The Day Of Pentecost
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Acts 2:1-21
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
-- Acts 2:4
Here is the reverse of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 where the arrogance of humanity caused them to want to invade God's heavens and the result was the confusion of languages and the scattering of the people across the face of the earth. At Pentecost, with the power of the Holy Spirit, that which was scattered is gathered together. People from nations all over the world were gathered together in Jerusalem. In a time when we are struggling with the meaning of diversity, it is important to note that these people were not asked to give up their individuality in order to discover this new unity. "... Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (v. 6). We discover the meaning of unity in diversity.
The power of God, symbolized by the tongues of fire, enabled the disciples to communicate the good news of Christ in a manner that both transcended the barriers and respected the differences among them. "... In our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power" (v. 11). Pentecost was the Jewish festival of the renewal of God's covenant. As these Jewish Christians came together to renew their covenant with God, they experienced the power of God enabling them to renew their covenant with all humanity. Pentecost is the time when we open ourselves to the power of God working within us to reconcile all people to him.
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your (breath) they are created.
-- Psalm 104:29b-30a
This entire psalm is a hymn of creation that shows many parallels with the story in Genesis 2:4b-91. In both places, emphasis is given to the breath of God. The same word can be interchangeably used to refer to either breath or spirit, and it is this play on words that is evoked in both places. All of creation is dependent on the Spirit or breath of God. In Genesis we are told that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), but Adam did not become a living being until God breathed his Spirit into him. So the psalmist also declares, "when you take away their breath, they die...." At Pentecost, we hear of the essential presence of the Spirit of God if the church is to live. In connection with this psalm, we recognize that the church is part of the whole creation that also depends on the Spirit of God for its existence.
The major difference is that the church is given the task of proclaiming that essential connection to a world that often forgets it. "These all look to you to give them their food in due season ... when you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust" (vv. 27, 29). In contrast to the gnostics who counted the material world as evil to be escaped from, the church celebrates the physical world as part of God's good creation. At the same time, the church recognizes that unless it stays connected with the Spirit of God, it will simply be part of the dust of the universe.
Romans 8:22-27
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now....
-- Romans 8:22
Given Paul's reputation as being antifeminist, it is intriguing how often he uses female images for God. Here, as he speaks of the contrast between the future he anticipates and the present frustration he is living, he pictures God as experiencing labor pains. He concludes that it is not only we who suffer the consequences of trying to live our faith, but also the whole creation that experiences this frustration of not having arrived where God intended. This, however, is not because God is too weak to complete the creation or that evil is too powerful. Rather, what we are going through is a necessary process to complete God's creation. While it is painful at the moment, it will all be worthwhile. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us," Paul states in 8:17. We will look back on these trials like a woman who holds her beautiful newborn looks on the labor pains that guided her delivery. The new creation of God will not come about with some magical wave of a divine wand but will be the patient result of God's working among us. "For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience" (vv. 24-25).
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
-- John 16:12-13a
There is a freedom within the Christian community that continually warns against making even the words of Jesus into an idol. While Jesus lived at a definite point in the history of our world, we proclaim him to be a living Christ who continues to dwell among us. By his own words, we are informed that there is more truth to be realized than he was able to communicate to his disciples while he was with them. One does not have to read much in the history of the church's interpretation of scripture to realize that people have often misinterpreted scripture in ways that reinforced their fears and bigotries. It is the Spirit of God that continually breaks through the barriers of our understandings and provides us with fresh insight. It is this same Spirit that testifies to the truth of Christ that transcends all of our cultural understandings.
The church often finds itself in trouble when it has used scripture in a woodenly literal fashion that has denied the winds of the Spirit that are blowing through the church. Jesus taught his disciples as much as they could understand while he was with them but then sent the Spirit to open them to even greater truths as they were ready. As a church, we learn from scripture, but it must be scripture as it is interpreted through the Spirit of Christ that is continually opening us to new truths.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
-- Acts 2:4
Here is the reverse of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 where the arrogance of humanity caused them to want to invade God's heavens and the result was the confusion of languages and the scattering of the people across the face of the earth. At Pentecost, with the power of the Holy Spirit, that which was scattered is gathered together. People from nations all over the world were gathered together in Jerusalem. In a time when we are struggling with the meaning of diversity, it is important to note that these people were not asked to give up their individuality in order to discover this new unity. "... Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (v. 6). We discover the meaning of unity in diversity.
The power of God, symbolized by the tongues of fire, enabled the disciples to communicate the good news of Christ in a manner that both transcended the barriers and respected the differences among them. "... In our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power" (v. 11). Pentecost was the Jewish festival of the renewal of God's covenant. As these Jewish Christians came together to renew their covenant with God, they experienced the power of God enabling them to renew their covenant with all humanity. Pentecost is the time when we open ourselves to the power of God working within us to reconcile all people to him.
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your (breath) they are created.
-- Psalm 104:29b-30a
This entire psalm is a hymn of creation that shows many parallels with the story in Genesis 2:4b-91. In both places, emphasis is given to the breath of God. The same word can be interchangeably used to refer to either breath or spirit, and it is this play on words that is evoked in both places. All of creation is dependent on the Spirit or breath of God. In Genesis we are told that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), but Adam did not become a living being until God breathed his Spirit into him. So the psalmist also declares, "when you take away their breath, they die...." At Pentecost, we hear of the essential presence of the Spirit of God if the church is to live. In connection with this psalm, we recognize that the church is part of the whole creation that also depends on the Spirit of God for its existence.
The major difference is that the church is given the task of proclaiming that essential connection to a world that often forgets it. "These all look to you to give them their food in due season ... when you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust" (vv. 27, 29). In contrast to the gnostics who counted the material world as evil to be escaped from, the church celebrates the physical world as part of God's good creation. At the same time, the church recognizes that unless it stays connected with the Spirit of God, it will simply be part of the dust of the universe.
Romans 8:22-27
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now....
-- Romans 8:22
Given Paul's reputation as being antifeminist, it is intriguing how often he uses female images for God. Here, as he speaks of the contrast between the future he anticipates and the present frustration he is living, he pictures God as experiencing labor pains. He concludes that it is not only we who suffer the consequences of trying to live our faith, but also the whole creation that experiences this frustration of not having arrived where God intended. This, however, is not because God is too weak to complete the creation or that evil is too powerful. Rather, what we are going through is a necessary process to complete God's creation. While it is painful at the moment, it will all be worthwhile. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us," Paul states in 8:17. We will look back on these trials like a woman who holds her beautiful newborn looks on the labor pains that guided her delivery. The new creation of God will not come about with some magical wave of a divine wand but will be the patient result of God's working among us. "For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience" (vv. 24-25).
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
-- John 16:12-13a
There is a freedom within the Christian community that continually warns against making even the words of Jesus into an idol. While Jesus lived at a definite point in the history of our world, we proclaim him to be a living Christ who continues to dwell among us. By his own words, we are informed that there is more truth to be realized than he was able to communicate to his disciples while he was with them. One does not have to read much in the history of the church's interpretation of scripture to realize that people have often misinterpreted scripture in ways that reinforced their fears and bigotries. It is the Spirit of God that continually breaks through the barriers of our understandings and provides us with fresh insight. It is this same Spirit that testifies to the truth of Christ that transcends all of our cultural understandings.
The church often finds itself in trouble when it has used scripture in a woodenly literal fashion that has denied the winds of the Spirit that are blowing through the church. Jesus taught his disciples as much as they could understand while he was with them but then sent the Spirit to open them to even greater truths as they were ready. As a church, we learn from scripture, but it must be scripture as it is interpreted through the Spirit of Christ that is continually opening us to new truths.
