2025.06.08 | Freedom to Be Filled
“Freedom to Be Filled”
Acts 2:1-21
Preached by
Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, CA
08 June 2025
Xièxiè, Thank you, Gracias. I’m sure Allie thought that we gave her the harder reading with all those ancient place names, which she aced, but we could have given her the Mandarin reading, and really seen what the Spirit could do. Again thank you to our readers.
Have you ever found yourself so vulnerable in speaking a language that is not your mother tongue, that you’re fumbling along, slurring your speech, axing the accent, thinking gosh I either sound like a baby or someone who’s had a bit too much to drink? Here’s an example for you: a common mistake for us gringos during the festivities of the new year, is to shout out Happy New Year! Now if you happen to be at a Latine party and a novice Spanish speaker, the ñ might be difficult to pronounce, and so your festive salutation may come out Feliz Ano or happy new anus, instead of Happy New Year.
Folks around will get a good laugh and chock it up to either inebriation, beginner’s Spanish, or both. But there’s also generally a warm reception from folks who hear effort and vulnerability. Speaking a non-native tongue, especially for mono-linguals, decenters self and one’s own group in an effort to commune with others on a deeper level. It seems that that is what Spirit had in mind at Pentecost. It was time for something both deeper, and broader for the Jesus movement, the freedom to be filled.
¿Alguna vez te has sentido tan vulnerable al hablar un idioma que no es tu lengua materna, que te cuesta hablar, arrastras las palabras, batallas con el acento y piensas: «Vaya, sueno como un bebé o como alguien que ha bebido demasiado»? Aquí tienes un ejemplo: Cuando uno se atreve decir «vamos a la playa», o «pasame una hoja de papel» en inglés. Piensalo. Por el acento a veces suena como otras palabras.
Los que hablan bien el idioma tal vez se rían, pero normalmente suele haber una cálida recepción por parte de quienes perciben el esfuerzo y la vulnerabilidad. Hablar una lengua extranjera, especialmente para quienes hablan solo un idioma, descentra al individuo y su propio grupo en un esfuerzo por conectar con los demás a un nivel más profundo. Parece que eso es lo que el Espíritu tenía en mente en Pentecostés. Era hora de algo más profundo y amplio para el movimiento de Jesús: la libertad de ser pleno.
Pentecostés marca la conclusión de los 49 días del tiempo pascual (7 días x 7 semanas). La tradición de la iglesia está directamente relacionada con la antigua tradición judía que se celebraba siete semanas después de la Pascua judía, que se llama Shavuot. También conmemoraba la recepción de la Torá en el Monte Sinaí y el pacto de los antiguos israelitas con Dios para ser su pueblo. De igual manera, Pentecostés conmemora el derramamiento del Espíritu sobre todas las personas, el nacimiento de la Iglesia.
Pentecost marks the conclusion of the 49 days of Eastertide (7 days x 7 weeks). It’s the Greek word for “fiftieth.” The church’s tradition is directly related to the ancient Jewish tradition of Shavuot, meaning “weeks,” which marks the grain harvest and was a pilgrimage festival in Jerusalem, occurring seven weeks after Passover. The Jerusalem Talmud states that King David was born and died on Shavuot. It also commemorated the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and the ancient Israelites’ covenanting with God to be God’s people. Similarly, Pentecost commemorates the pouring out of the Spirit on all people, the birth of the Church. This is why more than twelve years ago I chose Pentecost as my ordination date.
And it’s not just the timeline or agricultural backdrop that ties Shavuot to Pentecost—it’s the very Spirit of inclusion and transformation found in both. Consider the story of Ruth. The book of Ruth, which takes place during the barley harvest and highlights King David, is often read in synagogues on Shavuot. The book of Ruth can be read as a foreshadowing of what happens on Pentecost, following the teachings of Isaiah and eventually Yeshua or Jesus.
Think back to Ruth with me. You can almost hear her exclaim, “Wait, what, you’re accepting me, a Moabite as part of your people? Wait, you are calling me a worthy woman? Wait, you’re blessing me with the likes of Rachel and Leah? Wait, you’re going to allow my ethnically mixed child into the Assembly of God?
We hear her echo in the crowds gathered in Jerusalem.
“We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Now this was something, just like the Sacrosanctum Concilium delivered after the Second Vatican Council in 1963 that allowed Catholic mass in vernacular languages, that is not holy Latin. Imagine never hearing the words of God Almighty in the liturgy in your own spoken language and suddenly hearing that, being recognized, your culture, language, body being imbued with divine dignity. That is the democratizing and egalitarian work of the Spirit. Do not call profane, what God has made clean. Language justice, inclusion, and belonging matters if the Spirit is any indicator.
The outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost was more than a feeling. Being filled with the Holy Spirit was better than Boston’s 1976 hit song.
Later in the passage the disciples speak in tongues, languages that people from other nations understood. Being filled with the Holy Spirit enables one to say and do what needs to be said and done in the moment, and in a way for all to understand, not just one ethnolinguistic group.
We also hear Ruth echoed in the crowds gathered in Los Angeles on Friday. “Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” People putting their bodies in the streets to protect brown lives from brown shirts. Violent wind and tongues of fire. We hear her echo this month of Pride from those successfully protesting the closure of Dupont Circle in DC for Pride events: “I am worthy.”
And for those in the crowds that were complacent or compliant, Spirit leads us to ask, “What shall we do?”
How do we cede our privilege to make way for others? Use our place of dominance, citizenship as Paul would term it, to add to the number of God’s kin-dom? To emphatically state, it’s not about me, but we. All God talk could have been kept in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin, but we cannot contain Spirit, we have to follow Spirit, in every vernacular, in every home. Conciliums, synods, resolutions, they are all playing catch-up to what Spirit is already doing. Joel prophesied, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
At Pentecost, Jesus’ interethnic ethic was brought to fruition.
The Spirit enabled all the believers to come together. The very same Spirit that is with us today, and as Paul describes in his letter to the Galatians, the Spirit that keeps producing fruit, which we'll learn more about as we’ll hear about the fruits of the Spirit from each other this summer during the season after Pentecost. And if you’re interested in sharing let me or Pastor Brenda know.
Y no es solo la fecha o el contexto agrícola lo que une a Shavuot con Pentecostés, sino el mismo espíritu de inclusión y transformación. El libro de Rut, que ocurre durante la cosecha y destaca a David, se lee en Shavuot y anticipa lo que sucede en Pentecostés. Rut, una extranjera, es acogida, honrada, y su hijo mestizo incluido en el pueblo de Dios.
Ese mismo espíritu lo escuchamos en Jerusalén: “¡Los oímos hablar de las maravillas de Dios en nuestra propia lengua!” Como cuando la misa católica se permitió en lenguas vernáculas como inglés o español—una dignidad reconocida en cada cuerpo, idioma y cultura. El Espíritu rompe barreras. La justicia lingüística, la inclusión y la pertenencia importan.
Pentecostés fue más que una emoción. Los discípulos hablaron en lenguas entendidas por muchos pueblos. El Espíritu capacita para decir y hacer lo necesario, de manera que todos entiendan.
Hoy también escuchamos a Rut en las calles de Los Ángeles: “Tu pueblo será mi pueblo.” Pero este imperio proclama odio, miedo, y exclusión porque no conoce al Señor. En protestas por el Orgullo también: se escucha el grito de Rut “Soy digno.” Y el Espíritu aún nos pregunta: “¿Qué haremos nosotros?”
¿Cómo usamos nuestro privilegio para abrir camino a otros? ¿Cómo pasamos del “yo” al “nosotros”? Dios no se limita a un idioma o grupo. El Espíritu va delante, y nosotros lo seguimos.
En Pentecostés se cumple la ética inclusiva de Jesús. El mismo Espíritu está con nosotros hoy, produciendo fruto. Así concluimos nuestra serie sobre la libertad: libertad para avanzar, decir sí, ser Iglesia, y estar llenos del Espíritu. Y durante el verano vamos a enfocarnos en los frutos del Espíritu.
Earlier this week on June 5th, Rev. Dr. Prof. Walter Brueggemann passed away at the age of 92. Simply put, he redefined biblical scholarship for the good of the church and world. More than 20 years ago I was introduced to his Biblical Theology for the church in his work the Prophetic Imagination, which in turn jump started my own. Peter calls us a priesthood of all believers. In his collected sermons, Walter Brueggemann reflected on ways of speaking about those so filled with the Spirit that they’re called saints. He stated that, “saints are people who know the primal language of the ‘Other,’ that is who are kind and generous toward others and who respect people who are not like us. Others of different race and age and class and culture and ethnic community, and sexual orientation. Many of us fear the other, but saints know that the other may be where God meets us.”
Church, as we conclude this Eastertide series on Freedom, Freedom to move forward, marching toward the story of We, our congregational renewal retreat, freedom to say yes, freedom to be the church, and be filled with the Spirit–and I’m not just talking about the pastors, because it takes all of us.
As God in the prophecy of Joel says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people,” so turn to your neighbor in the pew and say, “You are the Church, be filled with the Spirit.” Como dice Dios en la profecía de Joel: “Derramaré mi Espíritu sobre todo pueblo,” así que mira a tu vecino y dile: “Tú eres la Iglesia. Sé lleno del Espíritu.” Porque cuando estamos llenos del Espíritu, Dios hace cosas maravillosas a través de nosotros.
At Pentecost, we learn, it’s not about me, but we. And in that Spirit don’t be startled if the Service Enlistment Committee, our Leadership Discernment Team, reaches out to you this week, asking if you might be so filled with the Spirit that you would say yes to serving in a leadership position or on a team here at Eden.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, wonderful things happen. It Allows us to see beyond ourselves. And while we are organizing, resourcing, spreading love and eschewing hate, God is busy equipping the called.