Acts 2 - The Holy Spirit Is PINK (?)

KNU International English Church

Josh Broward

May 31, 2009

Read Acts 2.

As I thought about Pentecost this year, I couldn't help thinking of the song by Pink, “I'm coming up, so you better get this party started.” This might be a stretch, but I wonder if Pink is a metaphor of the Holy Spirit? Listen to some of the words:

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
Get this party started on a Saturday night
Everybody's waiting for me to arrive
Sendin' out the message to all of my friends ...

Last week, Yoni read Jesus' words: “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised … you will receive power when the the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere ...” (Acts 1:4, 8).

Making my connection as I enter the room
Everybody's chilling as I set up the groove
Pumpin' up the volume with this brand new beat
Everybody's dancing and they're dancing for me
I'm your operator, you can call anytime
I'll be your connection to the party line

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started

“Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit …” and people from all around town “heard the loud noise” and “came running” (Acts 2:2-6).

Pentecost was God's coming out party. The disciples kept trying to talk Jesus into coming out in the open as the Messiah, but instead he stubbornly went to Jerusalem and died. Then, after God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus kind of hid out with his disciples, teaching them quietly. When the disciples asked Jesus if it was finally time for him to “come out” and show the world who he is, Jesus basically said, “That's your job, and the Holy Spirit will help you do it. Now, go to Jerusalem and wait for the party to get started” (Acts 1:6-8). Then, Jesus left.

Now, on Pentecost, God finally comes out. God finally shows himself to the world. There is wind. There is fire – all kinds of cool stuff. But by all the other people show up, they don't see the wind and the fire, they just see a bunch of people talking in different languages.

Even at God's big “coming out party,” he only shows himself through his people. He fills his people and shows himself to the world through them. Even at the big party, God is still quiet enough that some people say those first Christians are just drunk. It's not all that different from when outsiders look in at the church and say that religion is just a crutch or that Christians are a little crazy. Something real is happening – something big enough to get attention, but not something clear enough to convince everyone right away.

So Peter steps up to explain to the crowd what they are seeing. Peter basically says three things.

1. This is a God thing. We aren't drunk or crazy or stupid. God is working in us, just like he promised.

2. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. This is Peter's main point.

3. Repent and let Jesus give you a new life through the Holy Spirit.

For us to really understand what the word “repent” means we need a little background. Josephus is the most famous Jewish historian in – um – history, but at least once he played the role of international ambassador. In 66AD, Josephus was sent on behalf of Rome to try to stop the Jewish rebellion. Josephus told the Jewish leaders that their plan of rebelling against Rome would only lead to destruction (and it did). Instead, he offered an alternative way – peaceful compromise. Josephus talks directly to the rebel leader and says that all will be forgiven if the leader will “repent and believe in me.” Josephus wanted them to give up their deadly plans for independence and trust him and his plan for a new way of life.¹

Jesus said almost the exact same thing: “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:14).

We are all kind of like those Jewish rebels. We've got our own systems, our own ways of doing things, and our own plans for how our life is going to work out for us. Peter is saying, “Listen folks, give up your own plan because it isn't going to work. Your plan will just mess everything up. Put your trust in Jesus' plan instead. That is the plan for real life. Change your plan. Change your trust system. Start over. Refocus everything on Jesus. God will not only forgive you; God's Spirit will live in you” (Acts 2:38-39).

Well, it worked. God's coming out party worked. On the first day, 3,000 people were baptized. That's a big party!

But what happens when God comes out? What does it look like when God really starts to work in his people? What are the basics of God's party?

The first Christian party basic is: Trust in Jesus as our Messiah. Peter and the Jewish Christians spent many long hours explaining that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the ancient Jewish prophecies. He was the one all the Jews were waiting for.

But if we are honest, that doesn't mean very much to most of us. Most of us don't really care if Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. We don't really care very much what Jesus meant to people 2000 years ago. We don't need to be set free from Rome. We don't operate within the old Jewish system of sacrifices and hand-washings. We don't really feel the need for a Jewish Messiah.

However, we deeply need to be set free. We deeply need to be healed, to be forgiven, to be empowered, to be refocused, to be led into this uncertain future, to be loved and to learn how to love. We need Jesus to be our Korean Messiah, our American Messiah, our African Messiah, our suburban-middle-class Messiah. We need a Messiah to lead us out of our dysfunctional systems into the God-way, the Kingdom of God that is all around us. Jesus fulfills our hopes. Jesus fulfills our deepest dreams, our heart-longings.

We need to understand Jesus as our Messiah for our age and our time and our culture. Jesus is leading us out of our broken down systems which are going to destroy us, and Jesus is offering us a new way of life – a life of love and trust. Becoming a Christian, means putting our trust in Jesus in this life now to live a new life now.

The second Christian party basic is: Live Deep Christian Community. They believed, they were baptized, and they “devoted themselves” to the basic Christian teaching, to fellowship, to eating together, and to praying together. They lived deeply. They shared deeply. They rejoiced deeply. They opened their homes and their hearts to each other. “And a deep sense of awe came over them all.” This kind of community is basic to Christianity. If you don't have this, something is missing from your life. If you don't have this, you haven't fully repented and trusted in Jesus' way – because this is what he taught. This kind of community IS Jesus' way.

The third Christian basic is: Be Filled with the Holy Spirit. A basic part of Christianity is having God in us. We actually live out the life of God. Paul said, “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

The Holy Spirit is not always obvious to others. Even at Pentecost, the other people didn't really get what was going on. But they see that something is different, and, eventually, people start to ask questions. That's when the cycle starts to repeat. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when we live with love and grace and generosity – like those first Christians, then people around us notice, and more and more people join the party.

More and more people put their trust in Jesus as their Messiah, too. More and more people live deep Christian community. More and more people are filled with the Holy Spirit, and on and on and on. “And a deep sense of awe” comes over us all … “And each day the Lord” adds to our “fellowship those who” are “being saved.”

So the three Christian party basics are:

1. Trust Jesus as our Messiah.

2. Live Deep Christian Community.

3. Be Filled with the Holy Spirit.

But these can happen in almost any order. The twelve apostles started with deep community. They didn't know Jesus was the Messiah when they started following him. Cornelius and his household kind of started with being filled with the Holy Spirit. God just sort of exploded in them, and then they figured everything else out.

It's not a three step process, but we've got to have all three ingredients, or we aren't fully Christian. We've got to have all three of these basics or we aren't really following Jesus or experiencing the new life he has for us.

When we have all three of these, life is radically different. We are being made new by God's love. God is changing us. God is teaching us how to be friends with others, and God is changing the world through us. (Sound familiar?)

About 2,500 years ago, there was this crazy old prophet named Ezekiel. God made him do and see and say crazy stuff, but hey, he lived in a crazy time. God's people were slaves in Babylon. Most of God's people decided that the God of Israel had lost the religious wars. God was a washed-up, dried-up, loser God, and Israel was a washed-up, dried-up, loser people.

One day, Ezekiel has this vision of a whole valley full of dried bones. These bones were long-dead, crusty white. God says to Ezekiel that these dry bones represent Israel – God's people. Have you ever felt all dried up, tired out, whithered, exhausted, used and abused? Have you ever felt like a failure? Have you ever stepped back and looked at your life and said, “This isn't going to work. I just can't do this”? Sometimes, it feels like all we are are dry bones – like we have nothing left to offer, nothing left to give, nothing left to be.

God tells Ezekiel to speak to the dry bones. God tells Ezekiel to tell those dry bones that God is going to make them live again, that God is going to breathe his Spirit into them and give them new life. And the bones come together – all clickety clack – and form skeletons. And muscle grows on them, like a science fiction movie, and then, skin grows. And finally, God breathes his Spirit into those dead bodies, and they all come to life and stand up.

Then, God tells Ezekiel to say this to the people of Israel: “I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home” (Ezekiel 37).

God has the same offer for you. Whoever you are. Wherever you are in life. Whatever your religious background. No matter what you've done. No matter what has been done to you. No matter how dry your bones are. God says, “I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again.”

If you can imagine it, maybe God is speaking to us in the words of Pink, “I'm coming up so you better get this party started.” God offers us a whole new groove, a brand new beat. True Christianity is a new way of life for all of us. There is a new kind of party happening here.

Today is the day of Pentecost. Today is the day of the Spirit. Put your trust in Jesus as your Messiah. Live in deep community. Be filled with the Spirit of God, and you will live. Your life will never be the same. God will “come out” among us, and a party will get started that will change us all forever. If we really let God come out in our lives, we will never be the same. Never.

1N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1999), 43-44.

Acts 10 - Dangerous

KNU International English Church

Josh Broward

May 17, 2009

I grew up in Texas, and Texans love Country Music. I grew up singing songs by Garth Brooks, songs like:

I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places

One of Garth Brooks' less famous songs is, “Unanswered Prayers.” The song is in a story form. He meets an ex-girlfriend at a football game, and he remembers how he prayed – how he begged – God to give him this one girl. Then, he looks over at his wife and thanks God for NOT answering that prayer. “Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers,” he sings.

I've been thinking this week that some of our prayers are pretty dangerous.

God, make me patient. Be careful what you pray for, right?!

God, make me like Jesus. – Uh, dangerous? Hello! He died on a cross!

God, help me to trust you. Remember what happened when Peter trusted Jesus. He ended up walking on a stormy sea.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. - Everyone who sins against us? No matter what the sin?

God, lead us. Show us your will, and help us to follow. - Yeah, that will get you into trouble every time.

What about this one? We pray this one every week here. May God make us a loving community that changes our world. What if God really starts answering this prayer? What if God really starts fulfilling our vision? What if God pulls us together with all kinds of diverse people – people we are uncomfortable with, people who don't normally go to church, at least not our churches, people who might need our help? What if God really helps us to love like he loves? Would our hearts break more often? Would we have to change how we think, how we talk, how we work? What if God started changing the world by doing a radical change right here in us, right here in this church? What if God starts by radically changing you?

That is dangerous! Do you really want God to answer that prayer?

The book of Acts begins with a big vision: “In just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). In a few days, you're going to get God!

But the disciples don't get it: “OK, Jesus, but when do we start forming an army to kick out those dirty Romans? Are we there yet? Is it time yet? Now? Now? Now?” (1:6)

Jesus responds by making the vision even bigger, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).

And the disciples seem to kind of stand there and scratch their heads and say, “Huh, I wonder what that means.”

But they keep meeting together, and on the day of Pentecost, God fulfills his promise. He pours out the Holy Spirit in an amazing way, but God goes beyond their expectations. People from all over the world can understand everything the disciples as if the disciples are speaking the languages from all over the world. From day one, Jews from many different cultures and nations are included in the Churchs. (Acts 2) Dangerous!

Then Peter and John heal a crippled guy and get in trouble. And how does the church respond? They pray for boldness and courage and miracles. (Acts 3-4). Dangerous!

The very next scene is two people who try to cheat on their offerings. They stand there and lie to Peter's face, and then they fall over dead. Now, I honestly dont' know what that means, but I do know it's dangerous! People falling over dead in church – it doesn't get much more dangerous than that! (Acts 5)

The apostles keep preaching, and God keeps working. The religious leaders put the apostles in jail, and God busts them out. Dangerous! Then the apostles go straight back to the Temple and start preaching again. Hello! Dangerous! So the religious leaders order the apostles to be beaten with whips, and what do the apostles do? They thank God for letting them suffer like Jesus and go out and start preaching again! Dangerous! (Acts 5)

Next, the church has some problems with their widows feeding program. They decide to appoint seven guys to do the social work, so the apostles can do the teaching. But Stephen, one of the social work guys, starts healing people and doing miracles and teaching and debating and preaching about Jesus. That's not his job, remember. And, he gets arrested and killed. Dangerous! (Acts 6-7)

Then, the poop hits the fan. People start attacking Christians all over the place, and the Christians scatter. They run for their lives, but everywhere they go, they keep talking about Jesus. Dangerous! (8:1-4)

Philip goes to Samaria and tells people there about Jesus. Samaritans were half-Jews, religious rejects. Good Jews wouldn't even touch a Samaritan, but Philip tells them about Jesus. Dangerous! Then, Peter and John get in on the action and start praying for the Holy Spirit and preaching to other Samaritans. Dangerous stuff, here! (8:5-24)

Then, an angel sends Philip to convert that “genital-free African,”¹ and he asks, “What should hinder me from being baptized?” (8:25-40). So Philip breaks new ground. He baptizes a non-Jew who doesn't even have his male-parts – a big problem for Jewish culture. Dangerous!

Meanwhile, Saul is going around busting up as many Christians as he can find. He goes all the way to Damascus, in Syria, looking for Jesus' followers. Then the Holy Spirit knocks him to the ground and blinds him. That sounds dangerous! God tells a Christian named Ananias to go and help Saul because Saul will take God's message to the gentiles. So Ananias brings this Christian-killer into his home and helps him become a Christian. That is definitely dangerous! (Acts 9)

The story really picks up in Acts 10 with this guy named Cornelius. Cornelius is a Roman army captain. An angel shows up and tells him to send for Peter. He doesn't say why. He just says, “Go get Peter.” Dangerous!

Now Peter is living with Simon the tanner, Simon the leather-worker, Simon the guy who kills animals and pulls the skin off their dead bodies and scrapes the flesh off and stretches it out on racks to dry. Simon's house stinks so much that he has to live by the beach so the wind will blow away the stink from the drying animal skins. Simon is a Jew, but he is an unclean Jew. The very fact that Peter is living with Simon shows that Peter has already started abandoning some of the traditional Jewish rules. Dangerous!

Peter is up on the roof praying, and he has a vision. He sees all kinds of animals – clean and unclean, kosher and forbidden. Remember, Jews have very strict rules for what kind of meat they can eat. Asking Peter to eat pork would be kind of like asking us to take a bite out of a rotting human eyeball. It's not only gross; it challenges our very identity as people. So Peter says, “Uh, Homie don't play that!” or in more technical language, “Not at all, Lord.” Did you catch that? Peter said “no” to God!! So God says, “Don't call something unclean if I have made it clean.” Dangerous!

This is not the first time God has challenged Peter's religious rules. Years earlier Jesus said, “Can't you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?” (Mark 7:18). Peter didn't get it then, and he doesn't get it now. It's just too dangerous for a good Jewish boy.

So the Spirit whispers in Peter's ear, “Three guys have come looking for you. Go with them without any reservations.” That sounds pretty cool – a supernatural doorbell with a hidden camera – but also dangerous, no questions, just go. Peter tops off the danger by inviting these gentiles in for a meal.

The next day they all go to Cornelius's house – also dangerous, as Peter points out. Jews aren't supposed to be hanging with Gentiles. That's just not allowed. Peter tells them about Jesus. He tells them about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and he says, “Everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name” (Acts 10:43).

That's where our passage picks up. Let's read Acts 10:44-48.

What is happening here?

• God is breaking out of the church's religious expectations.

• God is answering their prayers – far more than they expected.

• God is welcoming outsiders. God is opening the doors of the church for all people everywhere.

• God is teaching Peter the gospel just as much as God is teaching Cornelius the gospel.

• God is converting/saving Peter just as much as he is converting/saving Cornelius.

The Holy Spirit is working in amazing ways. Peter and the other Jewish Christians have a choice.

They could hinder the Spirit, put shackles on the Spirit, deny what they see, keep their religious expectations, keep their limited vision of God being only for the Jews, in the Jewish ways, within the Jewish systems.

Instead, they choose to work with the Spirit – even following the Spirit into dangerous new territory. This is truly dangerous! They aren't Jewish. They haven't been circumcised. They aren't committed to eating Jewish style foods. The only thing they have got is God, and Peter says that's enough! Dangerous!

Last week, Megan preached on the Ethiopian eunuch, and she quoted Rob Bell's discussion that Philip's difficult choice. If he followed the clear movement of God in his life, he would have to break a religious rule. Bell says, “This is the tension throughout the early church. What do you do when your religion isn't big enough for God? What do you do when your rules and codes and laws simply aren't enough anymore? What do you do when your system falls apart because the new thing that God is doing is better, beyond, superior, more compelling?”²

I liked that so much, I borrowed the book from her. Bell says lots of good stuff:

• “Everything's changing. … The gospel is leaving its former confines … and it's heading to the ends of the earth. And that means nothing looks like it used to.”³

• “Jesus is inviting them to participate in a reality so liberating and compelling that Jerusalem can't contain it. The disciples can't fathom something that new and transcendent.”⁴

• “Acts is a story of movement, motion, progress. It's people being caught up in something that simply must expand, and stretch, and go. Because no one city, no one religion, no one perspective, no one worldview can contain it.”⁵

What happens when God starts to do what he promised?

What happens when God actually starts to fulfill the vision he has given us?

What happens when gay people and hard drinkers and lots of migrant workers and liberals and fundamentalists and people who don't care much about religion and maybe don't even like church – what happens when they start coming here? What happens when they become members here and make their homes here?

What happens when God fulfills our vision beyond our expectations?

What happens if other churches get angry with us? What happens if people persecute us for our actions or style? What happens if people say a church like this doesn't belong in Korea or in the Church of the Nazarene?

What happens if the religious leaders call us into their offices and question us and argue with us and shout and condemn us because we lift high the cross of Christ and shout world-wide-welcome to all who come?

What happens if people leave because they don't want to be part of this kind of church?

What happens if all of this happens, but we can see undeniably that God is working? What happens if we can see the Holy Spirit working, filling people, saving people, transforming people – filling us, saving us, transforming us?

What will we do then? What will we do? What will you do?

I hope – I pray – that we will do just what Peter did, just what the early church did. We will remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ at all costs. We will simply tell what we see God doing and tell how we are trying to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. When we face a choice between our religious rules and the work of the Holy Spirit, I pray that we will choose God every single time, every single time.

I need to get better at this. We all need to get better at this. As God fulfills his promises among us, we will face these choices more and more.

Be ready. This is dangerous! Are you ready to get dangerous?

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1Rob Bell and Don Golden, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, 93.

2Ibid, 101.

3Ibid, 107-8.

4Ibid, 110.

5Ibid, 112-113.