“Fire from Water”

May 23, 2010

(Pentecost)

Acts 2:1-21

For those of you who follow such things, news broke this week that actress Megan Fox will not appear
in Transformers 3, the second sequel to the popular Transformers movie. Filming has already begun
for the movie and its release is tentatively scheduled for July 1, 2011. A great deal of speculation exists
about the movie, for the most part, except for who will replace Megan Fox, the cast is well known but
everything else is openly debated. What cars will appear, what new characters will be introduced, what
will the plot entail, who will win, the good Autobots or the evil Decepticons. These and many other
topics are being discussed on a host of blogs and fan web pages on the Internet as well as a stack of
Hollywood magazines. The idea of Transformers, creatures (or robots) that can change from one form
into another, has often been popular. Science fiction writings and movies have included transforming
creatures of one type or another for many years, Babylon 5 had a species with ships that were organic,
living creatures who changed shape to a degree (the doors would just sort of appear where they were
needed instead of simply opening), one episode of Star Trek (The Next Generation) included a similar
starship that was not only living but also sentient (a living, thinking and intelligent creature) as well as
a race of beings that were shape shifters (Deep Space 9) who could take on most any form they desired.

Often, as we read scripture and as we discuss the people described in scripture, we also use the word,
transformation. None of these modern examples adequately describe the change that is described in
scripture, the change that God works in the heart of human beings. Instead, we find that a far better
example can be found in the world of nature. In the Transformer movies, the Babylon 5 starships and
the shape shifters of Star Trek, what is transformed is able to change its shape, but its inner nature does
not effectively change at all. Whether an Autobot or Decepticon, when a transformer changes from one
form to another, their personality, nature, goals and motivations do not change. Likewise, regardless of
how they appear, shape shifters retain their own thoughts and motivations.

In nature however, we find butterflies.

Butterflies begin as a variety of caterpillars, creatures who resemble worms and who walk the earth
with many pairs of legs. At the end of the growing season, or using some other poorly understood
timing mechanism, caterpillars spin a cocoon around themselves and begin a genuine transformation.
After several months, the cocoon opens and the creature that emerges looks nothing at all like the
caterpillar that was sealed inside. The butterfly that emerges is as beautiful as the caterpillar was ugly
and as graceful as the caterpillar was ungainly. The caterpillar was fat and walked on many pairs of
legs while the butterfly is light and delicate and flutters through the air on impossibly thin wings. If a
person were to open a cocoon before the transformation was complete, all that is found inside is a
puddle of liquid goo with no hint of either the caterpillar or the butterfly. In ways that modern science
cannot yet describe, the caterpillar is disassembled almost to the molecular level and reassembles into
an entirely new and different creature with an entirely different diet.

The example of transformation found in butterflies is far more accurate comparison to biblical
transformation than those found in science fiction. Scriptural transformation involves more than a
change in our looks but constitutes a change in our inner being, a change that can appear in our
personality, motivations, goals, and in our very nature. Today, being our celebration of Pentecost, we
find just such a transformation in the story of Acts 2:1-21.

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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the
blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They
saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them
were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they
heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in
his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
8
Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and
Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to
Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
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Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
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Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Peter Addresses the Crowd

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Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all
of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are
not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16No, 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,
and they will prophesy.
19
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
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And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

A few weeks ago we talked about how God had been at work changing Peter and how Peter was
becoming something he had not been before. In this scene at Pentecost, we are witnesses to the
transformation not only of Peter, but also of the whole group of disciples and followers of Jesus. We
know that after the crucifixion, the followers of Jesus scattered. Many returned to their homes, even
the members of the twelve returned to their old jobs with the expectation that everything that they had
been working toward was over. When the disciples did meet, they met after dark, in rooms with the
doors and windows locked because they were afraid that the authorities, the Pharisees, the Sadducees
and the temple guard were looking for them and might arrest them, or worse. Even after Jesus
appeared to them to reveal his resurrection, not all of the disciples were convinced. Thomas had to see
with his own eyes and feel with his own hands. Others had to be sent for Peter to bring him back into
the fellowship. Even here, after Jesus command to wait and pray until the comforter was sent, even

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here we find the disciples and other followers gathered together, praying together but having no real joy
or motivation to do more.

But suddenly, everything changes.

Suddenly the Spirit of God comes down from heaven and fills each and every person gathered there.
Suddenly these people who had been secretive and fearful are transformed into people who are
outspoken and fearless. Suddenly uneducated housewives and fishermen are transformed into
enthusiastic prophets, preachers and evangelists and are speaking in languages that they never knew
before that day. This is not the kind of transformation found in the movies and in science fiction.
These people were not simply different on the outside but unchanged on the inside, this is quite the
opposite. These people, to any outside observer, seem to be exactly the same on the outside, but have
been transformed into altogether different people on the inside.

As the Spirit of God descends in tongues of fire, God brings fire from the water. Peter, a fisherman,
man of the water, is transformed into a firebrand, a man filled with fire, a fearsome will, determination
and purpose. After this moment, these men and women who had been meeting in secret fan out over
the known world preaching the gospel and telling everyone they meet about the Good News of Jesus
Christ. People who, only recently, were hiding in fear of arrest and persecution now boldly and
unhesitatingly face torture and execution. This is what we look at when we speak of biblical
transformation. As we invite Jesus to be in us, and as the Holy Spirit fills us, God begins to transform
our lives from the inside out. We retain who we are, our identities and personality, but our life, our
purpose, our goals our motivation and our inner nature is changed in ways that we cannot do on our
own through force of will. We are literally transformed into a new creation that is fundamentally
different than we were before and we become capable of things that we could have previously only
dreamed.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans he said… (Romans 8:14-17)

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Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
13
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are
God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

As we accept Christ, and as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are no longer sons and daughters of
earth or sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, but we become sons and daughters of God, brothers and
sisters of Jesus and heirs to the riches and glory of heaven. Because we are transformed in this way,
Jesus tells us in John 14:12-14…
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I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even
greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my
name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I
will do it.

The transformers change from one form to another but who they are on the inside never changes.
Starships and shape shifters in fiction can change their outward appearances but can never change what
they really are. The wonder and mystery of believing in Jesus Christ is this offer of transformation. As

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humans, we are clothed in a body that never changes, except perhaps to get older. Despite all the self-
improvement books we’ve read and all the audiotapes that were meant to “empower our inner beings,”
(or whatever) we find ourselves utterly unable to make any real change. But Jesus offers something
different. When we become followers of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comes down from heaven and
fills us with power and strength that is not our own. As followers of Jesus we become the one thing
that transformers and shape shifters could never manage, we are truly transformed on the inside. Most
often we remain the same on the outside, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working from within,
we become what we could not through our own strength and we are transformed into something new.
We are transformed physically, mentally and spiritually and our goals, motivations and even our inner
natures are changed. We become heirs to the riches of heaven, brothers and sisters of Jesus, freed from
the power of sin, released from our bondage to fear, empowered to do great works and rescued from
death. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to become (though perhaps not
instantaneously) the people that God created us to be.

Like bringing fire from water, just as in the lives of Peter and the others, we can truly become… …a
new creation.

Will you invite Christ to make this change in you today?

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You have been reading a message presented at Johnsville Grace and Steam Corners United Methodist Churches on the date
noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of the Johnsville Parish. Duplication of this message is a
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All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.