Luke is the author of the third Gospel as well as the Acts
of the Apostles from which the first Scripture reading is taken that describes
the Pentecost event. Luke’s account of
Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles also repeats the story of the Incarnation
at the start of the Gospel. Just as the
Holy Spirit enabled Mary to conceive and give birth to Jesus, so the Spirit
conceives and gives birth to the church, the Body of Christ in the world, at
Pentecost. This is why it was important
for Luke to place Mary among the disciples in the upper room praying for the
coming of the Spirit. Mary’s faith
inspires the faith of the disciples, who must say yes, as Mary did at the
Annunciation, for the Church to be born.
As Mary responded to the angel Gabriel at the
Annunciation: “I am the servant of the
Lord; be it done unto according to Thy Word.”
May we too on this Feast of Pentecost say yes to the plan of God in our
lives.
As the great feast of Christmas marked the birth of Christ,
the second person of the Holy Trinity; the Feast of Pentecost marks the birth
and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pentecost does not draw the same attention as
the Christmas feast, but the grace and the meaning of Pentecost – the Spirit of
God’s presence in our lives in the here and now – is of supreme importance in
the life of the Church. Yes, we are an
Easter people and Alleluia is our song; and yes we are a Pentecostal people who
seek to discover the God’s presence in all of life – in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health.
The great truth of Pentecost -- for the first disciples and
us as well – is that the Holy Spirit has the power to enlarge and expand the
human heart if we allow the Spirit of Jesus within us to grow and enliven us
with the power to live, with the power to forgive, with the power to welcome
and receive all others in Jesus’ name.
That power, the power of Pentecost becomes our own.
On this day
of Pentecost, listen and pray over the questions the Spirit of the Risen Christ
is asking you and is asking me? Do you
love me enough to forgive others as I forgive them? Do you love me enough to forgive yourself
your failures as I have forgiven you? Do
you love me enough to sacrifice more of your lifestyle so that others can live
better? Do you love me enough to spread
the word that I have come to take the sins of the world? Do love me enough to stand for justice in an
unjust world? Do you love me enough to
stand for peace rather than for war and violence and terrorism? Do you love me enough to welcome all people
into your heart and spirit? Do you love
me enough that you are willing to use your God-given giftedness in the building
of our faith community?
To the
degree we answer yes to these questions, we are claiming the grace of the Holy
Spirit that is within us. The first
Scripture this morning tells the story of Pentecost for the first Christian
disciples. They experienced conversion. Their lives were transformed. They proclaimed the good news of the love of
Jesus. There was a fire in their belly
that shaped their entire lives.
We too on
this day of Pentecost seek to have our lives transformed and filled with the
Holy Spirit. The Risen Lord spoke to the
first disciples and speaks to us: Peace
be with you. The inner peace the Risen Lord offers touches our spiritual
center. We too are to offer the Peace of
Jesus to one and all – the old and the young, male and female, long-time parishioners
and those newly registered. All are
welcome. We are all brothers and sisters
in Christ Jesus.
