A Purpose-Filled Pentecost

Acts 2: 1 – 12

 

(preached on June 9, 2019)

 

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the day that marks the beginning of the church, in wind and fire.  We celebrate the breath of fresh air that inspired Peter and the other disciples, the powerful wind that enabled them to share the gospel with people from faraway lands.   We celebrate the passion and compassion that empowered them, and millions of others, to spread good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ.

 

Pentecost is a good day to remember the sense of purpose that guided the disciples as they became apostles and traveled the world.  It is a good day to recommit to the purpose of the church, which is to share with people near and far the love of God in Jesus.

 

We who have gathered here today have found a sense of purpose as we participate in God’s work through the work of our church.  It may seem strange that, in the early days of the twenty-first century, many people lack a sense of purpose.  Many are longing for a sense of purpose.  I think that longing for a sense of purpose is behind some of the tragic acts of terror that are happening today.

 

Take, for example, a man named Faisal Shahzad, who is now serving a life sentence for an attempted attack in Times Square in New York City some years ago.  For many years before the attempted attack, Shahzad had led the life of a typical American.  He had bought a house and had a job working for a well-known cosmetics company.

 

After the attacks of September 11, he began to feel an attraction to a radical form of Islam.  This radical form of Islam has little in common with Islam as it is practiced around the world by millions of devout, nonviolent believers.  It is a twisted, violent form of faith that appeals to a person’s sense of outrage.  And Shahzad was outraged.  He saw the American response to the September 11 attacks as mistreatment of his fellow Muslims.  He grew more and more angry at the United States, and Western democracies in general.  His anger grew to the point where he decided to drive a car packed with explosives into Times Square and park it there.  Fortunately, his attempt was thwarted by two street vendors, who noticed smoke coming from the car and called the police.

 

When Shahzad’s attack on Times Square occurred, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  I couldn’t stop thinking about this young man who had had so many advantages: a prosperous family, education at a good university, a chance to fulfill the American dream of peace and prosperity.  He had, by all accounts, not cared much about religion.  But in a short time, he converted to a twisted, violent form of religion. And he made this change in the midst of a life that looked, from the outside, like an ordinary American life.

 

It troubles me greatly that someone could be converted like that.  Because I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, I try to treat all people with compassion.  So I’m slow to condemn Shahzad.  I’m more inclined to pray for him, as Jesus urges us to pray for those who persecute us.  And I’m more inclined to ask, what would lead him in such a destructive direction?  What would make him embrace a set of beliefs so bent on violence?  Of course, there are probably many reasons for his decision, but I wonder if Shahzad was drawn to that extreme form of religion because it gives a sense of purpose.  The purpose is abhorrent, but it is a purpose.  I wonder if he, and others like him, are drawn to extremism because they’re longing for a sense of purpose.

 

Religious faith, at its best, offers a sense of purpose.  We who are gathered here today have found purpose in our faith.  We’ve found support for loving relationships at home, and strength to tackle tough problems in our community.  We gather here every Sunday for a purpose: to be renewed in our faith, to be reminded of God’s love for us and all the world, and to be refreshed for the tasks we face in the week ahead.

 

But think, for a minute, what life would be like if you didn’t have a faith like that.  What would life be like if you didn’t have the spiritual support you’ve found here?  What would life be like if the only place you could turn for support was the spiritual wasteland that is the United States in the twenty-first century?

 

I’m not exaggerating here – we are living in a spiritual wasteland.  For many, it’s a spiritually dry, barren place, with no sense of purpose.  What passes for a sense of purpose is a quest for more and better consumer goods.  What passes for a sense of purpose is a quest for a TV with higher definition, or seeing how many “likes” your post can get on Facebook.

 

High definition TVs and social media can be fun.  In some ways they make our lives better.  But they are no substitute for faith.  The relationships we might form through social media can be enjoyable, but they’re no substitute for authentic person to person relationships.  And the sad reality of our time is that many people are longing for authentic, person to person relationships.  Many people have little support in this spiritual wasteland.  Many are adrift, wondering if their lives have any real purpose.  As awful as it sounds, when you find yourself in a wasteland, longing for purpose, an extreme faith that gives you a sense of purpose can be compelling.  Even if the purpose is hatred and destruction, the sense of purpose can be compelling.

 

The world in which the book of Acts was written, the world of first century Palestine, was also a spiritual wasteland for many.  The part of the world where Jesus and the disciples lived was under the domination of Rome.  Before they met Jesus, Peter and the other disciples may also have been adrift.  They followed him and found in him a sense of purpose.  Now, as our passage in Acts opens, he has ascended into heaven, returning to God, and they have gathered on the day of Pentecost.  All of a sudden, the Holy Spirit billows in.  A mighty wind spreads like wildfire through their ranks.  Their hearts are set ablaze with the gospel:  the good news of the loving ways of Jesus Christ.

 

Suddenly, they’re able to speak in many different languages.  Jews, who have traveled to Jerusalem from faraway places like Cappadocia and Pamphylia, can understand them.  As Jesus had promised, the Spirit had come, to give them power to spread the gospel to the farthest corners of the earth.

 

Now Peter and the others will be able to share with all people the sense of purpose they have found in Jesus.  They have found something to believe in, something that sets their hearts on fire.  Because of the disciples, millions found in Jesus a faith that is life-giving and full of purpose.  They found a God who seeks the lost, a God who, even when ninety nine are safe and sound, goes after the one who is missing.  They found a God who welcomes home a wayward son who had squandered his inheritance.  They found a God who feeds the hungry and makes the wounded whole again.  They, and thousands of others, became the church, filled with the purposes of a loving God.

 

On Pentecost, we celebrate the beginning of the church in wind and fire.  We celebrate the breath of fresh air that inspired Peter and the others, and enabled them to spread the good news to people from distant lands.   We celebrate the passion and compassion that empowered them and millions of others, to share with the world God’s love in Jesus.

 

Today, many find themselves in a spiritual wasteland.  In spite of all today’s comforts and conveniences: our iPads and smart speakers, many are in a spiritual wasteland.  Many are longing for the sense of purpose that can be found in our faith.  Like the disciples, we can share that faith, but we have to stay focused on our purpose.  We have to remember that, when all is said and done, our purpose is to share God’s love in Jesus Christ.  That’s our purpose, and we can’t lose sight of it.

 

Pastor Brett Blair writes about what can happen when an organization loses sight of its purpose.  Here are a couple of his examples from history.  First, in the late 1800s, a lot of businesses were booming.  But no business could match the railroad for financial and political dominance.  In this country, trains dominated the transportation industry.  Trains moved people and goods all over the country.

 

Then a new invention came along – the automobile.  The leaders of the railroad industry were in a unique position to participate in this new development in transportation technology.  But they failed to take advantage of it.  The automotive revolution was happening all around them, but even though they dominated the industry, they didn’t take hold of this new opportunity.

In a video entitled The Search for Excellence, Tom Peters points out the reason: the railroad barons did not understand what business they were in.  Peters says, “They thought they were in the train business.  But in fact they were in the transportation business.  Time passed them by, [so] did opportunity.  They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.”

 

If the railroad barons at the turn of the twentieth century had understood that they were in the transportation business, and not the train business, we would all be driving a Gould and not a Ford.

 

Something similar happened in the watch and clock industry.  The Swiss had dominated time keeping for a long time.  They controlled 90% of all money made in the industry.  They made the most precise gears and springs in the world.  Their watches and clocks were perfect.  Then something new happened: something called Quartz movement.  Guess who invented it: a Swiss man.

 

But because Quartz movement had no gears or springs, it was rejected.  The watchmakers of Switzerland failed to recognize that they were not in the business of making precision gears.  They were in the business of helping people tell time.  They lost their dominance in the time-telling industry.

 

And, my friends, if we here at First Congregational Church of Millbury lose sight of our purpose, we will go the way of trains and clocks and watches.  Or worse, if we forget that our purpose is to bring people to Jesus Christ, we will risk becoming obsolete.  If we lose that sense of purpose and focus instead on tradition, ritual, and routine – if we do things the way we’ve always done them – we will fail to provide support in this spiritual wasteland.

 

Thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus, is among us to guide us, inspire us, and lead us to share our faith in new ways.  Like the disciples, we find a sense of purpose: to bring to the world the good news of the loving ways of Jesus Christ.  May we be open to the Spirit’s leading, may our hearts be set on fire, and may we never lose sight of our purpose.

 

 

 

Rev. Elva Merry Pawle

Pentecost Sunday