Pentecost & The Holy Spirit.
Sunday 8th June 2014.
Numbers 11:24-30
Acts 2: 1-21
John 20 19-23
Language is fascinating. If we say ‘hello’ to each other in a foreign language we may not have knowledge of what each other was saying, but we understood. There was a common thread, which told us that it was a friendly noise.
I remember a friend who was waiting for a flight at Japan and while there was watching a group of people cooing and talking to a baby who was responding in the way babies do. And the noises coming from the baby were the same noises, which her child made. The group around the baby were gleeful that the child was saying the equivalent of da da in their language. She could relate to the group even though their language was totally different.
And isn’t this what happened at that first Pentecost. Everyone whom the Spirit touched spoke in a language, which those gathered in Jerusalem could understand. Pilgrims would flock to Jerusalem for the festival of the Feast of Weeks, early harvest that is 50 days after Passover. They would include Greeks and Jewish communities from all over the world. There would be among them gentiles who had become Jews and all heard in their own dialect. This is a miracle not only of speech but also of hearing. It is God’s deeds of power, which are being displayed. With great power the Spirit of God is poured out on the expectant disciples.
Remember they have waited in Jerusalem since they saw Jesus leave them. In acknowledging he had moved on from human existence to the Divine, they must have wondered whether or not they were going to see Jesus again. After all when he died he came back and he promised that the Comforter would come.
We can look back at that time knowing what happened next. But for the disciples it must have been a matter of concern. So imagine their joy, their absolute wonder when the Spirit comes.
The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost marks the birth of the church and the beginning of the Spirit’s activity, just as in Luke’s Gospel the coming of the Spirit on Jesus at his baptism marked the beginning of his ministry. After the days since the ascension, when the disciples seemed to hold their breath in anticipation, the activity of the Spirit in the Church springs into action. The significance of the event is explained by Peter with reference to Joel. It is the pouring of the Spirit on all humanity; the beginning of salvation for all who call on the name of the Lord.
The event as recounted is full of symbolism. The violent wind is of course the wind of the spirit, and you may be interested to know that wind and spirit are the same word in Greek and Hebrew. The tongues of fire indicate the gift of languages and it also links to the post biblical story of the coming of the Spirit on the elders with Moses in thedesert.
If you recall the reading from Numbers you will be reminded it expresses such a wonderful delighted longing in Moses for the Spirit of God to be poured out on every single person, if only that were possible. In the Numbers reading the scene of the coming of the spirit of God upon the elders of Israel is the immediate preparation for the coming of the Spirit of God upon the elders of the new people of God at Pentecost. In some contemporary re-tellings of the story, the spirit of God came down in the form of tongues of fire. Did Luke model his narration to bring out the similarity?
The cloud symbolises the presence of God, which enables the elders to prophesy. Peter’s speech at Pentecost explains the significance of the event; the Spirit is poured out for all people. In Numbers it is obvious that the prophecy is regarded in its primary sense, not simply as foretelling the future but as speaking the mind of God. The prophet is one who sees things as God sees them and the message is often uncomfortable. Indeed it is precisely because the message is uncomfortable that we need to hear it. We do not like to look God in the eye.
The coming of the Holy Spirit on God’s people at Pentecost is directly the result of the victory won over sin and death on Good Friday, which became obvious with the Resurrection on Easter Day.
Since Easter we have been tracing the growing understanding of what that meant and where it might lead, rather like a potential smouldering fire that has suddenly burst into flames. The disciples had already experienced the risen Christ appearing among them and filling them with peace and happiness, reassurance and enlightenment. Now on the day, which celebrated the giving of the ancient law, the new fulfilled law is searingly burnt into their hearts. Jesus comes not so much among them as right within them in a breath-taking way, which is, in answer to his prayer, allowing them to be truly at one with him as he is one with the Father. From now on the group of followers are collectively the Body of Christ breathing the breath of his life, which is the life of God.
That power is immediately noticeable. The Jewish tradition was familiar with spirit-filled ecstatic prophecy and many recognised that these people were proclaiming the wonderful works of God which has just been revealed to them with a new vitality and heightened perception. But it was even more than that.
Peter sees it as the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy and quotes those words to the listening and curious crowd with the excitement of one who is aware that this very day they are present at history in the making. It is an extraordinary occasion for the whole nation of Israel, if they will only recognise it. In a sense it is the day when the new Israel is born.
From now on the bright revelation of God’s reality is apparent. Power and mercy, sown in the promise to Abraham and his family and spreading to the chosen nation who were called to be God’s light will be available to the whole world. All believers will be part of that holy nation, filled with the life of the living God.
Pentecost was only the beginning. It was not only to those first disciples that God came intimately and completely in the Holy Spirit, but also to us. There is plenty of that Spirit there for us. IT is fresh and vigorous for us if we ask God to send it to us. For God is prepared to make his dwelling with expectant believers of any tradition and any age, culture or personality. It is a terrible myth that the Holy Spirit is only for some, that any are shut off from that inner God given life.
The truth is simple; anyone at all who prays expectantly and longingly for the real, living God to come upon them in power will receive the gift that God longs to give. There is no point in getting worked up about how it will happen for that is God’s agenda and we can trust that it will always be in the time and way which is best for each asking person.
What we do need to return to, is deep, passionate longing for God more than anything or anyone else. And God will come and breathe his life into us all and the effects will show.
AMEN
Rev’d Edwina Wallace.