Read Acts 2:1-11
It only takes a spark to set the whole thing ablaze. A spark is seen as something small. And compared to the full blaze, it is. But the blaze wouldn’t be there without the spark. And for that reason, the spark, regardless of size, has incredible power.
Just as you saw this week. The death of a black man in Minneapolis was the spark. This is no small thing. A man is dead and the world wants to know why. Mix into this the involvement of a white police officer and you have the kindling to ignite our country into flames. If you try to deny the racial tension in our country, you are lying to yourself. If you try to make it someone else’s fault or someone else’s problem, you’re lying to yourself. And if you think this will all go away if we can all just get along, guess what, you’re lying to yourself. It has been those lies that prevent us from seeing the mounting tension that, when given a spark, ignites into full blaze.
It is not my place to call for anything but justice, that is, that the right process be used in the right way. I do not claim to know the intentions of a man’s heart, black or white, to call something racist simply because it involves men of two different skin colors. Nor do I claim to know the best way to advance a narrative of peace when it seems like people repeat the same mistakes of the past. But I do know this, it is my place today to call for forgiveness. It is my place to call for love, Christ-like, full sacrificial love that seeks in undying fashion to look at people, no matter color of skin or any other reason we choose to separate and discriminate against each other, to see people dearly loved by God. It is my place today to say that if you’re going to start a fire, let it not be to burn each other down but to share the Holy Spirit’s flame.
There is no way to change people for the better by perpetuating mistakes, hurts, and injury. Let me say that another way, you cannot make people less evil by doing more evil against them. Or still let me say it this way, you cannot expect people to be nice by simply telling them to be nice to each other. But when there is love, righting the wrong, bringing good to the evil, showing, actually demonstrating what nice looks like, then that, that love will become a new spark, a new spark for a different fire, yet a fire that will not only put out the flames of dissension, but also blaze all over the world with peace.
It is on this Pentecost Sunday that we recognize that spark. It was not a spark the disciples had in themselves as though it had been lying in wait, untapped, or unused. When the tongues of fire were seen on their heads that day, it was not because the fire had come from inside them, but that this fire had separated and come to rest on each of them. It came from outside them. It came from God the Holy Spirit. It came to start this new fire to end the cycle of evil and spread the love of God to the world.
Because, understand, the disciples had no reason to be nice to their Jewish persecutors. These Jews incited hatred against them, commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and even started putting them to death starting with the first martyr Stephen. If anything, the Jews would have feared the uprising of these men in retaliation for putting Jesus to death. So to control the situation the Jewish leaders used power to strike fear in the hearts of those who followed Jesus. Why be nice to these guys? No reason, except that you cannot overcome evil with more evil, but with love you can start a new fire.
And Pentecost Sunday was that spark. With what looked like tongues of fire on the heads of each of the disciples, they spoke of the gift of God. As certainly as they had occasion to get up and talk about the atrocities of the Jewish leaders, instead their message was of the gift of God. A whole new subject that involved a gift from outside a person as much as those flames had come from outside of them and produced a fire in them that would burn as much as those flames were burning.
That new subject was the name of Jesus, the only name by which we must be saved. The message was of his love poured out to us, reaching out to us, separating and coming to rest on each of us. Jesus came to a world whose tension went far deeper than race. The tension of sin had spread all over the world. All people are still born sinful and in desperate need of forgiveness. There was no denying this tension, only confronting it. And Jesus took it personally. It may have been someone else’s fault but it was his problem. And the only way to make it go away was not by saying, “Hey let’s all just get along.” Jesus had to take it away. He had to make it possible for there to be a new way. So with love burning in his heart he went to the cross to suffer and die. His resurrection proved that his love was an undying flame that not even the darkest of evils could snuff out. This is the love that was meant for the peoples of the whole world. This was the spark that would spread out to put out the evil of sin.
So to ignite that fire, the Holy Spirit brought the spark. The good news of Jesus for salvation rang out loud and clear. It filled the streets, which were filled with people from all over the world. North, south, east, and west had all gathered for the Pentecost festival. But when they came to do their duty, the Holy Spirit came to give them fire. There were never enough sacrifices to make up for any one sin. So the disciples told of the sacrifice Jesus gave. There was never a life perfect enough to be acceptable to God. So the disciples told of the innocence and righteousness of Jesus. There were never enough gifts and offerings to earn a place in heaven. So the disciples told of the free gift Jesus provides.
And what made it absolutely crystal clear that this message of Jesus was for the world was that the disciples were speaking in the languages of the world. Enabled by the Holy Spirit they didn’t require a translator, they bridged the language gap themselves. This was a Savior for the world. This was a fire to spread all over the world. This love of Jesus for sinners was for the world, so that everyone would hear and know that Jesus is for them. There is now forgiveness for every sinner who repents, for the heartless racist, the vengeful rioter, yes, and for our sins of disgust when we look down on people who are loved by Jesus, our sins of distrust when we think God’s love won’t make a difference in their lives, and our sins of silence when we think it’s not my problem. The Holy Spirit has separated out the love of Jesus and it has come to rest on each of your heads. You are forgiven. You are loved. You are on fire.
This is where we come in, where we come into our world cursed with those who do evil, harassed by those who hate, powerless to come out from loveless acts until someone shows them what love is. Listen to this Word of God in Romans 12, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Verses 18–21
I used to think that heaping burning coals on their head meant it would frustrate them, get them all riled up and burning with anger that their plans were not working. But today I think it means you want to start a new fire on their head. Burning coals start fires. It can look like nothing but embers in the fire pit, but throw a new log on the coals and you’ll see, it fires right back up again. The burning coals are not meant to harm, but to end harm, not meant to do evil, but to turn people from evil. Giving food and drink to an enemy will show that the love of Jesus that the Holy Spirit separated to rest on each of us has continued to separate to come to rest on each of them, on anyone, because we all need it.
The tension between people will continue. If I’m honest with you, I don’t see an end in sight to the blazing fires that ignite at the drop of a spark. And if the signs of the end are an indication of things to come, be prepared for things only to get worse. But that is not a reason to give up. If the disciples chose to use their miraculous gift of language to criticize the Jewish leaders, then the New Testament Church would not have been born, the love of Jesus would have died in those streets, and we would have no answer to the evil of sin in the world. But the Holy Spirit ignited a fire that day so that the love of Jesus would spread to the world. That fire rests on our heads. That love flows through us to the world.
Amen.
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