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May 30, 2004
Sunday thought �.
Today is Pentecost Sunday (also known as Whitsun by those of an earlier churching – or an anti-Catholic persuasion!). This is the day on which we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples hiding out in the upper room in Jerusalem. The story is to be found in The Acts of the Apostles as recorded by Luke, Chapter 2 and it begins “When the day of Pentecost was fully come, the were all together in one place.”
Interestingly, there is no mention of how many were present or of who; it is just assumed that it was the remaining eleven. Even the place is not identified, although we can assume with much more authority that it would have been the same room in which they had eaten the last supper. This at least can be based on the fact that the family of John Mark (Mark the Gospeller, who also appears as a young man in the Acts traveling with Paul and Barnabas) were the most likely providers of food, shelter and the upper room of the last supper – making their home the most likely place for the remaining disciples to congregate. Equally interesting is the fact that other versions of this story place several other followers and not just the disciples in the room at Pentecost.
The Lord Abbot was this morning's preacher at the Sung Eucharist and gave an excellent sermon on the Holy Spirit, leaving us all with plenty to think about. The problem that we all have in thinking of the Holy Spirit (if we do so at all) is that he guides, he leads, he assists, and supports us – but we cannot identify him in the same way that we can Jesus, or, for that matter, God the Father speaking to Moses through the burning bush or the mountain of fire and thunder. Yet, the impact that the Holy Spirit can and does make upon us is no less powerful. As Fr Paul said this morning, what descended on the group gathered in that upper room, burst upon them with almost the same force as a parcel of dynamite. It burst into their lives, spilled over, and drove them out into the world to spread the Gospel and show the world that there was a new force in town – one that had to be reckoned with at a personal level for each and every individual.
The original Greek text of this passage uses the Greek word that provides us with the root for “dynamic” and “dynamite” – and means “spirited”, “lively”, or “enthusiastic”. Small wonder that many of their original hearers could scarcely believe their eyes as this group of cowering and leaderless individuals suddenly burst out of their hopelessness and begin a ministry that will transform the world it confronts. Luke tells us that those who heard them were bewildered by the fact that they could all hear the speakers in their own tongue – another indicator of the presence of the spirit – and some, perhaps less susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit, accused them of being drunk. It is this last group that should concern us most, because they are in all likelihood the nearest to our own probable response if this happened “at a place near you!”
If we are really honest with ourselves, we would admit that if this happened in our own street or even the High Street, we would probably respond with embarrassment, annoyance, or even cynicism. “What are they on? Haven’t they got any shame at all?”
Those of us who have encountered the Holy Spirit (or perhaps allowed ourselves to admit that we have done so) have found it a very dramatic and challenging experience. You cannot not be changed by it, yet, for every one of us it will be different. We may not give it much thought as we journey through life, but the Holy Spirit is with us all the way. He is with us at the start and He is there at the finish. If we allow Him to He can make changes in our lives beyond comprehension in real spiritual terms. He can make us the instruments of His gospel or He can bring us understanding, peace, and the ability to rise above our own limitations to truly serve others as He would have us do. Once encountered, never forgotten, never again the same.
Give it a try – you have nothing to lose but your own limitations and fears.
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.”
Posted by The Gray Monk at May 30, 2004 07:03 PM