Theological Truth: The Holy Spirit brings the power and presence of God’s love to light and life.
Come Holy Spirit…fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
You may remember the old joke about a bank robber being asked why he robbed banks. It was a sincere question, probably from a reporter interested in understanding the complex motivations of the criminal mind. “Why do you rob banks?” they asked. To which the bank robber answered quickly—and honestly, “Because that’s where the money is.”
We’ll be commissioning Trinity’s 2022 Honduras Mission Team in just a few minutes. It would not be unreasonable to ask them: “Why are you going to Honduras?” I bet people have said to them (as opposed to asking them), “Why are you going to Honduras.” Why are you using eight days of your precious summer break for that? Maybe their coworkers have asked, “You mean, you’re using up over a week of your vacation time to perspire in the tropical heat doing work—unpaid work—that you wouldn’t do here in your hometown?”
Trinity has been sending mission teams to the Copan Deanery of the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras since 2004 and many, many people here have made one of these trips over the past 18 years. So if you have, I realize you already know this…but may need a reminder of how weird this idea is to most people. And to those of you who aren’t familiar with this concept, don’t feel bad if you’ve wanted to ask these same questions. Why do we go to Honduras? Why would we do that?
Because that’s where God’s people are and that’s where the Holy Spirit is sending us.
We celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit today, and both the promise of the Holy Spirit and the results seen in today’s reading, tell us this is exactly what disciples should expect. At the end of Luke’s gospel, and then again in the first chapter of Acts, the author (same person who wrote both books) shares Jesus’ promise, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The episode recounted today takes place just after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, on the Jewish feast of Pentecost. It’s a pivotal moment in the life of the fledgling Jesus movement. The gift of the Holy Spirit lights a fire in the disciples and propels them out into the world. Why? Because that’s where God’s people are.
This Holy Spirit is not new to the biblical account of God’s love for the world. The Holy Spirit is active and integral in the beginning of Luke’s gospel:
- The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and promised that his son, John (the Baptizer) would be filled with the Holy Spirt.
- Angel Gabriel also promised Mary that the power of the Holy Spirit would bring about the Incarnation.
- Both Elizabeth and her in-utero son John are filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary visits.
- Then, when Zechariah regains his speech, he too is filled with the Holy Spirit.
- As are Simeon and Anna when Jesus is presented in the temple.
The Holy Spirit brings the power of God’s love and presence to light and life. But it goes back further:
- The Spirit swept over the face of the deep, formless waters. (Genesis 1:2)
- The Spirit was breathed into the nostrils of the man God formed from the dust of the ground. (Genesis 2:7)
- This breath—this Spirit—came into the dry bones that Ezekiel saw and brought them back to life. (Ezekiel 37:10)
The Holy Spirit brings the power of God’s love and presence to light and life. It did in the beginning, it did 2,000 years ago; it always has, and it still does today.
We celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit alighting on the disciples not in a nostalgic, wistful backwards gaze, but in a hopeful, trusting forward posture. Because the Holy Spirit is part of the Triune God (who was, and is and is to come), we should expect for that same Spirit to set us on fire and send us out to bring the power of God’s love to life and light in us, for all of God’s people.
Notice the spontaneity and inclusivity of this work. It’s not that they decided to begin preaching, they just couldn’t “not” preach. The power was in them and through them, but it didn’t belong to them. In some ways, they belonged to it…or her. Why did they go out into the street? Because that’s where the Spirit led them. And that’s where God’s people were.
And why did they preach the good news of God’s undying love made known in Christ in so many different languages? Because those are the languages God’s people speak, all of them—every tribe and tongue and language and nation. God’s language of love is both specific and universal. Offered to each and all without distinction. The disciples spoke in their audience’s diverse languages. The diversity of the audience was included, even celebrated, in the unfolding plan of God’s salvation. Apparently, God endorses diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The text tells us that the actions of the spirit-filled disciples astonished and amazed the citizens of the world gathered there in Jerusalem. They couldn’t believe that people who were so clearly different from them could speak their language. They were shocked that folks with seemingly nothing in common could communicate in ways that they could understand. Wouldn’t it astonish and amaze many non-church goers today if we spoke the message of God’s welcoming, accepting, kind, and generous love and mercy with the excitement, joy, and peace of being filled with the Holy Spirit…rather than the bitter, judgmental, superior, holier-than-thou language of so much of today’s Christianity? If we were less reserved and more inclusive, would the people of our age—starving for meaning and purpose, hope and peace, community and connection—be amazed and astonished?
Let us pray:
Come Holy Spirit…fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love. And then send us out into the streets of your world, because that’s where your people are. Empower us to speak the truth of your love in such a way that your people can hear it. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
— Fr. AJ Heine, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church of Staunton
The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday, Year C, June 5, 2022
Readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35,37; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17, 25-27
