There are several special days in the life of the Christian church—special days in the cycle of the Christian year. This is one of them. This is Pentecost. Pentecost comes 50 days after Easter. It’s early this year because Easter was early. 

Pentecost is based on that strange story in the Book of Acts. I think you would agree it is an unusual description. We don’t know exactly what happened. All we know is that something transformational happened. Pentecost infused a small group of men and women with tremendous courage and power. 

Jesus had said to the confused group, “You will receive power.” Then it happened. There was a rush of wind, and tongues of fire. We mark this day with a few symbolic reminders. Many of you are wearing red as the symbol of Pentecost. The cross and the flame of the United Methodist Church is a symbol of Pentecost. Banners in the sanctuary and red hangings all around the sanctuary are further symbols. But the marking of this day means much more than simply lots of red. 

Pentecost is the day the church began. It is the birthday of the church. In many Sunday school classes they may be sharing a cake and singing “Happy Birthday” this morning. It’s an appropriate thing to do. 

Some evidence exists of explosive growth in the church as a result of Pentecost. Luke says in a couple of places, “Three thousand souls were added on a particular day.” In another place the number is five thousand. Later in Acts, Paul refers to “thousands of new believers.” House churches sprang up in all parts of the known world. Spiritual gifts were recognized and identified. Leadership took shape. People talked about what to believe and how to be a disciple. Pentecost marks the date of the church’s beginning. The church is created by God to continue the mission of Jesus. 

So the question becomes, what does Pentecost mean today? What does Pentecost mean for us? What does God expect of the church today? Does God expect astounding growth? Are we to establish a large number of house churches? 

We know one thing: it was not easy to be the church in the first century. The people then lived in the midst of a pagan culture—one which was very enticing at times. They also knew persistent pressure and severe punishment for those who did not honor the Emperor. 

Being the church is not easy today either. The lures of the world, the lures of the good life, the lures of leisure persist. Many people feel a sense of entitlement to that good life. They want to get a good piece of the pie while the pie is still warm. A friend recently reminded me that not a single task in the ministry of the church has become easier in the last 25 years. Moral guidance is complex, media overstimulation makes preaching harder, leisure competes with the rhythm of worship and growth groups, scarce resources have to be spread out over multiple options.  

I need to say in all of this that I would not trade my life in the church for anything. But it is a tough time. I don’t think it’s an evil time, but it is a tough time. 

In addition, Marcus Borg has reminded me of some surprising statistics. He says that in America today there are as many Muslims as there are Presbyterians and Episcopalians combined. There are more Buddhists in America than both of these denominations. And there are about 1 million Hindus. None of this was true when I was growing up. Christianity is simply not as dominant as it was even 25 years ago. America has become a religiously diverse nation. 

So the task of being the Christian church continues to be a difficult one and a complex one. What does God expect of the church in the 21^st century? What do Jesus’ words mean, “You shall receive power…?”

There’s an old story about Jesus returning to heaven after his ministry on earth. He was sitting around with a group of angels, and they asked him what happened. He told them the story. The angels asked, “How will the message of God’s great love get out?” Jesus replied, “I left that in the hands of a small group of disciples.” Replied the angels, “Well, what if that doesn’t work? What’s the alternate plan?” And Jesus said, “I have no alternate plan. I have no other options.” 

What does God expect of the church? I am convinced that God has given the mission to us. In the language of the day, “God has given us the store.” 

Some companies in the United States sell portions of ownership to the workers. There are about 7000 companies where the employees have some ownership. There are about 1000 companies where workers own the majority share. And there are about 200 companies where the workers exercise total control—where the owners have given them the store! I still remember flying TWA airlines a few years ago before the merger. Every time the plane came into a new airport, the flight steward always said, “Thank you for flying our airline.” 

God has given us the store. God has given the mission to the church. So what’s expected of us? 

GET THE STORY OUT 

First, we need to get the story out. We have a story to tell. As the hymn writer puts it, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations that will turn their hearts to the right.” (UMH no. 569) God has reached into human history, offering love and forgiveness and hope. God has shown a dramatically new way to live on this earth. 

We share the message, “You are loved. You are worthwhile. You can live with hope.” 

I read a book a few years ago which reminded me that our job as Christians is not to save people. Our job is not to get people into heaven, or keep them out of hell. Our job is simply to announce, to tell the story of love and forgiveness and hope. 

That’s one of the reasons why I like the way our United Methodist Igniting Ministries presents those 30-second videos, three different seasons throughout the year. The message of the little video on television is simply, “Here’s what God is doing.” And then the tag line comes: “The people of the United Methodist Church…open minds, open hearts, open doors.” 

Our job is to tell the story creatively, winsomely, contagiously. 

TO DO IT WITH SOME FIRE 

And I’m convinced we have to do it with some fire. I’m not exactly sure what happened at Pentecost. But I am sure it produced a sudden burst of high energy. The story provides us with some wonderful metaphors. One of them is fire. A group of men and women were set on fire for God. 

Somewhere in the Midwest there was a Methodist church that caught fire one night. People gathered as firemen came from several different areas to battle the blaze. The pastor saw a man nearby who was a member of the church but whom he had not seen in worship for a long time. The pastor said, as a friendly gesture, “I don’t remember seeing you this close to the church in a while.” The man turned to the pastor and smiled, then said, “I don’t remember our church ever being on fire before. 

In Houston, Texas sits the fastest growing and largest United Methodist church in the nation. It’s the Windsor Village United Methodist Church. It is a multi-campus church, meaning it has worshiping sites in several different locations. One of those sites is a restored strip mall, or shopping center. They own 104,000 square feet on 24 acres. In that former mall now sits a women, infant and children nutritional program, a pharmacy, an optical center, a bank, and other businesses. Those entities service over 15,000 households per month. There is also a huge worship space, and one of the largest banquet spaces in all of Houston. Space is designed to address the educational, economic, social, spiritual, cultural, medical and emotional needs of the community. I like what they call it. Its name is “The Power Center.” 

What you and I do for Jesus we need to do with some fire. Do we see this church as a power center? Or are we too often like a doxology I read somewhere:

            Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

            Praise God now for an hour or so.

            Praise God now while it is chic,

            Then we’ll all forget God until next week. 

No, we are a power center. We need some fire here. 

An English bishop visited a sleepy little parish along the river Thames. The village priest was discouraged and somewhat depressed. He wasn’t accomplishing very much. He said to the bishop, “Bishop, I can’t say that we’re setting the Thames on fire.” The bishop looked at him sternly in the eye and said, “Young man, I’m not the least bit concerned about setting the Thames on fire. What I want to know is, if I take you out and drop you in the river, will you sizzle?” 

Do you sizzle with the fire of Pentecost? Do we?  

We had a consultant here this past week to work with us for two days. She talked about the church as a “catalytic agent.” From what I remember about catalysts in high school and college chemistry, I think I like that description. You and I are meant to be filled with a catalytic fire. We need to get the story out with some passion.  

Maybe you’d even like to try a little Pentecost experiment this coming week. Would you pray for the wisdom and the strength in your soul to tell one person this week what God means in your life? And would you pray that God will give you some fire in the telling? 

BOTH WIND AND FIRE 

Actually, the story tells of both wind and fire. Wind is the second useful metaphor. There were tongues of fire, and there was a mighty wind. That is God’s dream for the church. 

Out in northern Iowa, where the Sioux Indians once hunted buffalo, stand the largest collection of wind turbines in the world. There are 143 turbines, each of them 20 stories high. It is the largest single wind farm project in the world. And it could become the world’s largest exporter of wind power. One writer says, “This is a very exciting time for wind energy.” 

“Like the rush of a mighty wind” is the story of Pentecost. This is a very exciting time for Spirit-led energy out of Christ United Methodist Church. We have tremendous capacity here. 

AN ONGOING POSSIBILITY 

The church is never an accomplished reality, but always an ongoing possibility. I believe God is counting on us. 

Many of you remember that I went on the Walk to Emmaus weekend a few weeks ago. At the end of the weekend, each of us was given a small cross to wear around our necks. What struck me was the message on the cross. It says, simply, “Christ is counting on you.” 

Jesus has no other plan. Jesus has no alternate plan. Pentecost is the definitive arrangement for getting the Good News out. 

What does God expect from the church? What does God expect from this church? We are a resourced catalytic power center for God’s good in this region. We can’t ignore that. We can’t forget that. It’s who we are.