The Presence of Jesus when Jesus is Absent

Sunday will be the Day of Pentecost, the “Birthday of the Church” marked by the entry of the Holy Spirit into the lives of Disciples.  Readings for the weekend will feature this Divine Visitation, and will remind the hearer of the constant gracious presence of this Spirit.  From the Greek, we read “paraclete”.  Ready with the bad puns?  (“I once had a paraclete, but he wouldn’t talk and his feathers fell out.  So I ate him…”)  This is different: no feathers, but speaks constantly!

Acts 2:1-21 tells the story–the disciples were all together, maybe in the Upper Room.  “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind…a tongue [of fire] rested on each of them.”  And then they began to tell Jesus’ story in languages of every known nation!  More than ecstasy, these were actual languages, and the point of the exercise is to make known the universality of God beyond polite boundaries.  This flowing of the Spirit verifies the “allness” of the Incarnation.  Peter, rising to the occasion, emphasized that “EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The 8th Chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Christians at Rome is LOADED with nuggets of Godly wisdom:  best to concentrate of vv.26 & 27 today.  Unsophisticated in our prayers as we are, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us “with sighs too deep for words”.  Even when the headlines discourage us, nevertheless in our despair this Spirit revives us with a holy breath, “unceasingly attentive to our pleading, even to the point of bringing our prayers home to God when we are unable to articulate them for ourselves.”  (Clayton J. Schmit, FEASTING on the WORD, B 3:19)   “Such things are promises worth reiterating on the day we celebrate the birth of the Church.”

The Gospel continues Jesus’ farewell discourse to his immediate friends at the Last Supper.  “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate/Paraclete will not come to you…” (John 16:7)  Jesus portrays the coming of the Holy Spirit as a natural succession to his earthly presence, with all of its teaching and healing.  Although Jesus has ascended, an important face of God comes to make a home within us for guidance, training and often nudging us to Live the Life.  Today’s believers are connected thusly to a Holy Wind which fills our sails to take us wherever God wants us to go…  “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…”

Judith M. McDaniel sums this up  better than I:  “Jesus is not with us now; but while he is with the Father, he has left with us his presence in the person of the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth.  It is the Spirit of truth who guides each generation along that way to uncover the grace and beauty in life.  It is the Spirit of truth who teaches us to find God in the midst of life, to see life as Jesus taught us to see.  It is the Spirit of truth who speaks in our hearts the presence of Jesus.” (FEASTING… B 3:25)

God Bless Us, Every One                                 Horace Brown King

My openings to the passages of scripture for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com