Come Holy Spirit: A Sermon for Pentecost
Rev. Deborah Troester, May 28, 2023, STHPC
Joe and I recently watched the film “Jesus Revolution,” about the Jesus movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s, a time of tumult and social upheaval which saw massive protests against the war in Vietnam, demands for civil rights, and the political turmoil following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Many young people became disillusioned with the materialistic lifestyle of their parents, a life that seemed devoid of any meaning other than accumulating more and more money and things, the “rat-race” as they called it. Instead they heeded the words of Timothy Leary, a Harvard psychologist who advocated the use of psychedelic drugs to expand their consciousness to “turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Kids grew their hair long; guys grew beards and pony tails. It was the beginning of the Hippie Movement.
“Jesus Revolution” shows how some of these young people found Jesus – not in the traditional church, which was scandalized by their behavior, but on the street, at music festivals, at ocean-side baptisms.
I remember those times, and even though I was too young to run off and join a commune, I went to some outdoor concerts featuring Christian Rock Bands – a novel concept at the time. Our youth choir began to sing some pieces accompanied by guitar and drums – also a novel concept!
This was a movement of the Spirit – something new broke into the staid traditions of the church – and Christianity has never been the same since. We sing praise and worship songs. Drums and guitars are welcome in worship, and it’s OK to come to church in blue jeans now. (I remember this was a big discussion when I was in high school.) Some churches, like the one in the movie, welcomed the “Jesus freaks” as they were called. Others closed their doors.
That was then; this is now. What movements of the Spirit are happening around us in this time, even as I speak? What new things are happening that the traditional church cannot afford to ignore? Jesus said, “The Spirit moves as it will. You do not know where it is coming from or where it is going” (John 3:8). Our job is to stay attuned to the Holy Spirit’s moving and to follow the Spirit whenever we can.
So what, or rather who is the Holy Spirit? As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit was present at the very beginning. In Gen. 1 we read, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). In the last chapter of Revelation, John writes:
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” [The bride means the church.]
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift” (Rev. 22:17).
The Holy Spirit was active in the life of Jesus: He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. At his baptism, the Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, then led him into the wilderness where he was tempted. Jesus himself said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18). Finally, Jesus instructed his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Not only was the Holy Spirit with Christ as he walked upon this earth, but Jesus promised that the church – those people who followed him and recognized him as their Savior, would receive the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). Jesus told his disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth…he abides with you, and he will be in you” (See John 14:15-17). People will fail us and disappoint us at times, but the Holy Spirit remains with us always. As it says in Psalm 139:7 – 10,
“Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.”
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “advocate” – someone who speaks for us, on our behalf, like a lawyer, or to help us when we are in a difficult situation and cannot help ourselves, such as a patient advocate when one is hospitalized. The Greek word translated advocate is Παράκλητος, meaning “one called alongside” to help another person. It is sometimes translated “comforter.”
What are some ways in which the Holy Spirit comes alongside us to assist us? For one, the Holy Spirit helps us pray. Paul writes in Romans 8:26: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words.” If we are not sure what to pray or how to pray, we can ask the Holy Spirit for help.
Also, the Holy Spirit guides us and gives us direction. In the Bible we often see examples of how the Spirit guided people. In the Book of Acts alone, the Spirit moved Philip to talk to the Ethiopian eunuch as he rode in his chariot, reading the Book of Isaiah, needing someone to explain it to him (Acts 8:26-39). Peter says that the Holy Spirit told him to preach the Gospel to Gentiles (that is non-Jews), thus opening up the church to the whole world, not just the people of Israel (Acts 11:1-18); the Holy Spirit led the church in Antioch to set aside Paul and Barnabus as missionaries and to send them out to start new churches (Acts 13:1-3). These are only a few examples. If we are not sure what to do, we can definitely ask God’s Spirit to guide us.
The Holy Spirit gives us courage and strength when we are facing difficult circumstances. As Jesus said in Luke 12:12, “When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you will answer or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
The church in Ephesus was a major center of worship of the goddess Artemis, also called Diana. Merchants in the city made their living selling idols of the goddess to pilgrims. The church needed courage to denounce this idol-worship and proclaim the one, true God. Paul prays for them, that God might strengthen them “with power through his Spirit,” and to put on what he calls “the whole armor of God,” including the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Later Paul reminds young Pastor Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (Ephesians 3:16 and 6:12-18; 2 Timothy 1:7).
The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to share God’s word and God’s love. Last week we read in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit gives us gifts such as the ability to preach or teach, the ability to serve others with grace and kindness, or to administer the affairs of the church wisely. In 1 Cor. 12:4-7, Paul writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit…To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
The Holy Spirit gives us unity and harmony. We see this in today’s passage from Acts, as people from many different countries came together to worship God, heard Peter’s message about Jesus, and were baptized, forming the nucleus of the early church (Acts 2:38-41). As I mentioned last week, people normally stick with their own group, their own “tribe,” so to speak, but the Holy Spirit can break down all boundaries and barriers between us. As the song goes, “We are one in the Spirit.”
Finally, and maybe most importantly, the Holy Spirit fills us love, joy, peace, and hope. As Paul wrote in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” and in Romans 5:5: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
Much as been made of the phrase, “Receiving the Holy Spirit.” I don’t think this is as mysterious as some people make it. As Peter said in his sermon on that first Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:38-39). From this scripture it seems clear that we receive the Holy Spirit at our baptism – and yes, Peter specifically says that the promise is for children, too. Perhaps the confusion comes when we don’t always live by the Spirit, as Paul says, that is we don’t always sense that the Holy Spirit is present in us, or act as if the Spirit is guiding our lives.
I once heard a preacher explain why many Christians do not see the Holy Spirit at work in their lives. He said, “Imagine a glass filled with pebbles. Can you fill that glass with water? You can put water in the glass, even up to the top, but a lot of space will be taken up by the pebbles. So, there is water in the glass, but the glass is not full of water. To get more water in the glass, we have to take the pebbles out. The water stands for the Holy Spirit. The pebbles stand for sins in our life – things we have done that are not honoring to God or have hurt others or ourselves. If we confess our sins and remove them from our lives, there is more room for the Holy Spirit. It’s not that we don’t have the Spirit – it’s that we aren’t making room for the Spirit to work in our lives.
That first Pentecost the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. Tongues of fire lighted on their heads and they spoke in tongues – in many different languages, Acts says. We may not experience such miraculous manifestations, but God sends the Holy Spirit to each believer in Christ. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit, and that promise is still valid today. Amen.
© Deborah Troester, 2023