Happy Pentecost! As Johan Engstrom said last week, “The
Spirit is a movin’.” at our parish. But
what does that mean? We are reminded
today that the small band of apostles, disciples, and women that followed Jesus
sat in prayer together waiting in anticipation for the Holy Spirit to direct
them. And, boy, did God’s Spirit do just
that! “And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were sitting…and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them.” (Acts 2:2-4)
This was a powerful moment in the life of the Church but it
is not over either. Pentecost, like
Christmas or Easter, isn’t a day that we look back upon and only remember “the
good old days”. We remember and
believe. We place our hope in a living
God who can move us and guide us into greater, more abundant life for the good
of God’s kingdom. And through the Holy
Spirit, we can confront all kinds of times of desolation with the hope and
peace that only the Holy Spirit can provide in our hearts.
The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) are filled with words
of desolation, people in national and personal despair, yet in faith, the
Israelites would acclaim “Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal
Rock.” (Isa. 26:4) By putting their
faith in God, they were consoled. They
were strengthened.
Then God’s Word dwelt among us and Zacharias prophesized, “In
the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to
shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our
feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79).
We live in a culture often focused on death. Steeped in that
culture, we can easily grow in fear and anxiety of suffering further and any change,
especially what we may see to be significant, only raises our anxiety and
increase the darkness within our spirit (our inner self).
Yet, Pentecost proclaims something different, something
powerful. Jesus Christ is not only
resurrected and sitting at the right hand of our Father in heaven, but their
Holy Spirit dwells with us and can empower us through our trust and faith in
God. In that empowerment, God calls us
into spiritual maturity – to grow in our love for God, to love our neighbors
more actively, and to become greater authentic witnesses of God’s grace and
power. We cannot fake this, we need to grow in our freedom from sin and that
means responding in faith. It means
living in a new culture focused on resurrected life and not death. On God’s
power, not our own. Yes, the Spirit is a movin’ in our parish. But can we let go of what holds us in
darkness and allow the Holy Spirit to move us?
