May 28, 2023

In our vibrant Acts reading today we have an exciting big city scene as many Jews gather in Jerusalem for their own celebration of Shavuot, which is also called Pentecost -- seven weeks or 50 days after Passover. I posted a fascinating 2016 Times Colonist article about Shavuot on our parish Facebook page yesterday, written by a Jewish UVic professor https://www.timescolonist.com/.../book-of-ruth-is-key-to.... And my week started with an intriguing piece of mail from my Alma Mater UofM – an envelope with on the front – on 50 years since I graduated with my BA. OMG how could that have been half a century ago?!

In today’s gospel from John 20 we have a different Pentecost story than the more familiar one we heard in our Acts (2:1-21) of the Apostles reading. The gospel features Jesus himself breathing on the disciples in that locked room – breathing on them and saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit”. This gospel comes immediately after the resurrection gospel of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene in the garden (John 20:1-18) at the end of which Jesus asks Mary to go and tell the others that’s he’s alive – best definition of preaching I’ve ever heard. Jesus is alive – so fully alive that when he visits the fearful disciples in the locked room he BREATHES on them – clearly sending the breath of God’s Spirit Ruah, also called Wisdom in the Old Testament – upon them to bring them out of fear, and into courage, peace and empowerment. This is reminiscent of God the Creator in Genesis 2:7 when God breathes the breath of life into the nostrils of the first earthling, turning him into a living being. And then centuries later, God again breathes life into us through Jesus’ life on earth, then death and especially resurrection.

And what are we meant to do with that wonderful new life in the Spirit that is the promise of Pentecost, the promise of Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit onto his followers? Our epistle today from 1 Corinthians 12 is a kind of operating or instruction manual for Christian communities even today. I was intrigued to read a commentary on this Bible passage written by Valérie Nicolet who is a professor of New Testament in Paris, France. Nicolet writes that “the relationship between the Corinthians and Paul can serve as a healthy model for integrating dispute and disagreement into the modern, post-modern, or emergent church which still thinks about what it should become and how it should behave in the world.” She goes on to say that:

“In this particular instalment of the disagreement between the Corinthians and Paul, Paul is reflecting upon the diversity of gifts at play in the community at Corinth. Apparently, their house churches had plenty of people feeling like they brought something special to the life of the church: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Because of that diversity of gifts, there seemed to have been some talk among the Corinthians about whose gift was best. … Paul’s answer begins with the spirit.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/.../commentary-on-1...

While today in most of our Anglican churches in Canada, we’re hardly vying for who’s spiritual gifts are the greatest, it’s good to keep in mind that there are still, as Paul says: varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; varieties of services, but the same Lord; and varieties of activities which can manifest the Holy Spirit in our midst. The Spirit, Paul reminds us, gives a variety of gifts to God’s people – all to be used for the common good. This focus on the common good is so important and biblical, and yet it seems to have been largely lost in our society today. To aim for the common good seems to have fallen out of favour in a culture that often promotes selfishness, greed and apathy instead. Sadly, many of our violently vocal American neighbours smack down anything resembling ‘the Common Good as ‘socialist’ … by which I think they mean ‘communist’. Thankfully, the Canadian system still tries to operate according to the common good, when it comes to healthcare, education, parks, infrastructure and so on. But my point here is that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit, as we see in many New Testament passages, ask us to function as a Christian community with an eye to the common good. And certainly, our housing redevelopment plans fit into that.

Whether the first Pentecost occurred fifty days after the resurrection, with large crowds and many languages understood, as we heard in our Acts reading, or whether it was a quieter affair as in John’s or Luke’s gospel – doesn’t really matter. In fact, these differences help us to realize that the Holy Spirit is alive and well, and She continues her contact with us -- visiting us in unexpected places and times and situations. Again, I’ll express my conviction that the Holy Spirit loves to surprise us. I’ve seen her presence at times, as much in Walmart cashiers and the beggars at the traffic lights on Blanshard … than I have in the holiest liturgies I’ve attended. I definitely felt the breath of God’s Spirit, sighing with joy, when I was a teenager watching sunsets over a rocky beach part of Lake Winnipeg. And I felt her mothering presence as I did my best to mother my own children. Apparently the Orthodox and some other churches have a strong tradition of Jesus’ mother Mary being at the heart of the Pentecost experience – since the Holy Spirit worked strongly through her as a teenager, inviting her to be the mother of Jesus.

Let’s close with a brief focus on our psalm 104 including these lines: “Yonder is the sea, great and wide … [&] There go[es] Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.” Isn’t that lovely – God made the creatures to enjoy creation – to sport or play in it – even the big bulky sea creatures, like male Humpback whales singing new love songs every spring. That’s true for us humans too! Most people here have been so generous in sharing their gifts and talents with the church for decades. But especially with summer coming, let’s also remember that our Creator wants us to rest & play as well. May Pentecost be a reminder of God’s delight & desire for our happiness, Amen.