Thoughts about Pentecost

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the seventh Sunday and 50 days after Easter. It is traditionally the day on which Christians remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on to the group of disciples gathered in the upper room after Jesus had died and risen again. During the forty days that the risen Jesus spent with his disciples, he had instructed them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift that his Father had promised to give them: His Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4). After the 40 days, in full view of his disciples, he had ascended into heaven and no longer physically walked with them. It was ten days later, during the Jewish celebration of Pentecost, that God’s promised gift was given.
 
Pentecost was originally a Jewish festival, known as Shavuot or Feast of Weeks, which occurred 7 weeks after Passover and celebrated the beginning of the wheat harvest. (Ex. 34:22) It was to celebrate this festival that so many Jews had come to Jerusalem from all areas around. Since the pouring out of the Holy spirit coincided with the Jewish festival, the term Pentecost is now used to refer to that occasion. It is an important event to remember because it symbolises the birth of the early church.
 
It is in Acts 2 that Luke gives us a detailed description of what happened when the Spirit was first given. The Spirit came with fire, a symbol of the power, courage and determination that was given to the disciples; it came with a strong wind, representing the life-giving breath of God and it came in a way that enabled the apostles to speak in other languages, so that they were able to immediately start telling the message of the gospel to all who had gathered for the festival. This is the same Holy Spirit whom God has given to each of us who has trusted Him for our salvation.
 
In considering the significance of Pentecost I got to thinking about the changes that the coming of the Holy Spirit made on the lives of the apostles. Although they had been following Jesus for 3 years and had heard all the many things he had been teaching them, after Jesus died they were very fearful of what might happen to them and they were in hiding. They had heard Jesus’ commands to go and preach the gospel to all nations (Mk 16:15; Mt. 28:19-20) but they had no idea of how to go about it and it seems as though they lacked power to change the way they were living. However, immediately after they had received the Spirit, they began to boldly proclaim the gospel message; they received guidance as to where and how they should serve (see egs in Acts 8:29 and 16:6), and their lives were transformed so that they were able to see the church grow and spread in a remarkable way.
 
If it is the same Holy Spirit living in us, how should it affect the way we live? If we are fearful and reticent about sharing our faith, we should be able to depend on him to give us the strength and wisdom that we need in each situation. If we don’t know how to go about serving God, we can look to him for guidance and if we lack the power to transform our lives, since “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control” (Gal 5:22-23) let us pray that he will grow that fruit within us. At this Pentecost season, let us each take time to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit within us, to thank God for it and to allow him to continue to transform our lives.
Mary Breeze