A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker Given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, May 31, 2009
Acts 2: 1 – 11; Psalm 104: 25 – 37; I Corinthians 12: 4 – 13; John 20: 19 – 23
Think with me for a moment: “Does the Church spend enough time thinking about the Holy Spirit, and encouraging the Spirit’s presence and work among us?”
Perhaps as I ask that question, I ought to provide a context: I mean our part of the Christian family generally, the Episcopal Church. But I also mean our local congregation, Trinity, Mt. Vernon.
So, what would the answer be, do you think?
As you ponder that question, let me make two comments about the Holy Spirit, and particularly about the Christian family’s approach to, and regard for, the Holy Spirit:
- Many of us are ‘binatarians”, not Trinitarians: Many Christians spend a lot of time worshiping God the Father and God the Son. But the Holy Spirit is treated as a minor member of the Trinity.
- We may shy away from a proper regard for the Holy Spirit: It is most likely true that some parts of the Christian family focus on the Spirit to the extent that other parts of the Trinity are neglected. And, sometimes that focus on the Spirit becomes a license for emotionalism which encourages individuality.
This part of the Spirit’s power – the power to move people and to cause ecstatic speech and displays of emotion and joy - may encourage us to shy away from a focus on the Spirit, especially if we value an intellectual approach to God, which encourages study of God’s word (the Bible) and a study of the history of God’s people down through the ages, including a study of the great theologians of the past. We may value that part of the tradition so much, however, that we become members of God’s “frozen chosen”, whose intellectual approach to faith is so overpowering that the Spirit can’t wedge a way into our hearts.
Now, let’s return to our question: “Does the Church spend enough time thinking about the Holy Spirit, and in encouraging the Spirit’s presence and work among us?”
If you aren’t sure about the answer, maybe this sermon will provide some guidance as we consider the giving of the Spirit on Easter Sunday evening (John’s account in chapter 20), as we consider the coming of the Holy Spirit at the great feast of Pentecost (our reading from Acts chapter two), and the Spirit’s gifts and manifestation to each member of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, for the upbuilding of both individual and the Church.
So, let’s dig in!
Bestowing of the Holy Spirit: John 20: 22 reads, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit…’” How does Jesus’ giving of the Holy Spirit square with the Acts chapter two account of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? Scholars have wrestled with that question, and one answer comes in this way: “The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the small band of His disciples on Easter Sunday evening. This was the first of two arrivals of the Holy Spirit, the other one being the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, when the Spirit’s presence alighted on a larger group of believers.” I must say that I find this explanation to be quite in line with the scriptural witness. It’s quite possible that Jesus wanted to have a direct transition from His presence with His followers to the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Comforter, who would lead his disciples “into all truth”, and who would “remind them of everything He had said”.
The Holy Spirit: Individual possession, or community gift?: With this question, we come back now to the issue of individual expression, of individual status within the community of faith. And this question was at the heart of the problems that St. Paul was addressing in the 12th chapter of his first letter to the Church in Corinth. Let’s explore those problems briefly:
“Anything you can do, I can do better,”, the old Irving Berlin song says. That would describe the situation in the Corinthian church quite well….You see, this congregation seems to have been torn apart by rampant individualism, by an individualism that manifested itself in the boasting of some of its members about their ability to speak in tongues. Called (technically) glossalalia, this gift of tongues is essentially the gift of ecstatic speech, in which God is praised with words that transcend normal human language. Sometimes, this gift of tongues also serves to enlighten God’s people to God’s truth, and to curb the excesses into which the Corinthian Christians had fallen, St. Paul has to admonish this congregation, putting limits on the use of tongues in their worship services. He has to say that, whenever someone speaks in tongues, someone else would have to be present to interpret what had been said. In essence, St. Paul affirms the corporate nature of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit….More than one person will be required in order for this gift of the Holy Spirit to be exercised. Paul’s understanding is right in line with the outpouring of the Spirit which took place at Pentecost, when we read that the Spirit “rested on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit….”
So, we can affirm that Holy Scripture’s teaching is that the Spirit’s presence is both an individual and a corporate gift.
And this individual and corporate nature of the Spirit’s power and presence leads us to the next observation:
The purpose of the Spirit’s presence and working: For this part of our consideration, we return to I Corinthians….
Paul makes clear that the Spirit’s work is given “for the common good,” even though the Spirit’s presence is an individual presence.
As we analyze the various gifts of the Spirit, we see that they fall into some specific categories, gifts which:
- Build up the community: Wisdom, the utterance of knowledge.
- Strengthen the community: Faith, healing.
- Demonstrate the Spirit’s power: Working of miracles.
- Protect the community: Prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, tongues and their interpretation.
Some final comments are probably in order:
When the Holy Spirit comes, His presence is noticeable: See the power with which the Holy Spirit’s arrival is noticed by those who heard the sound which was “like a mighty wind.” People were drawn to this phenomenon. Moreover, the Spirit’s alighting on each one present was noticeable, too, because of the great gift of the ability to speak in a language that each of these Galileans didn’t know. Likewise, in I Corinthians, many of the gifts that St. Paul enumerates will be observable manifestations of the Spirit’s presence, gifts such as healing, or the working of miracles.
Without the Spirit’s presence, the Church’s very life is dead: God’s people, the Church, cannot exist without the Spirit’s presence and working. Whatever schemes we may devise to build up the Church, whatever work we think we might undertake, without the Holy Spirit’s presence and inspiration, it will all come to nothing without that divine power. I am reminded of the verse which says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” That is most certainly true!
So, as we close, let’s return to the question with which we began…. “Does the Church spend enough time considering the Holy Spirit, and encouraging the Spirit’s presence and work among us?”
As we’ve seen, this is a question which has individual and corporate implications.
Without the Spirit’s inspiration, nothing that the Church ever tries to do will amount to anything.
Without the Spirit’s presence, the Church’s members cannot be built up in the faith.
Without the Spirit’s presence, the Church’s members cannot defend themselves against the (inevitable) assaults of the forces of evil.
The Spirit’s presence among us will be noticeable. It will be powerful. It will draw others into the Body of Christ. It will build up the Church, strengthen it, and defend it.
Do we spend enough time giving proper regard to the Spirit? Do we see the Spirit’s power among us individually and corporately?
