A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them she had just the dog they wanted.

The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. “Fetch the Bible,” she commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner. “Now find Psalm 23,” she commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing dexterity with his paws, leafed through, found the correct passage, and pointed to it with his paw. The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.

That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed! . One man asked, “Can he do regular dog tricks, too?” “I haven’t tried yet,” the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. “HEEL!” the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor’s forehead and began to howl. The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, “Good Lord! He’s Pentecostal!”

That joke doesn’t really have anything to do with this sermon, but I was looking up Pentecost jokes and stories and came across that one. I guess there’s a weak connection in the reference to the dog being Pentecostal, which is a Christian denomination named after Pentecost because of their focus on the Holy Spirit. The story we read from Acts is the story of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the disciples. And, of course, today is Pentecost. On Pentecost, we wear red in reference to the tongues of fire that rested upon the disciples and gifted them with the ability to speak in other languages, languages they didn’t know. We often talk about Pentecost as the beginning of the church, but it was even more than that.

The word pentecost comes from the Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” because Pentecost has been set as the 50th day of Easter. Maybe you already knew that, but do you know why it falls on the 50th day of Easter? The reason is that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples with strong winds and tongues of fire on a holy day that had already been established, which happened to occur on the 50th day of Easter. That holy day was the Jewish Feast of Weeks. It is called Shavuot, which means “weeks” in Hebrew. Shavuot is a Jewish pilgrimage festival celebrating the wheat harvest. Shavuot also marks the day when Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God. Many Jews celebrate Shavuot by staying up all night to read the Torah (the first five books of what we call the Old Testament) and eating cheesecake. If you’re going to stay up all night, cheesecake is not a bad reason.

Now, there is an interesting parallel between the receiving of the Ten Commandments and Pentecost. You see, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets in hand, ready to share the commands of God with God’s people, the people had created an idol, a golden calf, that they were worshiping instead of God. God was not very happy about that and neither was Moses. Moses was so angry he threw the stone tablets on the ground and they broke. Then he called together those who still served the Lord and told them to take up arms against those who had done this wickedness. And the text says, “The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day.” The people sinned and death was the result.

Looking then at the Acts passage, the disciples have gathered together somewhere around the time of Shavuot. They are all together in a place where a diverse group of people was nearby. The Holy Spirit came upon them like a rushing wind and tongues of fire. And they began to speak the truth about Jesus in languages they did not understand, but those who were near them DID understand. They spoke in the native tongue of every different person there. They all heard the message about Christ in their heart language. At first they were confused by this and thought the disciples must be drunk on wine. But Peter stands up and dismisses that idea. Then he goes on to preach what some people call the first Christian sermon. He tells the people about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And they were moved. In Acts 2 verse 41, which we did not read, it says that “those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.”

Does that number sound familiar? After the making of the golden calf, about 3,000 Israelites died. Then here at Pentecost, about 3,000 people were baptized to new life. Shavuot, like many other things, became transformed through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. What once was dead is brought back to life. Christ becomes the new Adam, one who rights the world rather than tearing it down. The Holy Spirit comes and restores life. Like the dry bones that Ezekiel prophesied to, God’s Spirit breathed new life into areas that seemed like they were forever dead. That is what God does. And that creation of new life transforms, not only the world but each of us.

Peter, in his sermon, uses the prophet Joel to show us what this new life looks like. He says, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” This is what Peter chose in order to explain this new thing that was happening through the disciples. And these words, both for those in Joel’s time when he wrote it, and those at Pentecost, and even for us today, these words are radical. These words totally change our witness as Christians in the world.

There are three things that change our witness from this Joel text. First, Joel says that “In the last days…your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” This was radical in Joel’s day and in Peter’s day because women were treated as second-class citizens. They had no rights, no voice in decisions, no respect or authority. Yet Joel says that both our sons AND our daughters will prophesy. In our day, much progress has been made toward equality for women and men. But in a lot of churches, there are still things women are barred from doing. But Joel said that women will prophesy right alongside men. This is a radical thing that changes our witness. We are not a place of belonging for men. We are a place of belonging for all.

The second thing that changes our witness from this Joel text is right there in the same verse. Joel says, “Your young men shall see visions.” Our youth will see visions. They will perceive things that we don’t perceive. It is the tendency of humans to look down on those younger than them. This was even more so the case in Ancient Israelite society where there was a very high value placed upon the elders of the community. Yet Joel says that our youth will perceive things that we don’t. And that means we need to listen to them sometimes. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi once said, “The power of youth is the common wealth of the entire world… No segment in society can match the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of young people.” Our youth may not have the experience of their elders, but their ability to imagine a greater future is something we need to listen to. And when we do that, it changes us and it changes our witness to the world.

And the third thing Joel says that changes our witness is that “[our] old men shall dream dreams.” On the other side of the age coin, we may look at the older generation and assume that they no longer have much to say about the future. Their ideas have run their course and now it’s time for a younger perspective. “Grandpa Joe was telling Tommy about his dream. ‘I dreamt I could fly!’ he said. Tommy’s eyes widened, ‘Wow, Grandpa, where did you go?’ Grandpa chuckled, ‘Nowhere, Tommy. Every time I took off, my old knees woke me up!’” That joke exemplifies how we sometimes view the elderly. They don’t have dreams anymore. They’ve already lived their dreams and anything they dream now will be outdated or old fashioned or useless. But, if you’ve ever sat and visited with someone older, you probably know how valuable the insights of experience can be.

Joel even adds to the list in the next verse that slaves will prophesy also. In my opinion, this passage is about inclusion and diversity, which is really what the whole Pentecost story is about. Everyone is included. Everyone gets to hear about the love of Christ and the new life available through the Holy Spirit. AND everyone gets to share that message with others. Every person has a valuable witness. In the story of Pentecost, we see the message of Christ coming to the people through a diversity of languages. Through Joel, we see the message of Christ coming through a diversity of voices (of every age, sex, and status). Where might the message of Christ come from today? Maybe it will come through us. Maybe it will come through the little old lady next door. Maybe it will come through those kids playing on the playground by your house. The message of Christ can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. We just have to listen, be open for the Holy Spirit, and be willing to share that message when the Spirit leads us to. Then we will be living into Joel’s declaration that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Amen.