Divine Expectations

What is Pentecost Sunday without the awe and amazement in the second chapter of the “Acts of the Apostles”? On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all together gathered in one place, when suddenly they were in the presence of a violent wind that filled the whole house, and tongues as of fire rested on each of them. Then the Holy Spirit filled the ordinary human beings, who were sitting in that house, and gave them all the extraordinary ability to speak in other languages.

Now, for context, the apostles were amongst devout Jews who were living in Jerusalem, many from multiple nations, and who spoke the languages of those nations. This crowd heard, and witnessed, this holy commotion of the Spirit’s indwelling in the disciples. And, witnessing this supernatural happening, which did not make sense, the crowd was amazed, confused and assumed that the disciples must have been drunk.

Truly, what is Pentecost Sunday without hearing about the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit’s movement amongst mere mortals? Mere mortals, I would suggest, who needed someone to point to the truth of what they were not only witnessing but experiencing. That someone would be Peter. It was Peter who refuted claims of drunkenness and reminded the crowd to remember that God’s prophet Joel, prophesied about this very experience of which they were in the midst. God declared that in the last days, he would “Pour out his Spirit upon all flesh…and they shall prophesy” (Joel 2:28-32).

Peter pointed to the truth in scripture of which any devout Jew would have been aware. Up to this point, God’s promise of his Spirit, as prophesied by Joel, was something that God’s people could not yet see, but had certainly hoped for. That hoped-for day had arrived! What the apostles and gathered Jews witnessed, on the day of Pentecost was the manifestation of hope. That supernatural manifestation of hope embedded, within all those who experienced the Holy Spirit moving in and through them, the truth that God is faithful to God’s promises.

In our gospel passage in the 14^th chapter of John, Jesus was planting the seeds of anticipation with his disciples of the Advocate’s coming, the one whom he would send to them from the Father. The disciples were to expect the Advocate to be with them forever and to know him because he abided in them and would be in them—no division, only unity. As the disciples listened to Jesus, they could not have perceived of this, yet unseen, hoped-for Advocate of whom Jesus spoke.

Nevertheless, the disciples were to wait with hopeful expectation, the coming of the Advocate after Jesus’ death, and they were to do so with unwavering patience. Again, we are reminded that God is faithful to God’s promises. The question is whether or not ordinary human beings are capable of being faithful to our promises to God.

In our epistle in Romans today, there is a clue to answering that question. The clue points to the pedigree and identity of the baptized. Paul said, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom 8:14), and that when we cry out to our Father, it is that very Spirit of God, that comes upon us and indwells us in baptism, that bears witness to our true identity as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. This hope in the risen Christ assures us that through our belief in the only Son of God, we have life eternal with the Father today and beyond this mortal life.

Yes, we are capable of being faithful, and we have the freedom to choose disobedience. How often do we choose apathy over love; spiritual shackles over liberation; suffering and death over peace and life? My fellow 21^st century disciples of our risen Lord, what are we to expect? As believers, we fully expect that Jesus, who ascended into the heavenly places to return to his Father, will return to judge the world at the time of God’s choosing.

In the meantime, we cannot see Jesus. We can certainly look for, and expect to see, glimpses of Christ’s light in this world, in the faces of our neighbors, and each other. We cannot see Jesus, but we certainly expect to experience his real presence in Holy Communion in the Eucharistic prayers and in the sacraments of bread and wine. We cannot see God’s promised eternal life, but we can certainly expect to see glimpses of this hope manifested in our lives lived faithfully in Christ.

Living our baptismal covenant, as an expression of our love for Christ, in this world is not easy; it requires help. But, do not let your hearts be troubled. Be assured that the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit—will neither leave you nor forsake you—and is ever-present with you and in you. When we are faithful in our belief in Christ, in word and deed, we remain faithful in our promises to God.

We are to look for God, with hopeful expectation, who is faithful in his promises to us. Expect God, who is faithful, to show up in your life. Expect that God will move on your behalf to make the crooked paths straight. Expect that God’s Holy Spirit will empower you to show up in this world as God’s instrument of grace to help make others’ crooked paths straight and to transform hearts and this world from brokenness to wholeness through Jesus Christ.

So, be a willing instrument for the Spirit of Truth to abide in you, giving you the courage to publicly profess, the life-saving message of God in Christ Jesus. Through the courageous hearts of those who love Jesus, the world, which does not know God, will come to know God’s abiding, inclusive and unceasing love. It is a love that invites all and abandons none.

On the day of Pentecost, something extraordinary happened to ordinary people. The Holy Spirit filled the human beings, who were sitting in that house, and gave them all the ability to speak in other languages for unity in understanding. And, the Holy Spirit is still at work through us, the baptized, the Church, in order to bring about the reflection of the unity in diversity that the Trinitarian God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is.

The miracle of Pentecost, beyond the event, is that we, ordinary people, have been empowered and equipped to proclaim to all with ears to hear and hearts to receive, the powerful and extraordinary truth that God is faithful to God’s promises. The question that we must ask ourselves, throughout this lifelong journey in Christ, individually and collectively as the church, is whether or not we will choose to be faithful to our promises to God.

May we all trust the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, to strengthen us in our weakness, to intercede on our behalf, according to God’s will. Let us all be on the lookout for, and fully expect glimpses of, God’s divine manifestations of hope in this mundane world. With God’s help, may it be so.  Amen.