This Sunday is Pentecost–50 days past Easter/Passover–when the Church celebrates the Holy Spirit. Some traditions will emphasize Luke’s dramatic account (chapter 2 of Acts), others will remember John’s post-resurrection account of Jesus “breathing” on the Disciples (“ruach”, holy breath, in John 20:22). The Hebrew Scriptures introduce this Spirit of God immediately in Genesis 1, as it moved across the face of the deep water. Face it, the Holy Spirit is hard to contain! But when he/she blows that mighty wind, we’re in for some kind of ride…..!
Let’s begin with Numbers 11:24-30. Moses had taken seventy elders to meet with The Lord, and the Spirit went out to each of them and “they prophesied.” Not only that, but two men who had been left back at camp ALSO prophesied! Some were jealous of them, but Moses said, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!” (v.29) To “prophesy” meant to speak for God, and others would add, “in order to combat idolatry (belief in other gods)”. So Moses’ rebuke is relevant through the centuries and especially today. Will the Lord’s people speak up against human exploitation, financial elitism, and winning at all cost?
The second chapter of Acts has about a thousand sermons in it: it recounts the dramatic coming of God’s Spirit in wind, fire and universal understanding. The verse that sprung out at me is number 17, “and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young [people] shall see visions, and your old [people] shall dream dreams.” This Spirit is one which arouses our passions and empowers us to BE God’s People. Not content to be merely a metaphysical experience, God’s Spirit becomes a freight train of righteous activity and a whirlwind of justice!
Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, a Jewish expression of hope for “a time when God’s life-giving presence would flow out in rivers from the temple, like water from the rock in the wilderness.” (Meda A. A. Stamper) Part of the ritual included carrying a golden pitcher filled from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple each day. What a perfect scene for Jesus to shout out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’.” (John 7:37-38) Here the Spirit is likened to an abundant stream which re-awakens our dried-up souls into blossom once again…
“To be human is to be thirsty for something more than we have, thirsty to be someone more than who we are now.” (Thomas G. Long) The daily introduction of the Holy Spirit into our specific time and place is God’s way of refreshing our journey through this arid land. Somehow it’s comforting to me to realize that this Creative person of God has folded her wings over even me, and that we the Church are yet included in the visions and dreams of an engaged and loving God.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My Blog 
Leave a comment