Acts 2:1-18 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young shall see visions, and your old shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:1-18 05/23/2021 – Saginaw First U.M.C. “A Heart Strangely Warmed” Rev. Amy Terhune

Wednesday, May 24, 1738: It is late, nearly midnight, and a man is journaling, recording the events of his day. He writes, “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” [from https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal.vi.ii.xvi.html.] The author is an Anglican priest named John Wesley, who, despite more than a decade of service by that point, still wasn’t sure that God’s grace would cover him. But it seems that something happened to him that night deep within his being. He suddenly understood God’s grace, accepted it. Some kind of strange fire warmed his heart and the pieces of his calling began to fall into place. Not long after that, John Wesley retreated to Herrnhut, Germany, where he studied several months with the Moravians. When he returned to England, he had a vision. He bought a dilapidated old factory downtown London called The Foundry, and in that building, he and his growing band of followers offered morning and evening worship, bible studies and accountability groups called class meetings, reading courses for children, job training for women to learn to sew on machines, meals for the hungry, shelter for those who had nowhere to go, medical care and shock treatment for epileptics, and a command center from which he conducted ministry all over England. In his lifetime, John Wesley rode more than 250,000 miles on horseback (enough to circle the globe 10 times over), preached an average of 4 sermons a day, wrote the best-selling layman’s medical manual of the 18th century, and coined the phrase “let us agree to disagree”. Why am I telling you this? Because the 283rd anniversary of that heart strangely warmed is tomorrow. Because today is Pentecost, when wind and fire and Holy Spirit were poured out on Jesus’ disciples, strangely warming their hearts too, I think, and birthing the church that continues to this day. And because it still touches and moves people. Let me give you proof. Don Saliers is an ordained United Methodist Elder and was for many years the William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He’s now the theologian in residence and professor emeritus there. Unless you read theology, you probably haven’t heard of him. But very likely, you’ve heard of his daughter. Or at least, you’ve heard her sing. grew up learning about John Wesley’s strangely warmed heart. Today, she and her friend are the , and 35 years ago, they released the title song on their first . It was called “Strange Fire”. These are the words:

I come to you with strange fire. I make an offering of love. The incense of my soul is burned by the fire in my blood. I come with a softer answer to the questions that lie in your path. I want to harbor you from the anger; find a refuge from the wrath.

This is a message, a message of love; Love that moves from the inside out; Love that never grows tired. I come to you with my offering: I bring you strange fire. Strange fire burns with the motion of love.

Strange Fire is what we’re talking about today. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and although it flows out of the faithful in acts of worship and service down through the centuries, it is put inside us by God when we open ourselves to God’s presence, and that is why it never grows tired. This is a celebration of the birthday of the church, when God sent God’s Holy Spirit to us—the Spirit that unites, the Spirit that empowers, the Spirit that creates and recreates. But before we talk about what that means for us, let me briefly remind you that before it was a Christian thing, Pentecost was a Jewish thing, observed 50 days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law. You may remember that story from Exodus. Moses and the people are out in the wilderness wandering around. When they come to Mt. Sinai, Moses goes up and the people huddle at the bottom waiting for word of what’s next. Moses goes up and there’s lighting and wind and storms and fire and clouds—the same kind of stuff that seems to show up at Pentecost centuries later, just after Jesus is crucified and taken up into heaven, and the disciples are left below to wait for word of what’s next. Moses came down with ten commandments written in stone. But to the 120 or so disciples gathered in the upper room that day, the Holy Spirit comes down with something altogether different— something that gets written on the heart rather than the rocks. In a radical paradigm shift, we move from knowing commandments to knowing the Commander—the one who commanded the world to be and it was; the one who commanded the wind and waves to be still and they were; the one who said “I give you a new commandment: that you love others as I have loved you”. And they did. I doubt that any will be speaking in exotic languages today. I doubt that any outsider will accuse us of drunk this morning. But that doesn’t mean that God’s Spirit isn’t here. The Holy Spirit can be just as real in this place as it was that first Pentecost. There are some who believe that spirit-filled Christians act a certain way. But that makes no sense, in my humble opinion—God needs many kinds of people to fulfill his purpose—and many kinds of churches. The diversity among humankind, among worshiping communities, and among individual minds is one of the greatest gifts God gives. The differences are what gives God so many options and avenues for the transformation of the world.

2 And to the varied and diverse followers of God, the Holy Spirit gives common gifts—gifts that all of us manifest in many ways, but there’s no mistaking it when we see it. The first gift is the gift of passion. Otherwise known as zeal, fervor, enthusiasm, or conviction— passion is that element deep within us that inspires and energizes. It only comes from the Holy Spirit. “Several years ago, a young man sat is his pastor’s office between services. He had made some bad choices-was at the bottom of his class, in and out of jobs, a father at sixteen. He had come for help. “His pastor offered what help he could, prayed with the young man, and on the spur of the moment, the pastor invited this kid to help serve communion for the second service. So there they were, standing in front of everyone offering communion. A boy, with his body jewelry and tie-dyed tee shirt, with that weird symbol of chaos emblazoned on the front; his head shaved on either side except for the Mohawk pony tail. And beside him stood a properly attired, respectable church pastor. Meet the odd couple! “The pastor knew there would be some grumbling, and he was not disappointed. One couple expressed their anger and disgust over coffee. "What do you think you’re doing, letting that punk stand up there in his bizarre clothes to hold the cup? You made a mockery of Communion, that’s what you did." “They were only the first, and by midweek, the pastor felt pretty discouraged. But Wednesday, he received a letter from an older man. "Oh no, another disgruntled member," thought the pastor. But the basic gist of the letter was this: “This is a messy church, we never know what’s going to happen next it seems. Just want you to know that I was so taken with that kid up there serving us at communion. It reminded me why I come here. Because this place, like no other, is where grace happens every week. [5 ¶s adapted from “What Language Shall We Use” by Rev. Thomas Hall, https://desperatepreacher.com.] Passion. When the Holy Spirit gives us passion as it did those first disciples, we suddenly see the amazing presence of God is the unexpected, the uncontrolled, the uncomfortable. The Second gift is the gift of power. Passion gives us the will and the drive. Power gives us the means and the way. It too, comes only from the Holy Spirit. “Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a car in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. “The Holy Spirit gives both. At Pentecost, it exploded on the scene; its presence was like fire. Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. And since that time, bursts of power have sparked from time to time. But the Holy Spirit also works through the church—the body started by God to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, the Holy Spirit provides us with staying power.” [2 ¶s from Pentecost illustrations at https://Sermons.com.] One sure way NOT to experience the power of the Holy Spirit is to isolate ourselves. A man tells of being on a bus tour in Rome which[was led by a guide who spoke English. Their first stop was a basilica in a piazza which was surrounded by several lanes of relentless Roman traffic. After they were all safely dropped off, the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the church. Then they spread out to board the bus, which was parked across the street from the church. The frantic guide shouted for the group to stay together. He hollered out to them, "You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. But if you cross together, they think you will hurt the car!" There is always much to be said for unity, particularly the unity of the Spirit.” [from Barbara Brokhoff, Grapes of Wrath or Grace, CSS Publishing Company, Pentecost illustrations, https://Sermons.com.] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “…was arguably one of the great minds, great spirits of the 20th century – Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, scientist, scholar, mystic. In some of his writings, he spoke from his scientific background as well as his theological one … noting that the discovery, or invention, or harnessing of fire was one of the greatest scientific and technological discoveries in human history…

3 And he then went on to say that if humanity ever harnesses, ever captures the energy of love – it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire. [from Bishop Michael Curry, Wedding Homily for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/19/bishop- michael-currys-rousing-royal-wedding-sermon-the-full-text.] Strange fire, perhaps. The final gift is the gift of purpose. Purpose provides direction for our passion and focus for our power. “The story is told of a schoolmaster in France was discouraged with one of his students. He wrote in his roll book concerning this student: "He is the smallest, the meekest, the most unpromising boy in my class." Half a century later, an election was held in France to select the greatest Frenchman. By popular vote, that meekest, smallest, most unpromising boy was chosen. His name was Louis Pasteur, the founder of modern medicine. At age seventy-three, a national holiday was declared in his honor. He was too old and weak to attend the ceremony in Paris, so he sent a message to be read by his son. The message read: "The future belongs not to the conquerors but to the saviors of the world." [from King Duncan, Collected Sermons, illustrations for Pentecost, https://Sermons.com.] To be a light-bearer; a hope giver; a peace-maker, a life-saver, an environmental defender, a child protector—that is what it is to live with divine purpose. To bring this to a close, I’ll remind you about Richard Lederer who is a teacher and writer who has become nationally known by collecting what he calls Anguished English. Lederer collects such things as unintentionally funny headlines and signs, as well as ridiculous things written by young people in essays and homework assignments, and I’ve shared some with you before. For example, here are some lines written by Jr. High and High School students whose English teachers were encouraging them to write more poetically and employ use of simile and metaphor: “Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.” “He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.” “He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a big truck backing up.” “The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.” People Magazine did a story on Lederer. Their photographer asked Lederer to think about setting up a humorous, posed picture that would somehow summarize his work and lead into the article. The solution immediately presented itself. On the outskirts of Lederer's town stands a telephone pole with the street sign Electric Avenue. Sure enough, right below it is a yellow diamond traffic sign announcing No Outlet. [from Richard Lederer, More Anguished English (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 1993); as used in “Don't Forget The Batteries” by King Duncan, https://Sermons.com.] And that is the greatest danger for the church—that we will experience God's passion, power, and purpose, but have no outlet. That we will become impatient with the pace and grow apathetic to God’s love for the world. [adapted from “Don't Forget The Batteries” by King Duncan, https://Sermons.com.] This is a message, a message of love; Love that moves from the inside out; Love that never grows tired. I come to you with my offering: I bring you strange fire. Strange fire burns with the motion of love. Amen.

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