“Filled to Overflowing!”

Scripture: Acts 2:1-41

The Jewish Pentecost was a holiday that was held 50 days after Passover – it was called the Feast of Weeks – a celebration of the first harvest and praise for what would be harvested later. This was a holy time for the children of Israel, and they came back to Jerusalem from distant places just to make their offerings, but the significance on this day would escalate to a point that no one could possibly have imagined. But the signs for this day had been evident for a long time.
Remember Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-29) and later that by John the Baptist - Luke3:16-18?

The time was right, and the prophetic words would now become reality. It had been 50 days since Jesus’ crucifixion, and the Lord was about to do a miraculous thing!

Read Acts 2:1-4

“Baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit”! I should say so! In Acts 1:7-8, Jesus tells his disciples that an amazing power is on the way and that they will be his witnesses throughout the earth. Not a bad beginning! And this power isn’t limited to what we see at Pentecost – it will include courage, boldness, and confidence to be a disciple, insight into God’s plan for their lives, the ability and desire to witness to God’s presence in the world, and the authority to speak the glorious words of hope and life that come from faithful obedience in Jesus Christ.

But that power would come initially in the form of wind, fire, and tongues. And why these? Remember when Elijah experienced a great wind and raging fire, as well as an earthquake? (1 Kings 19:9-13) These didn’t contain any message from God, other than to get the prophet’s attention! The true message would finally come in that “gentle whisper”. So why would Pentecost any different? It would seem that the rushing wind and the tongues of fire weren’t, in and of themselves, the message from God! They were simply used to get everyone’s attention! They were the Spirit’s entry into this place, and the message, as with Elijah, would be coming in a very short time!

Read Acts 2:5-13

And how did the people react to the heralding of the Holy Spirit? The responses that I see in this passage are "bewildered”, “amazed”, “perplexed”, and “confused” – they had never experienced anything like this before, and why should they? The Holy Spirit had existed since before time began, and his entry into the world had to be spectacular! Jesus had come in such a humble and gentle manner that the world paid little notice of him. But no one was going to miss the coming of the Spirit!
But what was it all about? What did it mean? Everyone wanted an explanation as to how this could happen - they wanted to understand. They wanted to hear words of advice, they wanted to know how this band of Galileans, generally known as being somewhat less than astute and never as being linguistically gifted, could speak in so many different languages, and perfectly at that! Of course, there were a few that, as far as they were concerned, already had the answer to it all – “they’re all drunk!” When you haven’t got a clue, make the other person appear even more clueless! But the truth of the day would win out over the taunts of the skeptics.

Alasatair Symington, a Scottish, Presbyterian pastor, writes:
God is not looking for the best qualifications, best ability, best charisma, best prospects type of people -- not that he would turn down these sorts automatically, because it's also true that some of the most gifted people in our society have also been some of God's best servants.
But that is a coincidence and not a requirement. I think that is because God knows that the vast majority of men and women fall into the “I am only” category. But “only” is enough, with God's help, and it would amaze you what God can make of them.
-- Alasatair Symington, in Conversation with Rikki Fulton, Only is Enough, For God's Sake, Ask! (Edinburgh: Saint Andrews Press, 1993), 46-51.

The people who had come together that morning and had received the Power of the Spirit, were these very people – they were “I am only’s”. There was nothing special about any of them – fishermen, tax collectors, husbands, fathers, and perhaps even a few wives and mothers. These were people just like you and me – ordinary men and women who had discovered the grace and glory of Jesus Christ. And on this day, not only weren’t they drunk, they had become the unexpected, but willing servants of Almighty God!

What does it take for us to be God’s willing servants? He is calling to you, you know. Maybe you aren’t getting the rushing wind, or the roaring fire, or the great earthquake that you would like to see, but you are receiving that “gentle whisper” from the Spirit. Do you hear it? Or is life so hectic and convoluted and painful that you keep missing it.
Most of us will never get the “big production” that says “I’m God. I’m here. Are you listening to me?” We won’t get a burning bush, or a Damascus Road experience, or have Jesus join us as we quickly leave town on our way to the village of Emmaus. But what each of us does need is some quiet time each day if we are to hear God’s whisper in our ear.
In 1964, Paul Simon wrote a song by the name of “Sound of Silence”. Do you remember the 5th verse?
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

And we will seldom get a neon sign to direct us to the message that is on the “Subway walls and tenement halls” either. But on Pentecost, God gave the people, not only a neon sign and a burning bush, but a glorious message for all time. Those 120 people who had gathered together on that morning in Jerusalem believed, truly believed, that God would come and would use them in a wonderful and miraculous way – they just didn’t know how or why or where or when. And on Pentecost, the Lord would use these ordinary, everyday people to deliver the most important message of all time.

Read Acts 2:14-41

This is the message for each and every one of us – “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Now each of us may think that we didn’t crucify Jesus – after all, we weren’t even alive then. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t responsible for the Lord’s agony. His execution wasn’t because he had broken a law, regardless of what the false witnesses said – Jesus accepted this fate so that he could destroy the hold that sin has on all of the people of earth for all time and in all places. And that, my friends, makes us just as guilty of Christ’s death as the one who drove the nails into his battered body and hoisted him up for all to see.

What are we going to do about that? Are we going to leave him on the cross? Or in the tomb? Or let him fade from memory? Those 3,000 new disciples didn’t – they became the Church, the Body of Christ, and they carried his message of new life far beyond the limits of Jerusalem. They took that message back to their home lands, and shared it with their family and neighbors and friends, and “everyone was filled with awe” (v. 43).

What are we going to do about that? It’s about time that the church of 2012 began to live like Easter people, like Pentecost people, like true disciples of the Living Christ! Yes, I know there are pockets of witnesses who are ready at every moment of every day to share the message of Christ with the world. But there aren’t nearly enough! We’ve become complacent and comfortable in this life, and that is the worst enemy of the Church. We need some persecution to set us on fire again, and trust me, it is not only coming, but it is here.

The “persecuted” church is growing, and the “complacent” church is dying. The “faithful” church is loudly singing God’s praises wherever they go, and the “peaceful” church is barely humming, and then only on Sunday morning. The “awed” church is no longer speechless, and the “content” church has become mute.
Which pew do you sit in? Are you truly expectant that the Holy Spirit will fill you to overflowing just as he did on that first Pentecost? That you will always have words of grace to share with everyone you meet? That you, too, can truly say “The Jesus who we crucified is risen and living and wants to be Lord and Christ of our lives!”

Which pew do we really sit in, and do we need to change seats?