The Day of Pentecost
Year A,
May 15, 2005
This world is in desperate need of transforming,
and God calls each and
all of us to full participation.
Acts 2: 1-11, Ps 104:25-32, 1
Corinthians 12: 4-13, John 20: 19-23
In the words of St. Augustine let us pray:
“Come, Lord, work upon us, set
us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness,
let us love, let us run to you.”
Early in Christianity, there was a phenomenon in
the deserts of northern Africa. One
would say the Holy Spirit was at work as many were drawn from the hustle and
bustle of city life to a deeper life of prayer and faith. This movement marked the early beginnings of
monastic life that eventually spread throughout the whole Mediterranean region
and to all of Europe. While I am keen
to point out that there were Desert Mothers as well as Desert Fathers, the
following is a story told of two desert fathers: Abbaa Lot and the elder, Abba
Joseph. “Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him: Abba, as much as I
am able I practice a small rule, a little fasting, some prayer and meditation,
and remain quiet, and as much as possible I keep my thoughts clean. What else should I do? The old man stood up and stretched his hands
towards heaven, and his fingers became like ten torches of flame and he said to
him: If you wish, you can become all
flame.”
“If you wish, you can become all flame.” The
question is…do we really wish? Do you
and I truly desire to participate in that fiery breath of God? I think most of us like to keep the heat of
God at a comfortable distance. It seems a little less risky. I mean we are not talking about a little breeze. In Acts there was a rush of a violent wind
and divided tongues of fire appeared. Once we open ourselves to the Holy
Spirit, no telling what is going to happen. Do we really wish for such holy
adventure? These tongues of fire
actually reminded me of when Moses encountered the burning bush? As soon as he became clear of the responsibility
that came along with his privileged encounter with God, he got cold feet. He came up with a number of excuses, but
there was no backing out. God had big
plans for Moses.
God also had big plans for his disciples on that
first Pentecost, and has big plans for you and me as well…God really does want
us to burn with holy love…to become all flame.
We are called together to be recipients, as were those first
disciples. Gathered together as they
were in Jerusalem, praying and rejoicing in their risen Lord, they were ready
and waiting. And so, in time, by the
power of the Holy Spirit, they were united as one to become the body of
Christ…the living church. They were empowered
to proclaim the Holy Gospel and spread the Good News throughout the World
Such is the power that God wants us to share in.
That’s a different kind of power than the world provides. First of all the power of the Holy Spirit is
a gift that was and is shared: The
disciples did not purchase or own it. They definitely did not control it. We
know for a fact they did not earn it. They simply received a divided bit of
power and together participated in making some really big things happen.
In the second place, they were guided by the
teachings and way of Christ at the time they received the gift. When they felt the powerful wind and flames,
it was critical that they were ready and knew how to channel that incredible
energy. When we feel the winds of change and new life, we too must be prepared
to follow the way of Christ. Otherwise,
the world is more than willing to have us misuse the gifts of the Spirit for
less noble enterprises.
In the third place, the Holy Spirit came to the
disciples who were gathered together.
The gift of the Holy Spirit comes to us in the same way…as we participate
within a community of believers. Within
a loving community where people are called to tell the truth in love, we
discern the direction for our personal and communal lives. As the Bishop recently reminded us, “our
relationship to God is personal, but never private.”
And that is not easy is it? It’s much easier to talk about life in community than to take the risks required to live in it. It’s really hard to be open and honest with one another. Moreover, you might have noticed that sometimes our God-given gifts come into conflict with other people’s God-given gifts. On top of that most of us make mistakes every day, or our good intentions are misunderstood. And just to make it even more difficult, we simply can’t help but sin. In any and all these events, a whole lot of forgiveness is needed. And so, in the Gospel of John, the power of the Holy Spirit clearly included the power to forgive. And we all know we can use a lot of that.
Since the Holy Spirit is a gift, it occurred to me
to borrow a favorite image from the Christmas season to help us visualize and
understand Pentecost a little better. Now you may think this sounds a little
corny but I think we Christians are a little bit like a string of Christmas
tree lights. Like each bulb, we have
our unique appearance and attributes. We need a good connection in each
personal socket—that means we are grounded in the love of God and believe in
Jesus Christ. We also need to be
connected to one another if we are to be effective in a large and needy world—that
means with God’s help we love and forgive one another. Finally, when the energy source is activated
together we participate in transforming even the scrawniest of trees (or dark,
lonely and fearful places) into something beautiful with God and for God.
We actually have some recent examples of the Holy
Spirit working through people here at St. Martins. For example, empowered by the Holy Spirit many of you have
transformed a simple leap of faith into $17,000 for outreach. Empowered by the Holy Spirit many of you
have given generously to participate in the new life a woman paralyzed by an
ice storm. Empowered by the Holy Spirit
and working together with other communities of faith, some of you have even accomplished
building a Habitat House.
So let us never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit working in
our own lives…including those we baptized today. This world is in desperate need of transforming and God calls
each and all of us to full participation.
In our families, in our careers and vocations, in our church life…no
matter who you are or what you do, “If you wish, you can become all
flame.” Amen.