Thoughts for the Day

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.,

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, gets rather a poor press, not least because for centuries we called Him the 'Holy Ghost' I suspect. We read and hear about God the Father, and about Jesus, but not so much about the Holy Spirit. However the Holy Spirit is the power-arm of God, and is God.

It might help if we think of the Spirit in human terms. Every day of our life we carry out actions, from the moment we get up to the moment we go to bed. We get dressed, cook, look after others, drive a car, hold down a job, be creative, and a million other things. To do this we use our eyes, our ears, our hands, feet, and voice. Even if we are handicapped in some way, we still manage to do many things. I have memories of poor souls who had to live in iron-lungs after catching polio and who could only exist in a machine that kept them alive. But even then they could use a mirror to see around them, read a book, and speak to visitors and nurses.

The point is that our brain uses our body to do a myriad of things each and every day. In a similar way the Holy Spirit is God's active power in our world, but without the limitations of our bodies. It was the Holy Spirit that empowered leaders and prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures, and it was the Holy Spirit that took a few frightened men and women in our reading today, and created a vibrant community that would build a Church to spread across the world. It is the Holy Spirit that is God in our world today, and it is He (yes 'He') who acts when we pray for His help!

Holy Spirit,
Healer, Comforter,
and Power of God,
come to us today
and enable us to
continue growing as Christians.
Increase our faith and our trust in You,
and help us to be the kind of people
You would have us be -
loving, supportive, and generous;
prayerful, readers of Your word;
and proactive members of Your Church.
Amen.