The Holy Spirit

The Festival of Pentecost is here.  The word Pentecost means fifty days after Easter.  It marks the birth of the Church.  It is a new day for a new church, a day to commemorate God’s gift of himself through an Advocate, a helper, the Holy Spirit, to enable all of us to carry on the work that Jesus did in his ministry.

Yesterday, the Diocesan Eastertide service of Confirmation was held here at All Saints’.  Forty-seven people were confirmed, or received from other communions, or reaffirmed their vows.  In confirming and welcoming them Bishop Knisely asked that God, with the Holy Spirit, would empower them for his service, and sustain them all the days of their lives.

He then prayed, “Almighty and ever-living God,…let your Holy Spirit ever be with them in the knowledge and obedience of your Word, that they may serve you in this life, and dwell with you in the life to come.”  To live our lives in the Holy Spirit of God is both the meaning of Pentecost and what we are to be and do as Christians.

An article in the current issue of The Christian Century by the Baptist pastor Barry Howard, offers an important statement about Pentecost.  “The story of Pentecost… marks the inauguration of the church and launches the globalization of the Christian faith.  We cannot recreate the phenomena of Pentecost; our God is not the god of repeat performances but a God who is always seeking to do a new thing, and the Holy Spirit is pressing us to creativity and innovation and persistence.”

Our Scripture lessons are all about God’s gift of himself to us so that we can proclaim the gospel and work for that peace which the world cannot give.  It is the peace of God.  It is about focusing our lives on the Spirit and becoming heirs of God, as we are taught what we need to know in doing the works that Jesus did.

The Gospel reading is about Jesus preparing his disciples for the work they will have to do following his death and resurrection.  But Philip indicates that he still does not fully understand.  He said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus replied to Philip, “How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”  If you have trouble understanding this, then “believe me because of the works themselves.  Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Then Jesus continued, if after all this you still don’t understand, but you love me and keep my commandments, “I will ask the Father to give you another Advocate, to be with you forever…. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

Barry Howard offers a comment about the role of the Advocate.  “This advocate is assigned to us Christ followers to navigate our steps, to keep us affirmed by God’s love, to steer us toward a lifestyle of service and simplicity, and to protect us from legalism by keeping us grounded in grace.”

The Acts of the Apostles explains how the Holy Spirit comes.  It comes with “a sound like the rush of a violent wind.”  It filled the whole house where the disciples were sitting.  Appearing among them were “divided tongues, as of fire, and a tongue rested on each of them.” 

This is a mystery; it is impossible to understand exactly what happened.  We have all experienced violent winds.  Wind gusts can be awesome and unpredictable.  The point made in the Book of Acts is that “all of the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages.” 

My wife and I recently entertained a family we know who are immigrants from Gambia.  They have two children and live in Providence.  They are raising their children to speak both English and Fula, their native language.  A variety of ethnic groups live in the Gambia, each preserving its own language and tradition.  Fula is one of several languages in Gambia and, as you can imagine, there are hundreds of different languages throughout Africa.  And right here in Providence there are dozens of languages represented in our schools.  God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is to everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike in the first century, and people from every country and region today who speak their own language.

The story in the Book of Acts is about proclaiming the good news to people everywhere, in languages they can understand.   The Holy Spirit enables this mission.  Jesus’ followers spoke “in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”  They spoke “about God’s deeds of power,” and Peter quoted the Old Testament prophet Joel who said, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,…[and] everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

As St. Paul stated in his letter to the Romans, to be led by the Spirit of God is to know that we are children of God by adoption.  The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit so that we may be glorified with God.  It is a message of hope for our human future, a hope born of suffering so that as “joint heirs” with Christ we may share in the glory of God, be affirmed by God’s love and grounded in his grace and service.  Amen.