Today we celebrate Pentecost – the outpouring of the Spirit upon the early disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem. The lesson of Pentecost is simple yet profound: the triune God lives in us; and we live in that trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To paraphrase St. Paul: we are living temples of God.
Awesome!
“Pentecost” is a Greek word meaning “fiftieth” – the fiftieth day after the Passover. Later the Hebrews associated this festival with the covenant God made with their forebears: a covenant summed up in the simple yet powerful phrase you are my people and I am your God.
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost celebrates one aspect of the entire paschal mystery: the death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, and descent of the Spirit.
The Book of Acts describes how the Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate the spring harvest festival. And suddenly the Spirit – described in images of wind and fire (symbolizing power and energy and vitality) – was poured out upon the disciples and fired them up to preach the Gospel fearlessly in Jerusalem and throughout the Mediterranean and around the then known world.
The word of God may be asking us: Do we have the courage to stand up for what's right and true?
The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece speaks about all the gifts the Spirit bestows upon us: all to build up the community. Today we often overemphasize the individual at the expense of the community. Paul’s words are a powerful reminder to seek the common good.
The Gospel according to John describes a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. The risen Christ breathes upon the disciples (as God originally breathed life into us in the Book of Genesis) and in that gesture bestows the Spirit. It’s an awesome truth of our faith: the God of this splendid universe lives within us. You may ask: what does God’s Spirit do within us?
The Spirit transforms us into new creatures, with a destiny beyond this earthly life: eternal life with God. That life has already begun in us, in the waters of baptism, and is nurtured in today's word and sacrament.
To see what the Spirit can do, look at the early disciples: initially cowards hiding in a Jerusalem room, and then suddenly transformed into heroes proclaiming from the rooftops that Jesus Christ is gloriously alive.
Visually, in Advent we see a four-candled wreath. At Christmas there’s the creche and the tree. In Lent we focus on the cross. At Easter, a candle and lilies.
Except for these red vestments symbolizing fire, there's not much to see on Pentecost. It wasn't always so. You know, in some medieval churches people dropped burning straw from the ceiling to recreate the “fiery tongues.” That practice stopped when churches caught afire. As for Luke's description of Jesus’s baptism, and the dove symbolizing the Spirit, birds were released. That stopped when people complained that something other than the Spirit was dripping from the rafters.
The image I like best for Pentecost is the “breath of God” or “gush of wind.” It's something you can feel, “catching” the Spirit. It's feeling the Spirit of God moving wherever it wants and recreating whatever it touches. Remember, for example, how the “dry bones” in the Book of Ezekiel felt God's Spirit bringing the bones back to life.
The power and force and energy and vitality of the Spirit is within us. It inspires us, moves us, so that we can be a channel of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-discipline.
As the Spirit moves where it will, it can inspire whoever sees its effect. So keep alert to God’s Spirit. See the good Samaritan in action. Watch two astronauts lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center Saturday. Enjoy a puppy or cat, or the eagle soaring in the sky collecting nesting materials, or the dolphins splashing in our bay.
Yes, only humans receive the “breath of God” but all living things inspire us if we are alert to God’s creative spirit.
Pentecost concludes the Easter season and begins the mission of the Church, the people of God, your mission and mine, to continue the saving work of Jesus Christ until he comes again in great glory at the end-time. We can continue that work by embodying the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom (to recognize what really matters in life), intelligence (to discern what's true as opposed to what’s fake), courage (to step up for what's right), compassion (for the needy), good judgment (to do right), and wonder and awe (to worship the great God of this universe).
Let us pray that the Spirit whose gifts we already possess will empower us to live more fully the results of the Spirit’s presence in us – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, self-discipline – gifts which Paul describes so powerfully in his letter to the Galatians.
The same Spirit of God who spoke through the prophets of ancient Israel,
who overshadowed the Virgin Mary in Nazareth,
and who energized the disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem,
and who lives within the Church – the community of disciples of Jesus – and guides human history toward its ultimate fulfillment—a new heaven and a new earth at the end-time—
that same Spirit lives and breathes within us
and can transform us ever more fully into “living temples of God.”
So we pray today, Pentecost,
“Come, Holy Spirit anew into our lives, and
re-energize us so that we can
see God more clearly,
love God more dearly and
follow God more nearly. Amen.”
