Pentecost 2009

An article by Drew    No Comments

Last Sunday – in case you didn’t notice – was Pentecost – when Christians sometimes celebrate the day the Holy Spirit came to town. You can read all about it in Acts Chapter 2 – it’s a classic story. The Holy Spirit arrives – as promised – in a rush of wind and fire. The followers of Jesus, who were undoubtedly feeling fearful about their future, disappointed and disempowered were instantly charged with wild enthusiasm and courage. They burst out of the building shouting the good news in foreign languages until people thought they were drunk as lords at 9am.

In fact it wasn’t booze or drugs. The change was dramatic and life changing. We read that these first Christians sold their possessions, formed a community and set about transforming their society with remarkable disregard for their own safety. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak out boldly, perform miracles and relate to each other at a new level of honesty and love.

Pentecost wasn’t the first appearance of the Holy Spirit. It’s mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament and in the Gospels but on Pentecost it takes centre stage. But although this is one of our holiest days it’s not even a holiday. At Christmas Jesus was born – Emmanuel – God with us in human form. At Pentecost God joins us in another intimate and empowering form. So why do we celebrate Christmas and Easter but ignore Pentecost?

At least Pentecost hasn’t become commercialized like the other two. If Pentecost became popular, I wonder what our retailers would sell… perhaps fireworks, fizzy drinks or fans. The fact is that Christians – at least in modern times – have put such little importance on Pentecost that it slips under the commercial radar and often is barely mentioned in Churches.

Many traditional denominations have trouble with the Holy Spirit. It’s somewhat strange and scary. It used to be called the Holy Ghost and that was even worse. Theologically they may recognize that the Holy Spirit is an equal part of the God community/trilogy with the Father and the Son but in practice the Holy Spirit is definitely the junior partner.

These denominations have also been scared off the Holy Spirit by the emotional excesses of some Pentecostal/Charismatic churches – all those strange people waving their hands in the air and gabbling in tongues – and bogus faith healers making empassioned appeals for more money on TV.

Of course the role of the Holy Spirit is given vastly more weight in the Pente churches but I sometimes think they do the Holy Spirit as much disservice as do the Christians who pretty much ignore it.

Too often Pentecostals get hooked on the sizzle and forget the sausage. Good charismatic worship is uplifting, moving, inspiring – other worship is lifeless in comparison. For a moment we’re lifted into God’s presence. We feel the reality of his love and it’s blissful – better than sex, chocolate and champagne combined. Of course we want to experience that sensation over and over but the Holy Spirit isn’t predictable or repetitive. The Holy Spirit isn’t necessarily going to turn up every Sunday just to give us a spiritual high.

Some churches try very hard to generate the buzz week after week. The worship team work hard to ensure the people get their fix but if we’re not careful that can become unreal, shallow and exploitative. Pentecostals also tend to put too much emphasis on some of the gifts of the spirit – like glossolalia/speaking in tongues. Again speaking in tongues is a beautiful thing and has a real purpose but it’s by no means the most important of gifts.

In his letters to the Corinthians Paul points out powerfully and lyrically that everyone in the church has different gifts just as the various parts of our bodies have different functions. While Paul claims to speak in tongues more than anyone – he also emphasizes that love is vastly more important than tongues or the other charismatic gifts. “If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.’ (Corinthians 13:1)

The Holy Spirit is as vital as fuel in a car. Without the Holy Spirit we ain’t goin’ nowhere – we miss out on the closest communication with God and each other. The Holy Spirit isn’t given to us so that we can sit safely in the garage or to do spiritual wheel spins – it’s given to us so that we can journey confidently into the adventure God has for us. The Holy Spirit is given to us to transform our lives, our communities and our world.

Jesus gave us the great commission – our marching orders to go into the world announce the good news and transform people into his followers. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to make it happen.

At a UNOH conference in Melbourne I had the privilege of meeting Jacquie Pullinger. Jackie left England at 19 and went to work in the worst slums of Hong Kong where she has stayed for 40 years. In her ministry the miraculous was commonplace. With her team she would pray for hardened addicts who would receive the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues and come of decades of heroin addiction without withdrawal. This happened not once but hundreds of times.

This is the power of Pentecost. It’s not something to be ignored or trivialized. It’s life giving, life changing and, if we have the courage to receive it and use it, God’s Holy Spirit will work through us to save our sad, sick world.