7 June 2014 - holy spirit spectacular

7 June 2014 - holy spirit spectacular

Who is Jesus and why did he come?  We know that he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Yet only the Gospel of John makes that explicit, although it is implicit in the Last Supper narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  But there is a common view of the mission of Jesus that all of the Evangelists share.  He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.” (cf. Mar. 1:8).

 I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.  I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Mat. 3:5).

 I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Luk. 3:16).

 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ (cf. Joh. 1:33).

 This promise is fulfilled at Pentecost.  As we prepare for Pentecost, let us heed the words of Jesus:

While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit (cf. Act. 1:4-5, emphasis mine).

 Jesus is the one who gives the Holy Spirit.

Jesus stood up and exclaimed,
“Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says:
Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”
He said this in reference to the Spirit

Let us bring this thirst to the Pentecost mass knowing that it will be sated.

Being the one who pours out the Spirit gives Old Testament context to the mission of Jesus.  This is how the apostles understand what happens on Pentecost.

No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh (cf. Act. 2:16-17).

They understand that Jesus is the one who can do this, who can give the Spirit, because he is the one who first rises from the grave.  He is the first one filled with that life and becomes the source of life for us.  The Spirit that raised Jesus from death will give life even to our mortal bodies (cf. Rom. 8:11). 

Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,

We recognize that the waters of life first give new life to us as individuals in baptism.  We hear in Ezekiel our own baptism foreshadowed:

 I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them (cf. Eze. 36:26-27).

The Holy Spirit is the new spirit, the resurrection power, that fills us at baptism.

Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).

But the call tonight is to not stop there.  There is the real risk of which Paul warns the Galatians:

Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?

We did begin in the Spirit at baptism but we do often wind up mired in the flesh.  We are that stupid.  What do we do?  Paul explains to the Galatians:

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

The Spirit has given us life, but now he must let him lead us.  Those "Who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (cf. Rom. 8:14).  We should follow the advice of Paul to Timothy.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands (emphasis mine).

The Holy Spirit is strengthened at confirmation when hands are laid upon us (and ordination as well, for Timothy) but we can't stop there.  We have to fan this gift into flames.  We have to give it air, let it breathe, even agitate the embers until they glow.

 The Holy Spirit is the only way to live the Gospel in spite of our human weakness. 

In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

This is part of what Paul develops at length writing to the Corinthians.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits;
to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes (cf. 1 Cor 12:7-11).

These sighs and groanings are a gift of the Spirit, deeper than intelligible speech, which is why "if I pray in a tongue my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:14).  This is why "Whoever speaks in a tongue builds himself up" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:4) but not the Church.  Which is why Paul also wants us all to prophesy.  That seems like a lot to ask of God.  Surely a few designated prophets would be enough?  But Moses had already asked the same thing long ago.

I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (cf. Num. 11:29).

But let's not miss the point, Paul wants both for us.

Now I should like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy (cf. 1 Cor. 14:5).

It isn't greedy.  We aren't talking about seeking good feelings.  These gifts often happen in the complete absence of any feelings whatever.  That can make discerning them a challenge.  It is a challenge worth undertaking because we need all the tools we can get to build ourselves up and to build the Church up.  

Do we want this?  Or have we received it in the past have neglected it?  The LORD wants to fill us anew tonight.  And if we don't feel him calling us to seek these particular manifestations of the Spirit tonight we must still be assured that he wants to pour out his Spirit on us in abundance.  He wants to fill us with new life and power.  He wants to give us the fruits of the Holy Spirit, especially love, joy, and peace.

Without him we perish, but in his Spirit tonight let us be renewed.

If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.