When her husband arrived home and walked through the door, she threw her arms around him and gave him a tight embrace. He responded with a half-hearted hug and walked on through the room. He did a U-turn came back into the kitchen and began loosening his tie. He asked where the children were and when dinner would be ready. She detected a mild irritation in his voice, but pretended not to notice. She said the children were in their rooms working on homework, their daughter had a major science project due the next day and dinner would be ready in about fifteen minutes. He looked ready to respond, but instead wheeled around and went upstairs without saying a word. At dinner his silence continued. He ate everything on his plate and only looked up a couple of times when he made curt comments. After dinner he buried himself in the paper and watched some television. His wife tried to draw him out a couple of times, but finally gave up. He went to bed and was already asleep by the time she reached the bedroom.
The next morning after rolling out of bed, the first words out of his mouth were, "I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what got into me."
That is an interesting little phrase that many of us use at times. "I don't know what got into me." Often we use the phrase to mean, I wasn't feeling right on the inside. Something was bothering me. Most likely an event during the day triggered something within us and stirred some negative feelings. Maybe someone said or did something that made us feel hurt or angry or jealous or sad. And the negative feelings we experienced affected our whole mood and the way we dealt with others. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what got into me."
But we use this phrase not only in negative ways. Sometimes it indicates a burst of inspiration or enthusiasm. For instance, a woman gets up on Saturday morning and makes out her list of things to do for the day. She cleans up the bedroom, starts the laundry, washes dishes, runs the cat to the Vet, drops by the bank, does some work out in the yard, and by the end of the day has drawn a line through every item on her list. Her husband looks at her in amazement and says, "Wow! What go into you?"
Or our child has a homework assignment and does an exceptionally good job with it. And when we read it, we are in awe and we look at them and say. "I am so proud of you. What got into you?"
Sometimes something stirs us inside and inspires us to act in an especially beautiful or creative or energetic way. And those around us wonder what's gotten into us.
This morning's passage from the Acts of the Apostles tells of such an event. The twelve disciples, along with many other followers of Jesus, have gathered together in a house in the city of Jerusalem. It is a mere seven weeks after the death of Jesus, and is the time when Jews are celebrating the festival of Pentecost. This is a major Jewish festival, and so Jews from all over the known world have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the occasion. But while they are there to celebrate their own Holy day, it's what happens to the followers of Jesus that grabs their attention. Something gets into them and people take notice.
Our text says, "there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit."
We do a great disservice to the rich language of this text if we think in strictly literal terms. The writers of the Scriptures often employ rich symbolic language to communicate their message. This text from Acts includes two powerful images taken from the Old Testament which communicate that the God of Jesus Christ is the same God who was known in the mighty acts of Israel. The author of Acts tells us that when God's Spirit touched the followers of Jesus on Pentecost, it was like wind and it was like fire.
The first followers of Jesus were all Jewish, and so they would have been acquainted with the symbols used for God in the Old Testament. Wind was one of those symbols. In the ancient world, "Wind was a mysterious reality; its origin could not be determined, particularly in a prescientific age...Yet no one would deny its reality and presence. It was, thus, a very useful image for the mysterious reality and presence of God."(1)
Jews knew the creation story and how it spoke of the wind of God sweeping over the waters, and how the wind of God was breathed into Adam giving him life. Wind was one of the symbols used to indicate the presence of God.
Fire was another one of these images. Remember how God appeared to Moses in a burning bush? And a pillar of fire led the Israelites through the wilderness to the promised land. And so the author of Acts no doubt borrowed these symbols in order to make it clear that what had gotten into these followers of Jesus - that Spirit - was the Spirit of the same God who was known in the creation of the world and the events of the Hebrew people.
Back in my football playing days - now a pretty long time ago - I played middle linebacker. For those who do not know much about football, that's on the defensive team. It is the job of the defense to stop the forward progress of the other team. Now if we were not being successful - if the other team was moving the ball down the field on us - our coach would call all of the players from the defense together, and he would talk or yell or scream or do whatever he could to light a fire in us. He wanted us to get excited and enthusiastic and to put all of our effort into playing the best we could.
Pentecost is the day we celebrate God's Spirit lighting a fire in the followers of Christ. That was the occasion when the first Christians were motivated to begin their mission of spreading the gospel message. On Pentecost, the followers of Christ became bold witnesses in both word and deed of God's love for the entire world. From that day forward, the message of Christ spread, and churches began to be established in every nation.
But we make a terrible mistake, if we believe that Pentecost was just a one time event. Pentecost is an ongoing event which occurs each time a person or a congregation is receptive to God's Spirit in their lives and respond with energy and enthusiasm.
Now before we get too excited, Presbyterians generally say, "Whoa, let's not get carried away here. Let's all remain reasonable and logical and let's do everything decently and in order."
I think that is generally a good idea. I don't think it's smart for people to jump into a project without thinking through the implications and the costs. But along with the proper planning, we also need enthusiasm. We need people to become more passionate about their religious faith.
What do I mean by that? I do not mean that we should become narrow-minded religious zealots. I do not mean we should become arrogant or intolerant or unreasonable. Our mission is not to tell people that we have all the answers or that we are somehow superior to them.
When I say we need to become more passionate about our faith, I mean we need to become more enthusiastic about the good news we have to share with others. When we celebrate Pentecost, we remember that God's Spirit is unleashed in the world and seeks to flow through our lives. That's why the passage in Acts tells us that there are tongues of fire over each person. Each of us is to become a vessel in which God's Spirit resides. And each of us is called to be a person through whom God can be experienced. Have you ever given that much thought? The ways that someone can experience God through you?
We are living in a unique time. There is a growing hunger among many people in our society for a more spiritual existence. There was a time when people thought that if we just increased our knowledge about the world, and we made enough advancements in science and technology, we would satisfy the deep hungers of the human soul. But people have come to realize that's not going to do it. There's still something missing.
Many people are uncertain about the purpose of their lives. They get up every morning and go to work and do their jobs and take care of their children and go to the movies, and life is alright. But it lacks a deep purpose. Many people want a fire lit inside of them. They want to be passionate about something that really matters.
Other people have become very cynical about life. They are down on everything, and are critical of every comment. They see the down side of every situation. The problem is that they have lost a sense of hope. They have no hope for a better life in this world, and they have no hope for a life beyond this world. They don't know about the power of God to transform lives.
There are other people who are lonely. They may have friends to party with, but they don't have friends they can count on when life gets tough. They need friends who will care about them if they lose their health or their job or their loved one.
There are a lot of people out there who are searching, and we can help them by letting God's Spirit flow through our lives. We can help people understand that God loves them and wants the best for them. We can show them how God brings purpose to our lives when we strive for justice or care for those with needs. We can tell them about the internal peace we feel when we live lives that are kind and generous and forgiving. We can tell them about the strength God gives us when times are difficult and the hope God gives us when we are in despair.
Let the wind of God blow excitement through you and let the fire of God light a flame within you. You have very good news to share with others. Don't hold back.
NOTES
1. Darrell Guder, Be My Witnesses, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985), p.45
© 1999 Gregory Knox Jones, all rights reserved
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