"Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken."

         The other day I was coming back from Lake Forest Hospital and I stopped in at the new Walgreens on 176. A group of high school girls pulled in ahead of me and entered the store, full of power and energy and clearly in charge of the world. And I saw that one of them had angel wings tattooed on her back, about six inches long. I know that angels are very popular these days, but I had not really seen such a thing before.

         So I thought either this tattoo is a sign of this girl's identity -- she is saying "I am an angel" -- or the wings are a sign of the future -- "I will become an angel." Perhaps she is experiencing something of angelic existence now and eagerly awaiting its completion. But I am skeptical of attempts to be an angel or hopes to become one. There is no reality to that.

         It is important in our lives that we have a sense of identity that has integrity, and also a hope for a future that is true. When our identity and our future are based on something solid, then we are able to live in a way that matches who we are, and in a way that moves towards who we will become.

         For a Christian, our identity is that we are "in Christ." To be "in Christ" means that we have experienced the forgiveness of sin, that we have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, that we experience throughout our lives times of renewal and awakening, that we live a moral life, seeking to be godly, and that grace is evident in our lives. Those things form our identity. It is not a tattoo or a bumper sticker or a lapel pin, but a life that flows out of a relationship with Christ.

         When we look to the future, it is with a sense of assurance and security. We know where we are going; we look forward to life eternal. This gives us willingness to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. In some parts of the world, that means persecution or danger, but those who hope in Christ are willing to take those risks. It also means that throughout our days we experience aspects of what is yet to come in a fuller way, that which we hope for. So we are people who experience joy, who feel the peace of God, who make use of gifts for ministry.

         In his book "Simply Christian," N.T. Wright states,

         "Just as the resurrection of Jesus opened up the unexpected world of God's new creation, so the Spirit comes to us from that new world, the world waiting to be born, the world in which, according to the old prophets, peace and justice will flourish and the wolf and the Lamb will lie down side by side."

         The other thing he says is that when the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we will have a sense of the intimate presence of God. This is the aspect of Pentecost we want to focus on today.

         On that day when the believers gathered together, something like the sound of a violent wind came into their meeting. Howard Marshall writes that in the Old Testament the wind was used a sign of God's presence or spirit. In fact, the Hebrew word for "spirit" can also be translated as "wind" or "breath." God's spirit is invisible, yet powerful. It is renewing and cleansing yet always unpredictable, somewhat mysterious.

         On that day, the spirit came as fire, and some bit of the fire rested on each one, yet no one was burned. Again in the Old Testament fire was seen as a means of cleansing and judgment. Here the fire is individual, resting on each believer, showing the personal relationship we can have with the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit brings holiness and renewal to each person. The Holy Spirit softens us to receive grace; it burns away our stubborn wills, our rebellion against God.

         Then, the believers each began to speak in different languages, so that each one in the crowd could hear the message in their own language. Now, that is a miracle hard to explain. But the point is that the Holy Spirit brings the Gospel to each person in a way that is close to the heart, that is, understandable. During the festival of Pentecost, Jews from all over the known world came on pilgrimage. Perhaps all of them spoke Greek, and yet the message came in their native tongues. They heard the Gospel in the language of their homes. Today we read the call to worship in languages that some of our members learned early in their lives, in their homes, their families.

         Those who received the Holy Spirit that day did not leave that place with fire still burning on their heads. But they left with a powerful experience of the holiness of God, they left renewed. And so we move through times of renewal: of forgiveness that softens our hearts and attitudes, or times when the truth of the word grabs hold in our hearts and we experience a new boldness in faith, a power to do God's will. That is the fire of the Spirit for us.

         Those who received the Spirit that day did not hear the loud rushing wind each time they met to worship, but they carried with them evidence of the working of Christ in their lives. They experienced healing, and strengthened faith and gifts of evangelism. The wind still blows today. Sometimes quite literally. Sharon Holm spoke of an experience of a wind when she was being prayed for during her cancer treatments. That was an assurance to her through a very difficult time. It is not always a wind we feel, but times of empowerment, of assurance, of grace when we are praying, or caught up in worship.

         Those who received the Spirit that day did not leave with an ability to speak in languages they did not understand so that everyone could hear their message. But as they carried the Gospel to the world, barriers between hostile groups of people came down, the lost were found, those living in darkness saw the light, and people found God in ways that made sense to them deep in their hearts.

         Jesus called this the streams of living water that the spirit brings to a person who trusts in him. Deep in the heart there is joy, a gladness whose source is not life circumstance, but God himself. There is this renewing stream which bears fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.

         The thing that strikes me in this passage about Pentecost is that each one there heard the message in his native language. They each heard the wonders of God, the Gospel, in a way that was close to the heart. Here the spirit is enabling the church's worldwide witness. But here also we see the Spirit speaking into culture, speaking to the heart of each individual. "We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues."

         The spirit allows us to proclaim the wonders of God in a way that touches the exact need, the particular struggle, and the deep pain that people experience and carry. The Spirit speaks in a way that you can hear! The Spirit comes to us in ways that fit our lives.

         A lot of my own training and experience has been in the close study of the Bible, in a rational approach to theology. All that is to the good. After all, I grew up with preachers and Bible camp and later moved to classroom and library.

         But I have come to realize that the moments of close experience with the Holy Spirit for me have come through a different route, through a heart language that gets expressed more in color and music and sacrament and prayer. I realized it when I went to the "Walk to Emmaus" weekend some years ago. I appreciated the 14 talks on the Christian life that were given, but at the same time I knew all that. It was in the experiences of music and drawing and the colors and flowers and the mystery of the Stations of the Cross and the healing service that I met the Holy Spirit at work in my soul. And I came to realize there was a message in that which I had not heard before. It was a fresh encounter spoken in my language. And God was near.

         Remember once I told you of a funeral for a young man who died of Hodgkin's disease. He had been part of a local volunteer fire department, and the departments of all the surrounding communities sent trucks. So the procession from church to graveyard began with 20 fire trucks, all with lights flashing. And I was in an equipment van in the front, and I could see them all coming down a hill. And in that language I came to hear in a way that does not come through a sermon or lecture that there is life eternal in Christ and there is a kingdom waiting for us where there is celebration, a party. There are lights and a grand procession and a welcome. There is something ahead which we are preparing for now.

         It is the Holy Spirit who shapes our identity and speaks our language. We are "in Christ" by faith. The Spirit touches us with the future and surprises us with grace and joy.

         Amen.