Other miracles took place with great majesty and the showing of the mighty power: The smoke, lightening, thunder, and fire present on Mt. Sinai, Jesus’ Transfiguration, where he is accompanied by Moses and Elijah, and my favorite one of all the fire balls that came from heaven and ignited everything in sight when Elijah was in competition with the priests of Baal.

The Pentecost event which we celebrate today is described as one of each! The account from the book of Acts falls into the second category, with all kinds of visuals and outrageous happenings. The account from the Gospel of St. John falls into the first category. One might wonder if anything really took place. “It was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them, said ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

The most memorable account for the average believer, of course, is the Acts account. How irresistible are the tongues of fire, the great noise? There is even a little comedic element, where the onlookers suspect that those upon the Spirit had descended had been “nipping” early in the day! More importantly, the reading tells us that the disciples announced the good news of salvation “as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

Here’s another one of those Sunday stories that Monday morning might cast a different light upon. We are children of the scientific age. Did the event really happen that way? Maybe they were having one too many. Was there a real noise others could hear—genuine tongues of fire? How could people speak in one language and be understood in another? Just what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

I would like to put this all in perspective today by saying that quite literally, the followers of Jesus were given in some way the power promised by Jesus to further the reign of God that he inaugurated. When I was a kid in Sunday school, we made a big deal about the fact that today is the birthday of the Christian Church. Kids like birthdays, and I guess our teachers figured that would catch on. It worked. We see the greatest evidence of this in the Gospel account where the community was established wherein there was the forgiveness of sins, and sometimes holding back the forgiveness of sins as a way of jurisdiction. There was authority within the fledgling Church.

In the Second Reading, we receive from Paul a more extensive portrait of what it meant to be filled with the Spirit. It enabled believers publicly to acknowledge their religious allegiance: “Jesus is Lord!” The proclamation was not only religious, it was political as well. “I choose Jesus, not the emperor.” When the time comes for you and me to stand up for Christian values in the face of social or political opposition, the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to do so regardless of the consequences.

And so, what happened? What really took place? Well, the Spirit of God took hold as promised of the first disciples like a mighty wind, and they were set on fire with zeal for the reign of God. As baptized and confirmed Christians, we too have been seized by that same Spirit; we too have been given gifts meant for the service of others.

More than having the birthday party today behind locked doors for fear of anything and everything, the party extends wherever our gifts are needed so desperately. Wisdom for a world seeing meaning, knowledge for a world seeing insight, healing for a world torn apart by war and violence of any and every kind, prophecy for a world in need of direction, discernment of spirits for a world confronted by competing forces.

The Spirit has worked wonders down through the ages in the lives of all who are in Christ. Doesn’t it intrigue you to wonder just what this might mean among us? Amen

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