“THE CAN DO CALL”

ACTS 2:1-11

2:1  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

2  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

3  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.

4  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.

6  And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.

7  Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

8  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

9  Parthians, Medes, 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, both Jews and proselytes,

11  Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."

12  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"

13  But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

14  But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.

15  Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.

16  No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17  'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon 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 upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

For most of his life Peter was probably looked upon as a loser.  He wasn’t rich.  He wasn’t a scholar.  He wasn’t an important person by any stretch of the imagination.  He was just a simple struggling fisherman.  In fact, he probably wasn’t even a very good fisherman.  Think about it.  If Peter had been a successful fisherman do you think he would have immediately dropped everything so he could go and follow Jesus? 

Peter probably felt a little like the members of a church group that meet each week to help people who suffered from low self-esteem.  One Sunday morning a notice in the bulletin caught their attention.  The notice read, “The Low Self-Esteem Group will meet this Thursday evening in the church hall.  Please use the back door.”

Peter probably felt like he was a loser from time to time.  He probably felt that way the night Jesus was arrested.  In the chaos that followed Peter was asked three times if he knew Jesus and three times he said very emphatically that he didn’t know the man. 

All of this is what makes the events that took place in the Temple on the Day of Pentecost so amazing.  When people started to ridicule the disciples, who was it that got up and started to preach about the power and love of Christ?  That’s right.  It was Peter. “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem,” he said, “let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.”

Peter was filled that day with the Spirit of the living God and suddenly this disciple who couldn’t do anything right went from being a loser to being a leader.  He went from being a coward to being a man of courage.  He went from being a nobody to being a somebody.

Now I want our confirmands to remember Peter in the years to come.  Why? Because I guarantee that at some point in your life you’re going to stumble.  You’re going to have one of those days where it feels like you can’t do anything right.  You’re going to find yourself faced with a challenge and you’re going to say to yourself, “There’s no way I can do that.” You’re going to tell yourself that you’re not smart enough or important enough or talented enough to succeed.  Well guess what?  Neither was Peter, until he let himself be filled with the Spirit of the living God.

That same Spirit can also help you do things that you never thought you could do.  Many years ago when I was in seminary I spent a summer working in a hospital as a student chaplain. That proved to be a very difficult summer for me. You see back then I was incredibly shy.  So, the thought of walking into a patient’s room and talking to a complete stranger was terrifying for me.   I literally had to force myself to go into those rooms. All of that began to change though when I suddenly closed my eyes one day and prayed, “Lord, I can’t do this.  So, please go with me into this room and help me.”  Now you’re not going to believe this, but as soon as I said those words, a voice said to me, “I’m already in the room waiting for you.”

The Spirit of the living God is waiting for you too.  It’s waiting for you in all of life’s challenges with a very simple message.  “Yes, you can.”  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

May 15, 2005 – Pentecost Sunday