Readings
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
On this feast of Pentecost, this fiftieth day of Easter, we hear again the story of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we are afforded the opportunity to glimpse at the birth of the Church’s public ministry to the world. But we would do well to not simply look at this as a miracle story, nor should we confine it to the pages of history. The story we celebrate this day does not only belong to the early disciples, it belongs to us as well.
In the book of Acts we hear that the original followers of Jesus are gathered together 50 days after his resurrection and only a few days after he has ascended to his Father. This would have been a time of both great anxiety and great anticipation. Anxiety because of the absence of their Lord and anticipation in awaiting another. As we heard in today’s Gospel, Jesus had promised them that when he left he would send another, an “advocate,” to be with them.
And so it is in this mix of emotions the community of the faithful gather. And, while together, a violent wind comes and fills the entire house where they are and “divided tongues, as of fire” appear among them and rest on them. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other languages.
Now we’re told that the commotion of it all draws a crowd. Probably both out of curiosity and concern. But what happens? Instead of there being a crisis, the people in the crowd, who are of many nationalities, hear the disciples proclaiming the Good News of God and of Jesus in their own language and are amazed that such a humble group of people could accomplish such a feat. In the end, searching for an answer, some chalk it up to drunkenness. But Peter then speaks to the crowd and, by reminding them of the words of the prophet Joel, makes sense out of what they have just experienced.
What then are we to make of this story? What exactly is going on? And what does it have to do with us?
Well, I would suggest that this is nothing less than the climax of the transformation at work in the disciples. This is nothing less than a glimpse into God’s good purpose for all of us should we claim the way of Jesus. This is a story about salvation and redemption; theirs, ours, and that of the whole world.
And at the heart of it is the idea of being one. At the heart of it is a story of overcoming all that separates and estranges us. Both from one another and from God. You see this is a story about the disciples, through the work of the Holy Spirit, overcoming the separation and distance that exists in the human family.
Through the miracle of the gift of tongues people were able to form community. Through that miracle the message of hope and transformation that comes with Jesus moved beyond the limits of his initial band of followers to include others who might otherwise have been deemed outside or beyond. In the end, all of the things that we commonly think of as barriers to community (language, culture, ethnicity) were transcended.
And that wasn’t just because Jesus wants us all to get along. No, it is because we are made in the image of God and God’s good intention is for us to be one, just as Jesus, his Father, and the Spirit are one. When we are one, then we are closer to God. When we are one, then we are open to the gift of salvation.
But that begs the question, what is the ultimate point and purpose of salvation? Is it simply for us to not die? Relative to God’s capability that seems awfully small. Yes, the gift of salvation is that we receive eternal life, but it’s not the life we have now. It isn’t simply making what we know now never end. No, it’s so much more.
From early in the life of the church there has been a concept that contains what is at the heart of salvation and eternal life in God. That term is “theosis.” It is often translated with the phrase “God became one with humanity in order that humanity might become one with God.” Put more simply, God’s salvation of us is all about unity with God. God’s good intention for us and for all of humanity is nothing less than to be drawn up into the oneness of God.
This brings us back to last week’s discussion about the purpose of the Church being an alternative to the brokenness of the world. And what ultimately is the expression of the world’s brokenness? Estrangement, isolation, alienation, loneliness and all the awfulness that comes with that.
And Pentecost is God’s response through us. We are called to be the alternative to the brokenness. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to bridge that which separates us. And once we do, we are to share the love of God with one another and with all those around us. When we bridge those barriers, when we express the love of God, we do nothing less than make God manifest in the world and create the opportunity for both our and others’ transformation. We draw near to the God who saves us and embrace the salvation being offered. We glimpse through one another in community what ultimately we will experience perfectly in God.
On this day we are being given both a gift and a charge. We are being given the gift of God’s salvation expressed by the Spirit through community. We are being given the assurance and the consolation of knowing that God loves us and calls us to be God’s own.
But we are also being charged to be the manifestation of God’s presence in the world. To be agents of peace and reconciliation and ultimately to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ to a world marked by estrangement, isolation, alienation, and loneliness. To make real, through that gift of the Spirit, the love of God that bridges the barriers to oneness.
May we claim through Christ, in the power of the Spirit, the salvation being offered to us this day and every day. May we be open to the movement of the spirit among us. And may we have the courage and conviction to be agents of that Spirit, proclaiming God’s good will to the world about us.