![]() He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. (St. John xiv. 17) Today we celebrate the feast of the Pentecost. In the Church of England, it is called Whitsunday - White Sunday, because of the white garments worn by those who are traditionally baptized on this day. Pentecost derives from both the Latin and Greek word pentecoste that means the fiftieth day. For the ancient Jews, it marked the day on which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, fifty days after Exodus from Egypt. It was also a day of thanksgiving for harvest, falling often in May when, given the temperate climate, the Israelites ingathered wheat, oats, peas, vetch, lentils, and barley. The early Jewish-Christians translated this thanksgiving feast into the Holy Ghost’s harvesting of souls for Christ’s Kingdom. On the first Pentecost, the Holy Ghost descended with the fiery Love of the Ascended Christ into the hearts of the Apostles, vesting and mantling them with the spiritual gifts that would generate new communion with God the Father. So, today we are bidden to contemplate this new movement of the Holy Ghost at the time of the Church’s first Pentecost. Yet, we should not think that the Holy Ghost had been dormant prior to the coming of Christ. The Old Testament is full of references to the Holy Ghost’s mission to fill the Ancient Jews with the fire of the Father’s Love and hope for salvation. In the Creed, we say I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son…. We believe that Love shared between the Father and the Son is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord and Giver of [all] life. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen. i. 2) We must remember that the Holy Ghost gives life to all creation. And mortal man must remember that He inspired into him an active soul, and breathed in a living spirit. (Wisdom xv. 11) In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit who comes upon priests, prophets, and kings to fortify them with Ghostly Strength to defeat God’s enemies. King David says that The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. (2 Sam. Xxiii. 2) He spake by the prophets. (idem) We know also that the Spirit brought punishment and correction to the Ancient Jews through men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and others. Monsignor Knox tells us that by the Holy Spirit men were moved to say various things, much of which it is difficult to understand, and some of which they probably didn’t understand themselves. They were carried away by the impetus of the Holy Spirit, and the great point is that many of the things which they said, or rather which He said through them, were prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ. (The Creed in Slow Motion: p. 143) The Holy Ghost was always descending from above to prepare the Jewish people for the complete revelation of Father’s promised salvation in His Son Jesus Christ. He prepared them for the day when the Word would be made flesh and then for the day when the Word would incorporate them into Christ’s dying life and a living death. Jesus Christ had established the pattern of Heaven’s fiery Love made flesh. The Holy Spirit would invite eager hearts to welcome the same Word into their flesh. What is of uttermost importance to the Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, is that the Father’s Word might once again live in all of us. The Holy Ghost brings us into relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. Christ has ascended to the Father, and from there He desires to indwell all men with the fire of their Love, redeeming the raw materials of human life to forsake all and follow Him. For Christians, Pentecost is the moment where earthly life begins to blend with Heaven’s Desire. For Christians, Pentecost is that moment when the fire of God’s Love begins to burn away our sins and infuse us with all righteousness. It is the fulfillment of the promise offered by Jesus to those who would become His friends and the Sons of the Father forever. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (St. John xiv. 15-17) But the Holy Ghost comes with neither force nor compulsion. If ye love me, is conditional. Christ honors man’s free will. If…then.... The Holy Ghost comes only to those who desire Christ’s fiery Love. The ongoing work of salvation depends upon man’s assent to Christ’s offer. The first instance of it is found in today’s Epistle, taken from Acts. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts ii. 1-4) The first witnesses of the Pentecost were in doubt, or, mocking said, these men are full of new wine. (Ibid, 12, 13) We tend then to think that what happened to the Apostles long ago was wholly paranormal and even irrational. But we forget that the recipients of Heaven’s Love were neither irrational nor out of their minds. They were common fishermen and observant Jews. They were pious, hard working men who believed genuinely in Jesus Christ and awaited His next move. Their last days with Him were spent in sadness, fear, and shame. Later they were surprised by Joy and filled with justifiable wonder and astonishment. But they were open and obedient to the Spirit’s stirring, and in some deep way it all began to make sense and fell into place. Their transformation in relation to Jesus all happened, mostly, in one place –the upper room or cenacle. This is where we first find them today. In it, they had learned of an impending betrayal that Christ foretold. To its safety, they had fled in fear and cowardice when He was dying on the Cross. Into it again came the Risen Christ to invite them into the fellowship of new life. In the same cenacle today, we find that He has sent to them the Holy Ghost. And while these men and women are not any different from you or me, one thing is significant: as before, in the same place, they were watching and waiting for what would come next. They were gathered together in unity of purpose. (Ibid, AV, Knox, ii. 1) Jesus had said, Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (St. Luke xxiv. 49) Because they believed Him and trusted His promise, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they began to spread the Good News of the salvation He had won for all men from the Cross, the Empty Tomb, the Ascension, and beyond. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Ibid, 3) This was all long ago. What does it mean for us today? The cloven tongues like as of fire will be given to us also if only, we believe. We may not be given the gift of speaking and spreading the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ with other tongues or in foreign languages. But the Holy Ghost intends to come to us so that we share the Good News of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has won for us. So, we must ask ourselves Do we love Jesus enough to keep His commandments? If not, or, if we hesitate [to obey Jesus], it is because we love something else in competition with Him, i.e. ourselves. (My Utmost…, p. 307) If Pentecost will have any meaning for us, we cannot speak or reveal this Love to the world unless the Holy Ghost, the Holy Trinity’s Spirit of Love, brings us to Christ’s Cross, into His death to sin, and to His Resurrection, His life of righteousness. The Holy Ghost’s Love both destructive and constructive (Claudel, I believe, 177) Christ says I will not leave you comfortless. (St. John xiv. 18) The Holy Ghost comfort us by bringing our sin to destruction and by constructing us into new Sons and Daughters of God the Father in Jesus Christ. Our Collect prays that by the same Spirit [we might] have a right judgment in all things…evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. (Collect, Whitsunday) Thus, we pray that The infinite and eternal Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who workest all in all…will pardon all our resistance to His motions…and will fan the flames which He ever enkindles in our breasts. We pray that He may…enlighten our minds and purify our hearts that we may be fit to receive and entertain Him, as the Guide and Comforter of our souls, working mightily upon our hearts, fitting and suiting our souls to that glory which is unspeakable and everlasting. (B. Jenks, 354) At the first Pentecost, the irresistible force [of the Holy Spirit]…was compressed into a single narrow compass; and the result was a kind of flood, a kind of explosion. (Sermons, Knox, Ign. Press, p. 477) That flood or that explosion is the rushing mighty wind of Christ’s Spirit of fiery Love that longs forever to carry us into His Kingdom. With the poet let us pray that the work of His fiery Love will ravish us. With all thy Heart, with all thy Soul and Mind, Thou must him love, and his Beheasts embrace: All other Loves, with which the World doth blind Weak Fancies, and stir up Affections base, Thou must renownce, and utterly displace; And give thyself unto him full and free, That full and freely gave himself for thee. Then shalt thou feel thy Spirit so possest, And ravisht with devouring great Desire Of his dear self, that shall thy feeble Breast Inflame with Love and set thee all on fire With burning Zeal, through every part entire; That in no earthly things thou shalt delight, But in his sweet and amiable Sight. Amen. ©wjsmartin Comments are closed.
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St. Michael and All Angels Sermons:
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