Acts 2: 1–21; Psalm 104: 25–35, 37; Romans 8: 14–17; John
8: 14–17, 25–27
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday June 9, 2019
“COME HOLY GHOST…LIGHTEN
WITH CELESTIAL FIRE”
(Homily text: Acts
2: 1-21)
“Come,
Holy Ghost, our souls inspire….and lighten with celestial fire.”[1]
This
ancient hymn, whose text comes to us from the ninth century, is often sung at
ordinations. It asks the Holy Spirit’s fire to descend upon the Bishop who is
ordaining the Ordinand, on the person being ordained, and on all who are
gathered for the liturgy of ordination.
But
it could easily be sung at other times, as well, such as at Holy Baptism, for
it is in Holy Baptism that we affirm that the Holy Spirit is given to the newly
baptized person as a gift that will enable that new Christian to know God, to
be transformed into God’s image, and then to go out into the world proclaiming
the Good News (Gospel) of what God is doing in the sending of Jesus Christ into
the world.
In
our reading from the Book of Acts, chapter two, Luke (the writer of Acts) is
careful to include two themes that are critical to the Pentecost event: wind and fire.
As we
think about the Pentecost event, we get the impression that the Holy Spirit
came crashing in on those who had gathered that day. Notice how Luke reaches
for language to put into human terms this “God-event”: “And suddenly from
heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the
entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared
among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.” (Acts 2: 2–3)
Luke
says “like” in describing the sound of the coming of the Spirit. And then he
says, “as of fire” in describing the coming of the tongues of fire.
If we
think about the overall trajectory of what God is doing in the sending, first,
of Jesus Christ, and then, in the sending of the Holy Spirit, we get the
impression that – in Christ – God lit the fire of a new way of relating to God
in His coming among us as one of us, Jesus Christ, who is both God and human.
God lights that new fire by providing the raw material - Jesus Christ - for
that new way of being alive in God. But the fire, by itself, needs oxygen in
order to continue burning. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in, for the
Spirit stokes the fire into white hot heat, heat that is capable of energizing
God’s people to go out and to do the things God has in mind.
God’s
people need the power of the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit not only provides the
means by which God’s fire can burn brightly, but the Spirit also refines God’s
people and transforms them fully into the image of Christ.
As we
reflect on the Holy Spirit’s power, perhaps we can look back into our own walk
with God to see times when the Holy Spirit was a powerful presence that compelled
us to do God’s work. Perhaps we can see times when the Spirit convicted us of
something in our lives that was less-than-pleasing to God. Perhaps we can see
the Spirit’s ability to enlighten us to see clearly the nature of an issue that
was before us.
