These reflections are written for the Parish of Christ Episcopal Church in Yankton, South Dakota by this blogger.
THE DAY OF PENTECOST
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit “
THE FIRST LESSON
Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. 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. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
`In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' “
THE PSALM
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Benedic, anima mea
25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.
27 There move the ships,
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.
28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.
29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
and so you renew the face of the earth.
32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
I will praise my God while I have my being.
35 May these words of mine please him; *
I will rejoice in the Lord.
37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!
THE EPISTLE LESSON
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
THE GOSPEL
John 7:37-39
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who has faith (nw) in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the faithful (nw) heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which the faithful (nw) in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
REFLECTION
by
Norm Wright
+In the Name of the Creating Spirit of God+
“When the day of Pentecost had come…” is a good place to start when talking about the Feast of Pentecost. The day that “had come” which Luke, the author of Acts, is referring to is the Jewish feast of Pentecost, Shavuot, or the “Festival of Weeks” which is described in Deuteronomy 16:9-12. Shavuot is a harvest festival marking the end of the then seven week grain harvest which began after the Feast of Passover. It is also celebrated as a feast commemorating God giving the Torah to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. It is one of the festivals when Jews from all over the known world at the time would have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate it at the Temple.
That the Jewish feast of Pentecost was the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, including women and children, who gathered together to celebrate it gives the Christian feast of Pentecost a deeper meaning.
Just as a harvest sets the stage for new life to emerge on the earth, the ascension of Jesus, as the taken-in first fruit of new creation, set the stage for a new creation to emerge which was being inaugurated by the Holy Spirit on that day of Jewish Pentecost.
Just as the giving of the law guided the people of Israel, the the Holy Spirit is present to guide and empower us to proclaim the good news that a new creation in Christ Jesus has begun.
With that said, I would like to draw some of the threads together that we have been looking at during the Lenten and Easter seasons:
The first is my personal creed, “What’s true for Jesus is true for us.” Jesus is our exemplar. Jesus’ teachings show us what it means to be truly human, and Jesus’ ministry demonstrates what it means to live into being God’s child.
The second is that living into being a child of God begins with the recognition that we, all of us, are children of God, but rarely act like it. Jesus lived into being the beloved son God declared him to be at his baptism, which culminated in the kenotic act of pouring himself out and opening himself to the world on the cross.
The third is what I call the grace of doubt. Doubt, in this sense, is not selfish skepticism, but rather is a doubt that pushes one’s selfish certitude aside to allow for second sight, the sight of faith. It is expressed in Jesus’ Eloi, Elioi… moment; that momentary doubtful cry on the cross that led him to see the world as our Father sees it. Seeing the world through the eyes of our loving Father, gave Jesus the faith to look out on those who crucified him and completely empty himself in order to allow them and the whole world into his wounded body and forgiving all.
This grace of doubt opens one to that perennial longing residing at the core every heart, which is to experience the love of God. The grace of doubt motivates one to take a second, deeper look like Mary Magdalene who returned to the tomb and like Thomas who at the approach of Jesus pushed aside certitude to enter the wounds of Jesus.
Lastly, Jesus being taken into that mysterious cloud allows the risen Christ to be present through the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Risen Christ approaches each longing heart.
The Holy Spirit is the primal breath and the energizing power of God that brought us to life and breathed in us the creative image of God. The Pentecost event is the baptism of fire that inaugurates a new creation conformed to the likeness of the risen and rising Christ. Its symbol is the fire that cannot be quenched and does not destroy, but rather enlivens, enlightens, and sanctifies.
The paradox of the risen and rising Christ is the situation we find ourselves in; a state of being that is both complete and yet to be completed.
The resurrection of Jesus is God’s final judgment on the world God and in this “becoming” life, we are freed to proclaim a new creation in Christ.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to free others and invite them to join us as member of Christ’s body and put aside selfish certitude that leads to degradation, hatred, violence, and war.
The Holy Spirit comes as a burning desire that inspires and purifies us to become who we truly are; the offspring of that Being in which we live, move, and have our being.
The Holy Spirit comes to give us the sight of faith to see Christ in all things.
The Holy Spirit comes to open our faith-filled hearts from which rivers of living water flow into a world thirsty to know the love of God.
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the NationalCouncil of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
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