Preaching Paths 28 May 2023

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

The text this Pentecost Sunday from ch 2 of The Acts of the Apostles falls into three sections. First, we witness the inrush of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ followers, gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem on the Jewish feast called Pentecost. Second, we hear varied reactions among the crowd to the Spirit-filled disciples’ miraculous ability to proclaim “God’s mighty acts” in many languages. Third, Peter stands to interpret this multi-lingual proclamation to the onlookers:  this is the fulfillment of Joel’s ancient prophecy.

Working from the perspective of the disciples who have waited, watched, and prayed in Jerusalem since Jesus’ departure, one could explore with a congregation what it means today to witness in word and deed to the ongoing, redemptive work of God. First, the Church’s mission has been boundary-crossing from its inception. Second, the effectiveness of the Church’s mission can never be guaranteed by savvy programming or clever marketing strategies. Effective Christian witness is a Spirit-driven, divinely empowered event.

We might also approach a sermon from the perspective of the crowd. The outpouring of the Spirit does not result in mass conversion complete with tearful confessions and hugs all around. Some dismiss this inbreaking of the power of the Spirit as drunken foolishness. We are put on notice that faithful witness does not guarantee success in the way that our consumer-minded societies count success. God’s redemptive message divides the house.

 Finally, Peter’s message to the crowd reminds us that the God we meet in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is a maker and keeper of promises whose arc stretches over centuries. To bear witness to the redemptive mission of God in the world is not about signing up individual souls for heaven. Rather, the Church bears witness in word and deed to God’s ongoing redemptive engagement with the human condition across millennia. The same Spirit that once brooded over the primeval waters creates anew at Pentecost, blowing open the doors of our sanctuaries and sending us into the streets with unprecedented news of God’s death-defying acts in Jesus Christ. We do not wait for the world to come to us; we move into the world where death still stakes its feeble claims.