The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith
The Comfort and Challenge of the Spirit
“What does this mean?” They
wondered. They were expecting something but not that. What would it mean – that
first Pentecost for Jesus’ disciples? What does it mean for us? The Spirit is
at the same time comforting and challenging. The Spirit can confirm what we
have been doing or the Spirit can disrupt our best laid plans. Again and again
in the Bible we hear about the power of the Spirit. The Spirit moved over the
waters at the beginning of creation. In the book of Ezekiel, we hear that it is
the Spirit, the breath of God, that gives life – gives life even to that which
seemed dead. Jesus promised his friends that even though he would leave them, the
Spirit would be with them to lead them – to lead them into all truth.
The word “Pentecost” is the
Greek name for the Jewish Feast of the Weeks, which comes fifty days after the
Passover – the first fruits of the wheat harvest were presented and the
covenant with God was renewed. The first Christians adapted this to their new
faith and Pentecost came to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit fifty days
after Easter as described in our reading from the Book of Acts.
We have been celebrating the
great fifty days of Easter, which end today. Pentecost is the last day of
Easter, the fiftieth day. The Pascal
candle continues to burn; the alleluias abound; the stations of the resurrection
encircle us with images of resurrection moments. As we did at the Easter Vigil,
the first service of Easter, we will renew our baptismal vows today. The Easter
Vigil and the Feast of Pentecost are the bookends of the Easter season. We
worship God giving thanks for God’s never-ending love made known to us in the
resurrection and in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit,
gifts of the Spirit – what does this day mean to you?
It can mean very different things
to different people. For many of us, the idea of the Spirit at work in our
lives in the world is a great comfort. On the other hand, there can be aspects
of Holy Spirit or ways that others have defined the work of the Holy Spirit that might disturb
us. There are those in the Pentecostal tradition, who may have at one time told
us just what to expect from the Spirit, which did not, and probably does not,
resonate with most of us, the idea that speaking in tongues is a necessary part of faith for example.
What do we think of the Holy Spirit; how have we experienced the Spirit; and
how do we hope to experience the Spirit? We know the Spirit by the fruits:
love, joy, peace, patience, compassion, and gentleness to name a few.
It is the Holy Spirit who
enables us to be the church by working through our imaginations and in our
lives to direct our decisions about life and about ministry. Pentecost is often
called the birthday of the church. Those
who were waiting for something to happen after Jesus’ death and resurrection
were amazed by the formation of community that happened among them. Unpredictable
and uncontrollable, the Spirit brought people together who could not even speak
the same language. It is the Spirit who helps us understand each other, helps
us to communicate and to listen.
Sadly that which gave the
gift of unity and understanding has become a source of division among some
Christians who expect the Spirit to act is specific ways and judge our faith
based on such expectations. No one denomination has a lockdown on the Holy
Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is for all; the manifestations of the
Spirit are many.
In her book Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith,
Kathleen Norris discusses the word Pentecostal which has come to refer to specific
groups of Christians. For Norris, as for many of us, certain ways of describing
the Spirit made her uncomfortable. She
tells the story of a young man going to Princeton seminary, a place known for
academic excellence and not much in the way of speaking in tongues. The young
seminarian visits a Pentecostal church and does in fact start to speak in
tongues much to his surprise and
embarrassment and to the
embarrassment of his friends. None of them discussed it once they got back to
campus. That just does not happen in most Presbyterian churches or Episcopal
Churches. Rather than praying for the gift of tongues, most people I know pray
not to receive it. But for that young man it did turn out to be an important
experience in his life that was a gift (Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith,
New York: Riverhead Books, 1998, pp. 343-349).
When we first started the
Saturday service about two and a half years ago, I was asked by a longtime
member what the service would be like. She was worried that it might be
Charismatic; no, no I assured her, it will be the Holy Eucharist Rite II with
some different music and an even more
casual feel, but nothing strange, no speaking in tongues. And as soon as I said
that, I thought well I hope not – but who is to say what God will do, how the
Spirit will direct us and come into our lives. I do not doubt that some really
are given that gift. But what I find is that God seems to choose churches for
whom that gift is viewed as essential to faith.
We have not had the gift of
tongues on Saturday, but at that service and our other services, we have seen
many Spiritual gifts: the gift of new people coming to enrich our community,
the gift of compassion to help others, gifts of prayer and healing.
For Episcopalians, on the
whole, we are comfort able with talk of the Spirit and think often of God as
Spirit; but do not related to phrases such as “slain the Spirit,” and pray that
we never do speak in tongues because that is just not in keeping with our sense
of decorum. This maybe one of the reasons that some mainline denominations,
from time to time, have been referred to as the “frozen chosen.” There can be churches that seem more like
museums than dynamic expressions of God’s love in the world. I am always amused
by congregations who say they want to grow but not too fast –as if it could be
possible to tame the Spirit.
It can be tempting to dismiss
all those who understand the work of the Spirit differently than we do, but
that would be foolish, not to mention a bit arrogant. We come to realized that
as with most matters of faith, taking extreme positions limits our openness to
what the Spirit may be doing in our lives or in the lives of others. All of the
different manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the world invite us to consider
who we are for God and how God, the Holy Spirit, might be calling us to a
deeper faith and a more active ministry. There are many gifts of the Spirit,
among them speaking in tongues, but also the interpretation of tongues, which we
are told is required for the speaking to be of use to the community as a whole .
We may not speak in tongues
here, but the Holy Spirit comes up throughout our worship. First of all, it is
the Holy Spirit working within us who brings us here. As we begin our worship
we pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare us to be open to all that God desires
to give us in this time set apart. We affirm our belief in the Spirit as the
giver of life when we recite the Nicene Creed. We pray for the Holy Spirit to
make the bread and the wine the body and blood of Christ, and that we might be
sanctified by the Holy Spirit so as to be united with Christ in this sacrament.
The dismissal today calls us to rejoice, “in the power of the Spirit,” as we go
forth into the world. Our liturgy is filled with references to the power of the
Spirit.
It can be tempting to seek
the comfort of God more than the wild-side of the Spirit. We do not know how
the Spirit might lead us in the future. There is a certain mystery to our lives
with God. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “the wind or spirit blows where it chooses,
and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where
it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” We might be called to do things that we never
imagined or have thought we could not possibly do because of this or that
reason. The gift of speaking in tongues may not be for you, but other gifts
have been given to you and will be. The Spirit knows our hearts, not to condemn
us – as people sometimes worry, but to help us and guide us. In Paul’s letter
to the Romans, we hear that it is the Spirit who intercedes for us “with sighs
too deep for words,” helping us to pray, helping us to connect with God and the
deepest yearnings in our hearts. Amen.