“EMBRACING THE EMBARRASSMENT”
ACTS 2:1-21

2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Every now and then it helps if you can laugh at yourself. It helps if you can laugh at your foibles and your flaws.

That’s why I really like the story about the minister who sat down with a contractor one day to discuss the possibility of air conditioning the church’s sanctuary. I know. It sounds familiar doesn’t it? Anyway, the contractor began the conversation by asking the minister a series of questions. He wanted to know the square footage for the sanctuary, the sanctuary’s seating capacity and the average Sunday morning attendance. The contractor took down all the information. Then, all of a sudden he crumpled up the paper and started over. “What’s wrong?” the minister asked. “Oh,” the contractor replied, “I was figuring for a movie theater instead of a church.” The minister was puzzled. “What’s the difference?” he asked. “If the size and the seating capacity are similar wouldn’t the air conditioning system be the same?” The contractor shook his head. “No, not at all,” he said. “You see, in a theater with all that’s happens on the screen there are certain biological changes that take place. The heart begins to beat faster, the blood pressure goes up and the body temperature begins to climb. In other words, there’s a great demand for cooling in a theater. On the other hand you don’t need as much cooling when you’re in a church listening to a sermon.”

It’s one thing to laugh at yourself and have people laughing with you. It’s another thing for the laughter to turn into ridicule. That’s what happened to the disciples when the Holy Spirit descended on them. When the people who were there heard the disciples speaking in tongues they began to ridicule them. They decided that the disciples were drunk. How shocking. Nine o’clock in the morning and the disciples were drunk.

They were wrong of course which is why Peter stood up and set the record straight.

What happened that day to the disciples is the reason why the promise to follow Jesus should never be taken lightly. In fact, our confirmands may not realize it, but a few minutes ago they promised to do something that is very difficult for a teenager to do. They promised to do something that is actually very difficult for most people to do. You see if you take your faith seriously what happened that day to the disciples will eventually happen to you.

It may not happen tomorrow or next week or next month, but sooner or latter you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb. You’re going to have to say “no” when everyone else is saying “yes” or you’re going to say “yes” when everyone else is saying “no.” You’re going to have to be different even though people may not like it; even though people may laugh at you; even though people may ridicule you; even though people may end up not liking you very much.

That’s the choice that a seventeen year old young man had make one evening. It happened during a high school basketball game. The game was between two teams just outside New York City. The teams were from New Rochelle and Yonkers and the game was for the league championship. Yonkers was ahead by one point with just 30 seconds left to play. That was when New Rochelle stole the ball and headed up the court. The first shot rolled tantalizingly around the rim and then fell off. New Rochelle got the rebound though and tapped the ball in for the victory. In the ensuing chaos, however, the referee, Al Covino, noticed that the clock was at zero. Because of all the noise in the gym he hadn’t heard the final buzzer. The other referee didn’t hear it either. So, they went to the official timekeeper who happened to be a young 17-year-old student from New Rochelle. “Mr. Covino,” the young scorekeeper said, “the buzzer went off…before the final tap-in was made.” The referee now found himself in the unenviable position of having to tell the New Rochelle coach that they really hadn’t won the game. The coach’s face clouded over as the young timekeeper walked up to him. What happened next shocked the referee. The young scorekeeper looked at the coach and said, “I’m sorry Dad. The time ran out before the final basket.” “That’s okay,” the coach replied. “You did what you had to do. I’m proud of you.” The referee then watched them walk off the court together with the father’s arm around his son’s shoulder.

Here in this sanctuary it’s easy to say, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I’m going to follow him.” It might not be so easy tomorrow.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
May 18, 2008 – Confirmation Sunday