Are Flaming Tongues Prophetic?

The season of Pentecost is the life of the church, marked first by the day of Pentecost, which comes 50 days after Christ rose from the dead.  Pentecost is often remembered for the dramatic gift of tongues given to the apostles long ago.  At this point the conversation usually descends into an argument concerning whether spiritual gifts are today.  I propose we look at the whole narrative arc found in the lectionary readings for the day.  There we will find a focus on the prophetic and not on tongues, which should lead us to a missional outlook for the Pentecost service.

The narrative begins in the Israelite camp during the Exodus.  Two men have begun to prophesy, and Moses is asked by Joshua to stop them.  Moses replies, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!” (Num. 11:29)  Moses wishes that the whole camp would have the Spirit of God placed upon them.  Flash forward to Pentecost.  The apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in tongues.  The crowd gathering around is confused by what is happening, so Peter, quoting Joel, says to them: “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.” From Moses to Joel to Peter, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the background of Pentecost, is that people will prophesy.

To understand the narrative arc of Pentecost it is crucial to connect the prophetic to the filling of the Holy Spirit.  The good news I find in this narrative is that the connection of Pentecost to the prophetic shifts the focus of Pentecost away from the arguments concerning spiritual gifts and onto the presence of God’s Word in the community.

We often forget that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.  This being so, when we are filled with the Spirit we are filled with Christ: we become Christ’s presence in a dramatic and powerful way.  The flaming tongues, a dramatic sign of the filling of the Spirit too often takes the focus off of the way that the filling of the Spirit empowers people to speak God’s Word to their local communities.  First, in the Numbers passage, the two men who prophesy are speaking to the community of Israel.  Joel echoes Moses’ sentiments in his writing, hoping for the day when sons and daughters will prophesy.  Finally, in the Acts passage, Peter testifies that this has happened: the sons and daughters may prophesy, the Spirit has come to Christ’s body. To this point, the narrative arc of Pentecost focuses on how the filling of the Spirit is a missional function of the local church.

So what does this mean for a Pentecost service?  I think sometimes we chase the flaming tongues instead of the prophetic.  We have in mind a spectacular supernatural event.  I don’t want to discount the fact that this may happen, I just don’t think it should be our motive during a Pentecost service, or any service for that matter.  Instead, as we celebrate the first Pentecost we should look toward the purpose of Pentecost, which is to fill those who follow the way of Christ to be his presence in the world and his local church.  The filling of the Spirit cannot be divorced from the filling of Christ, and in this we are called to be the presence of God’s Word in a prophetic way.  Pentecost calls us to remember that we as the local church are the living water of Christ’s teachings.  We, as Christ’s body, are to be the presence of Christ in the midst of the world.  In this missional remembrance of Pentecost we find the true calling of the liturgy: “the work of the people.”  The Spirit is given to us so that we can be a dramatic presence within the world, a continual testimony to the world rescuing work of Christ through his death, resurrection and kingdom.