A Gift for Someone Else

May 23, 2021

Happy Pentecost! Today is the Christian church’s birthday! It’s the Christian church around the world, through almost 2000 years that is celebrating a birthday. Happy Birthday Church! What kind of gift do you give the church for its birthday? What does the church like? 

Some people are easy to get a gift for. You know what they like. Maybe they collect something, teddy bears, and when you wonder what to get? Hey, I’ll give them a teddy bear! 

Some people are hard to get a gift for. When I would ask my dad what he wanted for his birthday, he would just say, “World peace.” World peace. Yes, I’ll pick that up at Walmart. 

The Christian church is in the hard category when it comes to getting it a gift. Today we are going to look back at the birthday of the church, called the day of Pentecost. What happened on Day One tells us a lot about what is important to the Christian church. We’ll learn, if the Christian church asked for a gift, what it would want. We’ll learn why the church wants a whole different kind of gift than you might think.  

Before Jesus left his followers and ascended to heaven, he told them to wait in Jerusalem, wait for the gift his Father promised. He said, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you will receive power. How this would happen, what would happen, when exactly it would happen, he didn’t say. But they were getting the gift of the powerful Holy Spirit. 

The disciples must have wondered what sort of power the spirit would give them. The power to fly, to read minds, to speak well and win arguments? The only thing Jesus told them was that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

The disciples asked Jesus, “Could you restore the kingdom to Israel now?” They were hoping for a different gift than the Holy Spirit. They were hoping Jesus would help Israel defeat the mighty Roman Empire, so Israel could finally be its own country. They were hoping for a gift that was just what they wanted! They were thinking of themselves. Jesus didn’t give a conclusive answer to them: He said it’s not for them to know. But, Jesus promised, you will receive the Holy Spirit and be my witnesses. 

Jesus ascended to heaven. And the disciples waited, like Jesus told them to., so they waited and waited. They prayed, gathered together. It wasn’t just Jesus’ 12 disciples, there were other followers, including women, Jesus’ mother, and brothers.  

Then the day finally came. The followers were all together, and a sound like a violent wind filled the house. And they saw tongues of fire rest on each person. All of them were filled with the holy Spirit. And by the power of the Spirit, they spoke in languages they didn’t know! 

Drawn by the sound of all that was going on, Jews from many nations who were in Jerusalem for the Pentecost holiday, formed a crowd and gathered to listen. The followers of Jesus were speaking their languages! The Jews from other nations said, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own languages!” They were amazed. “What does this mean?” they asked.  

Some sneered and said, “They have had too much wine!” 

So, Peter stood up and spoke to the crowd. They’re not drunk. This is what Joel prophesied.  

“In the last days God says he will pour out his Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on male and female servants and slaves I will pour out my Spirit. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:17-18  Peter quoted the prophet Joel in order to say, God gives his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

But what happened on Day One of the church shows us the gift of the Holy Spirit is a different kind of gift. It’s not like a usual gift. When someone gives you a gift, it’s usually for you to enjoy. It could be clothes for you to wear, money for you to spend, toys to enjoy, or a gift card for a restaurant you will enjoy going to. 

Jesus followers, back before he ascended, expected the gift of the Holy spirit to be something for them to enjoy. They expected a gift just for them! They wanted a political win for Israel; a triumph for them to enjoy. They wanted greatness they could boast of, when Jesus would sit on his throne, and they would sit on Jesus’ right and left sides. 

But the gift of the Holy Spirit is not for our enjoyment and glory. The gift of the Holy Spirit is for someone else. 

On Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the followers of Jesus as they were gathered together. But it was not for their enjoyment. It was so the Jews of foreign nations could hear about God and enjoy a message in their own language! It was a gift of hospitality, showing that God cares about the foreigner, the outsider.  

The good news of Pentecost is that God sends the Holy Spirit to give us gifts of power. The gift might be wisdom or faith, maybe you receive the gift of being a good listener, maybe you have the gift of helping others when they need it. But whatever gift you get, God wants you to use it for someone else. It’s a gift you receive, but you can think of it as a gift for someone else.  

There’s no selfishness when it comes to following Jesus. The church was founded as a gift given to Jesus’ followers for someone else. The church is for the world! 

At St. Peter’s we honor our graduates today. You four have gifts. It’s clear in all you’ve done and your plans for future. The Spirit has blessed you. In all the ways you serve, you demonstrate that you know: your gifts are for someone else. You are here to help others. 

We celebrate the wonderful ways you have served others. Tori, last week we honored you and your mom for teaching Sunday school. We often think that you either choose sports or church, no one can do both. But you have helped teach the Sunday school kids all through high school, and the kids loved it! Zak, you have helped with charity softball tournaments. I saw a picture on Facebook of Faith Rebuck at Mission Central, the Methodist disaster warehouse in Mechanicsburg. Faith was helping pack items. Dakota did a wonderful eagle project, fixing tombstones in our cemetery. It was so appreciated. 

Sometimes someone outside Trinty will ask: is the church supported by the preschool? Does the preschool pay a big rent? The answer is no! Trinity started the preschool, not as an income stream, but as a ministry to the community. Trinity only asks a very small rent, and when the Learning Tree doesn’t have funds to pay it, it can wait a year or two. We support the preschool, Trinity gives more than we get, because church is a gift for someone else. 

I celebrate the gift of Trinity to the preschool. Trinity started the Learning Tree preschool 35 years ago and has served over 1000 children! Most parents with preschoolers are on a tight budget. The Learning Tree provides an affordable preschool which really helps kids socialize, get ready for school, and get a head start on learning. The Learning Tree is a way that Trinity is for the wider community. 

We’ve been through a tough year, and more than ever, the world needs our help. The world needs us to be for them and use our gifts to help them. 

Today, on the church’s birthday, here is the gift the church wants: that you serve someone else. You have received the Holy Spirit; gifts have been poured out on you. You have some skills, you have a heart for a certain group of people, and there is a need for you to serve. 

We have gifts to use to serve someone else. But that doesn’t mean we get nothing out of the gift of the Spirit. You serve as a friend. You receive a blessing of relationship with those you help. You experience that we are all connected and here for each other when you serve. 

I remember when my son Ian was in elementary school. We were walking down the street and we saw his cub master. We stopped and talked. During the conversation, it came up that Ian thought his leader was paid for being cub master. We smiled, no, it was not a paid position! It was a lot of work, and Ian was amazed his leader did it for free!  

Church is kind of like that, it’s pretty amazing what we do for the world! You are amazing what you do for world. Tell somebody near you: You are amazing! 

My homework for you, is to pray to God, asking, “How can I serve?” Because it all starts with prayer. Its starts with God. That is who sends us out! 

Church started 1,990ish years ago. The gift of the Holy Spirit came down in a powerful way! It was not for the glory of the disciples. It came to them, so they could speak God’s word in the languages of all the people gathered, so they could understand. The church began by serving others. Happy Birthday church! The perfect gift for the church is willing heart and hands! So let us be the church, not for ourselves, but for the world. Amen.