Storing Pentecost in the Attic?

When we were preparing to move from North Carolina to Powhatan we decided that we would move all of the contents of our attic to our living room in an effort to get rid of unnecessary items before the movers came.  What followed were several ads on Craigslist and a Saturday morning yard sale.  In cleaning out the attic we were amazed at several things we found.  We were most happy over one find—a Bach Stradivarius trumpet that Beverley’s parents had given to her when she was in high school band.  We had had not seen the trumpet in years and had given up on ever seeing it again.  There were other finds in our attic, things we were happy to see and things that our children really thought were amusing, but when we moved you will never believe what we did with those things.  As the movers were carrying the boxes in that contained our “attic contents” we directed them to carry them straight up the stairs, up the “fold down” ladder, and place them in the attic.  All of those wonderful finds—the trumpet, the pictures, the high-school yearbooks, are now packed back in the attic; it was a joy to see them all, but now they are right back in the same place.

            Many Christians do the same thing with Pentecost.  You know the story—early Christians had gathered together 50 days after the resurrection, and suddenly a mighty wind filled the room, flaming tongues of fire rested over their heads, everyone heard the gospel preached in their native tongue, and the Church was born.  It was an experience in which the Christians lost control and made a spectacle of themselves.  It was over the top, excessive, and powerful.  It is a good story and a story we love, especially if we can just take it out about once a year and then get it back into the box.  We treat it like those treasures in our attics.  It is good to bring them down once in a while, let it warm our hearts, and then get it stored back into the attic.

            This coming Sunday we are going to bring this story out of the attic, take it out and focus on it during worship.  We are about 50 days past Easter, and this is a fitting time to look at it.  I would like to make a suggestion as we celebrate this Pentecostal Power this Sunday—maybe we shouldn’t put it back in the attic when we are finished.  Maybe we should be brave enough to let this story that is drenched with God the Holy Spirit’s power stay with us and affect our lives as individuals and as a Church Family.

            How would we be different if we did this, if we allowed the story of Pentecostal Power affect our well organized lives?  My first answer is that I don’t really know—I don’t know what (if anything) would change, but I know how it has affected Christians in the past.  The first thing that happened is that timid people became bold.  People who did not have the courage to share good news found themselves preaching so that all could hear.

Second, followers became leaders.  Jesus’ followers who did not think they could manage one day without Jesus beside them were now leading others.  Listeners became preachers, and the ones that Jesus was sent to became the ones sent.  And finally, new beginnings are granted.  It could have been all over when Jesus went back to heaven, but the most unlikely thing happened—the church had a new beginning.  The followers had the same power that Christ had, and it was a new day for the Church.

This is the kind of power that we need to leave out of the attic.  This is the power that needs to envelop our lives, but it is a risky way to live.  We lose control, we turn our wills over to the will of God, and we are goes where the wind blows.  But what excitement and joy we experience when we allow that Pentecostal Power to permeate our life together.