Pentecost: Diversity and Unity for Today

Copyright: South Bay Community Church
Sermon Reflections: Pentecost: Diversity and Unity for Today
Date: 28 May 2023
  Speakers: Pastors Brian Hui and Tammy Long
Scripture Text: Acts 2: 1-21 

Sermon Preamble: Pentecost Sunday marks a very special day in the life of the Church, meaning followers of Christ everywhere around the world. Pentecost continues the unfolding story of the Trinity. At Christmas, God gives the gift of the Son, the greatest gift ever, so we may experience God up close and personal. Through Jesus we come to know God in the flesh and the Kingdom of God. At Easter, Jesus makes the greatest sacrifice ever of His very life taking on all our sins, so we could be reconciled with God and experience eternal life in God’s Kingdom. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit releases the greatest power we can experience. The power and presence of God is at work in our lives individually and in community through the body of believers in Christ. Pentecost is a celebration of diversity, unity, and solidarity celebrating the birth of the early Christian community and the releasing of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us and through us even today!

On this Pentecost Sunday celebration, we are worshipping jointly with Living Stones Church, pastored by Brian Hui. We are blessed that both Pastor Tammy Long and Pastor Brian Hui are presenting this message to us.
 
As promised by Jesus and predicted in the Old Testament by Joel, the power of the Holy Spirit came
            Jesus promised, “I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven. “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you (Luke 24:49). “But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). Joel’s prophecy was quoted by Peter speaking to the crowd, “’In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see vision, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants - men and women alike – and they will prophesy” (Acts 2: 17-18, citing Joel 2: 28-29). Joel prophesied and Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come for all believers.

The Holy Spirit came with a grand entrance on the day of Pentecost
            “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1-2). A mighty rush of wind got the attention of all who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.
            “Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability” (Acts 2: 3-4). The Holy Spirit descended like tongues of fire on the disciples as they were praying. The disciples were empowered with divine gifts and filled with the fire of God’s Loving Spirit.
            “At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem.  When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. ‘How can this be?’ they exclaimed. ‘These people are all from Galilee’ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done” (Acts 2: 5-11). We hear about the miracle of everyone hearing the Gospel message in their own language.
            Pentecost celebrates diversity, unity, and solidarity in the birth of the early Christian community. We also celebrate the arrival of the power, presence, and peace of the Holy Spirit and all that means.

We can’t ignore the painful realities of today’s divided world and the Church not powerful or united
            Questions for us to explore on this celebratory day include: What does Pentecost have to say to us today? What can we learn about the power and work of the Holy Spirit for 2023? What might the Holy Spirit want to do in us and through us today? How can we be open to receive the beauty of Pentecost today?
            God’s Church, the church at large with a big C, does not seem very powerful or united. In many ways, God’s Church at large seems to be struggling, hurting, broken, and divided, particularly around racial justice and righteousness. This struggle continues in our community today.
            On this third anniversary of the tragic and senseless murder of George Floyd, we are reminded of this event that shook us to the core and exposed deep-rooted injustice and systemic racism that continues to plague our society. This moment serves as a wake-up call, urging us to confront the inequality and discrimination that persists in our midst. There has been some progress in the three years since Floyd’s murder. However, proposals for federal action – such as banning chokeholds and changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement – still await meaningful signs of change. Many of us are profoundly and personally aware of how deeply rooted the wounds are and continue to be in our country and world.
            Let’s hold these reflections together.  Pastor Brian Hui speaks to us about Difference and Diversity in the Spirit, followed by Pastor Tammy Long speaks to us on Unity and Solidarity in the Spirit.

Difference and Diversity in the Spirit - Reflections of Pastor Brian Hui:
The heart of the gospel is a reconciled family, which is a diverse family
            Sometimes, we think that the heart of the Gospel is simply about God, me, and my individual salvation. And it is 100%. Each of us needs to be reconciled with God.
            Pentecost reveals to us that a reconciled family is a diverse family. In that day, the diverse family was a family of Parthians and Elamites, Arabs and Libyans, Judeans and Asians. As the prophet Joel prophesies, it includes sons and daughters, young and old, male and female.
            But the story of Pentecost reminds us that the heart of the Gospel is just as much about how God is reconciling us with each other, and how God is creating a new family. This Pentecost created a newly reconciled family.
             
Now, many care about diversity, but there is still hate, violence, division, inequality, and injustice
            How many of us have gone through diversity training at work? Every school brags about its diversity. Even Marvel movies are becoming more diverse. Diversity is the condition of having differing elements.
            Everyone cares now about diversity. If we are all about diversity now, then how come there is still so much hate, violence, division, inequality, and injustice? It is because we have bought into diversity without fellowship and diversity of faces without diversity of voices.

Diversity without fellowship is false diversity
            First, it is false that we can have diversity without fellowship. For God’s Kingdom, diversity alone is not enough. Diversity needs fellowship to be complete. A new family is about fellowship. Diversity cannot be the end itself. You can have diversity and yet all hate each other. You can be diverse and not care about each other at all. For example, there is a Safeway that is diverse, but there is no fellowship. The customers are not fellowshipping in line; we are not fellowshipping around that last tub of ice cream that we all want. The Safeway store may be diverse, but there is no fellowship. As customers, we are just a bunch of strangers trying to buy our stuff and get home. Is this the type of diversity that Jesus died and rose again to create? Is this the type of diversity, a sanctified Safeway, the power of the Holy Spirit creates? The type of diversity God creates is diversity plus fellowship. Diverse people care about each other as family. Diverse people break bread with one another as family. In fellowship, your pain is my pain; your joy is my joy.
           
Diversity of faces without diversity of voices is false diversity; God wants diversity of voice
            Second, it is false that we can have diversity of faces without diversity of voices. At Pentecost, they all worshipped God, and every language was heard in their praise. One song to one God sung in every language.
            What if Pentecost was just a beautiful picture of diversity, but everyone behave as Hebrews? Then they had to talk like they were Hebrew, act like they were Hebrew, or eat foods or share ideas that Hebrews liked? It would be diversity of faces but not diversity of voices. Today, it would be like the neighborhood Safeway grocery store that brags about their commitment to diversity, but does not sell any rice or tortillas, or only two types of hot sauce. This is inauthentic diversity to make Safeway feel better, but it is false diversity.
            But Pentecost birthed a different diversity. Every language was heard. Today, each of our communities can bring our God-given gifts, our image bearing cultures, and our God redeemed stories, so that God can weave them into the beautiful song that is God’s family.
            Often, we can have diversity of voices even if our faces look the same. It is a false lie in the social construct of race that if you are the same skin color, then you are all the same. We can have physical similarities and check the same box under race, but our stories, praises, food, and spiritual gifts can be quite different. For Asians, can we really say that 4th generation half Japanese and half white have the same story as a Filipina immigrant? Similarly, can we really say that a biracial man from the Bay Area has the same story as a grandmother from rural Mississippi or someone from Nigeria?
            More than anything, God wants diversity of voices. If we were at Pentecost in biblical days, the people may look the same to us as Brown/Middle Eastern, but true diversity is in our stories, our praises, our food, and languages, and our spiritual gifts. Diversity of faces is not enough for God.  

We pursue God’s diversity with movement to sing and to listen
            We must sing. God has given each of our communities and families a voice, story, and gift. So let’s bring that voice confidently and joyfully into the Body of Christ. The voice we bring is not just our individual voice, but the voice of our people also. Pastor Brian Hui grew up embarrassed to be Chinese because Chinese people had accents, ate weird foods, and had grandparents always around doing embarrassing things. But God helped Pastor Hui see that God’s image was not just reflected on White people as assumed by the dominant culture, but on Chinese people as well. In fact, all our cultures, though imperfect, reflect the multi-faceted image of God. In many ways, Chinese ancestor stories help to understand suffering for Jesus or being a spiritual family.
            We must make room and listen for each other’s songs. The Holy Spirit entrance at Pentecost began with Hebrew-speaking Christians, who were the majority of believers, speaking in languages that were not their own. They made room, and by the power of God’s Spirit, they learned each other’s languages. This is one of the most Jesus-shaped things we can do. Even if we are in the majority, we should set aside our majority comforts and preferences to make room for others. When you have been saved by the blood of Jesus, and you are indwelt with the Spirit, you are a child of God.

Unity and Solidarity in the Spirit – Reflections of Pastor Tammy Long:          
The beauty of God’s diversity is all around us in creation and the family of God
            We can see the beauty of God’s diversity in all of creation everywhere in humanity and nature. We miss so much when we think, act, and view the world monochromatically (one color). The same is true of the family of God. The family of God needs each other’s songs, voices, perspectives, insights, cultural experiences, and traditions in order to experience the fullest manifestation of God.

In Pentecost, we hear unity in God’s diversity
            Pastor Brian stated that a reconciled family is a diverse family, so we hear unity and reconciliation in diversity. We are one family. This unity also is part of the Pentecost story. Those gathered in Jerusalem that day heard the message in their own language. The message was one invitation given through One Spirit. The Apostle Paul captured this in his letter to the Ephesians when he wrote: “Make every effort to keep your-selves united in the Spirit, binding your-selves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all (Ephesians 4:3-4).
            The divine outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost marked a turning point. It shattered barriers and divisions that had long separated people. In that moment, the disciples were united, not just in their faith, but in a solid display of solidarity. Their unity was not based on their common language or cultural heritage, but based on the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within them. That is why Paul wrote: “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).

In unity and solidarity through diversity, we are all God has made us to be in the family of God           
When we are One in the Spirit, we bring God’s beauty and God’s image into the family of God. We do not lose who we are. Instead, we leave behind cultural hierarchy, supremacy, imbalance of power, and any other distortion of equity or justice that does not reflect oneness and equality in the Kingdom of God. The Spirit of God invites us to be so much more than the categorical mores of the world. In Christ, we are a new creation and a new community.                  The miracle of Pentecost invites us to live as a united community, embracing our diversity, celebrating our shared identity in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit’s love in solidarity. This exciting vision and invitation is as desperately needed today as it was two thousand years ago. Pentecost launched a movement that birthed a new community. Throughout the book of Acts, we see remarkable unity between people of different races. We see diverse leadership in the Antioch Church and people who, by the world’s standards, should not get along work in ministry together.

Unity and solidarity did not come easy for these early Christian believers
            Whenever we engage in cross-cultural, multi-racial realities, there will be challenges. The early Church had to face such challenges. The Church had to address inequitable distribution of food to Greek widows. Peter struggled with eating food he regarded as spiritually unclean. Jewish followers wrestled with what spiritual practices were culturally specific and which ones were essential to faith in Jesus for non-Jewish believers. Living into the call of unity and solidarity is challenging no matter how much we love Jesus. Embracing diversity, while pursuing unity and solidarity, is hard to do.
         As followers of Christ, Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit invites us into a different way of being and seeing one another. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to bridge the gaps that divide us, dismantle the walls that separate us, and foster an environment of love, acceptance, and understanding.

Application for activation to Communion prayer affirming that we are one body around the Lord’s Table
            Loving God, on this glorious day of Pentecost, we gather in unity and joy. As the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, empowering them with diverse gifts and languages, we come before you as a diverse community, bound together in solidarity. Open our hearts and minds to the power of your Spirit, so that we may embrace the richness of our differences and celebrate the unity we find in Christ. As we lift our prayers, let us join voices in unity as the Body of Christ. We are one.
          O Lord, in a world often divided by strife and discord, may your Spirit of peace and unity descend upon nations and communities, bringing healing and reconciliation.
          O Lord, may your Spirit of justice and compassion inspire us to stand in solidarity against inequality and discrimination. Help us to create a world where all people are treated with dignity and respect.
         Lord, may your Spirit of wisdom and understanding guide us as we seek to be a diverse and inclusive community reflecting the beauty of your Kingdom. Grant us the courage to embrace our differences and the humility to learn from one another.
          Loving God, today, we gather as a community, embracing the beautiful diversity that you have created. As we come together around your table, unite us in solidarity and fill us with your Spirit of love. Help us to recognize the unique gifts and experiences each person brings, and may we celebrate our shared humanity in Christ. In Jesus' name, we pray.
The congregation responds: Lord of love, hear our prayer. We are one in Your Spirit.

After communion, the closing blessing and benediction
          The bread we have shared and the cup we have drunk we pray to be a symbol of our commitment to solidarity and the celebration of diversity. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire us to embrace one another as siblings in Christ, recognizing the unique contributions each person brings to your kingdom. Go forth in unity, love, and peace. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FOR USE IN FAMILY GROUP

As promised by Jesus and predicted in the Old Testament by Joel, the power of the Holy Spirit came
-Luke presents the connection between the ministry of Jesus and the promised coming of the
Holy Spirit in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:5, promised in John 16:7-16, and prophesied by in Joel 2:28-32. In what ways is the ministry of Jesus closely related to the coming of the Holy Spirit?      

The Holy Spirit came with a grand entrance on the day of Pentecost
-God often accompanies the Spirit’s working by visible and audible signs. This assures God’s people of God’s presence. What are the three signs in Acts 2:2-4? As inaugurated at Pentecost, why is it important that the Spirit now rests upon each believer individually?

We can’t ignore the painful realities of today’s divided world and the Church not powerful or united
-To what extent is today’s world divided particularly around racial justice?  How has this reality impacted significant parts of the Christian Church? In what ways has society placed the Christian movement against the weak, people with their backs against the wall, as an instrument of self-righteousness and even racial superiority?

The heart of the gospel is a reconciled family, which is a diverse family 
-As the gospel is about God reconciling us with each other in the Church, why is true diversity important in God creating a new family?

Now, many care about diversity, but there is still hate, violence, division, inequality, and injustice
-Now there are parts of our society that promote diversity. Why should diversity still be encouraged? Why do you think there is still too much hate, violence, division, inequality, and injustice even with more diversity?

Diversity without fellowship is false diversity
-What are the essential elements of fellowship that result in true diversity that God and the power of the Holy Spirit creates?

Diversity of faces without diversity of voices is false diversity; God wants diversity of voice
-What are the essential elements of diversity of voices that result in true diversity?

We pursue God’s diversity with movement to sing and to listen
-How do we pursue God’s diversity with movements to sing and to listen? Why is this important?

The beauty of God’s diversity is all around us in creation and the family of God
-In what ways can we experience the fullest manifestation of God by viewing all creation and also listening to songs, perspectives, insights, and cultural experiences different than our own?

In Pentecost, we hear unity in God’s diversity
-What does it mean to you that Paul instructed the Church, as the body of Christ, to stay united in the Spirit, with one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…for you are all one in Christ Jesus? What differences in bible interpretation and practices are not essentials, but keep the Church from being united as one?

In unity and solidarity through diversity, we are all God has made us to be in the family of God
-For unity and solidarity as one in the Spirit through diversity, what characteristics of the world system opposed to God are we to leave behind as we become the family of God all made in God’s image?

Unity and solidarity did not come easy for these early Christian believers
-Similar to challenges the early church faced, what challenges do you think the Church faces today as the Holy Spirit invites us into unity and solidarity through diversity in fostering an environment of love, acceptance, and understanding?