PENTECOST

Sermon Summary from May 15 (Pentecost): “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine” (Read John 14:15-17; Acts 2:1-4)

We didn’t talk about the Holy Spirit did we?  When we grew up it was the Holy Ghost, ghost.  My understanding of ghost was best shaped by Casper.  For the next generation it may have been “Ghost Busters.” (The trailer talks of events of “Biblical Proportions.”)  I’m not sure I had an inkling what the Holy Ghost was about.

Maybe if I had paid a little attention to Charles Wesley’s hymns, e.g. “Come ,Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire.” In the second verse we find how the Holy Ghost spoke in the Old Testament: “for by Thee the prophets wrote and spoke.”  God was selective in his Spirit and in his choice of prophets and times, but then when I look at the wonder of Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel, I can see the presence of the Holy Ghost.  Later the prophet Joel would tell us “Then...I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.”  That’s what happened at Pentecost.  God poured out his Spirit on all flesh.  That’s all of us!  All of us who make ourselves aware of the prompting and say “Yes” receive the Spirit!

In the story in Acts, the Spirit gave the ability to tell the Good News in many languages, but it was much more than just about communications.  John tells us that this Advocate (a helper who comes along side) will abide in us and be in us. In John 16 he tells us he will teach us all truth.  That is the Holy Spirit I want to talk about.

The New Testament moves from the OT “thou shalt nots” which seem easy to understand (but maybe difficult to obey), to open ended commands of Jesus.  In John we are told to “keep the commandments,” to love one another, to believe (and not just to mentally believe, but to take it to heart and act on that belief)  These are difficult things to know, let alone do.  Who am I to love?  How am I to love?  What am I to do?  (These are the Jiminy Cricket questions of the James series: “But how will I know?)”  If we are listening to the Spirit, if we are to live by the Spirit, we will be guided by the Spirit.  That’s how.

The New Testament even gives us a checklist, an examination of where we have been each day.  For example, we ask, “Because of what I’ve done today, is there more love in the world than yesterday?”  Or joy, or peace, or patience, or kindness, or goodness, or faithfulness or gentleness, or self-control?  We call these the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).  We seek to be faithful to the commands of Jesus, we listen to the Spirit to see how we are to do that, we review our lives in terms of the Fruit of the Spirit we produce.  A powerful helper indeed!  Amen.