Our Scripture reading for this Sunday – Pentecost – is Acts 2:1-21.
Pentecost marks the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. As the group was gathered together – numbering around 120 (see Acts 1:15) – we are told that they heard a sound like the blowing of a violent wind, and saw tongues of fire that came to rest on each person. Luke then tells us, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4 NIV)
As we prepare for Sunday, I invite you to take some time this week and wonder what it means that God poured out the Holy Spirit on the believers at Pentecost.
1. What does it mean to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”?
2. What does the Spirit do? Does it always mean (or ONLY mean) speaking in tongues?
3. As we celebrate Pentecost, how can we celebrate the work of the Spirit in our lives?
To answer question number one, in John 14:16-17 Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
… and in John 14:25-26 … “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
In this passage from John, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete (from the Greek word Parakaleo meaning “the ‘called alongside’ One,” or, “the One who is called to someone’s aid.” From that understanding of the Holy Spirit and from this passage, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit comes alongside us, in our hearts and lives, to help keep our faith alive. The Holy Spirit reminds us of his (Jesus’) teaching, convicts us and prepares our hearts to respond to the Gospel, points us to Jesus, transforms our thinking, and lives within us. That is the role of the Holy Spirit. If we have faith, if we believe that Jesus is Lord and died for our sins, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now, the Holy Spirit also does more. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts and talents to use for God’s glory. The Holy Spirit calls us to our vocations where we can serve God in our work and time. The Holy Spirit animates our worship, informs our prayer, equips us to tell others about Jesus, comforts us, and allows us to hear God’s Word spoken into our lives. The Holy Spirit does all this and more. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we, as believers of Jesus Christ, have constant access to God’s power and presence in our lives. That CAN mean speaking in tongues (to answer question 2) but it doesn’t have to. The Holy Spirit builds up our faith and works in our lives in so many powerful ways so that we can encourage others, pray for others, serve others, teach others, comfort others, …, and build up the body of Christ.
When it comes to question 3, we can celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives whenever we are able to profess our faith – even in the face of death – using the words of the Apostle’s Creed or Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1. We can celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives whenever we witness baptisms and professions of faith, whenever a person who was “lost” returns to the faith or comes to faith (lead only by the Holy Spirit), and whenever we testify to the hope we have in Jesus Christ. We can celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives whenever we have the opportunity to share our faith with family members, friends, and our neighbours. Wherever there is faith, the Holy Spirit is at work.
I invite you to take some time this week to think about the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. How is the Holy Spirit working in you? Where is the Holy Spirit leading you? Where in your life are you fighting against the work of the Spirit?
As we gather together on Sunday to celebrate Pentecost, we do so because the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church that first Pentecost. Without the Holy Spirit – the breath and life of the church – the church would be dead. But we have been given the Spirit, through whom we have life, and faith, and hope, and therefore we celebrate that gift on Sunday.