Year C

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Empowering of the Laborers

Pentecost, the awesome power of God is revealed in tongues of fire and the rush of a mighty wind that filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit causing them to speak in other languages. What an amazing scene Pentecost must have been in Jerusalem that day; one that is depicted in many stain glass windows and pieces of art. In Washington, DC at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception there is the Sanctification Dome that portrays the famous scene of Pentecost. At the Basilica of Saint Mark’s in Venice, Italy, the great interior dome features a beautiful mosaic of Pentecost. I have not been to Italy but I know some of you have and have possibly seen this mosaic. I have seen pictures of it and other beautiful pieces of art that feature the drama of Pentecost.

In the dome at St. Mark’s, built in the mid-twelfth century, the mosaic above the nave shows the twelve apostles arranged in a circle at the edge of the dome above a bank of windows. In the center of the dome is a throne, on which stands the dove of the Holy Spirit. From the throne, rays extend to each of the apostles, and below them and between the windows are situated people from all nations. The Byzantine design creates a wheel-like effect overhead. From the wheels center the empowering activity of the Spirit radiates outward to the apostles and through them to the entire world.

Pentecost is the birthing of the Church and ranks second only to the feast of the Resurrection. It affirms that the church is empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ to the world. Just before the risen Christ ascended back to God he commanded his disciples to remain in Jerusalem and to wait until they were clothed with power from on high by the gift of the Spirit. Only then would they be equipped with the power and ability to be Christ’s “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” The Spirit comes as the fulfillment of promise.

The Spirit was promised by Jesus and before that by John the Baptist. And Peter says the promise goes back further still. “This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel.” Pentecost is the fulfillment of God’s promises that a new time has begun with the full manifestation of God’s Spirit. So, it is not accidental that the birth of the Christian church with rushing wind and descending fire, this great “harvest of souls,” should occur on an important Jewish festival. Shavuot- known in the OT as the festival of Weeks, or as it comes to be later called, Pentecost falls on the 50th day after Passover and for the church, the 50th day after the resurrection.

Pentecost means “the fiftieth day” and it originally marked the end of the celebration of the spring harvest where the Israelite families would praise God for God’s grace and bounty. Today for the Jews, it is a holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah, the first five books of the bible to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Just as for the Jews where the exodus event signals the birth of the chosen people of God, for Christians, Pentecost the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, signals the birth of the church and God’s history with the world turns a decisive corner.

As the disciples waited all together for Jesus’ promise to be fulfilled, the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles in a powerful and supernatural way. It seems quite appropriate when recalling Jesus’ words about a plentiful harvest but few laborers, that the Holy Spirit would empower the laborers that Jesus had chosen and now send them out into the field of humanity to begin the harvest of saving souls. They were enabled, empowered to begin this mission by speaking the word of God in other languages to the people gathered. In the words of the prophet Joel “God is pouring out God’s Spirit on all flesh…”

God in God’s Spirit was opening the hearts of all to faith and giving every soul the power to believe and to be saved. Beginning with these first apostles and Christian Jews in Jerusalem, God has continued to shed his Holy Spirit upon God’s church. Through the sacrament of baptism each one of us was baptized by the power of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ to become the children of God. As Romans tells us, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” We become not only God’s children in baptism but heirs, and not only heirs but joint heirs with Christ. This adoption assures us of our status with God and that we are empowered by the Spirit with a variety of gifts meant to be shared.

Pentecost celebrates this empowering of gifts of the Spirit so that the sharing of the gifts might be radiated outward to the whole world. The coming of the gifts of the Spirit are meant to “show us the Father,” to be signs that show the world we have an advocate in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. This advocate guides us into all truth. For it is the task of the Spirit to teach us more and more all that we are and can do in Christ. From the time Jesus left God to dwell on earth as a human, to his death and resurrection, and finally to his ascension back to God, Jesus has been doing the work of God in the world. Now, as we reach the end of the Easter Season, the story of the risen Jesus on earth is wrapping up, but the story of the church is just beginning.

And for this purpose, the Holy Spirit has been sent to help. To give us access to God and knowledge of God’s truth, which will guide our work in the world until the Kingdom of God comes in fullness. This work and ministry of the Spirit has one genuine mark: it is Christ-centered-it is designed to exalt Christ and glorify him in the minds and hearts of men and women everywhere. By directing people to Jesus, the Holy Spirit changes lives so that all will become heirs of God’s grace in love.

Only by the power of the Spirit will we with Peter be able to love Christ and feed his sheep. Only by the empowering love of Christ poured out by fire and wind on his friends then and now, will we go where we would otherwise not choose. The journey of being a disciple is difficult, but we are empowered now to love, feed, and serve. We are empowered to do the works of Jesus and “in fact, will do greater works than these,” Jesus tells us, because the power of God dwells with us, lives in us, works through us and sends us out with the love of God to break down barriers until this world truly becomes the kingdom of our Lord. What greater love could the Father show us? Come Holy Spirit Come!