Readings
for Pentecost A:
Act 2:1-11; John 20: 19-23
May 15, 2005
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." [Acts 2]
At the end of the 19th century, Ludwik Zanenhof created an artificial language called Esperanto. The purpose of this artificial language was to ease communications between speakers of different languages by creating a vocabulary of easy to use words with common European roots. This was not the first time that a universal language was proposed. Throughout the Middle Ages, Latin was the official language spoken or written in educated circles. Up until the 1960's, the Roman Catholic Church held all of its services (worldwide) in Latin, so that its members would come to know one religious language in worship. Today, English has become the so-called universal language, especially in the business world. This is not because most of the world's population is English-speaking, but because the United States has become the most powerful and richest nation in the world.
In Jesus' farewell address, he prayed "that we all may be one." This oneness, this vision for a common humanity who can communicate effectively and listen intently with the spirit of love, is at the core of Christian hope. This "oneness" is not a uniformity of the human race, but rather a way of relating to others in the world that promotes harmony, peace, justice, compassion, generosity, good will, and righteousness. Today, on this Feast Day of Pentecost, we read about such an event, where the spirit of God "broke open" the gates of communication between people of many different nations. Let's take a closer look at today's Scriptures.
Pentecost comes from the word meaning 50. Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish festival that included such elements as the reading of the Ten Commandments, the celebration of the goodness of God, and a focus on the harvest. It took place 50 days after Passover and was a time when many Jews (from many different regions of the world) would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is probably why the crowd, described in the Book of Acts, was made up of Jews from such places as Asia, Egypt, Libya, Judea, Rome, and Mesopotamia.
Something extraordinary happened on that day of Pentecost! There was something far beyond the apostles' ego-strength and intelligence that empowered them to get over their grief and fear and go out and spread the good news in Christ- proclaiming God's great deeds of power. We call this extraordinary empowerment, the work of the Holy Spirit.
Now if you have never recognized or experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in your own life, you are probably skeptical. It is difficult, to articulate in words, an exact description of being "filled" with this Spirit. However, being filled with the Spirit of God is very real! And for those who have had this experience, it can be life transforming. In the book of Acts, Luke describes the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dramatic event- a sound "like a rush of violent wind," the appearance of fire, and the gift of being able to speak in a way that is comprehensible to people from other countries. [See Acts 2]
On the other hand, the gospel of John describes the descent of the Holy Spirit as Jesus breathing on the disciples and saying: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." [Jn. 20] Two events, but the same Spirit. Sometimes the Spirit comes in the quiet of the day, through a small still voice. Sometimes the Spirit comes like an earthquake, shaking us to the core. Sometimes the Spirit comes upon us gradually, as we inch toward the Kingdom of God. Sometimes the Spirit comes upon us through gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation, etc [See 1Cor. 12]. Sometimes the Spirit comes upon us through a deep conversion experience, turning our lives up-side-down. Sometimes, the Spirit comes upon a community of faith, empowering them with great passion to reach out to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, seeking justice, peace, the dignity of every human being or empowering them to go out and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The outpouring of the Spirit is actually a frequent event. What is often not frequent however, is people's openness to this Spirit of transformation. Perhaps, that is why our world is in such turmoil and why our faith remains distant. War, poverty, and much suffering is often the result of poor communication and the refusal to listen to the cries, the needs, and the deepest longings of others. In other words, the world is in such turmoil because we are not open to the love and power of the Holy Spirit to "make all things new."
Part of the reason of not being open to or recognizing the Holy Spirit in our lives, is because the Church has historically ignored the Holy Spirit. Instead, it has primarily focused on God the Creator and the Word make flesh in Jesus. In many circles, all you hear about is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. The Christian message is not a proclamation of Christ alone, but of the Holy Spirit as well. Over time, the Holy Spirit became the "Cinderella" of Christianity; the pitiful stepsister who was forced to stay home from the ball. As a result, the Holy Spirit was kept to an interior region of individual devotion. It seemed that only under "special circumstances" would the Spirit make a public appearance in a form of religious experience that would frighten away the uninitiated.
The true aim of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit so that we may be transformed into the people God wills for us to be. This "stepsister" refuses to be left behind. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no dance, there is no joy, there is no life. The Holy Spirit can not and will not be suppressed. God seeks a Church based on love and forgiveness and could care less about formal piety and intellectual respectability. In fact the largest growing body of Christians in the world today, are Charismatic Christians. These are those who believe in and call upon the Holy Spirit for healing, wholeness, and transformation. They embrace the power of the Holy Spirit, not only for themselves, but also for the transformation of societal and institutional structures that have traditionally been oppressive and destructive to the human soul.
The Holy Spirit is God at work in the world and in the Church today. The Holy Spirit is the giver of life who spoke through the prophets. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth and enables us to grow into the likeness of Christ. [See catechism, BCP 852] We call this transformation into the likeness of Christ, the process of sanctification. As your rector, I believe that sanctification needs to be the focus and the priority of our communal life together as people of St. Jude's. When Pope Paul VI (during the 1970's) was asked, "What is the greatest need of the Church today," he replied: "The Holy Spirit!" I agree. Our vision: "St. Jude's is a spiritual oasis where lives are transformed" will not come about simply by a strategic plan, a site plan, or the right program plan. Transformation comes about when we open ourselves up to the workings of the Holy Spirit and allow God to breathe the breath of life into us.
Martin Luther described the Holy Spirit as ‘the chicken, sitting on the egg, providing warmth so that the egg could hatch and come to life.’ Hildegard of Bingen described the Holy Spirit as ‘viriditas’, the greening of plants in nature; that which makes life possible. Others compare the Holy Spirit to the watering of a garden, providing the newly planted seeds with the most vital nutrient of all. Without water, there is no life. The Scriptures describe the Holy Spirit as the fruit. If Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, it is the Holy Spirit who causes fruit to come forth. And the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. [Gal.5]
Several years ago, there was a British film about a man from Calcutta India, who came to London to find fame and fortune. During his first week in the city, he saw a woman struck by a bus. She lay in the street, not breathing. The man rushed over to her, applied mouth-to mouth resuscitation, and revived her. He stood and announced proudly, "Madam, my life is in you now!"
When Jesus breathed the Spirit of God into the gathered disciples, they were filled with new life. They became messengers of the good news, agents of healing, icons of hope, and beacons of light to those who walked in darkness. Hannah, today, as you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own for ever, my prayer is that you will always remain open to the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that you will open yourself up to the process of sanctification so that you too will become a messenger of the good news, an agent of healing, an icon of hope, and a beacon of light to those who walk in darkness. Come Holy Spirit, Come!
| Updated 5/14/05 |
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