Sunday's Message: But We Live in Sligo

On Sunday, June 5, we celebrated Pentecost, and so I preached on the coming of the Holy Spirit. Below is the passage and the sermon. Remember, you can stream the service live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube page beginning at 10:00 a.m. 

Acts 2:1-21

On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. They were excited and amazed, and said:

Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done.

Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”

Others made fun of the Lord’s followers and said, “They are drunk.”

Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:

Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say! You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. After all, it is only nine o’clock in the morning. But this is what God told the prophet Joel to say,

“When the last days come,

I will give my Spirit

    to everyone.

Your sons and daughters

    will prophesy.

Your young men

    will see visions,

and your old men

    will have dreams.

In those days I will give

    my Spirit to my servants,

both men and women,

    and they will prophesy.

“I will work miracles

    in the sky above

and wonders

    on the earth below.

There will be blood and fire

    and clouds of smoke.

The sun will turn dark,

and the moon

    will be as red as blood

before the great

and wonderful day

    of the Lord appears.

Then the Lord

will save everyone

    who asks for his help.”

But We Live in Sligo

You know, one of the reasons we enjoyed living in Weirton was that it was sort of “small townie” but at the same time pretty close to a big city. And I’ll tell you, that’s even more the case here. I mean, even though words like “small” and “big” are relative, I think I’m pretty safe in saying that Sligo is a small town that’s pretty close to a big city. And of course, that big city is Rimersburg, right? No, I’m kidding, it’s Clarion. Again, that’s not right; it’s Pittsburgh, the home of the Steelers and the Penguins and the Pirates, that special place where people say “yuns” and push buggies through grocery stories and put french fries on everything. Now that’s the Steel City. And you know, even though we’re pretty close, there are a few differences between Pittsburgh and Sligo, aren’t there; the most obvious being that one is pretty big, with a little over 300,000 in the city itself and the other, well, in 2020 there were 651 Sligoites or Sligorians, up from 491 in 2019, and that’s according to the United States Census Bureau. 

And you know, I’m mentioning all this, because, as described by what Luke wrote in Acts, Pentecost seemed to be a more big city thing than something to which we can really relate here in Sligo. I mean, just think about how the actual coming of the Holy Spirit was described. Luke wrote, “Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.” [Acts 2:2-4, CEV] Now, I know I’ve only lived around here for about a year, but I’m guessing this kind of thing just doesn’t happen very often. I mean, that’s not how we experience the Holy Spirit in Sligo, now is it? And all this business about the different kinds of people who were there, you know the “many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem [Acts 2:5],” well, again I recognize that I’m new around here, but how many different languages are generally spoken in Sligo? And when’s the last time you saw someone from Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, or  Pamphylia complaining about the price of gas at the UK. That’s certainly not the folks I’ve met. And do you remember that stuff that Joel prophesied and that Peter preached when he said,

“When the last days come,

I will give my Spirit

    to everyone.

Your sons and daughters

    will prophesy.

Your young men

    will see visions,

and your old men

    will have dreams.

In those days I will give

    my Spirit to my servants,

both men and women,

    and they will prophesy”? [Acts 2:17-18, CEV]

Well, I’ve got to be straight with y’all, outside of this old man taking more dream-inducing naps, I don’t see this kind of thing happening now-a-days, at least not any more than ten years ago. It’s just not a part of who we are. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s why I think it’s pretty easy for us to assume that the Pentecost story really has little to say to us, at least not for us right here and right now. In other words, when we look at what Luke said in Acts and when we read about the “tongues of the fire” and about all those folks from “Parthia, Media, and Elam” and about a message dealing with how... 

The sun will turn dark,

and the moon

    will be as red as blood

before the great

and wonderful day

    of the Lord appears. [Acts 2:20, CEV]

well, I think it’s easy to assume that, even though it’s an exciting story and that it may have a lot to say about God and the Spirit and the disciples back in the day, it really doesn’t offer a whole lot for us right here and right now. In other words, I think it’s easy for us to be dazzled by the story of Pentecost and then put it away sort of like, when I get home, I’m going to hang my red sports jacket back in the closet until Christmas. 

But before we do that, I mean, before we just pack it away and move on, I think there are three things we might want to remember. I mean, first, right here in Sligo, we’re still being inspired by the Holy Spirit, and even though it may not be coming as “tongues of fire”, that Spirit is still resting on each one of us, and we can know that because it’s resting on the church. Man, it’s resting on this church right now, as sure as it rested on Jesus Christ when he came out of the Jordan River. And just like it empowered him to do all kinds of things, things as grand and miraculous as feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fish but also as simple and basic as telling someone that he’s loved and forgiven by God, that same Spirit still empowers us. It still empowers us to use our mouths to tell others that they’re also loved and forgiven by that same God and to remind them about mercy and grace. And it still empowers us to use our hands and maybe our wallets to help out the hungry and the suffering and to support them as they try to survive. And I’ll tell you, it still empowers us to use our lives to demonstrate that we always have reason to hope, that no matter how rough things get, no matter how overwhelming life becomes and that no matter how hopeless we might feel, we already know the end of the story, and God wins. You see, for us right here in Sligo, we’re still being inspired by the Holy Spirit. That’s one.

And second, right here in Sligo, we’re still surrounded by a lot of different people with whom we can share, people who are as different from one another as those folks from Pontus and Asia were different from Phrygians and Pamphylians. I mean, even though, around here, most folks come from the same ethnic stock, pretty much, and speak the same language, pretty much, and share the same religion, pretty much; man, we’re still different. I mean, we all carry around different lessons and memories, you know, experiences that have shaped our characters and our values. And what’s more, we all face different situations and problems in our own lives right now, you know, challenges that can absolutely dominate our thoughts and drain our energy. And we all hang on to different hopes and fears as we move into the future, and I’m talking about expectations that can make us feel either really confident or really afraid. You see, even though, when it comes to stuff like race and language and religion, we have a lot in common, how we view and deal with the past and present and future may be profoundly different. And so, as a church, we face a world ever bit as diverse as the crowd that was amazed by the disciples. And just like them, these folks desperately need to hear about grace and forgiveness, you know, that thanks to God, who we are doesn’t have to be determined by where we’ve been. And just like them, these people could sure use a little more comfort and support in their lives, and I’m talking about the kind of thing that they can experience in this new community into which God has led us, you know, what I’m talking about, a place where success is measured by sacrifice and where those who are first are actually the servant of all. And just like those disciples in Jerusalem, the men and women we see every day are absolutely starving for some salvation and some hope, something that’s grounded not on their intelligence or ability but rather on God’s freedom and love. You see, for us right here in Sligo, we’re still surrounded by a lot of different people with whom we can share. And that’s two.

And third, right here in Sligo, we’re still living in a remarkable time, a time of spirit and prophecy, a time of wonders and signs, a time when, as Joel wrote, “Then the Lord will save everyone who asks for his help.” [Acts 2:21, CEV] You see, I’m absolutely sure that God is still at work in his creation and that even though sometimes all we may be able to see is sin and corruption and ignorance in the world and in the church, politics and hypocrisy and arrogance, I don’t believe that God has given up on either one. He’s still in charge. And what’s more, I believe God has given us a role to play, imagine that, the creator of the universe has given us a role to play right here in Sligo to advance his kingdom on earth. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s something we need to remember. You see, we need to remember that we’re not the victims of fate or random acts or meaningless events, that God is in control, and that he’s leading his creation, he’s leading us into a glorious future, one that’s shaped by his love and made secure by his freedom. But that’s in the future. Right here in the present, right here in Sligo, we have the power, man, God has given us the power to make a difference, to make a difference with all those folks who need us, something that we can do, because, my gosh, we’re inspired and empowered by the same Spirit that came on the apostles at Pentecost. Man, for us right here in Sligo, we’re still living in a remarkable time. And that’s number three.

Now, I think we’d all agree that Sligo is not Pittsburgh. And you know, it’s not first-century Jerusalem either. And so, Pentecost may always sound a little bit like this grandiose story that’s exciting and dramatic, but that really doesn’t actually reflect what we’re dealing with in our lives. But before we close the book on Pentecost, let’s remember the three places where we can connect with this story from Acts. For example, first, we’re still being inspired by the Holy Spirit. And second, we’re still surrounded by a lot of different people with whom we can share. And finally, we’re still living in a remarkable time. And I’ll tell you, this is true for everybody, including all of us  who live in Sligo.