Acts 2: 1–11; Psalm 104: 25–32; I Corinthians 12: 4–13; John 20: 19–23
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL on May 11th, 2008
In our earthly life, we know that our physical bodies need a number of things to survive and thrive, so as to be able to live and to do the work we have before us.
We need a secure environment to protect and nurture our mental and psychological faculties.
We need the guidance of the wisdom of the past, wise teachings and gifted teachers to enable us to be faithful to the body of knowledge that will prove useful in successfully navigating the challenges of life, many of which are quite similar to the challenges of ages gone by.
We need to be fed, so that the nutrition of good food can strengthen us to do the work at hand.
All of these things are requirements for our physical bodies.
All of these things are also requirements for the body of Christ, of which each of is an individual member, and as we join with other individual members, make up the corporate body of Christ, which is the Church.
Enter the Holy Spirit, who comes to provide all these things: comfort, guidance and wisdom, and the energy that His presence provides by feeding and strengthening us for the work at hand. The Holy Spirit comes to preserve the body of Christ, the Church, and to enable it to do the Lord’s work in the world.
In today’s first reading, and on our Gospel reading, we hear two accounts of the coming of the Holy Spirit: In our first reading, we hear of the coming of the Spirit at the feast of Pentecost, and in John’s Gospel account, we read of the bestowal of the Holy Spirit at our Lord Jesus Christ’s agency.
So, in this sermon, let’s examine each account carefully. Then, we should analyze what each has to say about the nature of the Holy Spirit’s role and work in Our Lord’s body, the Church.
We begin with a careful look at each account:
Acts 2: 1 – 11: Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, provides the details of the coming of the Holy Spirit at the great feast of Pentecost. Before we look at the details of Luke’s description, we should remind ourselves that Pentecost was one of three major feasts when devout Jews would come to Jerusalem.[1] Pentecost (which is also known as the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot in Hebrew) derives its name from the timing of its observance, which falls 50 days after Passover.[2]
It appears that the Holy Spirit simply made good use of the fact that “devout Jews from every nation under heaven”[3] were in Jerusalem for the feast, an excellent opportunity to grow the Church, and to make the Gospel known “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.[4]
Now, notice that Luke strains to find language that can capture the drama of the coming of the Holy Spirit….He says, “and suddenly, a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind….and there appeared to them tongues as of fire.”[5]
This would be as good a place as any to remind ourselves of the importance in Holy Scripture to these two symbols: wind and fire.
Wind: In Hebrew, the word for “spirit” is ru’ach, and in Greek it is pneuma. Both words convey a double meaning: wind, or breath. And so it is that Luke uses a word that Jesus also used during His conversation with Nicodemus (in John 3), when He says, “the wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[6]
Fire: In Scripture, “fire” is often a symbol for divinely inspired speech. It is an image we preserve in our language today, when we say, “the Rector gave a fiery sermon”, or “the preacher was on fire today.”
Returning to our text, we see that Luke describes the power of the coming of the Spirit, when he uses the word “mighty” to describe the Spirit’s arrival, like a “mighty wind”. In describing the divine inspiration that the Holy Spirit provided, he says that “tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each of them.”[7]
John 20: 19 – 23: John describes an event that took place on Easter Sunday evening, when the small band of disciples (and perhaps a few others) were gathered, shuttered behind a locked door. Jesus comes and says to them, “Peace be with you.” Then, after having shown them His hands and His side, He says to them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you, and He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit…’”
Notice that Jesus breathed on them. See the connection to the root meaning of the word “spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek?
For a fuller understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role as John recounts it to us, let’s recall some of the things Jesus said about the Holy Spirit’s role and work among the disciples:
Counselor: In John 14: 26, we read, “But when the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
An extension of Jesus’ words and work: A little later on, in John 16: 7, Jesus says, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.. And when He comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Reading on a few verses later (verse 14), Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit “will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Let’s turn now to the implications of the Holy Spirit’s presence among the members of the body of Christ. Recalling our Acts reading and our Gospel reading, we can draw the following conclusions, I believe:
The Holy Spirit extends Jesus’ teaching: Just as in our earthly life we need guidance and instruction in order to act wisely, so the body of Christ requires the Spirit’s leading us “into all truth”. Moreover, the Spirit’s leading us can be recognized by the consistency with Jesus’ teaching as we read it in Holy Scripture. Jesus’ words and works will be the hallmarks of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing presence, and enable us, 21st century believers, to recognize what beliefs and actions are truly prompted by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit comforts us with His presence: When we read John’s Gospel account, these important words leap from the page (John 14: 16), “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth…” By confirming the truthfulness of our belief and our actions (assuming they mirror Christ’s own words and actions), we have the comfort of the Holy Spirit’s endorsement and empowerment to do Christ’s work in the world.
The power to act in God’s name: The importance of the Spirit’s coming in Acts is that the Church is given the power to spread the Good News of God in Christ. Notice that the Spirit enables each one present to speak in a different language than their own native tongue.[8] This bestowal of the Spirit is to enable and energize the Church for mission, for outreach beyond its own members to the world around us.
Finally, let’s summarize what we’ve said to this point. We might make the following applications to our own lives as Christian disciples in our own day and time:
Each member of the body has a role to play: That’s essentially St. Paul’s argument in I Corinthians 12. Each person has special gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit, and the variety of gifts that are given are all important for the working of the body of Christ. In the same vein, it’s no accident that Luke tells us that the tongues of fire divided and rested on each one of them. Notice that the individual’s distinctiveness is not erased as the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and minds, for those who were gifted with the power to speak in unknown languages did not lose their distinctive Galilean accent!
The Holy Spirit guides and preserves the Church: John’s Gospel account seems to emphasize the preservative aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work, as the Church is guided and accompanied in its life and work until the Lord comes again.
The Holy Spirit energizes the Church: Luke’s account of the work of the Holy Spirit[9] makes clear that the Holy Spirit gifts the Church’s members for mission, and then guides and energizes the Church for that mission work.
One final question remains to be considers again, because it is so important: “How can we recognize the presence and work of the Holy Spirit today?” Holy Scripture’s answer is that the Spirit’s work will be consistent with the witness of Scripture. The words and works of Jesus Christ that are recorded on those sacred pages will be the markers of the Spirit’s working today. As surely as the Holy Spirit cannot be controlled by those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ (notice that the Holy Spirit came on His own time and schedule and place at the feast of Pentecost), we today cannot guarantee that a vote of a majority of persons gathered at a Church convention or meeting will automatically be the work of the Holy Spirit, for Church conventions and councils have often failed to mirror the values and teachings of Jesus Christ,unfortunately.[10]
So, “Come Holy Spirit, come to preserve, comfort and guide the body of Christ, the Church. Come to enable us for ministry and for mission. Come and gift each member of the body of Christ, that your Son Jesus Christ may be known throughout the world.”
AMEN.
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[1] The other two were Passover and the Feast of Booths (which occurred in the fall of the year).
[2] Sometime after Luke’s writing of the Book of Acts, Judaism added to Pentecost’s significance. Originally conceived and celebrated as a harvest festival, eventually it also came to be a celebration of the giving of the Covenant to Israel at Mount Sinai. Biblical scholars today do not believe there is a solid connection between this later observance and the significance (for Luke) of the Holy Spirit’s coming at the feast of Pentecost.
[3] Verse 5
[4] Acts 1: 8
[5] Verses 2 – 3
[6] John 3: 8
[7] Acts 2: 3
[8] This sort of speaking in tongues is different than the ecstatic, spirit-filled speech that glorifies God, such as St. Paul discusses in I Corinthians 12 – 14. This gift of language is for the express purpose of spreading the Gospel.
[9] Sometimes, Biblical scholars give the Book of Acts a nickname, calling it “The Gospel of the Holy Spirit”, since Luke emphasizes the Holy Spirit’s role in enabling the early Church to spread the Good News.
[10] See Article XXI of the 39 Articles, which can be found on page 872 of the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
