Cloven Tongues of Fire

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. - Acts 2:3

Sometimes the word God has for others or for us comes and sits on us. Then, it does its work and we are as amazed as the listeners. We jut don’t know where it came from or how we could be used so mightily – except that God did something spectacular. Often, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We do not speak the “language” of an acquaintance. We may share a common tongue, but we do not know the language of his or her heart.

Words are like triggers sometimes. Careless, even innocent use of some words can push the play buttons on “old tapes” sending the listener into a rage of defensive posturing. More often, we overuse words and speech patterns. The ears of listeners grow dull to the repetitious sound of our religious platitudes and spiritual utterances. What we say is true, but the truth does not penetrate or take root because it is not heard. So, either a wall of defense is build to keep the gospel out or a wall of apathy. Either way, a fire is needed to burn away the walls.

At Pentecost, all heard the gospel in their own languages. More important, each person heard the word in the language of his or her heart. It penetrated deeply and cut to the quick. It burned away resistance and complacency with the heat of its passion and the clarity of consuming fury.

We need tongues of fire today as well. We need our own souls set on fire by the Holy Spirit who alone can burn through the rubbish of noisy distractions and set the world on fire with the ”buzz” of God’s good news. Do you deeply desire to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ? Give yourself over to God and ask Him, in faith, to speak through you, believing that He will. You will be amazed and people you never expected to pay attention will hear the life-changing message of Jesus.

Now, let us tilt the view a bit and look from another angle.

“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”– Acts 2:3

The tongue holds a prominent place in scripture – sometimes for the evil it can do and other times as a tremendous force for good. In the New Testament, it is the purveyor of the good news of Jesus Christ. By the foolishness of preaching, the gospel is spread throughout the world regardless of the languages of the people.

Fire burns away dross and every superficial thing that vies for attention and distracts from the message of truth. Fire burns in the hearts of those who are entrusted with God’s message so that the message spreads without hindrance and impacts all who are in its path.

At Pentecost, God placed His message of grace in the hearts and on the tongues of every believer. Consider the each and the every, the individual and the collective in the experience of Pentecost. God calls us each to worship Him and that is very personal, intimate, and individualized. But He also calls us, everyone, to be part of the whole, to be joined as a body in the ensemble of harmonic voices lifted in unified praise in and through the Holy Spirit to the glory of His Name and the proclamation of His Word.

Today, as we come together, we are many and we are one in the celebration of the mystery of the Holy Spirit in the majesty of the Body. We are here at God’s invitation and sent forth with His commission because of Pentecost.

The Guide

"...he will guide you into all truth..." -John 16:13b

There were many things that Jesus could have said, wanted to say, and needed to say to the disciples, but it was not the right time.  It was not the right time because they were not ready. They could not hear those things. They could not bear those things. They were not ready.

They would be ready later. They would be eager later. It would be the right time later. Their hearts would be prepared. Their lives would have been transformed later.

We must be ready to receive. We need a guide.

Jesus used more than one term to describe the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Truth.  He is the Counselor, the Comforter, the Paraclete who walks beside us.  He is the Spirit of the Living God.  He is the wind that blows wherever it will.

Now, in this setting, he is a guide. His role is to guide Jesus' disciples into truth. Not only is it truth where he guides, but Jesus says that it is all truth.

He transforms the hearts and minds of the disciples and prepares them to receive truth. Then he imparts truth to them. He guides. He directs. He counsels. He coaches. He illuminates. He helps them to apply that truth to their lives.

He answers questions we have never asked before.

Jesus says that he will not speak of himself. He has not come to exalt himself. He hears and he speaks. Furthermore, he shows us what is ahead of us.

The bottom line, Jesus tells the disciples, is that he glorifies God in the Son of God. He glorifies the Christ.

He does this, According to Jesus, by taking what is Jesus’, namely his words and thoughts, and revealing them to us. He shows us the things of God. He discloses God's wonders. He unveils the riches of God's Word.  He frames God's wisdom in a way that we can understand it and live it.

There is a partnership between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  It is a partnership of fellowship. It is a partnership of truth. All that belongs to one is shared with the other.

When the Spirit comes, Jesus teaches, we will be ready. That is because the Holy Spirit invites us into the fellowship where we experience the Holy Trinity. In that fellowship, we are prepared, and we are ready to receive the things the Jesus wanted to teach his disciples, but they were not ready to hear.

That is the beauty and the wonder of Pentecost, and it is why we celebrate it today.