Pentecost is a special feast in
both the Jewish and Christian calendars. The Jewish Pentecost celebrates the
giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai, an event which sealed the
covenant of God with his people. At that
time, a mighty wind and fire swept the slopes of Mt. Sinai. The wind was the breath of God and the source
of all life, while the fire was a manifestation of his holy presence.
The Christian Pentecost is
also a special feast because it marks the end of our Easter celebration as well
as the coming of the Holy Spirit. As
happened on Mt. Sinai, once again the mighty breath of God and the fire of his
holy presence sweep through the community of disciples gathered in the Upper
Room. Jesus breathes on them and they
receive the life of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, as tongues of fire. The Christian Pentecost is thus a new Mt.
Sinai experience which fulfills the promise of Jesus to send an Advocate.
This fulfillment is not the
end of the story, however. Once the
disciples receive the Holy Spirit, they receive new life. They are transformed. They are no longer afraid. They are filled with courage and excitement. They go out with all daring and eagerness to
proclaim the good news of salvation. The
Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to cure disease, to cast out demons, to persuade
others to convert, and to perform other miracles in the name of Jesus Christ.
The observers at the time
greeted this astonishing behavior at first with confusion. For, there were many different ethnic groups
there, and yet, each heard the preaching of the disciples in their respective
native language. Their confusion turned
to amazement and then to accusation. The
observers accused the disciples of being drunk.
Eventually their reactions give way to the obvious question—what does
all this mean? What are we to do? The question they pose to Peter is the same
question we face today. What does
Pentecost mean for us?
Peter responds in very clear
terms. Repent and be baptized and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Peter goes on to say that the promise is “made to you and to your
children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call” (Acts
1:38-39). Peter’s response shows that receiving
the Holy Spirit—in his day as well as in our own—is a matter of baptism and
repentance.
The repentance that Peter has
in mind is a positive concept that means a change of mind and heart toward God. To repent in this sense means to change our
minds about how to live, about what is important, what values will motivate and
guide our way of life. The baptism that
Peter refers to is ultimately a baptism of the Spirit. In other words, to repent means to be
baptized and live in the Spirit of Christ.
Life in the Spirit is a life
focused on authentic good deeds motivated by our love for others. This is the message that Jesus preached long
ago. It remains a call to follow him, to
live a certain kind of life, to be a certain kind of person. The decision to follow Christ is a decision
to be a person who is led by the Spirit to be loving, kind, patient,
understanding, merciful, and just towards others, especially the poor and vulnerable
members of society. The Spirit of God
helps us be the kind of person we are called to be. We are called to live a life of integrity
rooted in the commandment of Jesus to love God and to love one another.
We usually think of the word
“commandment” in terms of force or power, much the way an authority figure
would command subordinates. The Hebrew word for “command”, however, is better
understood as a directive. The verb form
of directive has the additional meaning of landmark. The ancient Hebrews traveled the desert with
their flocks in search of green pastures and water. They relied on various rivers, mountains, and
other distinctive features as landmarks to give direction to their journey.
This is what the verb “command” means in Hebrew, to direct one on a journey.
This is the background
for the command that Jesus gives to his disciples. When Jesus says to love one another as I have
loved you, Jesus means that his kind of love is the model and principle of our
lives. We know we are on the right path
when the principle of love is the landmark by which we direct our lives. Thus, the commandment to love one another is
not a rule to be followed, but a landmark to guide our lives. Allowing ourselves to be guided by the
principle of love is the only sense in which our lives become truly holy. This
is how we imitate the holiness of God.
We always imitate the
gods we adore. Because God is holy, he
invites us to be holy as well (Lv 11:44; 1 Pt 1:16). We are not alone in our
response to the invitation of the one true God, however. In our Profession of Faith, we say, “I
believe in the Holy Spirit.” We believe
that the Holy Spirit is a powerful creator who can intervene in the physical
nature of human beings and help us do things that we cannot do alone. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Great
Inspirer, the Great Nudger, if you will.
The feast of Pentecost
is a celebration and reminder of the transformative power of the Holy Spirit
that is offered to us as much as it was offered to the Apostles long ago. How the
Holy Spirit shares that power in our lives is different for each of us. There are many gifts, but one Spirit. Send forth your Spirit, Oh Lord, and each of
us shall be created, each of us made new, each of us transformed into persons
who can lead better lives, overcome even the most complicated difficulties, and
who can love others and touch their lives as Christ loves and touches each of
us. This is nothing other than life in
the Spirit. As St. Paul says to the
Galatians, if we live in the Spirit, then let us follow the Spirit’s lead (Gal
5:25).
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