All three groups appear to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The first group is just two men named Eldad and Medad, and they’re not where they’re supposed to be. They’re still hanging out in the camp, rather than outside the camp where the seventy elders have gone according to Moses’ instructions.
Eldad and Medad are part of that crowd who began grumbling as soon as they’d they left Egypt by God’s hand. Back in Egypt, the dishes were so much more delicious. Oh, the garlic and the cucumbers. You’ve heard it before. The way the liturgy was before was so much better. At least back in Egypt there were succulent dishes to eat. Now, there’s only oatmeal. Well, manna, actually. There is enough to eat—just enough—but the people are too stuck in their frustrations. They’ve forgotten how bad life in Egypt really was, with the slavery and unceasing production of bricks. As we all are so wont to do, they’ve forgotten how to be grateful.
Even Moses, their leader, is fed up. God tells Moses he will provide for the large crowd of people, but Moses is skeptical. Moses is sick and tired of this irascible, recalcitrant group who are moaning and questioning why they ever left Egypt. And Moses is blunt with God. How in the world will you feed six hundred thousand people? Moses has caught the scarcity bug from the people he’s leading.
And that’s when God goes into visible action. All right, you asked for it, God seems to say. God knows that these people need the possibility of abundance drilled into their heads. God knows that Moses can’t bear the burden of leading this complaining people all by himself. And so, some of Moses’s spirit is shared with those in the group.
The seventy elders receive some of this spirit, and then they prophesy. But they only prophesy once, which seems odd to us, who always want more. It still seems like God is limiting what he’s giving, just like the manna in the wilderness was just enough for that moment in time. No more, no less. Nothing is to be wasted.
But back in the camp, Eldad and Medad, who aren’t where they’re supposed to be, begin to prophesy. Now the people turn from complaining about their situation to jealous controlling. Stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying, Moses! They’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shush, Moses says. There’s no need for jealousy. The spirit is meant to be shared. Medad and Eldad are in the right place at the right time. Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!
Now, the second group of people is a bit larger. This group also appears to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They’ve just watched Jesus ascend into heaven. They’ve just been told by two men in white to stop looking up into heaven and, essentially, to get to work. Look down and around and do something, the men suggest. Jesus’s departure is your summons to get to work.
But instead of getting to work, they return to Jerusalem, to that same familiar upper room where they always go to be safe. When they’re scared, they hunker down and lock the doors. They’re not where they’re supposed to be, which is out in the streets sharing the good news.
Like God’s people in the wilderness, these early disciples of Jesus can’t see that the present has enough for them to survive and thrive. They long for the days when they followed Jesus and watched him heal, teach, and preach. Now, Jesus is gone. They wonder if he was a fraud. They wonder if they have a future. And despite two men in white telling them to get to work, they’re convinced that they don’t have what it takes to work—whether stamina, purpose, vision, or resources.
They have no self-confidence until the Holy Spirit bursts into their cloistered gathering and falls on each of them. They begin to do wild things and speak in unfamiliar languages. We don’t know how long they spoke in those languages, but at some point, the linguistic ecstasy stopped. It was just enough for that time and place. The possibility of having enough to thrive and survive doesn’t become obvious until the Spirit is shared with everyone.
The disciples’ gift of the Spirit makes no sense and is of no earthly good until those out in the streets hear them speaking in tongues and understand what they’re saying. And then the mission begins. It becomes clear that the disciples, just like Eldad and Medad, were in the right place at the right time. There’s no question that they do have enough to do what Christ has called them to do. There’s exactly enough, if what’s given is shared by all.
And the third group is right here in this church. It’s you and me. It might seem as if we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, it’s Memorial Day weekend. We should be at the beach celebrating or having brunch with friends rather than gathering in this modern-day upper room. If we’re troubled by what we see on six of the seven days of the week when we’re not here, perhaps where we should be is out there, doing something about what troubles us, trying to make a difference.
Maybe you’re sympathizing with the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt. Maybe like the disciples gathered in the upper room in the aftermath of Jesus’s death, you’re feeling aimless about the future. Are you wondering whether we’ve been given enough to do what we’re called to do? The mission seems daunting, but the resources are few. And yet, do you really want to go back to Egypt? Was life really better then, even if more people were around and there was more money? And is it entirely possible that right now, we’re not in the wrong place at the wrong time but exactly where we’re supposed to be?
If that’s the case, then maybe the answer lies in today’s feast. On Pentecost, we celebrate not only that God calls us to mission and that the Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts. We rejoice that through the Holy Spirit’s power, we do have enough.
The limits that God seems to impose on his gifts aren’t really limits at all but invitations into recognizing just how God’s abundance works. When God took some of the spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders, they only prophesied once. Then Eldad and Medad prophesied in the wrong place. Do you get it now? The seventy elders couldn’t do it alone. Moses couldn’t do it alone. The Spirit doesn’t operate with boundaries. The gift of prophecy was shared both inside and outside the camp. God had provided just enough for their circumstances.
And, too, with the disciples in that upper room. They were given the utterance of tongues amid their doubts about their future, but nothing could happen until those outside the upper room could hear them. There were enough people to spread the Gospel. Thousands were brought to Christ. And person by person, the good news spread to the ends of the earth.
And here we are, probably wishing that there were more among us. We need more hands and more money, and that’s true. But could it be that God has given us exactly what we need for this time and this place? Could it be that the helping hands are here among us and perhaps underutilized? Could it be that spiritual gifts are here and yet undiscerned or used? Could it be that the hands and gifts we need are still outside the camp but will soon be sent here? Could it be that the money is here but not tapped into yet? And even more astounding than all that, could it be that in each stage of our journey ahead, when we find ourselves doubting the future, God will pour the Spirit among us anew? Could it be that God comes among us to show us that we have just what we need right now? Can we trust that at every future stage in the journey, God will continue to provide as he has always done?
I’m like you, I want to reach the Promised Land, where the milk and the honey flow freely and the water no longer flows in through the damaged stained-glass windows when it rains. I want to be preaching to a full church, teaching a full Sunday School, and seeing our work touch people all over the world. It can happen. Anything is possible with God. I don’t yet know how it will happen, but I believe it will.
But what I do know now is this: we are in the right place at the right time. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. So am I. God has brought us here not just to be in the pews to worship, but to move from that worship into service in the ministry God is building here. God wants all of us here. Each of us is indispensable.
And I also know that because of God’s promise to us in Christ, we can trust that there is enough, even right now when our mouths water for garlic and cucumbers. There’s enough here in you and me. Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets. Yes, indeed. And that’s every single one of us, because we’re in the right place at the right time.
Sermon by Father Kyle Babin
The Day of Pentecost
May 28, 2023