Scriptures – John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15; Acts 2:1-21

Jennifer Hosler

Who here regularly celebrates Christmas? Who here regularly celebrates Easter? Who here regularly celebrates Pentecost? In my household, we don’t yet have any Pentecost traditions and I think I’d like to change that. Shane Claiborne and his wife Katie Jo celebrated by breathing fire – at least according to an Instagram post shared yesterday.

I’m not sure that type of celebration would be advisable for my family! While we don’t have Pentecost family traditions yet, as a pastor in a church, I’ve been focused on marking Pentecost in worship for the past decade. We talk and preach about Pentecost. We sing our Holy Spirit songs. Today, inspired by the fire-breathing, I remembered to bring some candles to light, in honor of that first Holy Spirit fire.

Celebrating Pentecost was not part of my early Christian formation. Looking back at the Baptist church I attended as a teenager in Canada and the various congregations I worshipped with as a college student, or even the first Church of the Brethren congregation I was part of in Pennsylvania: none of these observed or even really said anything about Pentecost.

Like how churches might differently celebrate Pentecost or not mention it at all, churches have different tendencies in how much they mention the Holy Spirit. At least in some strains of Protestant or Anabaptist churches, the Holy Spirit might be like the middle child of the Trinity, not really getting much attention compared to the other two.

Perhaps this is just a function of how the Personhood of the Trinity is expressed in Scripture. God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It might be easy for some Christians to focus God the Father or God the Holy Parent. Jesus prayed to God the Father, spoke about God as a parent and the source of life. Most people have parents or parental figures, so God as Parent can be somewhat easy to connect with, especially if you have examples of good or healthy parents. So, God the Father or Parent, possibly easy to connect to. Then there is Jesus, God the Son. Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Word of God who moved into the neighborhood, who is God with us, Immanuel. Fully human, fully God. This fully human part, the fact that we have four gospels with the life and teachings of Jesus, the fact that Jesus’ incarnation, life, ministry, death and resurrection all bring us healing and reconciliation to God. We think and talk about Jesus a lot. (I think that is a bit of an understatement).

Now the Holy Spirit. Sometimes people say, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the Church of the Brethren, when we baptize, we do believer’s baptism (youth or adults) and we immerse people three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In some ways, the Holy Spirit might be harder to connect with, since it can be seen more as the intangible, “less personified” person of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the Spirit-ness is harder to wrap our heads around than a Parent or a human-incarnate God. Yet if we look at Scripture, we can get a clearer sense of who the Holy Spirit is and how its presence is crucial to our lives and ministries as Jesus followers.

Background to the Holy Spirit

In the Hebrew Scriptures Old Testament, we read that the Spirit was active in creation – hovering over the waters. We also see the Holy Spirit empowering God’s servants, leaders, and prophets. In that era, God’s Spirit of power and prophecy did not touch every person, but it was able to influence the lives of God’s people by empowering an agent for a certain task. But then, the Spirit dried up. The prophet Malachi was the last prophet after the exile, the last person clearly empowered and speaking by the Spirit of God.

When we start at the New Testament, the gospels, we meet the people of Israel at the end of a 400-year-long dry season of the Spirit. People are longing for a word from the Lord and also for a Messiah. Some are looking ahead to the day of the LORD when, as the prophet Joel foretold, the Spirit would be poured out on all the people of Israel. At the beginning of the gospels, when the Spirit begins to move in the midst of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph around the birth of Jesus, a revival of Spirit movement has begun. The Spirit drought is over.

After Jesus’ birth, the gospels describe the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry. We see the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove during his baptism. It compels him to go out into the desert and face temptation for forty days and forty nights. Jesus returns home, heads to the synagogue in Nazareth, and reads from the Isaiah scroll saying, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus then begins his ministry, calling disciples, teaching about the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, welcoming the outcast, forgiving sins, raising the dead, casting out demons. All his work was empowered by God’s Spirit.

The Holy Spirit in the Farewell Discourse

As Jesus understands he is about to face violence because of his ministry of love, healing and justice, Jesus takes the time to prepare his disciples for what will come next. In John’s gospel’s “Farewell Discourse,” we see Jesus teaching and sharing words of preparation and comfort, peppered with occasional questions from his disciples as they try to grapple with what exactly Jesus is saying. “Where are you going? Why can’t we go with you?” During this extended discourse, Jesus repeats the most important things: love one another. Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave you alone. I am sending you an Advocate, the Spirit of truth. This Spirit will testify to the truth.

The word translated “Advocate” is the Greek word paracletos, known in English as paraclete. According to one commentator, “Only in John is the Holy Spirit called the Paraclete—literally, the one called to be alongside you, just as Jesus has been (14:16)… the Holy Spirit is a first responder—coming alongside acute senses of need, particularly the anxiety, fear, and even grief of the disciples as they begin to realize the immediacy of Jesus’ departure” (Lewis, 2024)

Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t just say, “I’m going to send you a paraclete or advocate,” but he specifies another advocate—meaning a similar presence and role to what Jesus has been in for the disciples. Jesus isn’t going to leave his disciples alone; this coming presence is distinct and also an extension of Jesus himself.

As Jesus prepares to face violence, He tells his disciples they won’t be alone, but that they will be empowered to do the same things He has done—and even more—through the Spirit that they will receive. Jesus tells them to obey his commandments and to love one other; and to not give up hope; there will be an advocate (or paraclete), to walk alongside them. This Spirit will guide them into all truth, will testify will abide with the disciples, as they live out Jesus’ parting commandment to “love one another” and be known by their love.

The Coming of the Spirit at Pentecost

Fast forward past some traumatic experiences for the disciples, as they witness the arrest, trials, and execution of Jesus. The disciples scatter and grieve. But on the third day, the resurrection power transforms the story. Jesus walks among the disciples once more, teaching and eating and cooking breakfast, before he ascends to the presence of God.

We meet the disciples in Acts 2 when they are waiting – Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem, to wait for the promised arrival of the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will bring power.

The disciples wait – and then things get pretty weird and disruptive! Suddenly, the sound of a powerful wind comes and fills the entire house. If that isn’t strange enough, images or “tongues” of fire appear on the heads of everyone there and everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit. People began to speak in different languages; it causes a commotion. Crowds gather. The Jews visiting from all over can all understand the speaking in their own languages.

Some bystanders are amazed! Others think, those Jesus followers are drunk and being obnoxious! In order to clarify, Peter, the same Peter who denied Jesus, boldly stands up and starts to preach. “Really, we’re not drunk because it’s only 9 am. What’s actually happening here is what the prophet Joel foretold so long ago: ‘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 have 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… And anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Peter proceeds to keep preaching about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and three thousand people become followers of Jesus that day. The Spirit is there, actively empowering the disciples to mission. Throughout Acts, we see the Holy Spirit filling both Jews and Gentiles, women and men, young and old. Thanks be to God, the Spirit is not just reserved for some, but for all who proclaim the crucified and risen Lord.

What does Pentecost mean for us as 21^st century Jesus followers, when it can feel far removed from the rushing wind and tongues of fire? I think there are deep truths, that anchor and empower us as we continue the work of Jesus in our world.

Truths of Pentecost

• Jesus promised not to leave his followers alone. We are not alone.
• We are filled with the Holy Spirit, who testifies to the truth.
• We are filled with the Holy Spirit, who intercedes on our behalf.
• We are filled with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to love one another as Jesus has loved us.
• We are filled with the Holy Spirit, who can empower us to cause holy disruptions, that people around us might see an inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. In Acts 2, the people in Jerusalem heard a disturbance that illustrated the power of God’s Kingdom. The power of God was at work across languages, across genders, across ages – everyone was looking at what the disciples were doing. Some thought they were weird or even obnoxious; others thought realized that God was at work.

Hearing about the Spirit as a disruptive presence, I couldn’t help but think about some parallels to recent disruptions I’ve been a part of. I think this has parallels to some of my recent protest disruption involvement, such the Christians for a Free Palestine protest in the Senate Cafeteria. Some people get annoyed, some people get inspired and people testifying to the truth.

What do you need today, from the Holy Spirit’s presence in your body and soul?

Perhaps you need reminding that you are not alone. Scripture assures us that those who follow Jesus have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them, the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Siblings in Christ, you are not alone. Repeat after me: I am not alone. The Spirit of God dwells in me.

Perhaps you need the Spirit’s power to give you courage and insight, to speak the truth and justice of Jesus to a world torn by violence, to a country addicted to weapons and warmongering, to a social discourse that is toxic and dehumanizing. The Holy Spirit testifies to the truth, to others and to us. We are empowered to speak that truth to the world. Repeat after me: The Spirit testifies to the truth. We can speak that truth to the world. The Spirit gives us power and courage to speak truth to power.

Perhaps you need that first responder spirit, the Comforter, the one who intercedes when we don’t have the words to pray or cry out. Perhaps you need the Holy Breathe to come and fill your lungs with deep breath, to inhale and exhale. In my journey of mental wellness and some recent dabbling in movement chaplaincy, I’ve learned about the power of centering, grounding ourselves, and the role that breath work can play in that. The Hebrew word for Spirit is also the word for breath. In John 20, Jesus breathes on his disciples and promises the Holy Spirit. As we seek to connect with the Holy Spirit whom we celebrate today, let us breathe deeply into the love of God. My prayer is that we might center our breaths in the knowledge that we are loved by God and that we too can love one another. AMEN.

References

Lewis, K. (2024). Commentary on John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. Working Preacher. Retrieved from https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/day-of-pentecost-2/commentary-on-john-1526-27-164b-15-2

Resources

Children’s Story from Today, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGrLsD0z3o – Lego Bible