Acts 2:1-21; Genesis 11:1-9

Technology is on fast forward, moving into our lives whether we need it or want it. Most of us have heard about GPS to help prevent losing our way in our vehicles. A Global Positioning System can tell you which streets are one-way, if construction is ahead, directions (N,S,E,W), landmarks and even where the nearest Starbucks, your favorite Chinese restaurant or grocery store is located. You can even get traffic updates to see if any accidents or crowded, slow moving areas of the freeways exist.

On this day of Pentecost, Acts 2 describes the Holy Spirit, who guides us as children of God. Only the Spirit’s leading is not about getting from point A to point B in the speediest way possible. It doesn’t mean haring the voice emanating from the GPS to help you find a residence or place of business. Instead, it gives us a bigger picture of what it means to be led by the Spirit of God. It describes a way of life.

Today we are being bombarded with information on how to “go green”, to generate power in a clean, efficient manner. The United States Government supports solar-powered projects, wind farms and the release of methane (combustive gas) from volcanoes, garbage heaps and even cows (the pioneers used “cow chips”). Methane is just waiting to be collected.

It isn’t just that the world needs power and direction; the church does also! We struggle in the face of chronic hunger and homelessness, frustrated that we cannot speak the many languages of our growing diverse neighborhoods. We are eager to stand up in the midst of secular culture and to offer words of hope, grounded in the promises of the gospel.

The church needs power. The cleanest and greenest form of alternative energy came to a powerless church on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was a Jewish celebration of the renewal of the covenant they had with God; a great day to renew the baptismal covenant for Christians. Fifty days after Passover, Jews remembered when Abram laid out the divided animals in Genesis 15:17, and God passed between them to symbolize the remarkable testimony of the Jewish faith; that it was God who accepted responsibility for keeping the covenant God had made with Abram. The Pentecost story becomes the mirror image of the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9, where the arrogance of humanity resulted in being divided into many tribes that spoke multiple different languages. As they gather on the first Pentecost, the disciples experience the possibility of the reversal of this division. Through the power of the Holy Spirit they begin to speak in other languages. Jews from around the known world head them speaking in the native language of each—right there in the rural province of Galilee. The divisions of language overcome the divisions of class, age, sex and nationality. Pentecost was a renewal of hope that God would heal the divisions that seek to tear our world apart. The mirror images of Babel and Pentecost offer us both hope and challenge for the future. By the Holy Spirit, we are given a power that not only respects our differences, but unites us in a common testimony to the reconciling love of God.

“Suddenly, from heaven there was a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the house where they were sitting.” Wind power? Not exactly. Divided tongues appeared as if fire amongst them—over their heads a tongue rested one ach of them. Burning methane? Nope, not that kind of combustion. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and Joel prophesied that everyone who called on the name of the Lord would be saved (v.14, 16, 21). The first followers of Jesus were not energized by wind, sunlight or methane gas. Their power came from the Holy Spirit of God and enabled them to speak in diverse languages to offer a world of gospel hope. God’s power is clean and green and is still available to us today.

We can tap into this energy today: help kids with homework after school, provide food for hungry families, re-develop empty lots into community gardens, and visit prisoners. WE can meet these needs and others if we open ourselves to the clean, green power of the Holy Spirit and focus our efforts on loving God, loving people and following Jesus. It may seem strange on a day we wear red to remember the Holy Spirit’s appearance as fire to emphasize “being green.” It sounds a bit like Christmas when Christ broke into our world as a human to show us a simple way. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and visit the imprisoned—big orders to fill.

The antidote is to tap into a source of power that comes from beyond ourselves. The power of Pentecost is an energy source that can keep us burning with love for God and for people around us. This power is not found primarily in programs, policies or institutions, rather in the loving actions of a faithful Christian community.

We do not have to be creative “greeniuses.” Pentecost power fuels food drives, blanket drives to generate warmth for homeless people and people suffering from disasters, inspires youth leaders to speak truth to teenagers and to offer words of hope based on their value for God, not on popularity or GPA. Pentecost Power is clean and green and reveals itself in love—the fusion of God’s love for us and our love for God and each other. Love is an alternative energy that can change the world. Tap into it! (For Rachel during Confirmation: Find new ministries to touch the lives of others so that they will know you are a Christian by your love).

Amen.