Pentecost- Acts 2
It seems like a major role of the Holy Spirit has to do with bridging gaps and breaking down barriers.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit is working at building unity within ourselves. We sometimes live with an internal incongruity. A part of us is broken and disconnected from another part of us. It might be a childhood trauma that we have hidden and never dealt with. Or maybe it is an incongruity between what we say we believe and what we actually do. The Holy Spirit works to build integrity in our life.
But this work doesn’t stop with us (as if the rest of the world didn’t exist). The Holy Spirit also moves us towards our greatest purpose, which is to love and serve God, and to enjoy Him forever. The Holy Spirit works to bridge the gap between us and God by drawing us towards Christ. We could say the Spirit exists as the love between you and God. When you are minding your own business and your heart starts to burn within you and you have an overwhelming desire to pray, that is the Holy Spirit present in you joining you in love to God. This warmth might build in you when you sing a hymn, or it might happen while you are praying, or when you look at the sunset, and a profound gratitude builds up in you. That is the Holy Spirit joining you to God.
Just as we are joined to God by the Holy Spirit, so we are also drawn into a mysterious unity with one another by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit exists as the love between us. After his Ascension, Jesus is present to us through the Holy Spirit, and he is at work making us the body of Christ. … You may have had the overwhelming desire to call someone and then find out that they really needed someone to talk to. Maybe there is someone you need to forgive and the Spirit keeps bringing them to your mind. Or, maybe there is someone you need to ask to forgive you. Or, maybe being together on Sunday you feel a connection that goes beyond mere sociology. It goes beyond friendship. You feel a connection that runs mysterious and deep.
The Holy Spirit is a master of overcoming barriers with love. The Holy Spirit wants to destroy divisions and draw us into unity. If we look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 we see that really they don't make much sense outside of our relationship with another person-
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”.We often think of the Holy Spirit’s actions in terms of miraculous powers. For example, we might think of healing miracles. The Holy Spirit might use these miraculous means if it means drawing people closer to God and closer to each other. Usually what is needed is not a miracle. Rather, what is often needed is the grace to be patient, and kind, when we would really rather not be.
The Holy Spirit is active outside the walls of the church. The Holy Spirit is active in our neighborhoods and where we work. The Holy Spirit wants to draw everyone into deeper relationship with God and with other people. So, wherever barriers are being broken between people, and wherever people are being brought closer together in love, you will find the Holy Spirit there. When you find division and bitterness you will likely see the absence of the Holy Spirit, or a resistance to the work of the Holy Spirit.
We had around 30 people sleeping in the church hall on Friday night. They were with the Walk for Common Ground. They are walking from Edmonton to Calgary raising awareness about issues affecting aboriginal people in our province. They are trying to draw indigenous and non-indigenous people together. They are trying to overcome barriers of prejudice and trauma. The Spirit felt present at that gathering. That is the work of the Spirit.
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When we look at our reading from the Book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit bridging gaps and overcoming barriers. We read that after Jesus was crucified and then resurrected on Easter day he also ascended into Heaven. After that, God poured out his Spirit on the Disciples of Jesus. The Spirit filled the Disciples with new life, and the law of love was burned into their hearts. They became the Body of Christ as they were filled with his Spirit. The power of Christ became active in and through them. They had been hiding behind closed doors, full of fear, and then they are filled with the boldness of Christ working in them. … At Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus all received the same Spirit. They were made one by sharing in the same Spirit.
The Holy Spirit then began work knocking down the barrier that stood between them and those who did not know Jesus. When the Spirit filled them they started miraculously speaking in other languages they didn’t know. They weren't just random languages; they were the languages of those who were within earshot who were visiting from all over the known world. They were people who weren't present to hear about Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. They came from all over- from Rome, and Northern Africa, and from near the Caspian Sea, and Turkey. Suddenly, the language barrier was gone. The tower of Babel was reversed and language was miraculously not a barrier. Through the disciples they hear about Jesus.
They hear it from Galileans even- uncivilized country bumpkins, not academics who might actually know the languages. It didn’t come from the Temple. It came from nobodies. The barrier between the somebodies and the nobodies was smashed.
The Spirit loves to bring people together. The Spirit's desire is to create a community full of peace, love, healing, and understanding. The Spirit wants to create a community where people learn to be like Jesus, and to treat each other as Jesus would treat them- maybe even treating them as someone who has his Spirit residing within them.
And so the disciples are brought into greater unity by sharing this one Spirit. Those who are listening to them miraculously speaking different languages are unified in understanding what is being said. The act of the Spirit working through the disciples transcends nationalities and languages. It didn't matter what nation they belonged to, or what language they spoke. .... They heard and were drawn into the community. The confusion of nationalities and languages symbolized by the Tower of Babel story is reversed.
And then Peter speaks to the crowd that has gathered to describe what they are witnessing and he points to a prophecy of Joel where God says,
When we look at our reading from the Book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit bridging gaps and overcoming barriers. We read that after Jesus was crucified and then resurrected on Easter day he also ascended into Heaven. After that, God poured out his Spirit on the Disciples of Jesus. The Spirit filled the Disciples with new life, and the law of love was burned into their hearts. They became the Body of Christ as they were filled with his Spirit. The power of Christ became active in and through them. They had been hiding behind closed doors, full of fear, and then they are filled with the boldness of Christ working in them. … At Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus all received the same Spirit. They were made one by sharing in the same Spirit.
The Holy Spirit then began work knocking down the barrier that stood between them and those who did not know Jesus. When the Spirit filled them they started miraculously speaking in other languages they didn’t know. They weren't just random languages; they were the languages of those who were within earshot who were visiting from all over the known world. They were people who weren't present to hear about Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. They came from all over- from Rome, and Northern Africa, and from near the Caspian Sea, and Turkey. Suddenly, the language barrier was gone. The tower of Babel was reversed and language was miraculously not a barrier. Through the disciples they hear about Jesus.
They hear it from Galileans even- uncivilized country bumpkins, not academics who might actually know the languages. It didn’t come from the Temple. It came from nobodies. The barrier between the somebodies and the nobodies was smashed.
The Spirit loves to bring people together. The Spirit's desire is to create a community full of peace, love, healing, and understanding. The Spirit wants to create a community where people learn to be like Jesus, and to treat each other as Jesus would treat them- maybe even treating them as someone who has his Spirit residing within them.
And so the disciples are brought into greater unity by sharing this one Spirit. Those who are listening to them miraculously speaking different languages are unified in understanding what is being said. The act of the Spirit working through the disciples transcends nationalities and languages. It didn't matter what nation they belonged to, or what language they spoke. .... They heard and were drawn into the community. The confusion of nationalities and languages symbolized by the Tower of Babel story is reversed.
And then Peter speaks to the crowd that has gathered to describe what they are witnessing and he points to a prophecy of Joel where God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” (Joel 2:28-32).
It's not just nationality and language that is removed as a barrier to community, but the age barrier is removed- Both old and young are unified in the Spirit. The gender barrier is removed- both women and men are unified in the Spirit. I will pour out my Spirit on all people, God says. The Spirit transcends the barriers that divide us as human beings.
This is work the Spirit is still interested in. In your life the Spirit wants to destroy any barrier that stands between you and God. The Spirit wants to destroy the barrier that stands between you and your fellow Christian. We are brothers and sisters because we share in the one Spirit. The Spirit also wants to remove the barrier that stands between us and those who do not know Christ. The Spirit wants to draw them and make them fellow brothers and sisters to us- and the Spirit wants to include us in that work removing the barrier that stands between people and God. That same Spirit that was in Peter and the disciples on Pentecost is in you. We are called to be a community that tears down barriers that divide people.
At Pentecost the world became less divided, it went from being a world divided by nationalities, languages, wealth, age, and gender, to a world divided only by a person's willingness to be included or excluded in the family of God. And God’s will is for us to be one, healed, and at peace. That is the desire and work of the Spirit- To work in the world, even through us, to bring wholeness where there is division. AMEN
This is work the Spirit is still interested in. In your life the Spirit wants to destroy any barrier that stands between you and God. The Spirit wants to destroy the barrier that stands between you and your fellow Christian. We are brothers and sisters because we share in the one Spirit. The Spirit also wants to remove the barrier that stands between us and those who do not know Christ. The Spirit wants to draw them and make them fellow brothers and sisters to us- and the Spirit wants to include us in that work removing the barrier that stands between people and God. That same Spirit that was in Peter and the disciples on Pentecost is in you. We are called to be a community that tears down barriers that divide people.
At Pentecost the world became less divided, it went from being a world divided by nationalities, languages, wealth, age, and gender, to a world divided only by a person's willingness to be included or excluded in the family of God. And God’s will is for us to be one, healed, and at peace. That is the desire and work of the Spirit- To work in the world, even through us, to bring wholeness where there is division. AMEN
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