Sermon: "Pentecost: Christianity's Extensiveness"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

Jesus Christ - the Son of God - lived in a particular time and place. Those limits with which we are familiar in our own lives also characterized the earthly life of God's Son - the limits of time and place. Belief in that radical limitation of the Son of God has been called a scandal - the scandal of the particular. In fact, many people through the years have refused to believe in this limitation of God's Son in time and in place, and therefore, those people have denied the humanity of Jesus. And, admittedly, this is a challenge to our belief.

Yet, we claim to believe not only that Jesus was the Son of God. At the same time, we also claim belief that "he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man" … and that "he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried." Thus, in our Creed, we affirm who Jesus' mother was - the Virgin Mary - and who ruled in that part of the world during Jesus' adult life - Pontius Pilate. The particularity of Jesus in time and place is there, in the affirmations of our Creed. In his life on earth, he was radically limited - like the rest of us - in time and place.

Because of this particularity, Jesus lived an intensive life. Indeed, that observation can be made about any of our lives. Viewed from the perspective of the long sweep of history, our particular time and place lead to an intensiveness in our lives. For instance, some of the lives of people here have been marked - indelibly - by the Great Depression, or by the war in Vietnam, or by the Tennessee championship football team. We are known, in part, by the events we have experienced. And, thus, our lives are intensive in history because of their particularity.

While something in us may resist this kind of understanding of Jesus, it is nevertheless important to realize and to reaffirm that he too lived a life of particularity. That is to say, he too was a human being.

His was an intensive, particular life in terms of time. Jesus' life was a fairly short one, even for that day. Indeed, most estimates of the length of his public ministry indicate a time of about three years. That is really a very brief time on the job. Most all of us here have been involved in our work or vocation for much longer than that.

Also, Jesus' life was intensive and particular in terms of place. It is amazing to realize the very small amount of this world that Jesus saw while on earth. His travels were quite limited. In fact, it is probable that Jesus did not venture outside an area about the size of the nine counties around Knoxville, except for one or two trips with his family. And thus, his life was lived as a particular and intensive one in terms of place.

Finally, we need to add that Jesus lived an intensive life in terms of the people he encountered. Most of his contacts were with Jewish people - although he certainly did not avoid others. At one point he said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"(Matt 15:24). Jesus Christ was born, lived, and died as a Jewish person. His message and ministry were directed first to his native Jews.

Thus, the intensiveness and particularity of the life of Jesus can be understood in terms of time, of place, and of people. And it is important for us to recognize that intense and particular nature of Jesus of Nazareth, the man we call the Son of God.

What happened? This particular life in time and place, this intensive message directed to Jewish people - what made this life and message available to all times and places and people … even to us? What happened?

Pentecost happened! The particularity and intensiveness of Jesus Christ were transformed into the inclusiveness and extensiveness of Christianity at Pentecost. We - you and I - were not involved or included in the story of Jesus Christ to begin with. We are not first century Jews living in Israel. We are not a part of that particular time and place and people. But, because of Pentecost, particularity and intensiveness became inclusive and extensive. And, as a result, we have become part of the story of Jesus Christ. We now gather week by week in the worship of him. We come forward as candidates for confirmation of our baptismal promises. We are included.

Now, there are many ways to try to understand the event that brought about this transformation - the event of Pentecost - the event described in our First Reading. And as one way to focus our attention there, I want to offer you some perspectives that have been especially meaningful to me.

First of all, we need to recognize that Pentecost did not originate in the first century, on the occasion we read about today. Rather, this festival had its roots in the Feast of Weeks mentioned in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. Fifty days after the Feast of Passover, the first fruits of the corn harvest were to be offered in thanksgiving to God. And so, faithful Jewish people from all over the known world came to Jerusalem, the holy city, to give their offerings in a spirit of thanksgiving and of celebration. That was an old festival - one that had been celebrated since the early days of Israel.

Now, also from the Old Testament, we need to remember the story of the Tower of Babel. This story attempts to explain the existence of many languages on earth. It begins with this observation: "The whole earth had one language and the same words" (Gen 11:1). The people worked together and cooperated, as they built wonderful things - even a great tower. But then God - who is depicted in a rather defensive posture in this story - decides that things are getting out of hand and that the people are becoming too powerful in what they are accomplishing. So, we may read, "the Lord confused the language of all the earth"(11:9), and the tower was called "Babel" because the people could not understand each other any longer. And so, that story - the Tower of Babel - deals with the many languages on earth, as it explains the subsequent lack of ability to communicate with each other.

And then, skipping forward to our reading today, we read that people from all over the world were together in one place - offering the first fruits of their corn harvest and celebrating with thanksgiving to God, as had been the ancient custom. But they could not understand each other because they had inherited the babble of their ancestors - the various languages of different people. However, an amazing thing happened next. On the day of this great festival - the Day of Pentecost - spokesmen began to speak the wonderful word of God, and we read, "the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (Acts 2:6).

And so, you see, Pentecost reverses Babel. Unity overcomes disunity … and that, my friends, is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Unity overcomes disunity. Exclusive particularity is transformed into inclusiveness. An intensive life becomes available to an extensive world. And you and I become a part of the saving story of Jesus Christ, who is also our Lord and our Savior.

Copyright © 2001 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee