply about being nice, I’m not interested. What happened to radical Christianity that turned the world upside-down? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear - (like in the book of Acts) - who spoke the truth . . , who made the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever Jesus went? (see R. F. Capon, in Journal for Preachers, Pentecost 2021, article by Mark Ramsey, p. 18)

            Friends, the coming of the Spirit is so much more than a nice story depicted in these banners. The coming of the Spirit is about TUNING our life - tuning the world - toward the ways of God! The coming of the Spirit intends to revolutionize our lives - more love, more grace, more kindness, more attention to justice, more vitality in the redeeming ways of God! 

            May it be so. Amen 

Prayer of Commitment: Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us. And move us to new and deeper ways of living and loving as Christ’s disciples. AMEN

Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on Pentecost, May 23, 2021. This is a rough manuscript.