I Will Do My Best
(Acts 2: 1-21 and Romans 8: 14-17)
I imagine that growing up in the Tri-Area in the 1950s and 60s was much like my childhood growing up in Warners, New York. Other than black and white television shows and party-line telephone service there wasn’t much to do to keep ourselves entertained. Thank God for the Boy Scouts of America and Methodist Youth Fellowship. Other than the opportunity to be around girls in a safe and secure setting I honestly don’t remember much about MYF and besides, the girls were a year or two older than me and even back then the older guys with cars were more interesting and attractive. My Boy Scout experience was much more comparable to the novel The Lord of the Flies as when we were turned loose into the woods for a camping trip we reverted to our basic feral instincts. We were not to be trusted with fire or anything sharp. On districtwide camping trips and jamborees other troops eyed us warily and gave us a wide berth. Not for nothing, I do remember the Boy Scout Oath: On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight. I like to think that in all I’ve done as an adult that I did my best in spite of falling short on more than one occasion, and that I will continue to do my best and leaving things like fire and sharp objects to those who know what they are doing.
And it’s upon our honor or responsibility as Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ to do our best for God and His creation, to help other people at all times, to keep ourselves physically strong, spiritually awake and morally straight that our scripture readings for this morning are leading us to. Through the plan of God, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit we’ve been set free, but this freedom comes with a responsibility, with a duty to remain obedient and subservient to God in all things and to put our faith into practice.
We begin this morning with Luke’s accounting of the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, as was God’s plan. For devout Jews of the time Pentecost, formally known as the Feast of Weeks, was a grain harvest celebration associated with covenant renewal and was celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover. Luke tells us that when the Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place when suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting and they saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak. Just as Jesus had told them, that if they waited in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit would come upon them, and it did. Luke says that there were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem and that when they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. We’re told that they were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages, which was surprising given the fact that the disciples were all from Galilee and wondered how they could be speaking so fluently in these other languages. Luke tells us that they were speaking in the various languages spoken by Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, and they heard them declaring the mighty works of God in their own languages. Luke tells us that this was bewildering to those who witnessed this spectacle wondering what it all meant. Some skeptics in the crowd surmised that they must have been drunk on new wine. This was Peter’s time, what he had been prepared for as he stepped into his role as the rock upon which Jesus would build his church. He raised his voice and said: Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel, at which time he connected what the prophet said to the event they were witnessing. The prophet Joel said in Joel 2: 28-32: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Even upon my servant, men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above and sign on the earth below; blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be changed into darkness and the moon will be changed into blood, before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Peter has just interpreted the Pentecost events as the fulfillment of Joel which describes God’s outpouring of the Spirit in the last days. To the pious Jews who had come from all around the region for the Pentecost celebration this had to have made quite an impression as they connected the events to what Peter reminded them of as spoken by the prophet Joel. And it was also a fulfillment of what John the Baptist had proclaimed regarding the Holy Spirit baptizing with fire. And because Peter’s authoritative speech was given to an international audience, it resulted in a worldwide harvest of new believers who responded to Peter’s words taking with them God’s Good News of salvation home with them beginning the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s important to note here that not everything foretold by the prophet Joel was happening on that particular morning of Pentecost. According to my Study Bible, the “last days” include all the days between Christ’s first and second comings and is merely another way of saying “from now on”. The great and spectacular day of the Lord denotes the whole Christian age, including the present times we are living in, which many would argue are not so glorious. But I would argue that this is our time, as Christians, to shine, to do our best to bring glory to God, reminding others of his authority and the eventual return of his Son, the Prince of Peace, and Savior of the world.
This is where our reading out of the Book of Romans becomes relevant and instructive. The Apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, says: All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. He’s reminding us of the close relationship we have with God through the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He says: You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. He’s telling us that with this Spirit, we cry Abba, Father, and that the same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. What great news that is that we’ve been adopted as equals into the family of God. We’re in some pretty good company and we really didn’t have to do anything too difficult to be granted this adoption. But then Paul says that if we are children, we are also heirs. He then puts it all in perspective when he says: We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him. Did you get that? I missed it the first time I read it. Paul says we are heirs with Christ “if we really suffer with him” so that we can also be glorified with him.
To me, this means that for the state of the world today, present day Christianity is not doing all it can to bring glory to God. Too many who profess to be Christians think that their profession of faith is all that was required of them, and you really can’t argue with them but the four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament are full of stories, parables, and lessons that are more than just illustrative of what it means to be an active and engaged brother or sister to Jesus Christ and an heir to the kingdom of God. Through the gift of the Spirit God wants us to do our best for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters and to repair the damage that has been caused to His creation. What the Apostle Paul is saying is that followers of Jesus are not simply to bide their time awaiting the resurrection but are instead to join the Spirit in an assault against sin and fleshly selfishness. We are to stand up against all that is wrong in the world. As believers we are enabled by the spirit to fulfill this singular righteous requirement of the law, now summed up as engaging in loving actions for others, actions that are sure to draw the attention and ire of people in power and positions of authority who will feel threatened and will do whatever they can to discredit what we do in Jesus’ name to preserve their status quo.
So yes, there is price for being identified with Jesus. This is why Paul mentions that along with being heirs of God, there will also be sufferings we must endure for what we unselfishly and lovingly do for God in our daily walk. It should cause us to ask what kinds of suffering we are willing to endure? When we see suffering do we look the other way, not wanting to get involved or bring unwanted attention and trouble upon ourselves? Now don’t be too hard on yourselves. I, and many other well-meaning people, have had the same thoughts. What truly matters is our response. We have to understand that if we truly follow Jesus in all that we do we too must expect to pay a price. We cannot afford to become complacent. To live as Jesus did-serving others, giving up one’s own rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world—always exacts a price. We just have to remember that nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us. God knows that. He just wants us to do our very best.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, how we praise you for your gift of the Holy Spirit, our companion, who is there for us at all times leading and guiding us. We want so much to be worthy of the honor of being adopted into your family and being a co-heirs of your kingdom with your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know that as a member of your family, like other families, we have a responsibility and a duty to look out for one another. And we know that sometimes we will be called upon, or placed in a position where we will have to step up and do what is difficult and sometimes unpopular by society’s expectations. But we know that as Christ suffered for us, we too must not fear suffering in our own way for His name’s sake. We just pray that when those times come that we will not fail you and that we will do our very best. This we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
To view service; click link below
I Will Do My Best
Through the gift of the Spirit God wants us to do our best for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, and to repair the damage that has been caused to His creation.