| May 19, 2002 Acts 2: 1 11 + 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,2-13 + John 20:19-23 |
| Luke goes for the spectacular. The Spirit for him is wild, unique, and draws a crowd. Luke goes for doves, frre, and wind. He seems to like commotion. John on the other hand goes for the simple communal experiences of a few people with the risen Christ. The Spirit in John’s Gospel cannot be understood or for that matter, received without the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ. |
| This brief passage from chapter twenty today is John’s Gospel in a nut-shell. All that has been promised is fulfilled:that he would come again, that he would bestow peace,that the disciples would be filled with joy,that he would send them as the Father sent him, that the Spirit would be given,and that the world would be proved wrong about sin and righteousness. |
| John understood that the Spirit came through the Son, through the one continuous movement of his redemptive action and love, through his death and resurrection, through his Body and Blood. |
| When we assemble here in faith, proclaim this Gospel, and experience the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in Eucharist, it is Pentecost. This is not an event of history. It is not something that happened to someone else. It is not something we remember, think about, or reflect upon. It is something we are engaged in at this very moment. |
| If a gift of the Spirit is Understanding, and at this moment you come to understand that God’s promises are fulfilled and we are living in the Spirit filled final age; it is Pentecost.If a gift of the Spirit is Forgiveness, and in this Eucharist you experience God’s forgiving love that moves you to forgive another; it is Pentecost.If a gift of the Spirit is Peace, and in this place today you put down enough of your stress and worry to center yourself and calm yourself in the Presence of God, it is Pentecost. |
| What we proclaim today is that our redemption did not conclude with the Resurrection, but that this Christ, risen from the dead is extended into our lives permanently. This experience of Pentecost then is more than an event. As experience, it enlarges and expands the human heart. No longer do we live with the limitations of our power to grow, to live, forgive, to heal, to comfort. Now we live with the power of Jesus Christ. It’s better than ours, it’s bigger than ours, it’s more embracing than ours. |
| We are talking about power here – real Power; the power to transform human lives and change the world and bring evecy creature nearer to the goal for which they were created. Through Pentecost, it is as though God said: “Power to the People.” “Power to the People of God who are in God and of God.” |
| This feast is about power, about the power of Life, the power of Freedom, the power of Joy It is about the power we have been given by reason of our experience with Jesus Christ. This is the power of faithful people who are filled with life – the life of God; the power of faithful people who are filled with courage, because there is no fear; the power of faithful people who are ftlled with joy, because there is peace. |
| Pentecost then is not necessarily some big, wild event that involves fire, wind, and amazed crowds. It is just as really a matter of faithful love through difficult times, a parent’s sacrifice and patient love, forgiveness and understanding between friends, wisdom and faith shared by a grandparent, the courage of teacher a missionary-, or just someone willing to start life all over again after death has robbed them of a partner. |
| John suggests that the Spirit is passed on to us through Flesh and Blood by the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst. The Church suggests that fifty days after celebrating Easter we look around us and embrace the gifts that reveal that Spirit and empower us to become more of what we have been created to be, God’s own people, God’s chosen one’s, Holy, Peaceful, and Joyful. That is Power, and that is Pentecost. |