“FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD”
Pentecost, 2022
Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
Moses longed for this day: “Would that all the Lord’s People were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!” 400 years later, Joel predicted it: “In the last days, God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh; sons, daughters, old, young, gay, straight, slave, free, Black, Asian, Brown, White. Everyone.”
400 years after, Jesus comes along and says, “I will not leave you bereft. When I’m gone I will send my Spirit. The word shall go out from Jerusalem to all the world.” 50 days.
So I have a question for you to ponder.
How long has God been planning this party at Pentecost? Since Genesis 1? The Spirit hovers over the void or Genesis 2, when the Spirit breathes into humans? Genesis 3, as Eve and Adam are banished from the garden? At the tower of Babel, Genesis 11, when the hubris of humans is on full display? “Let’s make a name for ourselves!” not allow God to name us. A rumble, humanity against God.
A bird walk. In the last few weeks we have seen this kind of hubris on full display. Look at the Murders in Buffalo and Uvalde - angry young men want to gain attention, create a reputation, a moment of notoriety. I also see it in the report that has come out about the Southern Baptist Executive Committee and the protection of patriarchy. Their names, their reputations, their exercise of power, at the cost of the victims of sexual abuse & exploitation, the degradation of the ones who make the reports. As late as this past Thursday, Joe Knott, a member of the exec. Com. In a public meeting, said, quote “We are a voluntary association. We cannot start telling churches what to do to protect women or children. I guarantee you women and children are going to be victimized no matter how much - and that is going to make us targets of great class-action lawsuits. And we will be libel. This will be the end of the Southern Baptist Convention.” Unquote
Even though the Baptist Convention has thrown out churches that ordained women as pastors or spoke publicly about being LGBTQ supportive.
In the Name of Christ and all that is holy, this is the latest example of the Babel of blasphemy. For the Sake of the World.
God weaves together, generation after generation, this Spirit who brings life out of death, hope out of despair. This Spirit is impolite, disruptive, loud. Sound, wind, fire, languages, 15 mentioned! This last day is the culmination of the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Eternity has broken in, the image of God restored, poured out on all humanity. It is this permanent gift we carry with us every day of our lives. God’s Word is still creating and re-creating, redemption, forgiveness, shalom, wholeness. What the Law could not accomplish on its own. Jesus is raised from the dead! The church is His creation filled with His Beloveds.
Yet, we do have to stop and recognize the utter fallenness of our world. How many mass shootings, defined as 4 or more shot with at least 1 dead, have happened since Uvalde? We have political leaders who suggest that children being killed in school are the price of freedom. Pastors who say the Bible is silent about protecting the vulnerable. There are 393 million guns owned by U.S. citizens, both legal and illegal. There are 329 million people in this country.
This is our lament. How long O Lord will we suffer? How much more trauma will be laid on teachers and children in schools or people in grocery stores or places of worship or hair salons or massage centers or medical clinics? For the Sake of the World
With tears running down our faces, we gargle our throats to free the buried words of hope, mercy, compassion, forgiveness. Not just for those of us inside these walls, but for all those outside, dying, really, dying for a gospel word. Pentecost speaks in the languages of the people, the good news of Jesus Christ, His salvation, His redemption, His glory. We are now bound in the Holy family of the Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - differentiated in person, united in love. Surrounded, we are!!!
It is Peter, the redeemed denier, who speaks our truth. The old age is gone, the new age has begun. It is not complete, yet, but we are called to hold hope, and we are called to hold each other. For the Sake of the World. Amen