I gotta tell you, one of the blessings of being a pastor at any church is getting to spend time with the kids.  A few years back, at a previous church, the kids and I worked together to make the communion bread.  We had such a good time mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough.  I remember it got a little messy with kids and dough all over the place.  IT was such a good time.  Finally, when the bread came out of the oven, I took one of the loaves, cut it up into slices and wrapped each piece up in plastic wrap.  I gave each child two pieces of the bread.  I told them to try one piece and then, when they got home, to give the other piece to one of their parents and simply tell them about God’s love for us all.  I initially considered instructing the kids to give the other piece to anyone they wanted.  Then my mind got to spinning.  What if that person didn’t want it?   Well, that might not be so good.  So, I played it safe and told them to give it to their parents.  No sooner had I given the bread to them all then one of the kids walked straight up to me and asked me a question.  “Can I give my piece of bread to somebody other than my parents?”  Curious about why, I asked, “Why wouldn’t you want to give it to your mommy or daddy?”  The child replied – “Because other people need to know about God’s love too.”

  Hearing this, all the kids began thinking of someone who really needed to hear about God’s love instead of their parents.  It was neat to see that even children could identify people in need of God’s love.  It really drew a contrast between what the children were willing to do and what I was willing to do.  WOW!  I thought – they got it.  They really get the spirit of Pentecost.  Better than I do sometimes.     

  While I was thinking about people turning down that piece of bread, they were thinking about sharing God’s love with everyone.  Further, and this is key, they were undeterred by the prospect of rejection.  While I was in some small way, rationalizing away our Christian calling to share the Gospel with outsiders, the kids were willing to share that piece of bread, that little reminder of God’s love, with anyone they could.  And then it really struck me – here was one of our kids willing to do something few of us would consider – walk up to an outsider and tell them that God loves them.  But our whole religion is built upon those little acts of evangelism.  If it weren’t for those early disciples walking out to the very ends of the Earth and sharing the Gospel, then Christianity, at least as we know it today, wouldn’t exist. 

  Our Pentecost reading from Acts reminds us that we’re not left alone in our task to evangelize in the name of Jesus Christ.  God sends the Spirit to be with us in our witnessing to the world.  As we evangelize in the name of the Lord, the Spirit is with us!  I mean imagine where they were.  Jesus had left them.  They were again, apparently all alone to face a world that was hostile enough to Jesus to kill Him.  Further, they were His followers.  As I’ve shared before, prior to Jesus, there were several men who proclaimed themselves Messiah.  They weren’t of course but, after their shenanigans, all of their followers were executed as well.  This was no time to stand up or to stand out.  To be sure, to be vocal now was to put oneself in danger of the highest order. 

  But the Spirit won’t let us remain silent.  We see this so clearly in the Apostle Peter from Acts.  In that crowd, filled with doubt and detractors, skepticism and scorn, Peter stands up and does the unthinkable by today’s standards!  He evangelizes.  He speaks of Christ even in an environment hostile to the idea.  Filled with the Spirit he preaches the Word to an audience that was less than receptive.  Remember, they thought he was drunk!  Further remember, this was still the same world in which Jesus was killed for being subversive to the Roman empire and Jewish hierarchy.  Jesus had been killed and while the disciples knew of His resurrection, not everyone else did.        

  And what Peter did isn’t like what I’m doing here this morning.  Not really.  You see, each week I get to stand up here in front of you wonderful Christians and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.  But I get to come in here and, well, I get to preach to the choir, both literally and figuratively.  When I come into this pulpit, I’m talking to a Christian audience.  It isn’t likely that someone will backtalk me.