Flaming Tongues

              Flaming Tongues
Sc rip t; Act s 2.1-13
Intro: This Sunday stands in an interesting position on our calendars.
Memorial Day weekend and Pentecost Sunday celebrations overlap. One
celebration taken from our national calendar and the other from the
church's calendar. One i s to remember those who have died and are dying
to maintain the ideals of a fre e nation, and the other to remember the
power that makes the church liv e in any age.
Memorial day celebrations w ill center in the virtues and g lo r ie s of
s a c r ific e , bloodshed on behalf of id e a ls , and death; emphasizing the import­ance
of t he p a trio tic s p i r it tha t makes a nation great, powerful, and
hopefully humane, Pent ecost c a lls the church to remember that i t i s not
by might, nor by power, but by my S p ir it says the Lord of hosts, that the
church liv e s , has a power of witness to make any difference in the ecology
in which i t has been placed by the Providence of God.
Pentecost c a lls the church to the S p ir it th a t brought the f i r s t signs
of l i f e to a group of Chri stians who were not sure what to do with th e ir new
found fa ith . Memorial Day c a lls fo r s a c r ific e in the name of principles
assuring a free society. Pen te co st c a l l s fo r the giving up of the s e l f
to be f i l le d by the S p ir it—the s p i r it of God, empowering recipients with
the new l i f e God gives to men in Ch r is t . Both nation and church are in
need of a revival of s p i r i t , both need new power by which they may liv e .
The task of the church on Pentecost Sunday i s to look a t the power
that launched a small band of Christians into an influence that a t one
time shaped the development of Western c iv iliz a tio n . Pentecost, the time
when flaming tongues of f i r e stood over Christians, and the began to speak
another language, a language that challenged the concepts by which individ­uals
lived, and upon which the Roman Empire was based.
But what did Pentecost do to those people?
I . I t carried them beyond b e lie f . This i s not to say b e lie f i s unimportant,
A. Christian fa ith has been concerned about righ t b e lie f .
1. The early church was concerned about in filtr a tio n s of heresy.
2. Weakening or watering down f a i th 's foundations had to be guarded
ag ainst. Was Jesus re a lly human? What did i t mean, on the other hand
to c a l l him the Son of God? Does God forgive us f r e e ly or are there
strin g s attached?
3. There i s a sizable difference in c a llin g Jesus Lord, as over
against Teacher. Lord and Saviour were the designations, the affirma­tions
of the early church.
4. Affirmations can be handed down from generation to generation.
I s truth about God handed down as i s truth about gravity, magnetic
f ie ld s , the rules governing equations, the theorems underlying
Euclidean geometry? Are church vows lik e saying yes to 2 + 2=4?
B. 5. We must go beyond b e lie f .
1. B e l i e f in God, lik e b e lie fs in the accuracy of a mathematical
equation. 2+2=4 w ill not change the way I liv e or d ie. Knowing or
not knowing that piece of data i s not c ru c ia l. B e lie f in God too
often i s loudly affirmed but lik e 2=2 makes n o great rip p le in the
manner in which we liv e . B e lie f lik e th is even Satan capable of