A Sermon Delivered
by The Rev. John D. Painter
at Centenary United Methodist Church
Metuchen, New Jersey
May 31, 2009
(The Day of Pentecost)

Text: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other lan-guages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speak-ing Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phry-gia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs–in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
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. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘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. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” —Acts 2:1-21, NRSV

Fireflies. They are a fond memory many of us have from warm summer evenings in our childhood. Their cheery glow drew our attention, and some of us even captured a few of these tiny creatures in a jar. Whether we called them fireflies, lightning bugs or glowworms, we saw their tiny lights as one of the marks of summertime.

So now let me ask you, when did you last see a bunch of fireflies? You probably haven’t thought about that much before, but now that you are, chances are your answer is something like “It’s been a long time” or “I can’t remember when.”

That’s not because you’ve become less observant. While there’s no way to tag and count insect populations, experts think that fireflies are dwindling, perhaps by as much as 70 percent in recent years, and lots of anecdotal evidence seems to support that claim.

There’s probably no single factor to blame, but likely causes include urban sprawl and industrial pollution that obliterate the insects’ habitat. Another probable cause—and this one may surprise you—is the spread of artificial light. The glowing fireflies we do see are the males of the species, who use their flashing lights to attract the females. (The females spend most of their time on the ground and don’t flash.) Researchers suspect that so much artificial light around is interfering with the mating ritual, and thus they are not reproducing.

While researchers acknowledge that the concern over fireflies may not seem as urgent as that over some other dwindling species, such as polar bears and tigers, they see the fate of these tiny light-bearers as a harbinger of unhealthy changes in the whole ecosystem. Remembering their cheery lights from warm summer evenings in our childhood, we hope they will still be around for subsequent generations to enjoy.

Speaking of light-bearers, today is Pentecost, the anniversary of that first-century day when the Holy Spirit came in a mighty way upon the disciples of Jesus, who were hunkered down in an upper room in Jerusalem. The Bible’s description of the sudden infilling of those dis-ciples with the Spirit includes this: “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.” Ever since then, fire—which, of course, is a source of light—has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, that symbol also connects to Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

The fact that these tongues of fire rested on each of Jesus’ followers on Pentecost is a way of showing that when the Spirit fills us, we, too, radiate the light of God. Thus, Spirit-filled Christians are light-bearers. And over the centuries, Christians have “glowed” with that light as they have spread the gospel, shared the good news, gone about doing good, committed sacrificial acts of love for neighbors (and even for enemies), and have sought to understand and do the will of God.

In some of Jesus’ subsequent followers, that light of the Spirit can be almost visually seen. Several years ago, after the English writer Malcolm Muggeridge spent some time observ-ing Mother Teresa working in Calcutta, India, taking care of dying people she plucked off the streets, he wrote a book about her he titled Something Beautiful for God. In it, Muggeridge said, “God’s universal love has rubbed off on Mother Teresa, giving her features a noticeable lumi-nosity, a shining quality” (italics added).

In most of us who follow Jesus today, the light within us may not be quite that apparent to others, but when we confront darkness in our lives, we often become conscious of how the way of the Lord is the primary light of our lives.

The thing is, in this world, there are lots of other lights, some that seem more glitzy or powerful or, in some fields, even more illuminating. And just as fireflies are finding their inner lights overpowered by bright but artificial lighting, so, too, we Christians sometimes find the light of God within us — especially if we don’t tend it — growing dim.

In a recent E-mail to Homiletics magazine, Chris Lake reflected: “I like the metaphor [fireflies] and found it a helpful tool to talk about Pentecost. I was thinking about the little bugs themselves, how they glow in short bursts, creating moments of light. Perhaps another link could be drawn between the idea that as Christians we are not always on or perfect, but we do have moments when we light up and illuminate the word, and even if it is not sustained, it is good enough.”

While Mike Nelson was a student at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, he heard Al Harris, a classmate and a pastor of the Missionary Baptist Church, tell this story in a sermon at morning chapel to describe how the Holy Spirit works.

One June evening, just past dusk, a little boy was playing outside his home when he no-ticed some fireflies. He was fascinated by their brightness, and so he ran inside the house and excitedly asked his dad, “Daddy, what makes the fireflies glow?”

His dad, not sure how to answer, said to his son, “I really don’t know, son. Why don’t you ask your teacher at school?”

The boy was not discouraged by his father’s non-answer but simply ran outside to admire the fascinating creatures some more. He tried to catch one. Several times he swatted at them with his hands but missed; but then his hands clapped together on both sides of one’s flight and it squished between his palms. Making a face as he felt the mashed insect’s body between his hands, he slowly opened them to see the wasted creature. To his surprise the dead firefly was still glowing in the palms of his hands.

Excitedly, he ran back into the house, yelling, “Daddy, Daddy, I found out what it is that makes the fireflies glow!”

His dad, pleased that his son had figured out the answer to his own question, asked, “And what is it, son?”

“It’s the stuff inside!” he replied proudly, showing him the palm of his hand.

Rev. Harris explained, “The same thing is true of followers of Jesus Christ. What is it that gives us that glow? The answer is simple. It’s the stuff inside.”

The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost lit the fire of the church. God’s Spirit is still and must always be the main source of light for Christians. Individually and as the church, we should do what is necessary to keep ourselves alive as good places for the Spirit’s flames to burn hotly and the Spirit’s light to shine brightly.

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PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, on this day of Pentecost, we pray that you would come to us in the power of your Holy Spirit. Baptize us afresh with this life-giving breath. Give us the words you would have us to speak. Embolden us to testify in your name, to tell the whole world about your mighty works, to be your mighty works, your courageous prophets, your bearers of light to the world. Amen.