Sermon Text: Acts 2: 1-21
The images that we get from the Acts reading are dramatic---the rush of a violent wind, divided tongues as of fire resting on each of them, being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in languages foreign to the speakers but familiar to the hearers. It does sound a bit bizarre but these images are not foreign to us---for we see them in the Bible in Daniel and Ezekiel and in Revelation (just to name a few places). How do you describe the indescribable? What words can we use to describe God---Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Sometimes people use: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. That helps but just defines in terms of “roles”. As human beings we can relate to Father and Son---those are familial concepts. But Holy Spirit, how do you describe that which one cannot see?
Here are the words to a 2005 hymn written for Pentecost:
As the wind song through the trees, as the stirring of the breeze, so it is with the Spirit of God, as the heart made strangely warm, as the voice within the storm, so it is with the Spirit of God. Never seen, ever known where this wind has blown—bringing life, bringing power to the world, as the dancing tongues of fire, as the soul’s most deep desire, so it is with the Spirit of God.
As the rainbow after rain, as the hope that’s born again, so it is with the Spirit of God, as the green in the spring, as a kite on a string, so it is with the Spirit of God, making worlds that are new, making peace come true, bringing gifts, bringing love to the world, as the rising of the yeast, as the wine at the feast, so it is with the Spirit of God.
In John 16: 7 Jesus says: “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” This might give us the notion that the Holy Spirit only came after Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. But that is not true. When the earth was still a “formless void” at the beginning of Creation, the second verse of the Bible tells us that “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word “ruach” (Spirit of God) isn’t necessarily a theological term here, but it could be. It might mean a wind or a breath, but it’s also used for the spiritual life force of God. We see the Lord’s breath as it empowers particular people for special tasks: designing the tabernacle, fighting a foe, speaking a prophetic word to Israel, giving the strength to go and spread the Good News.
The identity and role of the Holy Spirit becomes clearer with the appearance of Jesus. Isaiah prophesied: “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” Those words were echoed in Jesus’ baptism, as the Spirit of God descended upon him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
At the Last Supper, Jesus warned the disciples of his departure but said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth.” The word for advocate (parakletos) can be read as “counselor”, “comforter”, or “helper”. It literally means “one who is called alongside to offer assistance.”
Bible translators were working to translate the Bible into the Karre language of equatorial Africa. They were searching for a way to translate “Parakletos”. One day, the translators saw a group of porters going off into the bush carrying bundles on their heads. They saw that one didn’t carry anything and so they assumed he was the boss who was present to make sure the others did their work. However, they discovered he was not the boss. Rather he was present so that, should anyone fall over with exhaustion, this man would pick up the man’s load and carry it for him. This porter was known in the Karre language as “the one who falls down beside us.” The translators had their word for “parakletos”.
Did you know that pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit? “Pneuma” means “wind”, “breath” or “spirit”. It includes the study of the personality of the Spirit, the deity of the Spirit, and the work of the Spirit throughout Scripture. One commentator said that when Jesus said that he would send another in his place, the Greek word “allos” refers to another “just like” Jesus. Further, Jesus referred to him as a “parakletos”—an enabler, encourager, comforter, etc.—which is how Jesus functioned to the disciples. He was an enabler, encourager and comforter among many other roles. This commentator also pointed out that the Spirit makes choices, teaches, guides, reveals Jesus, convicts, seals believers, can be grieved and resisted, and is distinguished from and yet directly linked with the Father and the Son as co-worker and co-recipient of worship.
Sometimes, I childishly think of the Holy Spirit as being in the role that Jiminy Cricket played in the Pinocchio story---that of “conscience” trying to teach Pinocchio right from wrong. The Holy Spirit can and will be our Guide---when we let Him. One amateur pilot found it difficult to pilot a plane by instruments alone. It is a necessary skill if you want to fly at night or in a fog. Without this skill, it is easy for a pilot to fall into an uncontrolled bank and crash. During one instrument lesson, the amateur pilot recalls how amazed he was that if he diverted his attention for just a moment, how fast the plane could slide into a banking turn. The first time it happened, he said a shot of panic went through him, a momentary fear that made it even more difficult to comprehend what the plane was doing. Then he heard his instructor calmly say, “Watch your bank.” Then the pilot leveled the plane. The point of the story is that in Christian life, when we are forced to fly into fog or fly at night, when it’s hard to get our bearings, when we can’t see the horizon or get the perspective to stay level, it’s doubly important to keep our eyes fixed on God’s guiding Word (the Holy Spirit as well as scripture).
In our Romans reading from chapter 8 we read this: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” As a believer, we are not left to our own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don’ know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God answers. With God helping you to pray, you don’t need to be afraid to come before him. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you “in accordance with God’s will. Then when you bring your requests to God, trust that he will always do what is best.
In Paul’s letters, he writes of two additional areas of activity of the Holy Spirit---those of the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Each believer, he says, has at least one special ability granted by the Spirit for the good of the Church and the glory of God:
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking by different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
When a believer is guided by God’s Spirit, the resulting “fruit” is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5: 22-23). The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control—we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without his help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to his. We must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him.
I ran across this sentence in my readings this week: THE FATHER GAVE US THE SPIRIT TO MAKE US LIKE THE SON. I really like this. I think this sums up Pentecost pretty well: The Father gave us the spirit to make us like the Son! Amen.