The Day of Pentecost

ACTS 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. {2} 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. {3} Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. {4} All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. {5} Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. {6} And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. {7} Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? {8} And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? {9} Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, {10} Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, {11} Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." {12} All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" {13} But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." {14} 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. {15} Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. {16} No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: {17} '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 young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. {18} Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. {19} And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. {20} The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. {21} Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Sermon from St Michael and All Angels, Scarborough
"When the day of Pentecost had come" (Acts 2.1)

We always used to call today Whit Sunday but now it is universally referred to as Pentecost.
I like the new name because
1) It is biblical
2) It makes today the 50th, and final, day of Easter and not the 1st day of a new, and separate, season of the Christian year.
3) It roots the Christian revelation in its antecedent Jewish background - a Week of Weeks after Passover Pentecost commemorated the giving of the Law to Moses and Thanksgiving for the Harvest.

The Holy Spirit did not come into existence at Pentecost AD 33. That was when He came anew in power to make the witness of the Christian Church effective. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity who is from before time and will be beyond time. Even in today's gospel we have Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit into the apostles on the evening of the first Easter day.

In many churches a new custom has been adopted for Pentecost in the provision of cut outs in the shape of the Holy Spirit as a dove or a tongue of fire with one of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5.22 inscribed. These are distributed to worshippers at random as an encouragement to claim the fruit indicated from among the group of nine - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, self control but at Pentecost the emphasis was on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, rather than the fruit. The fruit are for holiness, the gifts for mission. Paul lists the mission gifts in 1 Corinthians - wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues. These link us back to the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah 11.1-2 - the 7 gifts listed as qualities of the Messianic King when he comes to rule his people wisely and well: " A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot will grow from his roots, on him will rest the spirit of the Lord". They are the fear of the Lord, piety, fortitude, counsel, knowledge, understanding and wisdom. In their fulness they belong to Christ, the son of David, the Messiah but through our baptism and confirmation he shares them with us.

Pentecost is a good day to recall the day and place of your confirmation. At its core it had three elements:
1) The bishop stretched out his hands over the candidates and said "Almighty and everlasting God, you have given your servants new birth in baptism by water and the spirit, and have forgiven them all their sins. Let your Holy Spirit rest upon them: the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of counsel and inward strength; the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and let their delight be in the fear of the Lord."
2) The bishop then layed is hand on your individual heads as he said " Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit."
3)Finally, the bishop invited the congregation to join him in saying "Defend, O Lord, your servants with your heavenly grace, that they may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more, until they come to your everlasting kingdom."
After all that can we possibly doubt that, like those at the first Pentecost, we too have received the Holy Spirit? As Athanasius said "We share the divine nature through our sharing of the Spirit".

It is sometimes pointed out to us that there is music and art and poetry in every one of us if only we can discover it and let it out. So too re the Holy Spirit within the baptised and confirmed Christian. He is within us and all His fruit and gifts are available to us if we have the humility and courage to let Him come through our personalities in power to enable us to live to the greater glory of God and the good of the Church. Living life in the power of the Holy Spirit is of the essence of being a Christian now as it was at the beginning - "Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful with the fire of your love".