PENTECOST - A - 20 - ACTS 2.
1-21, 1COR.12. 3b 13, JOHN 20. 19-23
The day of the first
Christian Pentecost was a dramatic event, not only for the disciples who
received the gift of the Holy Spirit in an outward display of a mighty wind and
tongues of fire lighting on each of them, but also for those pilgrims from
across the empire who witnessed it and were amazed at hearing the disciples
speaking in their own languages.
The disciples ability to
speak in different languages was a foreshadowing of the worldwide mission they
were about to undertake. The events of that first Pentecost were a fulfillment
of the well-known prophecy of Joel, which St. Peter quotes in his Pentecost
sermon. “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.” (Joel 2.17)
The promise was significant because under the
old covenant, the gift of the spirit had been given only to a few - the
patriarchs, the prophets, and some of the judges. Certain leaders of Israel
were indwelt with the Holy Spirit to accomplish their tasks.
Our Lord Jesus repeatedly
promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples, the same Spirit that
came down from heaven and lighted upon Him at His baptism. God gave the
promised Spirit to the Church on Pentecost. It was His special gift to his
people to enable them to continue the mission.
In today’s Epistle, St. Paul
reminds us that the gift was not just for the disciples but also for all who
would confess Jesus as Lord and be baptized. The Holy Spirit is the giver of
all good gifts. These gifts are to be used for the building up of the Body of
Christ - the Church.
There is a variety of gifts,
as Paul goes on to list some of them, but the Spirit distributes them as He
chooses. Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth. They were not ignorant of
the spiritual gifts to which he speaks, but of how to use them in the service
of God. It is important for us to know the same.
It is possible to get carried
away and led into error. For not all gifts are from the Holy Spirit.
In today’s gospel reading
from St. John, Jesus makes a resurrection appearance to the disciples in the
upper room and breathes on them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Christ promised
the Spirit would reveal truth to the church and in doing so bring glory to
Christ.
This gives us an excellent
means of testing whether or not acts, and in some cases modern innovations,
attributed to the Holy Spirit do indeed belong to Him. The last words of Jesus
to his disciples as he ascended into heaven were to wait for the gift of the
Holy Spirit. “John baptized with water,” Jesus reminded them, “you shall be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
On the day of Pentecost
Christ’ promise was fulfilled. The promise of God includes both our union with
Christ in Holy Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit in our Chrismation. “…you
are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’ own forever.”
(BCP. 308)
Sometimes we forget that
through our baptism and anointing of the Holy Spirit we have been commissioned,
as were the disciples on that first Easter evening, to continue Christ’ work of
reconciliation. The point of “receiving” the Holy Spirit, then and now is to do
what Christ was doing. “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
Jesus’ mission to Israel
reached its climax in his death and resurrection. It is now theirs as well as
ours to be implemented by the church’s mission to the world. They needed the
Holy Spirit; we need the Holy Spirit to enable us to do the job we could
otherwise never dream of.
It is an awesome task we have
been given to carry out. Go back and read the vows and promises you made at
baptism and confirmed before the bishop. Left to our own devices we would fail
miserably were it not for the fulfilled promise of Jesus to send the Holy
Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth. That is what our baptismal
response “with God’s help” means.
At Pentecost, the disciples
were one in the Spirit and spoke as one although in many different languages.
Those who heard them stood as one people as they listened to the gospel in
their own tongue. This symbolized the unity Christ prayed for. The Holy Spirit
makes us one in Christ.
The chief work of the Spirit
in the Church and to the world is to testify to Christ as the Son of God and
Savior of the world. We are to work as one using the varieties and diversities
of gifts for the growth of the Church, for that is the purpose of the gifts.
No two Christians have the
same gifts. No one Christian has all of the gifts. Some are special gifts. The
Holy Spirit recognizes our diversity but his gift is common to all who confess
Jesus as Lord. For ours is a common mission and goal. The Holy Spirit has the
overwhelming power to unite, even in diversity. We are different people, but
are one in Christ.
Our diversity is productive when and as we
exercise our gifts in the interests of others, especially those in need. Every
true gift and ministry in the church manifests the Holy Trinity; the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit in whose name we were baptized and
commissioned.
Twenty years after that first
Pentecost Sunday, St. Paul asked, “Who is sufficient for such things?” (2
Cor.2.16) He, like St. John, gave the right answer: none of us, but God enables
us to do it by His Spirit. The living out of our baptismal vows and promises is
primarily by the grace of the Holy Spirit and our learning to cooperate with
Him.
Today, on the Feast of
Pentecost, we give Thanks to God for the gift of the Spirit that opens the way
to eternal life to every race and nation. It is by the Spirit’s presence we are
enabled to carry out the awesome task God has entrusted us with, to bring God to
man and man to God in the name of Him who died and rose again, even Jesus
Christ our Savior. AMEN+
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