Come Holy Spirit!
Commentary
This festival is often a problem. Who is the Holy Spirit? Why a day out to think of Spiritual matters in the church? Older ecclesial terminology even lent a more nuanced understanding by calling the third person of the Trinity the Holy Ghost.
Certainly, we speak more frequently of the presence and activities of God through creation and redemption, but what of this Spirit? Why a Pentecost after the triumph of Easter? What more must be added to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
The texts for this day, one a parable of the lost hope of Israel, the second the miracle of the Spirit's descent and Jesus' own words, each highlight the perpetual presence of God's Spirit. Pentecost is not something in addition to Easter, but simply deepens the Easter focus by specifying the works of the Spirit in the lives of those who believe in every age.
In different times and for different reasons, the Spirit intersects the lives of God's people with changing and enlivening results. Asks the Psalmist: "And where should I go to flee from your Spirit?"
The texts for this day function together to give the listeners both new insight and hope; God never abandons God's own but comes with different purposes and intentions to meet the needs of the times. Most importantly, the focus of the Spirit's work looks, finally, to the return of Jesus, the One in whom God is named and saves.
Pentecost is a day of sermonic possibilities which can assist listeners to think of the mystery of the Trinity through the evidences of the everyday witness and work of the Spirit in the daily lives of believers in the past and present.
OUTLINE I
Dry as a bone!
Ezekiel 37:1-14(Lutheran)
A. vv. 1-3: The prophet is led by God into a valley, a deserted cemetery of sorts containing the bones of the obviously long-dead since "they were very dry." God sets the prophet a challenge to bring the dead to life and the prophet can only helplessly respond "You know ..." You know God, you are asking the impossible ....
This exilic picture emphasizes the futility the exiled Jews experienced in re-forming the kingdom of Israel; such a task would be impossible as making the dead live again. And then God speaks.
B. vv. 4-10: God orders the prophet to preach to the dead of their coming new life. It is the portrait of a relentless God who stops at nothing -- including death -- to create life. The prophet preaches and the bones live. The prophet is then confronted with a living multitude. The omnipresence of the God of all life is shown here by the constant word play on the Hebrew word for spirit -- guah. God's presence is described through "breath" and "four winds."
C. vv. 11-14: The prophet, by this time no doubt verging on breathlessness, is given a word of explanation by God. The newly alive have formerly been without hope. The prophet is asked to be given one more prophecy to them now that he has their attention: they will be made alive again as a people, God is indeed their God and through God's actions they will know their own land again. The God of the individual heart is also the God of all nations and peoples.
OUTLINE II
O for a thousand tongues to sing
Acts 2:1-21(All four lectionaries)
A. vv. 1-4: The writer is honest in the description of the event. Whether it was a wind or fire, it was at least like those. The Spirit ascends with signs wrought out of the earth's very elements. The end result is a linguistic one; people are brought to speech of many different sorts.
B. vv. 5-13: The crowds attempt to sort things out. What is the meaning of this event? It is Galileans speaking, but each hears her own language; yet they all hear about God's powerful deeds. They hear unusual speech. Could it be liquor-inspired, even at that early hour? Question marks hang over the occasion as vividly as do the tongues of fire.
C. vv. 14-21: What of crowd control now in the face of such confusion? The response to the crowd is offered by Peter. He quotes the prophet Joel as proof of the day's events. The prophet's words are the beginning of his sermon to the people about the name of Jesus which the Spirit has come to witness. The signs and words expressed in the prophecy culminate in a focus on the name of the Lord and its salvific power.
The preacher may wish to use more of the verses after 21 since Peter's quotation of Joel is only the beginning of his persuasive sermon to create belief and repentance in the listeners.
OUTLINE III
The works of the Spirit
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15(Revised Common, Roman Catholic)
A. John 15:26-27: Jesus promises a helper, an advocate for those who believe in him. But the Spirit does not work alone. Believers are not to remain mute, passive, but also to testify to the presence of the Lord.
B. vv. 4b-7: Like children to be separated soon from a loving parent, Jesus tells them his departure will mean new changes, new growth, other opportunities. He does not deny their sorrow at his impending departure, but rather encourages them with promises of what is to come.
C. vv. 8-11: Here Jesus describes the three-fold tasks of the Spirit. The Spirit will convince the world of sin, of righteousness and the coming judgment. The world will continue to hear about the concerns of God -- right judgments and salvation.
D. vv. 12-15: Jesus tells his disciples in the face of these overwhelming events yet to come, that there is even more but it would be too much for them to hear all at once. He does offer them the reassurance that the spirit of truth will assist them in discernment, in glorifying God and in giving to the disciples what is their inheritance as believers.
Certainly, we speak more frequently of the presence and activities of God through creation and redemption, but what of this Spirit? Why a Pentecost after the triumph of Easter? What more must be added to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
The texts for this day, one a parable of the lost hope of Israel, the second the miracle of the Spirit's descent and Jesus' own words, each highlight the perpetual presence of God's Spirit. Pentecost is not something in addition to Easter, but simply deepens the Easter focus by specifying the works of the Spirit in the lives of those who believe in every age.
In different times and for different reasons, the Spirit intersects the lives of God's people with changing and enlivening results. Asks the Psalmist: "And where should I go to flee from your Spirit?"
The texts for this day function together to give the listeners both new insight and hope; God never abandons God's own but comes with different purposes and intentions to meet the needs of the times. Most importantly, the focus of the Spirit's work looks, finally, to the return of Jesus, the One in whom God is named and saves.
Pentecost is a day of sermonic possibilities which can assist listeners to think of the mystery of the Trinity through the evidences of the everyday witness and work of the Spirit in the daily lives of believers in the past and present.
OUTLINE I
Dry as a bone!
Ezekiel 37:1-14(Lutheran)
A. vv. 1-3: The prophet is led by God into a valley, a deserted cemetery of sorts containing the bones of the obviously long-dead since "they were very dry." God sets the prophet a challenge to bring the dead to life and the prophet can only helplessly respond "You know ..." You know God, you are asking the impossible ....
This exilic picture emphasizes the futility the exiled Jews experienced in re-forming the kingdom of Israel; such a task would be impossible as making the dead live again. And then God speaks.
B. vv. 4-10: God orders the prophet to preach to the dead of their coming new life. It is the portrait of a relentless God who stops at nothing -- including death -- to create life. The prophet preaches and the bones live. The prophet is then confronted with a living multitude. The omnipresence of the God of all life is shown here by the constant word play on the Hebrew word for spirit -- guah. God's presence is described through "breath" and "four winds."
C. vv. 11-14: The prophet, by this time no doubt verging on breathlessness, is given a word of explanation by God. The newly alive have formerly been without hope. The prophet is asked to be given one more prophecy to them now that he has their attention: they will be made alive again as a people, God is indeed their God and through God's actions they will know their own land again. The God of the individual heart is also the God of all nations and peoples.
OUTLINE II
O for a thousand tongues to sing
Acts 2:1-21(All four lectionaries)
A. vv. 1-4: The writer is honest in the description of the event. Whether it was a wind or fire, it was at least like those. The Spirit ascends with signs wrought out of the earth's very elements. The end result is a linguistic one; people are brought to speech of many different sorts.
B. vv. 5-13: The crowds attempt to sort things out. What is the meaning of this event? It is Galileans speaking, but each hears her own language; yet they all hear about God's powerful deeds. They hear unusual speech. Could it be liquor-inspired, even at that early hour? Question marks hang over the occasion as vividly as do the tongues of fire.
C. vv. 14-21: What of crowd control now in the face of such confusion? The response to the crowd is offered by Peter. He quotes the prophet Joel as proof of the day's events. The prophet's words are the beginning of his sermon to the people about the name of Jesus which the Spirit has come to witness. The signs and words expressed in the prophecy culminate in a focus on the name of the Lord and its salvific power.
The preacher may wish to use more of the verses after 21 since Peter's quotation of Joel is only the beginning of his persuasive sermon to create belief and repentance in the listeners.
OUTLINE III
The works of the Spirit
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15(Revised Common, Roman Catholic)
A. John 15:26-27: Jesus promises a helper, an advocate for those who believe in him. But the Spirit does not work alone. Believers are not to remain mute, passive, but also to testify to the presence of the Lord.
B. vv. 4b-7: Like children to be separated soon from a loving parent, Jesus tells them his departure will mean new changes, new growth, other opportunities. He does not deny their sorrow at his impending departure, but rather encourages them with promises of what is to come.
C. vv. 8-11: Here Jesus describes the three-fold tasks of the Spirit. The Spirit will convince the world of sin, of righteousness and the coming judgment. The world will continue to hear about the concerns of God -- right judgments and salvation.
D. vv. 12-15: Jesus tells his disciples in the face of these overwhelming events yet to come, that there is even more but it would be too much for them to hear all at once. He does offer them the reassurance that the spirit of truth will assist them in discernment, in glorifying God and in giving to the disciples what is their inheritance as believers.
