Glossolalia - A Sermon for The Baptism of the Lord

A Sermon for the Baptism of the Lord (RCL B) 1-8-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

Themes:         the gifts of the Spirit
Title:               Glossolalia

“When Paul had laid his hands on [the believers in Ephesus], the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).

And so today, my friends, we find ourselves in consideration of a subject matter with which we Episcopalians are not very familiar: the so-called charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit.

These gifts include speaking in tongues and the gifts of prophecy, as well as healing (see 1 Corinthians 12). These gifts have always been present in the church since the Day of Pentecost, though their use has varied widely in different time periods by different Christian communities.   

The most unusual, distinctive and most controversial of these gifts is commonly known as speaking in tongues. On the special insert in your bulletin, you will see the proper name for this phenomenon as taken directly from the Greek of the New Testament: glossolalia.

So let me ask you now, and please answer honestly:

How many of you here have ever spoken in tongues?
How many of you have ever delivered a word of prophecy?

OK, be honest: How many of you were just looking around to see if anyone had raised their hand?

That’s understandable. Prophecy and speaking in tongues are not common in our parishes here, but – make no mistake about it – there are many Christians today who make use of these gifts and there are even Episcopal parishes in New Jersey where these spiritual gifts are evident.

In the beginning, before the varied heavenly bodies took their form and their various orbits were established, God spoke and said, “Let there be light.”

Now, be honest. Do you think God speaks English? Did God actually speak the word “light”?

If we stop to consider it, of course God did not speak as we think of speaking. The Creator has no mouth, no vocal cords, no lips or tongue with which to shape sounds and form intelligible words.

The Creator’s words are formless and yet they themselves shape all energy and matter.

How then does God speak? We can call this the language of the Spirit.

Many people consider speaking in tongues as learning the language of the Spirit, how the Holy Spirit speaks when interceding within us.

It may seem quite odd to you right now, but think for a moment of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God speaks every human language and even the language of God.

To lose ourselves in the Holy Spirit is like letting go and drifting in the current of a mighty river.

Caught in that flow, things can happen to us – and in us, and through us – that we cannot explain, because they are beyond what our minds can conceive.

These things happen today, my friends. The work of the Spirit has not changed. We live in the age of the Holy Spirit, these days after Pentecost when the Spirit is actively reaching out to all the world through the community of disciples.

These things are still happening today, even if we do not see them often in our lives.

Tony Campolo tells an amazing – and true! – story of prophecy in which he became unwittingly involved.

For many years, Dr. Campolo was a professor of sociology at Eastern College in St. David’s, just off of the Main Line. He is also a Baptist preacher. Dr. Campolo is retired now, but a few years back, he was asked to come and speak at a small Pentecostal college out in Pennsylvania. Before he was to begin, a number of the faculty gathered around Dr. Campolo to pray for him, to ask the Holy Spirit to fill him and guide him. These faculty laid their hands on Tony’s head as he knelt in the middle of their circle.

Well, these are Pentecostal people, and so they prayed long and passionately. Eventually, one of the men began to pray for a particular gentleman named Charlie Stoltzfus. And we praying and he said, “Lord! Don’t let that man leave his wife and three children! Send an angel to bring that man back to his family. Don’t let that family be destroyed! You know who I’m talking about, Lord…Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives down the road about a mile on the right-hand side in a silver house trailer!”

By this point, Tony was getting a bit annoyed. Hey…I thought you were supposed to be praying for me! he thought. And besides, why would you tell God where this Charlie guy lives? Do you think God is sitting there saying, ‘Now, give me that address again?’

Finally they finished, and Tony gave his talk to the students and then he got into his car and headed home. As he was going up the ramp onto the Pennsylvania turnpike, there was a young man hitchhiking. As a South Philly Italian and a Baptist preacher, Tony has always been a bit of a risk-taker, and he is prone to pick up hitchhikers.

So Dr. Campolo picked up this young man and they proceeded onto the PA turnpike. Tony introduced himself and asked, “And what is your name?” He said, “My name is Charlie Stolzfus.”

Tony was a bit stunned and was trying to remember what had been prayed and what he should do.

He didn’t say a word, but at the next exit, he changed directions and headed back from where they had just come. The guy said, “Hey mister! Where are you going?”

Tony said, “I’m going to take you home!”

“Why?”
“Because you just left your wife and three children, right?”

And he said, “Right, right!” And then he just leaned against the passenger door and stared at Dr. Campolo as if he was some kind of ghost. Tony drove back toward that college and stopped about a mile before the school in the driveway of a silver house trailer.

The young man looked in astonishment and asked, “How did you know where I live?”

“Because God told me! Now, I want you to go on inside because I want to talk to you and your wife!”

Charlie ran into the trailer and Tony followed him in a few minutes later. Tony met his wife, whose eyes were as wide as saucers, and he asked them to sit and he said, “Now, I need to talk with you two and I want you to listen.” Dr. Campolo told them the story of why he was there. He told them about our Lord Jesus, about God’s desire to change and transform our lives, and about the power of the Holy Spirit. Both of them made a decision to become Christians that night, and today Charlie Stoltzfus is still married and he serves as a Pentecostal minister somewhere in the South.

When our Lord was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him and the voice of God spoke. When you and I were baptized, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.

Do you know what that means? There is a mystery to our lives which is beyond the scope of our logic, beyond the force of our rational minds. There is a power at work in the world and in our lives which cannot be explained away.

The Holy Spirit is alive and well today and continues to speak through the people of Christ today. Perhaps you will never practice glossolalia – speaking in tongues. Perhaps you will never utter a word of  prophecy. But who knows? Perhaps you will!

IF you will yield your life to an infusion of the Holy Spirit’s power within you.

After all, my friends, this is the question which matters the most of all:

Are you open to the power of the Holy Spirit working freely in your life?

Or, are you afraid of appearing strange or odd or different, afraid of losing control?

Don’t be afraid, my brothers and sisters. Open your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you and move through you with power. Why not?

Let’s ask for this power right now. Please bow your head and pray with me.

Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of life, Spirit of power, Spirit of the living God. We praise you, we love you and we give you glory. Come and fill our hearts with your power until our cup is overflowing. Fill us and speak in us and through us, Lord, for we live to serve you alone. Thank you! Amen.