It’s sometimes said that Pentecost marks the birthday of the Church. For it was on Pentecost, 50 days or so after Christ’s death and resurrection, that the disciples – soon to become apostles – received the Holy Spirit and started their mission of proclaiming the Good News. And disciples of Jesus have been doing that ever since.
David Bender in his commentary on this passage in Feasting on the Word, (Year A Volume 3 (C) 2011 Westminster John Knox Press) builds on the image of the birthday, by imagining a birthday party and helps think of the passage in another way.
Firstly, how long has God been planning and preparing the party? For quite some while as right back to the first chapter of Genesis we are told of God’s creative Spirit blowing over the formless void. And in Genesis chapter 2 we are told of the life-giving Spirit of God. At various times in the Old Testament, at times of darkness and distress, the Spirit comes alongside people to bring comfort. For example, Isaiah alongside the exiles in Babylon brings comfort and hope by telling of the coming of one upon whom the Spirit will rest Isaiah 11:2 (A passage we know well from Advent.)
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him –
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD – Isaiah 11:2
And even in the New Testament, before Pentecost, Luke records John the Baptist promising one who will baptise by the Spirit (Luke 3:16.)
16 ‘I baptise you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire.
In the planning of the Pentecost party, God weaves together the generations through a Spirit that brings life out of death and hope out of despair.
All of us have lived through times dark times in our own lives. And at the present time due to Covid19 we seem to be living in a time of darkness and distress the like of which many of us have never known. Tens of thousands of dead in our own country, hundreds of thousands around the world. People in this country and elsewhere worried about whether they will have jobs to return to. Though we should not forget what we are experiencing is nothing like the poverty and disease and deprivation in other parts of the world all the time.
But even in the darkness we can celebrate and take hope from our own glimpses of the work of that same Spirit and we wait again for the blowing of that fresh life giving Spirit.
After the long period of preparation, let’s turn our attention to God’s guest list. For starters, who are “they” who are waiting aimlessly in the Upper Room?
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Acts 2:1
Was it just the men listed in Acts 1:13? Or did it also include the women listed in Acts 1:14? And what about the other men and women who joined Jesus in his ministry? For example, in Luke chapter 10 Jesus appointed seventy-two to proclaim the Gospel. Were they on the list? Therefore, was the guest list for the Church’s first birthday quite small or was it big? But either way, in chapter 2 the Holy Spirit opens the party to many more people if they wish to attend:
9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs Acts 2:9 – 11
Although from time to time people have tried to make the Church narrow and exclusive, the intention of God working through his Spirit was that it was open to all. “Jews and Gentiles, slave and free” as Paul puts it
13 For we were all baptised by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Corinthians 12: 13
As with all birthdays past a certain age, our Church birthday party includes smiles and joys and laughter but also some regrets. The guests at the first party no doubt regretted that Jesus wasn’t with them and wished that he were. Just like when we have our own birthday parties or our own church birthday / anniversary.
This year our Pentecost birthday will take place with the family scattered across north Wiltshire (and beyond.) Inevitably we will wish we were all together sat with our friends celebrating together. It cannot be so this year. But we can take comfort from knowing that the Holy Spirit binds us together with love.
As the story of the first birthday party progresses, we can sense a feeling of jealousy creeping in
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. Acts 2:5
Devout Jews who might have wondered why they weren’t on the guest list. And there was tension in the air as “the crowd gathered” Acts 2:6. Perhaps the devout Jews disliked the way the disciples could communicate with people from different countries, in different languages? Perhaps they were afraid, as they saw change was happening?
Maybe this is something we find from time to time? As we sit in our pews, we draw comfort from the pew not changing but are afraid as the world changes around us. We are certainly in a world of change at the present time, aren’t we? Times when our lives change can come with fear and mourning but also with promise and hope. We must remember that the Holy Spirit has been sent to us as a Comforter or a Helper to guide us through change and transition and to help us with our fears (John 14:6)
Finally, after the preparation, the guest invitations, after the regrets (the mourning and sense of loss), and the celebrations, it is time to give the guests a keep sake. A piece of birthday cake or a party bag is the fashion nowadays at children’s parties, for the guests to take away. And on the day of that first birthday, the disciples take away the most incredible gifts. In fact, it is almost like a party to celebrate a graduation. They have spent three years alongside Jesus. They’ve learned by Jesus’ example and from their own mistakes. Now they are ready to go out into the unwelcoming world with the gift of the Holy Spirit leading them and giving them their voice and courage and vision.
Treat today as a celebration. This is the day that the Spirit came. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We’ve all be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are on the guest list. The Spirit has been loosed into the world and its creative life-giving power is given to families, communities, and churches. The question is not “How will I respond to party gifts of the Spirit?” but “How will we respond to these gifts?” Especially once we are gathered back together.
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