Main Idea: Allowing the Holy Spirit to tell the story of Jesus in the language a heart understands will result in transformed lives.

 Today we celebrate the fulfillment of the release of God’s Holy Spirit upon the followers of Christ in the days following Jesus return to heaven. We call it Pentecost Sunday because this amazing event occurred during the Jews celebration of thanksgiving to God for the harvest of their crops, which they called Pentecost. God chose that during this celebration that he would not only provide the power of his Spirit upon believers but also that he would as well begin harvesting new believers through the message that was now being proclaimed by these newly empowered believers. While we cherish today the presence of God’s Spirit now made real to us we also are reminded of the purpose that the Spirit was given and that was to share the story of Jesus in ways that all persons might hear and understand.

As modern day followers of Jesus Christ we are people who have the responsibility to tell the communities of our world about Jesus. The very mission and purpose that Jesus gave to His first followers was clear: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." (Matthew 28:19) You and I must understand that there has never been a release for any disciple, at any time, for any reason from the demand to radically obey this mission. Why are we neglecting our obedience to this command? Oh, I am sure that any of us could offer a whole world of reasons. Yet one of the reasons I think many of us give up personally trying to tell the story of Jesus is that we discover that we don’t really speak the language of the person needing to hear the story. Oh, we say the same things and the syllables are known to us but it’s obvious we are just not getting through. The reality is that we will never get through until we speak their language. That language that communicates best is the language that a heart understands.

What is the language that a heart understands? One thing that I know about marriage is that the words "I love you" must be said but they must also be demonstrated. In other words I must do the things that say or communicate, "I love you." When a spouse understands what that is that communicates love then that is that person’s love language. In other words it communicates deeply to their heart. Over last weekend Kathy and I spent a day working in our yard. I enjoy working in the yard but I know that for Kathy it is important that I really show that I care about the way she likes for something to be done. So after completing a certain task I would say to her, "I’m speaking your ‘luuvv’ language!" Now after a couple of times it got old but I knew I was right! My showing I loved her spoke to her heart in ways that my words couldn’t do. That is the language of the heart.

We can speak the specific language or dialect of a people or group of people in order to communicate with them. We can as well have the ability to go beyond the oral language to identify with the culture of a specific group or demographic segment of the population. Yet it is ultimately the skill to communicate in ways that connect to the emotional and spiritual center of a person’s life. In our story this morning we encounter the moment when God first gave to Jesus’ disciples the power to speak the language of the heart. Acts 2:8 says that the people heard the disciples speaking the languages of the lands where they were born or in other words the dialect of their childhood. When they spoke or told the story in that language the lives of three thousand people were transformed in one day. What I want us to see today is that allowing the Holy Spirit to tell the story of Jesus in the language a heart understands results in lives that are transformed.

Let’s begin by looking at the events themselves found in Acts 2. This story is one that is very important to our understanding of the early disciples of Jesus. Admittedly, a modern reader has some difficulty connecting with these events for they defy our understanding of normal life. We hear this story about noise that sounds like a tornado but doesn’t create wind, the appearance of fire that doesn’t burn, people speaking in languages that are not their own.

The first idea that I want you to see is that each of the disciples shared equally in the receiving of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-5) Jesus had told them to wait for His power to come to them in order for them to be able to obey His commands. They all heard the same sounds, saw the same phenomenon, experienced the same overwhelming presence of the Spirit and spoke the same message about, "the wonderful things that God has done" (v. 11). God’s power in the person and presence of the Holy Spirit was received equally by each of them.

Another thing that I find interesting is that the crowd to whom they spoke heard the message differently. (Acts 2:5-13) Now we have said that what they said was the same ("the wonderful things that God has done") but that message was delivered in a multitude of dialects. The crowd of people was amazed that a person who was from one area of the country, Galilee, could speak in the native or personal dialect of their individual home. This initial telling of the story of Jesus was done in the way a person would really be able to understand. Now this was at the same time both amazing and confusing. It was amazing that it happened. It was also confusing that it happened. As a result, not everyone was impressed. Some wanted to know more. Some thought they were drunk.

In the middle of all of this confusion and wonder Peter suddenly took "his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared…." (v. 14) Peter now empowered by God’s Spirit boldly identified with the group and tells the story of Jesus powerfully (Acts 2:14-36). What is significant here is that while initially the eleven have told the story in a multitude of dialects Peter addresses all of them in one language and tells them one story. Most likely Peter spoke in the common Aramaic language of the people. What he told them essentially was: first, this was something God had said He would do (v. 14-21); second, they were responsible for the death of Jesus (v. 22-36); and, third, that if they wanted to change, God would transform their life. (v.37-41) The story Peter told was the story of Jesus, that was the story, the only story they needed to hear.

In response to Peter’s powerful telling of the story of Jesus many in the crowd were transformed (v. 37-41). It says that three thousand people were convinced of their own desperate situation and found hope by taking God at His word. We don’t know how many were actually present but it is obvious that not everyone responded positively. What is clear is that when God wanted these people to understand He loved them He spoke their language and three thousand people took Him at His word.

There are some very clear comparisons between this first telling of the story of Jesus in the language a heart understands that apply to us today. The first comparison is that as modern Christ-followers we all share the Holy Spirit’s experience or presence equally. Peter said, quoting the prophet Joel, "In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams." (Acts 2:17) In other words, spiritually we share similar elements of experience. What are those elements? We all have experienced the same salvation through Jesus Christ. We all have experienced the same source of power spiritually through the Holy Spirit in our life. We all have experienced the same purpose for our lives that we are to be storytellers of what we have witnessed personally of Jesus Christ’s work in our lives. And, regardless of our understanding, we all share the same experience of being called to tell this story until there is no one left who has not heard.

While we may share Holy Spirit’s presence equally we do not equally share the same response to his power. Jesus was definite when he said that his followers would receive power when Holy Spirit came into them. He told them in Luke 24:49 that they would have "power from on high". In Acts 1:8 he told them that they would receive power when "the Holy Spirit has come upon you." That experience was seen in the events that we are studying about today but it also happened repeatedly through out the stories in Acts. I refuse to accept that this demonstration of Holy Spirit power is something that is relegated to the times of these first followers! Are we somehow afraid of asking God to demonstrate his power in our lives for the purpose of telling the story of Jesus? It is not the presence of the Holy Spirit that we are lacking, it is the power! If we as a church are going to be a source for effective lasting change in the lives of people in the communities to which God has called us it will be because of the releasing of the power of God’s Holy Spirit!

Where does that release of power originate? It comes as a result of prayer! Before Jesus returned to heaven he told his followers that they were to go back to Jerusalem and wait for power from God to clothe them or overwhelm them. Then in Acts 1:14 it says, "They all met together continually for prayer…" It was while they were together praying that God’s power in the presence of his Spirit came upon them. A similar event happened which is recorded in Acts 4:31, "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness." Say what you will but I believe that there is a direct connection between the power of God being released and our being willing to pray for that power to be released! For us to ever speak God’s word powerfully in the heart language of someone else it will be because of prayer!

Another comparison is that just as the crowds of this first outpouring of God’s Spirit heard the message differently so the current crowds in the marketplaces of our culture and our world hear the message differently. Those early disciples were enabled to speak or tell the story in the variety of languages in which their hearers would listen. We, however, seem to know only the language of our past traditions or our current comforts and are seemingly unconcerned about the lack of communication to the crowds of lost people around us. First Baptist family, we are not getting through to the current crowds! We are not getting through because it is harder and harder for us to stop and say, "Teach me to speak your language." I had rather, we had rather, continue what we are doing, pretending the crowds are hearing and just not listening, than admit they are not hearing or listening because we aren’t communicating in ways that they will listen.

I have been troubled recently that I have grown increasingly out of touch with a younger generation of people in our church and in our culture. For example the methods of communication that are standard today such as e-mail, Instant Messaging, Text Messaging, blogging, MySpace, and Facebook are sometimes just foreign to me. Yet those methods of communicating are the standard ways for most 12-30 year olds in our day. I read the top ten songs for contemporary music in the paper each week and I want to start adding vowels and consonants to the names of the songs and the groups. I read magazines both Christian and secular that are keyed into trends in the 19-30 age groups and realize "I don’t get it!"

While it troubles me that I may be out of touch with secular younger generation I am equally concerned that I am out of touch with the Christian younger generation. Earlier in Peter’s message he quoted the words of the prophet Joel who said, "…your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams."(Acts 2:17-18, NLT) Two weeks ago I spent some time reflecting on the phrase about young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams. I came to realize that I need to hear the visions of a whole generation of younger believers so I have begun just calling some of them and just saying, "Tell me about God as you know him." In one conversation with a young minister he used the words "dialogue" and "engage" when he talked about the churches relating to the culture. Why do I need to do that? Because I need to learn the language of their heart!

Our church is learning to speak the language of those with a variety of hurts, habits, hang-ups and hopelessness. We are learning to speak the language of those of the Hispanic culture. We are learning to speak the language of those faced with the culture of poverty. Yet will we dare to say to young families with small children or the families of teens, "Teach me to speak your language"? Will we say to students ages 13-25, "Teach me to speak your language"? Will we say to the typical 25-45 year old middle to upper income person who is intrigued by spirituality but doesn’t know what it is to be a follower of Jesus, "Teach me to speak your language"?

Peter said that the "young men will see visions" but he also said that "the old men will dream dreams." While I need and we need to hear the visions of the young I have some dreams that are worth dreaming. That dream involves seeing our church and each individual believer as a relay station of God’s power and message. Just as the electrical power for our community comes from the place it is generated and relayed to us so each believer and our church is to be a relay for the power of God’s Spirit and the telling of the Good news. In the summer of 2001 on a bus to Rio de Janeiro I had a dream of establishing a strategy for missions and evangelism that I have failed to communicate and initiate for a variety of reasons but that ends today. I have a dream of our church effectively reaching young families; children, students and other adults at such a level that we will literally burst into our new Education Ministries Center and spill over into the spaces that are vacated. I made a decision this past week to stop being afraid of the dream of what our church can be and what it will cost but to live or die reaching forward toward that dream.

All of those we seek to impact hear our message differently. Yet as today’s storytellers we have only One Story – "So let it be clearly known by everyone in Israel that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified to be both Lord and Messiah!" (Acts 2:36 NLT). Regardless of the language we may speak this is the story that as humans we have willfully disregarded. We have not only disregarded it we have rebelled against the story and have listened to our own story denying God’s purpose for our life. As a result we are separated from His love. Jesus lived, died and was resurrected to bridge the gulf between God and us. When we take God at His word and trust what Jesus did for us then we are transformed forever. That’s our story. No matter the language, it is still the same story. How will they know he loves them if we don’t tell them?

In a recent conference called "Lift Up Your Voice" Southern Baptist speaker and writer Beth Moore told a humorous and touching story about her daughter Amanda’s experience with a 3-D ultrasound. Amanda had told her mother that this was a new technology available using three-dimensional ultrasound that would provide a clearer picture of her son that would soon be born. After being informed that it was something new grandparents would especially appreciate, she agreed to go with her for the procedure.

When Amanda was ready, the procedure revealed the image of Beth’s grandson in amazing detail. The ultrasound showed the child sucking its thumb and nuzzling against the inside of its mother’s womb. Beth Moore says she found herself just inches away from the screen talking to the child, "Baby boy, it’s me! It’s Granny! We can’t tell you how much we love you; we are so excited that you are ours! We can’t wait to see you!" Moore said she continued on and on telling her soon-to-be-born grandson of her love and acceptance. She later realized that while she was expressing her love for her grandson that this child did not even know she existed.

Upon reflection, Beth Moore said that in the same way Jesus looks out upon the world and says to people who are totally unaware of this existence, "I love you! I want you to know how much I love you! I want you to know I died for you. I want you to know just how valuable you are to me although you don’t even know I exist." John said, "We love because he first loved us" (I John 4:19).

Here is my question: How will they know of his passionate love if we do not tell them? How can we tell them if we are not speaking the language their heart understands? How can we speak their language unless we release the power of God’s Spirit? Acts 2:6 said, "When they heard this sound, they came running to see what it was all about…" because they heard, "their own languages being spoken by believers." May God do the same among us. Let’s tell the story in the language a heart understands.

Sunday, June 4, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org