As I navigated to the website I normally get the lectionary scriptures from, the Vanderbilt library, I was intrigued by the choices from Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians. Both spoke to the theme of speaking the word given by God, and I loved the balancing act that Paul was trying to achieve between affirming the gift of the Holy Spirit in tongues and also remembering the number one gift of the Spirit.

I’d never really preached on these scriptures on Pentecost in my 20 years of preaching, as I could recall. I kept scrolling down looking for the familiar text from Acts 2 that tells the story of Pentecost—and was a little puzzled when I couldn’t find it listed there with the weekly selection from the Old Testament, Psalm, Letter, and Gospel lesson. Scrolling back up, I noticed that I must’ve bookmarked this particular URL address taking me to the fourth Sunday of Epiphany, which was way back in January. Well, I thought—I’ll preach on these texts anyway, because they uplift some very important themes of this day—AND they’ll enable me to avoid that big long list of place names I always mispronounce in Acts 2 :D

Certainly that gathering of folks from all over the world, all gathered there in one place in Jerusalem, must’ve felt a lot like Jeremiah on that day the Holy Spirit poured out Their gifts on the people and did something entirely new. We call this the birth of the Church,  and as I told the kids, the sign of the Spirit there in the flame like presence that seemed to enlighten the whole room can be compared to the birthday candles we like to put on cakes.

This being the “birthday” of the church, perhaps the excitement and enthusiasm of the experience was probably also mixed with the trepidation of realizing “oh, we are young.” What could we possibly say and do in this world. Our leader, the one who was giving us vision and guidance, has gone. He was raised, but now he has ascended, and He told that’s for the best, but could it be?

Then, like God spoke to Jeremiah and assured him that despite his youth, he’d put his words in his mouth and he’d speak truth to power, God was getting ready to put his words in these people’s mouths as well, and when he did, there was an amazing newness—a mind-blowing new paradigm that simply had to be experienced to believed. What was going on, the bystanders wondered. Are they drunk? This is amazing, but we don’t understand it. So, the disciple who’d had to be singled out among the disciples for a special, individual experience of forgiveness. Peter—the one who denied him three times, who then in turn had to be asked three times by Jesus “Do you love me” at that familiar campfire on the lakeshore when Jesus returned from the grave. That same Peter whom the angles in the empty tomb made sure the women understood, “Go tell the disciples, AND PETER” that he has been raised and he’s going ahead of you to Galilee, just as he told you.”

That same Peter gets the courage to be the Rock that Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter to symbolize. “On this Petra I will build my church.” And so he finds his voice—he finds the voice that God, through Jesus, puts in his mouth. And like Jeremiah, he speaks—truth to power.

“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

 17 “‘In the last days, God says,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your young men will see visions,

    your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,”

Does that sound like the regular old, fishing the foot out of his mouth Peter to you? It sounds more like Jesus! “Let me explain it to you—Listen carefully to what I say…” then he goes on to mine the treasure trove of scripture to find the explanation for this strange event where folks are all speaking some unknown language, yet those in attendance are hearing the wonderous works of God spoken to them in their own native language.

Peter finds his voice, like Jeremiah. He speaks, not mourning, but embodying the voice of his recently departed master. He speaks with all the courage and gusto that he’d learned from the man who pledged to make him a fisher of people instead of merely a fisher of fish. This isn’t drunken nonsense. This is divine movement. The Spirit is being poured out. People are speaking. And the world is listening, each in their own tongue.

Let me tell you a story.
After the 2011 tsunami in Japan, a man named Itaru Sasaki installed an old telephone booth in his garden with a disconnected rotary phone. He called it the “wind phone.” People who had lost loved ones came to speak into it—not because anyone would answer, but because they needed to speak. To say what was in their hearts. To speak love, grief, and memory into the wind.

In a way, Pentecost is the day God answers that longing to speak—to connect what is in our hearts with the words the world needs. The Holy Spirit is the breath (ruach, pneuma) that carries our voice—not into a disconnected silence, but into a communion of understanding.

And like Paul reminds us, unless that breath is carried on love, it’s just noise. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love... I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
 

 Paul comes along years later and gives a corrective of the enthusiasm generated by the Pentecost event. By his time, the gift of speaking in tongues had become a wedge issue in the church. In the letter of 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses issues concerning the use of spiritual gifts, including tongues, in the Corinthian church. Some Corinthians were apparently speaking in tongues publicly without interpretation, leading to confusion and potential division.

Paul emphasizes the importance of using gifts in an orderly manner and for the building up of the church. He instructs that tongues should be interpreted when exercised publicly so that others can benefit. Paul also underscores that the gifts are diverse and not all Christians receive the same gifts.

Even the ability to speak with the language of the angels must be governed and conducted with the North star of Love. Love orients everything—gifts, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses, into what God would have it be. Paul says elsewhere in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose". You hear that important word? “for those who love God.”

When we keep this guiding principle front and center, even the abundance of gifts will not go astray into divisive clutter.

Even the language of angels, Paul says, is just noise unless it is guided by love. Spiritual gifts are many, but love binds them. Love is the North Star. Without it, all the eloquence and passion in the world become a clanging cymbal.

 That’s what makes Pentecost sustainable. Not just wind. Not just fire. Not just words. But love guiding the words. Love guiding the breath. Love guiding the Church.

So what do we do with this birthday celebration of the Church?

We remember that speaking is sacred. That whether it's Peter proclaiming truth, Jeremiah receiving his call, or us fumbling our way through conversations about faith, justice, forgiveness, and grace—the same Spirit gives voice.

But Pentecost also reminds us how to speak.

Not with just fire, but with love.

Because tongues can build a bridge or burn one. Words can heal or harm. But love—love never fails. Love guides every gift toward its purpose.

Paul tells us, “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

So may the words placed on your tongue—by the Spirit, shaped by scripture, and practiced in grace—be words that build up, bless, and bear witness to the wonders of God.

Let us speak with courage, like Jeremiah. 
Let us speak with clarity, like Peter. 
Let us speak with love, like Christ. 
And let us trust the Spirit to carry those words where they need to go.

Amen.

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🔥 Reflection Questions

🔹 On Receiving and Speaking God’s Word

1. Have you ever felt unqualified or too “young” (in age or experience) to speak on God’s behalf, like Jeremiah or the early Church?

2. When have you found the courage to speak truth to power? What gave you that courage?

3. What “words” might God be placing on your heart to speak in your own time and place?

🔹 On Peter’s Redemption and Voice

4. How does Peter’s transformation—from denial to bold proclamation—speak to your own experiences of failure and restoration?

5. What does it mean that Peter “found his voice” through forgiveness and the Spirit’s guidance? Have you found yours?

🔹 On the Power of the Spirit

6. How do you recognize the Holy Spirit moving in your life or in your church community?

7. What is the difference between speaking with the Spirit and merely making noise? How can we tell the difference?

🔹 On Love as the North Star

8. How do you discern whether your words (especially in faith, disagreement, or advocacy) are truly guided by love?

9. What does “love guiding the words” look like in your everyday conversations?

10. Is there a relationship in your life that needs a healing word spoken in love?