Can
you imagine being in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost? Pentecost is
already a great festival, called the Feast of Weeks that’s connected with the
giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. It’s a harvest festival, a first
fruits festival, reminding Israel that God demands from them the first fruits
of their crops as a sign that it all belongs to God, but it’s also an act of
trust that God will provide for his people. This is a festival that calls
Israel to remember the poor and provide opportunities for them to participate
in the harvest too, Leviticus 23:22, “When you
reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or
gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the
foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.”
Jesus
left ten day earlier and the disciples are all gathered together; their Lord no
longer with them, likely wondering what exactly is next for them? Jesus told
them to wait in Jerusalem for the gift that God has
promised, that in a few days they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
But what does that mean or look like? So, they wait. Then the Holy Spirit
comes, with the sound of a freight train laying on its horn in the middle of
the night, filling the house with the noise of its arrival! In this moment, the
world is changed, the Spirit’s on the move, and he’s making his people his
home. No more temples. The Holy Spirit enters into each of them and they begin
to speak in tongues, everyone can understand and hear the Gospel news in their
own language; there’s no being silent with the Holy Spirit blowing into the
world, something for us to remember today!
Peter
tells the people that what God promised through the prophet Joel has come true, “In the last days, 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.” This is a time of hope, a time God is
revealing himself in powerful ways. God’s entering into a deeper, more intimate
way of relating to his people by sending his Spirit to make our hearts its
home!
Who
is this Spirit that is being poured out on all people? The Heidelberg
Catechism Q&A 53 asks us, “What do you believe concerning
"the Holy Spirit?” The pastor and the scholar answer us, “First,
he, as well as the Father and the Son, is eternal God. Second, he has been
given to me personally, so that, by true faith, he makes me share in Christ and
all his blessings, comforts me, and remains with me forever.” Jesus
talks about who the Holy Spirit is in John. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the
Advocate, which comes from the Greek word parakletos which
can be translated as Helper, Counselor, Encourager, or Mediator; all things
that an advocate does for others.
At
the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus taught the disciples that they need to remain
closely connected to him, that he is the vine and they are the branches that
get their life from him. Reverend Patrick Keen writes, “In chapter 15, Jesus
reminds them of their and our connectedness with him and to God through him. "I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener."
He tells them that the world will hate them because the world hates him. The
world hates the truth and Jesus is the truth and it is the Spirit of Truth that
is being promised to be poured out upon humanity. Truth that exposes sin and
evil. Truth that calls for accountability and responsibility. Truth that
beckons God's people to faith and faithfulness.” The Holy Spirit keeps us
connected to Jesus; calling us to faith in Jesus. He warns that the disciples are
going to get kicked out of the synagogue, may even get killed, and people will believe
that they’re doing a good thing for God. The Holy Spirit’s given to help them,
and us in the church to stay true to Jesus, to remain strong in our faith in
Jesus even when the world might hate us for following Jesus.
The
church is a fascinating creation of Jesus. It’s a group of people called by
God from all kinds of backgrounds and brought into one family. The Catechism
talks about the church in Q&A 54 as part of the work of the Holy Spirit, “I
believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire
human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and
preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true
faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.” Jesus
says it’s good that he’s leaving because when he returns to heaven, he’s going
to send them the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth who will keep pointing
them to Jesus, who he is and what he’s done through his sacrifice on the cross
for our sins.
I’m
always fascinated by Jesus’ description of what the Holy Spirit’s going to do. We often turn
straight to verses 12 through 15 where the Spirit guides us into all truth,
reminding us that if we’re looking for truth, looking for what reality really
looks like, we need to look to Jesus who is the way,
the truth and the life. Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to testify
about him so that the disciples, and now us, can testify to the world about who
Jesus is. We have this fascination with the Spirit telling us what is yet to
come; we’re so eager to know what’s coming that we sometimes forget to keep our
eyes, ears, and hearts open to who Jesus is calling us to be, to the opportunities
to share the gospel, to bring shalom and advance the kingdom of heaven right
now. There’s a bit of escapism in many Christians, wanting to focus on heaven
and what we get by going there, instead of our responsibilities in the here and
now. Jesus reminds us that the Spirit will “glorify me
because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
This is important, the Spirit comes to work in us and through us to glorify
Jesus. Do you take time to reflect on the person you are becoming, the things
you do and say, and ask yourself, “Is Jesus being glorified, is he being
honoured through me?”
The
work of the Spirit that fascinates me the most is what Jesus says
before these verses, “When he comes, he will prove
the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about
sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am
going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment,
because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” The Spirit has
come and he reveals people’s sins and teaches them the ways of God through the
presence and teaching of the church.
Right now, we’re in the process of reflecting on the Healthy Sexuality Report as a church and a
denomination. This report shows us how God created the world good and very good, but sin came into the world and
brought brokenness into our relationships with God, each other, and ourselves
and this brokenness often comes out in our sexuality and how we will look for
our identity in these places instead of Jesus. The Spirit works through the
church to show the world a healthier way of living together, a healthier place
to look for our identity, one that looks first to Jesus. We look to Jesus and
the Holy Spirit for our values, to shape our morality and character instead of
our society, government, or other groups and organizations that tickle our ears
with what we want to hear and believe.
The Spirit comes to show the world, through the
church, right ways of living: with God, with each other, with
ourselves and with creation. The Spirit reminds us of how Scripture calls us to
live, who Jesus is calling us to be, and calling us to obedience to him. Jesus
told us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Jesus gives us his way so that we can experience life in the full, we can
experience the joy and excitement that comes from living in good healthy
relationships.
Throughout
the history of the church, Jesus’ problem with his people has been our
inability to fully believe in the power and ability of the Spirit to perform in
our lives and our world. The Holy Spirit comes to us with power saying, "I am able. I Am is able. Able to do the impossible, to reach
the unreachable. I Am is able!" Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to
testify to us about Jesus so we can testify to the world. Who are you
testifying to about Jesus?
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