Given at St. Mark’s Church, West Frankfort, IL; and at St. James’ Memorial Church, Marion, IL
We come today to the very familiar account of the coming of the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter.
And we have read today three passages of Scripture having to do with the Holy Spirit’s coming and work: The Acts account, written by Luke, which recounts the Holy Spirit’s coming like “fire”, and like “a mighty wind” on the Day of Pentecost; the Gospel of John’s account of Jesus’ bestowal of the Holy Spirit to a small group of disciples on that very first Easter Day, and then St. Paul’s description of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to each believer “just as the Spirit chooses.”[1]
So this day, the Feast of Pentecost, rightly bears a nickname: “The Birthday of the Church”. For it is when the Holy Spirit is distributed to the larger body of believers on Pentecost that the Church’s preparation for its ministry and mission is complete: God the Father has sent God the Son to teach us in the right way, and to “show us the Father”.[2] Now, with Jesus’ departure at His Ascension (10 days earlier), the preparatory phase is complete, and the power of the Holy Spirit that will fuel the Church has been made manifestly clear and has been given to the Church, which is the body of believers.
But what about our understanding of the Holy Spirit?
Are we “binatarians”?[3] That is to say, do we believe that God is known as Father and as Son, but that the Holy Spirit is some sort of a lesser part of God, or something that God “sends out”? I am afraid that, whether we are ready to admit it or not, that’s often the way we believe and behave.
Our Nicene Creed might not help us to avoid the idea that God has two persons, not three…Consider where it says, “we believe in the Holy Spirit”, and a little later goes on to say, “who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” We might think that the Holy Spirit is not really God, but a power that God sends out from Himself….We ignore the other part of the Creed’s statement, which, in its entirety, says, “we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.” The Creed’s reinforcement of orthodox belief is quite clear: the Holy Spirit is God!
Next Sunday, we will concentrate on the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But today, when we focus quite clearly on the giving of the Holy Spirit, and on the Holy Spirit’s work among the faithful, let’s reflect a little on the Holy Spirit, and on the power that the Holy Spirit makes available to all believers….
- The Holy Spirit cannot be controlled: Notice that the Holy Spirit came “suddenly”, and with great and noticeable power: we read in Acts 2:2, “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven.” Clearly, the Holy Spirit is in charge! Reflecting on the Spirit’s freedom, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[4]
- The Holy Spirit’s power makes noticeable changes in the believing community: In Acts, the change the Holy Spirit brings about is the ability to speak foreign languages, so that the mission of the Church in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ might be aided. In Corinthians, the changes the Holy Spirit brings about are the gifts, the services and the workings that the Holy Spirit assists.
- The Holy Spirit gives gifts to each believer: Notice Luke’s description in Acts…he tells us that the Holy Spirit’s arrival was “like a violent wind”, and like “fire”. But then he goes on to tell us that the Holy Spirit distributed what seemed to be “tongues of fire” on each one….The Spirit distributed to each one the divine power (signified by the image of fire) the ability to speak in another language…..Similarly, in I Corinthians, St. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit “gives to each one, just as he determines.” [5] But, we should notice as we look carefully at the list of gifts, services and workings we read in chapter 12 of First Corinthians that some of the outpourings of the Spirit are more noticeable than others….this was an enormous problem in the Corinthian church, because some members seemed to claim special spiritual status from their ability to speak in tongues (in this case, not the ability to speak in a foreign language, but the ability to engage in “ecstatic, divine speech”).[6] Surely, the ability to speak in tongues is far more noticeable than the ability to have faith. But Paul makes clear in the remainder of chapter 12 that each believer is an important and vital part of the body of Christ, whether or not the gifts given to an individual are particularly easy to see.
- The Church cannot control the Holy Spirit: We modern Americans tend to believe quite deeply in the democratic process…you know, if “a majority of people believe this or that, then that’s the way things ought to be.” We apply that belief (as important as it is to the political process) to the Holy Spirit, and to the Church: we believe that, if 51% of a group of Church members vote in a certain way, then that is automatically the work of the Holy Spirit….However, a brief look over our shoulders at Church history ought to show us that the Church has often “gotten it wrong”, even though a majority of its members or its leaders have advocated a certain type of action. We should “test the spirits” as I John 4: 1 advises us, to see if what we perceive as being the work of the Holy Spirit is, in fact, consistent with what we know of the Spirit’s working in the past.
- The Spirit is consistent: In matters of faith and morals, the Holy Spirit cannot dictate one set of values or beliefs in one place and time, and another in another place and time. What we read of the Holy Spirit’s action, in conjunction with the work of Jesus Christ and with God the Father in Holy Scripture continues to serve as the basis for correct understanding of our ability to see the Spirit’s work and presence today.
- The Spirit brings unity: Even as the Spirit distributed the heavenly fire at Pentecost, and then showers the believers with various spiritual gifts, the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s presence is not only to empower the faithful, but to bring them together in unity. A hallmark of the Spirit’s presence is the unity of the faithful in response to the Spirit’s working.
- Without the Holy Spirit, the Church is “dead meat”: (I hate to put it so bluntly!) Without the Spirit’s empowering presence, the Church’s mission is “dead on arrival”! We cannot do anything without the Spirit’s power, just as the disciples could not speak those various kinds of foreign languages on the Day of Pentecost without the Spirit’s enabling.
So, in closing, today’s readings ask us to consider: 1. what is my understanding of the Holy Spirit?....do I recognize that the Spirit is part-and-parcel with God the Father and God the Son, truly God?; 2. How do I recognize the Spirit’s empowering presence in my life, in the life of my parish church, and in the wider church?
May God’s Holy Spirit enable us to understand correctly, and to see His presence in the life of faith.
AMEN.
[1] I Corinthians 12: 11
[2] John 14: 9
[3] Admittedly a coined phrase to describe a belief in God the Father and God the Son. It is used by Robert W. Wall in his commentary on Acts, as is found in the New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. X, p. 57.
[4] John 3: 8
[5] I Corinthians 12: 11
[6] For St. Paul’s full treatment of this problem, see I Corinthians 14: 1 - 25
