As a kid, Pentecost never meant much to me. In fact, as I recall, we never knew much about it. We knew about Christmas, that was all about Baby Jesus in the manger but as any kid knows, we got presents—a lot of them! Easter? Well Easter wasn’t as big a deal; it wasn’t cold out and we might get a new set of clothes. The day itself? It was about Jesus rising from the dead and we got a big basket of candy. By 8 a.m., we found our baskets and commenced to eat candy till we were sick!
But Pentecost? I never heard much about it! Of course, if you asked my parents, I never heard much of anything! To most of us, Pentecost was just another one of those weird things the Catholic kids had to do; we were already thinking about the last day of school; surely the holiest day in the school year!
Pentecost didn’t come into my life until high school. That was when I became Episcopalian. At the church I joined, we had a big procession, bells, incense, the whole bit. It seemed as big as Easter! To be sure, it was something new (for me, sort of) on the horizon! Needless to say, my perspective has changed considerably since then.
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In the Book of Acts, it reads:
When the day of Pentecost had come, they (the disciples) were all together in one place. And suddenly from Heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them…
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This got me wondering what, exactly, Pentecost meant to the people of 1st century Judea. Well, as it turns out, nothing by that name. The term Pentecost is a Greek one meaning “fiftieth day.” Let’s see then… fifty days from Passover? Ah, this was the festival of Shevuoth (weeks) which is still celebrated in the Jewish communities of the world today.
It was marked by the “counting of the omer,” a measure of barley, one each Sabbath after the Passover. Passover marked the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery; Shevuoth commemorated the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. This was also a major pilgrimage feast for those who could afford to make the trip. After all, Torah was quite an innovation for its time as a body of law. It was ethical, fair, spiritually focused and God-given. It was something completely new on the horizon back then.
But it meant even more to the first followers of Christ. Yes, it was 50 days after the Passover, but it was also 50 days after the Resurrection, so it seems that something new (sort of) was on the horizon for them too. It represented the birth of the Church and it signified the moment the church was left in the hands of the followers.
The disciples now were transformed into full-fledged ambassadors, or apostles. Jesus’ work now became theirs. It must’ve seemed a daunting task. How were they to do it without Him?
To find this out, we turn to the Gospel of John. Chapters 15 and 16 are termed the Farewell Discourses and occur at the Last Supper. Jesus promised “advocate” or “paraclete”: the “along-sider”:
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
Advocate or in Greek, paraclete was another way of saying “holy spirit.” This was something always understood in those days as Shekinah (the Divine Presence of God in the world). It was a presence taken for granted, but not necessarily understood. Now, it became personal; now all that energy was not only around them, but in them to assist them in bringing forth the good news. This was an understanding no one had ever heard about before; something new (sort of) on their horizon.
In a sense, this finished their “training,” and provided the “gasoline needed to drive the engine.” And the task ahead—no matter how arduous—was to be one of total inclusion. In fact, the Book of Acts makes this abundantly clear in story after story: no one was to be left out of the covenant this time. That Holy presence once only available to a few prophets was now available to the world.
This divine presence suddenly displayed itself only a few of its brilliant qualities. It was wily, totally unpredictable and awe inspiring. It was creative: we see this in the utterance of other languages by the apostles. It was all wise: Peter offers a defense in this chapter that is totally outside of his learning ability.
For us today Pentecost shows us how creative God, through the HS can be if we choose to let it be so. Just as for the apostles, so for us: The Holy Spirit is a teacher and wisdom giver, as wily as ever and the very soul of creativity. Much evidence supports this too: consider all the creative gifts that are available among the people in even the smallest groups. Then there is music, the fine arts and writing. The list is endless, but they are all manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But here at St. John’s, the divine presence is manifesting in two very beautiful ways which can be summed up in two words: Renewal and hope.
In Peter’s rather eloquent speech in Acts, the author has him quoting the prophet Joel. This establishes the very democratic nature of God’s spirit. But for us today, it demonstrates our need to be open to the movement of the HS in the life of our community. God can, and often does, do anything God wishes to do, irrespective of how we think God should act.
It’s important that we, as Christians honor all creativity and all diversity; we cannot exclude anyone or anyone’s gifts. Why? Because they all count for good. We can’t let ourselves get so wrapped up in black and white ideas of truth or right versus wrong. If we do this, we limit God’s movement in our own lives. But there is something worse than this going on: when we discount or publicly spew at the differences of others, we’re mistaking the noise in our heads for the movement of the spirit. In other words: we are making God in our image, which is contrary to the spirit of Pentecost. As I say this, I’m thinking of a certain Baptist preacher last week who made headlines with his understanding of things.
Our job, as people of Pentecost, is to let the Spirit work through us, to tell other the wonderful good news. Pentecost is more than just a day marking the birth of the church. It is a day that reminds us of our own responsibility to do the Gospel—to give it to the world.
Christ made it clear that the Holy Spirit would become the Church’s medium to humanity for all of the Father’s energy and riches. It still is and it’s still here in numerous forms. Many Biblical/non-Biblical images describe the Holy Spirit. It is sometimes called fire, or wind. It is also creative energy, and at other times, the so-called healing touch. Whichever image we choose the Holy Spirit is the Church's living connection to God and the living fuel line that should be driving us. With this, the possibilities are endless… something new always will be on the horizon.
