Sermons

Sun, Jun 09, 2019

The meaning of the Pentecost myth

Series:Sermons

This week marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Now, I’m not a military historian;

and I have never studied modern European history––

let alone the history of World War Two––

so my appreciation of the significance of this event is largely shaped by conventional wisdom and popular culture.

For example…

watching the film, “Saving Private Ryan”––

and especially the bloody brutality of the opening scenes––

helped me to imagine…

in some small way…

the sheer horror of it at the personal level.

That said, however, there were aspects of that film that annoyed me intensely.

In particular, it seemed to suggest that the landings were a predominantly American effort.

That, apparently, was far from the case.

The plan for the landings was largely devised by the British General Montgomery.

Only about twenty percent of the naval ships and twenty-five percent of the landing craft involved were American;

only one-third of the aircraft were American;

and about half of the troops were American.

Of course, it makes sense, in an American-made film––

like “Saving Private Ryan”––

that the focus would be on Americans.

But many recent military historians suggest that… 

lurking behind the popular story of D-Day…

there are serious misconceptions.

In particular, what is being labelled as the “Myth of D-Day”…

is the idea that it was the turning point in the war in Europe;

that it was D-Day that broke the back of the German army…

and led, directly, to German’s defeat.

Instead, the turning point was actually on the Eastern front;

especially the demoralising and attritional defeat at Stalingrad;

combined with the aerial bombardment of German industry.

If D-Day had failed, these historians suggest, Germany would still have been defeated…

but more of Europe would have fallen under Soviet control.

The “Myth of D-Day”, they argue, is largely a product of the Cold War…

and of Western, especially American, propaganda.

 

That’s how a myth functions.

It may be a story based on truth––

or it may be a complete fabrication––

but the point is how the story sparks our imagination.

What matters is what it says to us.

Myths are stories that help to define our identity and shape our values.

And… 

in the case of “Foundational Myths”…

they do that by attempting to explain how something began.

And that’s what we have in this morning’s reading from Acts.

This story of Pentecost is a myth that the author constructed… 

to try to explain the foundation of the church…

and to inculcate certain ideas and values.

It’s a story full of traditional imagery, like the fire and wind––

which are Hebrew symbols of theophany…

that is, symbols of God’s presence.

And the author’s telling of the story draws on other myths…

specifically, the story of Babel––

a myth trying to explain how the world and its peoples came to be divided…

unable to communicate.

But there are other influences here as well.

Scholars note that the author has constructed the book of Acts… 

with clear parallels between it and his Gospel.

And we have that parallelism going on here.

Granted, it’s not a precise parallel, but there are very remarkable echoes.

Take the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Luke’s Gospel.

Jesus comes to the Jordan and is baptised.

After which, he sees the Spirit symbolically descend upon him.

Then he spends forty days in the wilderness, alone;

before returning and beginning his ministry, preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth.

At the start of Acts, we find the disciples having their own wilderness experience of forty days––

following the death of Jesus––

when they were effectively alone… 

(except for a number of experiences whereby they came to believe that Jesus was alive);

before they symbolically receive the Spirit…

and begin their ministry, preaching to the assembled crowd.

As I said, strong echoes and a parallel pattern–– 

even if not precise––

by which the author is suggesting… 

that Jesus’ early followers were replicating and continuing the ministry that Jesus began.

 

So, the Pentecost myth in Acts is–– 

in the first instance––

trying to explain how a bunch of timid, unreliable, self-seeking, and seemingly dense individuals changed… 

and changed dramatically.

After all, in the ancient world… 

it was thought that a person’s character was fixed––

determined by their family of origin…

the place where they were born…

their gender…

and the way that they looked.

For a misfit bunch of largely scruffy peasants with little or no education…

suddenly to become bold and courageous…

publicly outspoken…

capable of setting the world on fire…

it had to mean that another “person” was present. 

And so…

drawing on traditional imagery… 

the author came up with this Pentecost story to explain it.

And yet, the author’s point in all of this is one that has been made by countless others since.

For example, according to the American Quaker, Jessamyn West:

“A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in vain”;

or, somewhat more dogmatically, the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, asserted:

“If your religion does not make you holy, it will damn you”.

In other words, faith is never simply a matter of intellectual assent…

nor a matter of words and ideas.

In the end, its reality is seen in the difference that it makes.

That is what matters:

does my faith––

does my religion––

have an impact on my life?

Does my faith make me a better person?

 

And, in keeping with that… 

the author’s construction of the Pentecost story… 

hints at what he thinks ought to characterise that sort of difference or impact––

namely, that the followers of Jesus ought to emulate the ministry of Jesus.

In other words, we ought to continue the work that Jesus began.

And, although it’s not spelled out…

that’s where the parallelism between Acts and the Gospel of Luke comes in.

What we’re effectively being drawn to is Jesus’ own definition of his ministry…

which he cites in his preaching at Nazareth:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free, 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”.

That, the author is implying, is what being filled with the Spirit means;

that iswhat Pentecost is about;

that is what we, as followers of Jesus, are called to do.

And, if our faith and religion is both to be genuine and to be seen to be genuine…

then that’s what we’re called to be passionate about.

As followers of Jesus…

we’re called to proclaim “good news” to those who are marginalised––

to those whom society neglects or casts off.

We’re called to free those trapped by debt…

by institutional or political oppression…

by prejudice or ideology…

by religious bigotry, fundamentalism, and intolerance.

In the end, the Pentecost story invites us to be agents of transformation in the world…

by finding courage and passion––

through God’s generous…

indiscriminate…

liberating…

and inclusive presence… 

in the depth and core of our beings.

The Pentecost story invites us to be Jesus for this broken and needy world.

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