The Day of Pentecost, 15 May 2016
Acts 2:1-21,
or Genesis 11:1-9
Psalm
104:25-35, 37
Romans
8:14-17
Saint John 14:8-17,
(25-27)
Background: Whitsunday
In many parishes
people will wear red on the Day of Pentecost in order to match the color of the
vestments for that day. Some churches even place multiple pots of geraniums in
order to accentuate the color of the day. In the English church, however, that
color has not always been the case. The name “Whitsunday” or “Whitsun” not only
comes from the color white, but also from a confusion about the meaning of the
word “white” or “whit”. For some the meaning of the day was “Wisdom (wit)
Sunday”, an understanding of the gift of wisdom given by the Holy Spirit on
this day. The name “Whitsunday” does not appear until after the Norman
Conquest. Prior to that it was called
Pentecoste. There are also secular connections as well. The day was seen as
first of the summer festivals and was associated with games, dancing and fairs.
The First Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, the
disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a
sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where
they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a
tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every
nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered
and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language
of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging
to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and
Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of
power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What
does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with
new wine."
But Peter, standing with the eleven,
raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in
Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these
are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No,
this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
`In the last days it will be, God
declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven
above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord shall be saved.' "
Luke, at the beginning of his continuation of the
Gospel, sees this event as another culmination of what has been planned from
the beginning of time. There was a similar marker in the Gospel proper when
Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem, “When the days for his being taken up
were fulfilled.” (9:51). Pentecost as a harvest celebration meant that
Jerusalem would have been filled with a large number of pilgrims, maximizing
the possibility of any potential message. Thus it is propitious that Peter and
the others are placed to receive the Holy Spirit, and then to immediately
dispense it to others. The festival not only celebrated seedtime and harvest,
but also the giving of the Law – therefore the initial giving of wisdom on
Sinai is mirrored in the latter day outpouring of the Spirit. The relationship
of former promises and latter days is accentuated by Luke’s quote from the
Prophet Joel (3:1-5) in which the prophet shows the extent of God’s promise and
the ubiquity of God’s grace.
Breaking open
Acts:
1. Are any
excluded from the gifts of the Spirit?
2. Who are
included in Joel?
3. What does
Pentecost say to you?
Or
Genesis
11:1-9
Now the whole earth had one language and
the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in
the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come,
let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for
stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a
name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the
whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which
mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they
have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing
that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down,
and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one
another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the
face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was
called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth;
and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Most likely an
etiology, this pericope explains the presence of the ziggurat in Mesopotamia
and links it to a moralistic tale that also explains the many languages of the
earth. The ziggurat itself represents so many things that the author would have
found problematic: the city, the ancient near eastern pantheon, and perhaps the
technology that was being developed in these cities. Most of all the author
objects to human hubris. Each of the human actions, the making of bricks, the
building of the tower, and communication itself is thwarted by God, “let us go down and confuse their language.”
It’s choice here as a reading for Pentecost is strange in that it is an
oblique reference to the “speaking in tongues” in the reading from Acts, and
the story itself does nothing to underscore the language that the Spirit brings
along with its subsequent understanding and wisdom.
Breaking open
Genesis:
1. Why do you
think this reading was included here?
2. What does
it say about Pentecost?
3. What does
it say abouthe human community?
Psalm
104:25-35, 37 Benedic, anima mea
25 O Lord,
how manifold are your works! *
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.
27 There move the ships,
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.
28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.
to give them their food in due season.
29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;
*
and so you renew the face of the earth.
and so you renew the face of the earth.
32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
I will praise my God while I have my being.
I will praise my God while I have my being.
35 May these words of mine please him; *
I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
The
key to this psalm, at least in the context of Pentecost Sunday, is verse 31, “you send forth your Spirit, and they are
created; and so you renew the face of the earth.” It is the center of the
creative activity of God, and as the psalm rejoices generally about all the
works of creation, it is clearly centered in this understanding of the Spirit’s
on-going work of creation. God’s activity spans the whole creative spectrum, “he touches the mountains and they smoke,” Creation
is made and renewed by the same loving God, and the Spirit is the center of
that recreation. What follows is a response of praise and song.
Breaking open
Psalm 104
1. What is
the Spirit’s role in creation?
2. How does
the Spirit intervene in your life?
3. What gifts
do you expect from the Spirit?
The Second Lesson: Romans
8:14-17
All who are led by the Spirit of God are
children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into
fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba!
Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified
with him.
Paul
alludes to the Sinai wandering in the Sinai, a journey of some forty years that
took Israel from slavery freedom. The question is asked, “Do you want to give
all of this up?” The signs of relationship are underscored throughout the
reading: God as parent, we as children and heirs. Once again Paul intimates
that the very language of intimacy – of relationship with God – is the product
of the Spirit’s work, who “bear(s)
witness with our witness” when we cry “Abba!
Father!”
Breaking open
Revelation:
1. How is a
city paradise?
2. How is it
not?
3. What does
the community of saints mean to you?
Or
Acts
2:1-21
[See above]
The Gospel: Saint John 14:8-17 (25-27)
Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show
us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I
been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not
believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say
to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his
works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you
do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 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.
"If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he
abides with you, and he will be in you."
["I have said these things to you
while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I
have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give
to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them
be afraid."]
Once again we are
in the midst of the upper room, the foot washing is over, and the paranesis has
begun. Jesus expounds on relationships – the Father, himself, and those that
believe. The proof of the relationship is seen in a community of love, and in
the actions of the addition to the community, the Advocate, or as John says, ‘another advocate.’ In a “not yet, but
still” understanding, Jesus sees the world as not ready for this new Spirit,
and also sees that same Spirit abiding in the lives of the disciples. This
entity is not one for maintenance, but rather one of re-creation, a ‘reminding’ of the faithful of what
Jesus had done and said. It is into this relationship and community that Jesus
speaks a word and blessing of peace and courage, ‘do not let them be afraid.’
Breaking open
the Gospel:
1.
What does it mean to be an advocate?
2.
Who is the Advocate?
3.
What has the Advocate done for you?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday.
Almighty
God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by
the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the
world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the
earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
or this
O God,
who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them
the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right
judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Questions
and comments copyright © 2016, Michael T. Hiller
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