Pentecost Sermon by The Rt. Rev. Drew Smith
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The Day of Pentecost May 24, 2015 Trinity Church, Hartford
The Rt. Rev. Andrew "Drew" Smith
What a time we are having here today! Look around at the red color - scattered all through the church. The joy of the hymns and anthems. The jumble of languages in the Scripture. Intoning. Incense. How about those bells?
As a country we celebrate Memorial Day weekend, appropriately remembering those who have served and died in warfare.
And, in addition, for Christians today is a special holiday. Absolutely. The Feast of Pentecost! On this day, God made a Spiritual miracle for all time: heaven, which at this time or that time had been opened a little for a while, to let God’s Spirit through — on Moses, the prophets, King David, on Jesus at his Baptism — on this day a new thing happened: the heavens were heavens unzipped, opened wide, and held wide open, and not for just a day, but for all time, always and forever!
Jesus promised it would happen: “I go to heaven, and so the Advocate, the Spirit will come to you.”
And then, come it did, wind and fire. and it caught the disciples locked in their upstairs room in Jerusalem, wondering what would be next, by surprise: 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Unable to contain themselves, they poured out from their safe place into the streets, going up to everyone they met able to speak to each about Christ Jesus in ways each could understand.
The Spirit of God, unleashed, pouring, cascading from heaven, embracing the world in God’s presence, knowledge and holy love. The Spirit. Divinity. Holy Spirit. For all.
And the Spirit’s outpouring continued and continued and became a central reality and joy for the whole Church. Think of all the ways, all the works and blessings that the Holy Spirit brings.
First blessing, to enable, no to push, believers to get out — as it did the first disciples — into the streets to greet others and tell of the love which is of God. That same Spirit is here today, working,among us and so many others, to make us able, be equipped, to tell, show, do the works of the Gospel, so people anywhere can see it and hear it and be touched by God’s love in it. To the ends of the earth we are to go? It is the Spirit who takes us there and empowers us to stand up for the love of God in Jesus.
Wait, there’s more.
The Spirit gives us each working skills, to build up our Christian community, which we call “the Church.” In the Spirit, as Paul writes, each of us, every one of us, is given individual gifts — “Now there are varieties of gifts, but it is the same Spirit, and varieties of services,but the same Lord. To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit, for the common good. To one is given the utterance of wisdom through he Spirit, to another the utterance of knowledge, to another faith, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment, to another various tongues, to still another the interpretation of tongues. Caregivers, teachers, generous givers, leaders, the compassionate. All activated by the one Spirit, who gives to each one individually as the Spirit chooses.” (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12)
Each once of us, gifted in the Spirit, our skills joined with others’, each of us different and each necessary members like the parts of a body, making for the full complement of blessings that a community needs to be in communion with God’s love and presence and engaged in God’s purpose.
The Spirit’s push to get us out; the Spirit’s gifts sufficient to create a holy community. There’s more.
There also are the personal gifts that make the Church work well, to God’s glory. John the Baptizer urged those who came to him to bear fruits worthy of the new life. Paul in this morning’s section from Romans, called them the first fruits of the Spirit, and he numbered them (Galatians 5) — Live by the Spirit, I say .. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. No law against these! Look at the window in the Baptistry and see the seven great virtues radiating out around the dive. If we live by the Spirit, wrote Saint Paul, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. To forgive as we have been forgiven. The list goes on …
The personal gifts from the Holy Spirit are the divine virtues, the oil in the engine if you will which makes the community hum and build itself up in God’s work and life, in love.
All of these blessings — the commission to get out of our safe place to bring God’s good news to others, the various working gifts given to each, and the very attributes of God’s personality shining within us, all given through the love of Christ Jesus, who holds open the gate of heaven and enables the Holy Spirit not just to spit out, occasionally, on a prophet here, a leader there, but to pour out, abundantly without stopping, on everyone, over and on the whole world.
How does it come? In Baptism the Spirit is given for sure; think of that as we rehearse our hopes and promises this morning. But the evidence of Scripture, and I think our own experience of God tell us that God’s Spirit is not limited to Baptism, since God cannot be limited by whether we baptize or not.
On this Day of Pentecost It has been unleashed, this Holy Spirit, praise be to God, and it is at work in all sorts of places, among all sorts of people, and (we pray) especially among those who in Christ actively seek the Spirit, who even helps us to pray, to make us, together, an Engine for moving the good news of God’s love into the whole creation.
In that light, Can you identify the fruits of the Spirit in your person? (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.). Are there some which describe you? Are there some that could, with advice, prayer and practice, be cultivated, nourished, and grow into maturity?
Can you name the gifts for our mission given you in the Spirit? Each one of us, Have we ever named our Spiritual gifts? You do have them! Wouldn’t it be something grand if we got together, perhaps in the proverbial small groups, and each helped one another identify and name the gifts with which the Spirit has entrusted you for God’s work?
And then, where is it, to whom is it, when is it, that God has equipped you in the Spirit to carry the Gospel — words, action, presence? That’s not something that just an ordained minister does: if the Gospel truly is to reach the ends of the earth, it’s the divine commission for every person who knows and calls on the name of Jesus.
And as you might work to answer this question, be warned: the Spirit does blow where it wills, and where it might send you might catch you by surprise: the book club or tennis group or classroom or friendship gathering to which you belong; the gym, the day care center, the next door neighbor; the people of Bushnell Park or Avon or Blue Hills or Congo or South Marshall Street or India; a hospital, a prison or juvenile detention center: who knows where God’s Spirit might want you to cary the Gospel. Could we also help one another discern the Spirit’s much for each of us?
There is so much to explore when we begin to celebrate and to talk seriously and deeply about God the Holy Spirit.
Hail Thee Festival Day! Shout the psalms, sing the hymns, fall into the prayers, speak the languages, ring the bells, Rejoice.
For heaven is held wide open, and the Spirit of God is poured out then and now, here, on us and in us and around us, in powerful love, as a divine blessing forever. Hallelujah!