Aflame with the Spirit

Aflame with the Spirit

I have noticed that Americans love an unlikely origin story. From the rise of working-class men like Carnegie and Rockefeller to become titans of industry, to the legends of the garage inventors who became Apple and the dorm room coders who became Google, the idea of the American Dream is fueled by stories of surprising success. And we also have great stories of resistance, like Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus. Yet all of these surprising success stories look utterly predictable when compared with the astonishing rise of Christianity in the first and second centuries.

One year, the church is nothing but a couple of laborers, a few fishermen, and a tax collector in the hinterlands of the Roman Empire, and the next, Christian churches are popping up like mushrooms all over the ancient Mediterranean world! How could a few Palestinian peasants accomplish all of this?

The apostles frequently misunderstand Jesus, even deny and betray him – these are not the great founders of a mythical past, but profoundly real, regular human beings; and yet, from those 12, those 70, those few hundred, come you, me and The Episcopal Church; from these humble origins spring the Lutherans, the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Pentecostal Free Will Baptists. This infinitesimally tiny Palestinian sect of Judaism, in a single generation, spreads like wildfire and goes on spreading to become today’s 2.4 billion Christians, the largest group of human beings on planet earth.

How can this possibly have happened? The day of Pentecost!

The amazing day when the disciples gathered with the doors locked for fear of the authorities and suddenly the Holy Spirit swept through the place with a sound like a rushing wind and tongues like fire rested on each of them and “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

Pentecost is not just a Christian festival – it is one of the principal feasts of Judaism and celebrates the giving of the Torah to the people of God; it is the feast of the revelation of God by those who are called to spread the knowledge of him to all nations. So the city was full of pilgrims.
God the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, filled the disciples, transformed the disciples, and they went from being a group of C-minus students of the Lord hiding out in an upper room to being Christians on fire with the love of God preaching in the streets.

Suddenly, there is no more fumbling, no more confusion. They are aflame with God the Holy Spirit; it is not until this moment, in which they are filled with the presence of God, that they are transformed into the living temple of the Spirit: the church. Suddenly, they are unstoppable.

St. Basil of Caesarea, in his book “On the Holy Spirit,” says that, even though God is surrounding us, filling all things, we cannot see him; even though we have his perfect image in Jesus, walking with us, teaching us, leading us through the darkness, we cannot comprehend him; and so, it takes God the Holy Spirit, filling us with light, surrounding us with the fire of his love, to know God.

“If only,” we might say, “I, too, had been present on that Pentecost morning,” “If only I, too, had received a tongue of flame,” “If only I, too, had been filled with the Holy Spirit, transformed by the Holy Spirit,” “If only I, too, had the same intimacy with God, the same indomitable courage in God, the same astonishing ability to do the works of Christ, to draw all those around me to Christ…” But guess what? If you have been baptized in the baptism of Jesus, you have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. You have shared in Pentecost, just as the apostles did. You, too, have become a walking, talking temple of God the Holy Spirit. Baptism is our Pentecost, it is our reception of the fullness of God dwelling within us, animating us, and transforming us. To live the apostolic life, to do Christ’s works of peacemaking, reconciling, healing, and feeding, all we have to do is say “Yes!” to the presence of God within us.

I am sure that many of you, like me, are watching events in this country and this weekend in Los Angeles with disquiet and even with horror and wondering, what can we do? From the human perspective there is very little we can do. We can call our elected representatives, we can write to the White House, we can join in local demonstrations yet as individuals we are relatively powerless. But from the inner perspective the God perspective, we are apostles, called to live the reconciling work of God and filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered to change the world.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” God the Holy Spirit enables us to truly ask in the name of Jesus, to truly reach out and receive the offer of God’s grace… and we ourselves, in him, are capable of his works.

We are capable of his works.

People of God, we promised in our baptismal vows to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. That is our promise and God’s promise is to empower us by the Holy Spirit working in and through us, to do just that.

The early Christians challenged the Roman Empire by refusing to follow pagan ways, by living lives of generosity and peace, not afraid to refuse to worship the Emperor, saying that only Jesus is Lord. For some it meant working quietly in their own neighborhoods, sharing God’s love and proclaiming the gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, for others it led ultimately to martyrdom. We don’t know where our commitment to the reign of God will take us, but we know where it starts.
It starts with our baptism. It starts when we say yes and enroll in the church, the Body of Christ in the world. It starts today when we commit ourselves once again to following the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It starts today when we invite the Holy Spirit to take us where we need to go both in our inner life of prayer and meditation, and in our outer lives.

It starts when we as the expression of the Body of Christ as St Peters, Morro Bay, ask the Holy Spirit to use us, to empower us, to bring the gospel of Jesus to this town and to this state, when we ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to bring true peace and reconciliation and live lives of resistance to the pagan world which seeks self-aggrandizement and personal power at the expense of the poor and marginalized.

Knowing that Jesus promised to honor our prayers, let us pray:
​
Holy Spirit who brought power and transformation to the disciples gathered on Pentecost, bring your power and grace to work in this church, emboldening us to be fearless in proclaiming your gospel, in living gospel values in every part of our lives and in standing up for justice and peace. Speak to us and show us how to live our baptismal vows to bring your transformative love to this community and country, and to stand up for those who are being victimized and oppressed. We ask these things in and through your name, Amen.
​
the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall
 
With thanks to Rev. Bertie Pearson, https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermon/will-you-day-of-pentecost-c-june-8-2025/