“A New Prophecy”
Acts 2:1-18
Allen Huff
Jonesborough Presbyterian Church
5/15/16
Pentecost. The
birthday of the church. “Divided tongues as of fire.” The litany of barely
pronounceable names, and the cynics who brush it all off saying, Somebody let Drunk Uncle in.
‘No one’s
drunk,’ says Peter. ‘It’s only 9a.m.’ And he goes on to quote the Hebrew
prophet Joel who speaks of “the last days,” days when the gift of prophecy will
enjoy a new beginning.
‘And now,’
says Peter, ‘God is revealing those last days.’
The thing about those last days,
though, is that they aren’t really last
at all. They’re spectacular new first
days, a fresh start marked by a revitalizing emergence of God’s Spirit. As the
Spirit infuses the Creation, prophecy breaks free from old confines. It’s no
longer a rare gift. It’s a new way of life for “all flesh,” a new reality for sons
and daughters, young and old, male and female, slave and free. And Pentecost
marks not so much the arrival of something brand new, but our liberating new
awareness of the eternal mystery called the Holy Spirit. And we discover,
sometimes to our chagrin, that the Spirit is no slave to anyone’s group or groups.
The Spirit is not bound by nationality, or language, or even theology.
“I will pour out
my Spirit,” says God, “and they shall [all]
prophesy.”
My good
southern upbringing in church left with me with a very narrow but iconic image
of prophets. Prophets walked around in dark robes with cavernous, drooping
hoods and belts made of rope. Each hand was stuffed up the bell-bottomed sleeve
of the opposite arm. Knowing God’s mind, prophets could predict the future.
They could read our minds, too; and the implication was that they were not
happy with their reading material. They uttered scathing judgments to scare us into
righteousness. Prophets seemed to have more in common with teachers of the dark
arts at Hogwarts than anything Luke. Luke and Joel both describe prophecy as a
gift given much more generally, and generously, and graciously in the Creation.
In Harper’s
Bible Dictionary, the first sentence under the entry “Prophet” speaks of “a
person who serves as a channel of communication between the human and divine
worlds.”1 In terms of potential, that leaves no one out.
If the Church
is us, and if Pentecost is in some
way the birthday of the Church, then at some level Pentecost must reveal
something of the entire Creation’s new birth into prophetic life. Remember
Paul’s prophetic words to the Romans: “We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly while we wait for adoption…” (Romans 8:22-23)
And to the Galatians he says, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his
Son…so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are
children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our heart crying, ‘Abba!
Father!’” (Galatians
4:4ff)
Selfish and idolatrous motives
often corrupt our intentions, so in no way does this allow for
self-aggrandizement. Still, if we are called and equipped to serve as
“channel[s] of communication,” then in some thoroughly prophetic and relational way, God is choosing, through us, to see, to listen, to speak,
and to act in and on behalf of the created order.
I think that the
big difference in this new, Pentecostal
prophecy lies in what we look for at the very core of ourselves and others.
The church has
taught for millennia that the core reality of a particular human being and of
humanity as a whole is that of sin. And sin is real, of course. We need to recognize
it, name it, and consciously resist its wiles and seductions. But I do take issue
with manipulating hearts, intellects, and actions by telling people that they were
born dirty and depraved, that their fundamental identity is one of guilt before
God. It seems to me that such an understanding of self and of our relationship
to God almost always creates a kind of factory
farm approach to discipleship. Prophets serve as cowpokes who ride herd on
the Church. They brand us and drive us across the dangerous, desolate miles toward,
they hope, a profitable death.
The message is
clear: Only in death do we have real value. And so the proclamation revolves,
very tightly, around the posthumous reward
of “heaven.” In the meantime, we’d better say and do “right” things lest we earn not heaven but the fate reserved
for foxes, wolves, and other predatory pests.
All of this
works well for cows, for sheep and goats – beasts who survive by adhering to a
strict herd mentality. Well, I have good news: We’re not cows, or sheep, or
goats. We are human beings, and at the core of our human essence beats the very
heart of God. And the essence of God is holy, dynamic, creative, grateful
relationship – Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.
You and I, we are created by
relationship, for relationship. Community is our home. On top of that, icing the
cake, is the gloriously complicating wonder of our own uniquenesses,
incompletions, and vulnerabilities. We bring all of these things to every
relationship. So, just as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as an inseparable
whole, we need each other. We find our wholeness, our true selfhood when we
enter relationships that nurture us, that ask much from us, and offer much to
us.
A distinction is helpful here. Individualism is the depleting,
destructive fiction that I am absolute, whole, and full outside of some level
of mutuality. Even hermits need the earth.
Individuality
is much different. I express my individuality by seeking out your strengths so
that I might enjoy them and benefit from them while, at the same time,
celebrating and developing my own unique set of gifts and experiences, so that
I might enjoy them and offer them gratefully to you.
Pentecost happens when we both
realize that in holy and spirited relationship we draw closer to God even as we
draw closer to each other and the earth. We claim our blessedness. We claim ourselves as blessings. We receive the
blessings of others. And so we become prophets. We become “channels of
communication between the human and divine worlds.” We communicate stewardship
of the earth, and Loving empowerment of fellow human beings to live new lives.
And we do that by recognizing and relating to the holiness within each other –
whoever we are, wherever we’re from, whomever we vote for, whatever we believe.
The point of prophecy is not a “profitable
death.”
The point of prophecy is a life of Spirited fullness, mystery, and Love.
1Robert. R. Wilson, Harper’s Bible Dictionary,
Paul J. Achtemeier, General Editor. Harper & Row Publishers, San Francisco,
1985, p. 826.
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