Long Story, Short - May 29, 2009

Firefly Faith

 

There’s hardly anything in nature more magical than a firefly.  “Lightnin’ bugs” are a spectacular finishing feature to sweet summer days.  Maybe you haven’t noticed, but fireflies are less common than they used to be.

 

Museum of Science, Boston is teaming up with researchers from Tufts University and Fitchburg State College to figure out why.  One of the theories is that ambient light from suburban sprawl is bedeviling these bright bugs by inhibiting their mating patterns.  Those flashes of light you see are actually mating dances the males do in the dark. 

 

So you do the logic:  No dark, no dance, no baby fireflies.

 

Maybe there’s something the church can learn here.  Is the “light” of our lives being overcome by the ambient light from the glare of culture?  Or is the “light” of our lives dimmed by weariness?  Complacency?  Because of distance from God?

 

On Pentecost the followers of Jesus got a supercharged dose of light.  Those flaming tongues moved them to excitement about Jesus, enabling them to become fireflies of faith.  I wonder if celebrating Pentecost would do the same for you?  You’ll only know if you show up for worship this week!

 

Come on Spirit light my fire,

Pastor Gary

 

 

Long Story, Short is a column I write on Friday to get you thinking about church on Sunday.  You can read more of my writing at my blog Life to the Lees.

 

Here are two ideas you can use to talk to your kids about your faith and help them to see God at work all around them: 

1.        Teach your kids how to catch fireflies in a Mason Jar and light their bedroom as they get active over the coming summer months.  Be sure to tell your kids you’re going to release them as soon as they go to sleep.

2.       You can volunteer to help with firefly research by going to www.mos.org/fireflywatch. 

 

Acts 2:1-21

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ ¹³But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
¹⁷“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.
¹⁸Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”