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Fr. Gerry Swieringa

St. Brendan's Anglican Church

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Sermon preached on Sunday, June 9, 2019, Pentecost Day, at St. Brendan's Anglican Church

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Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 2019

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Preaching a single sermon about what happened on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension inevitably means a lot of important things are going to go unsaid. So let me begin my remarks by saying that the true sermon for Pentecost Sunday extends throughout the Pentecost season, the summertime of the church. It includes the gifts of the Spirit, the works enabled by the Spirit, the life of the Church, and the unity of one Spirit. And even then it is not exhausted, but reaches beyond finite time, to include the promise of the Holy Spirit yet to be realized by the church.

So instead of trying to touch a multitude of images, sensations, and implications that are there for the picking, I’d like to spend our time in a focused way, almost a lectio divinia way, on one verse from Luke’s account.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Who are the “All?”

Scholars are divided here. Some refer to the 120 believers noted in . Others, such as Graham Cole, limit the “all” to the twelve disciples who are gathered together in prayer awaiting the coming of the promised Paraclete. What is clear is that there were no outsiders. No one individual, disciple or believer, excluded from the coming of the Holy Spirit. I tend to go with the 12 over the 120, since this Pentecost outpouring comes on those who have been prepared to receive it, prepared by Jesus himself in our reading today from John’s Gospel. That all were filled with the Holy Spirit signals an important attribute of the Holy Spirit: He is not discriminate in his blessings. At the same time, and we will see this coming up, the Holy Spirit is not the great equalizer giving to each and all the same gifts.

What does it mean to say all “we’re filled with the Holy Spirit?”

The key word is “filled.” The Greek gives us a variety of applications but essentially one understanding, that fill means to be saturated: fully accomplished(1), fully assured(2), fully convinced(1). 1 To be filled with the Holy Spirit means they had no room for anything but the Holy Spirit. Contrast that to our more common prayer that we be touched by the Holy Spirit, or led, or instructed by the Holy Spirit. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. In that moment whatever room they had for retaining the works of the flesh in their hearts and minds, that room was filled with the Holy Spirit. Nothing else existed for them. In that moment, they truly inherited the Spirit of Jesus.

Here is the Oneness with Jesus and the Father that Jesus promised when he said,

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is an awesome event. It’s the ultimate gift of Jesus to those who believe in Him. Jesus spent three years preparing his disciples to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we have no reason to believe that the infilling of the Holy Spirit means less than that today. What it does mean, then and now, is an outward expression of the Spirit of Jesus for the edification of the world. As Paul says in , the gifts of the Spirit are to edify, or build up, the church which is the body of Christ in the world. We should recognize that being filled with the Spirit does nothing to elevate or empower us, but enables us to carry the Spirit of Jesus forward. This is so much more than feeling close to Jesus. It is being One with Jesus so Jesus himself may be glorified. On the Day of Pentecost all twelve of Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit so the wonders and miracles that followed are understandable. Twelve men, full of the Holy Spirit, is Jesus’ Spirit delivered 12 times over to a hungry waiting world. Jesus was right when he said “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…”

One of those greater works became immediately evident. The disciples began to speak in languages not their own. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages…”

We need to distinguish between the gift of the Spirit and the works of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is the power that enables the disciples to do the work of the Spirit. Speaking in other languages is a work of the Spirit intended to reveal the glory of the Son. Why this particular work, as opposed to mass healings or multiple deliverances?

It’s time we draw in our Old Testament lesson from Genesis. What we have is a picture of a world turned in on itself. A world celebrating itself. Mankind moves forward, apart from God, to create a universe of its own design. A city, with a tower mimicking God’s vision. Does that sound familiar? How much of our recent progress might be seen in the metaphor of the city and tower of babel?

But God intervenes and separates mankind by the division of language. God doesn’t destroy man’s vision, he disables man from accomplishing it. In the process a new human condition is introduced: mankind is divided within itself. Unable to see eye to eye or speak one to one with his fellow man, mankind can never be able to see eye to eye with God.

On the day of Pentecost, God restores to the believers in Jesus, his disciples, the power to converse again across the chasm of languages. It’s a powerful image of the new age released upon the world. It’s the first installment of God’s plan for the redemption of the world made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus healed. The prophets healed. John the Baptist and others cast out demons, as did the disciples. But in this act of restoring common understanding across the differences of language, we see a step toward the unification of Heaven and earth. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit accomplished through the disciples. By it the work of reuniting heaven and earth can begin again after being interrupted by man’s sin. The work radiates out from the disciples and on that first day some 3000 come to believe.

Finally, we come to the last phrase in our selected verse, “as the Spirit gave them ability.” We’re cycling back to something we said at the beginning, that the Holy Spirit does not give the same gifts to everyone.

A fear I’ve heard spoken often by unbelievers is that they don’t want to give up who they are to become someone new in Christ. I tell them not to worry. The Holy Spirit has already shaped them into who they are. But they only know a small part of who they are. By accepting Jesus, the Holy Spirit will move in their life to show them all that they are. It’s not different from who they are, it’s more.

We don’t know each disciples’ skills and abilities. We see Peter as a gifted preacher, but we don’t know as much about the gifts of Matthew or Philip. I imagine that the Day of Pentecost was something like a Billy Graham crusade. Peter, as Dr. Graham, delivered the message and then the rest of the disciples, functioning as the crusade team, ministered as the Spirit gave them ability and brought the 3000 to the faith. Individual gifts may vary, but the intention of the gifts of the Spirit is always the same.

Boyd Hunt offers a working definition. “Spiritual gifts are God empowering his people through the Holy Spirit for kingdom life and service, enabling them in attitude and action to live and minister in a manner which glorifies Christ.” 2

There’s no mention of how an individual is empowered. There’s certainly no ranking of empowerment. There’s only the unity of purpose, that all gifts glorify Christ from whom they come.

We step back from the Day of Pentecost amazed at what was done that day in the Name of Jesus Christ. Our own efforts and our own successes seem paltry in comparison. But that’s not how we should be looking. On the Day of Pentecost a great stone was hurled into the world’s pond that started tidal waves of change heading out. We are riding such a wave even today. The Holy Spirit continues to change the world through you and me as we take hold of the power of the Spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

1. Thomas, R. L. (1998). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.