Sermon for Pentecost
Let's begin by tracing the Jewish roots of Pentecost. The festival of Shavout is a Jewish Holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June).
Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. This is also a festival celebrating the harvest of wheat. In Israel, the people harvested barley at Passover and wheat, the last grain to ripen, at the time Shavuot seven weeks later.
The date of Shavuot is seven weeks or forty-nine to fifty days from Passover. On Passover, God freed the people of Israel from their enslavement in Egypt.
In the first reading, we heard the wonder of the Jews who heard the disciples speaking in various tongues. The reason so many “foreign” Jews were in Jerusalem is that Shavout is a major holiday, one that Jews were required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem and he would send the comforter to them. He also told them he could not send the comforter unless he left the world.
Then during the feast of Shavout, the disciples were all gathered together and about nine in the morning, they heard the sound of a rushing wind, and what appeared to be tongues of fire appeared above each disciple's head. Immediately the disciples started speaking in languages they previously did not understand. This was part of the great commission; the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples with the languages of the world so they could spread the good news of the New Covenant to all the peoples.
The Jews that heard the speaking of the languages said that the disciples must be drunk. By tradition, the Jews fasted until ten A.M. and that is why Peter told the crowd they were not drunk.
Pentecost is considered the day the Christian Church was born. The day the Holy Spirit bestowed spiritual gifts upon the disciples. From that day forward, at our Baptisms and Confirmations we receive spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. Each of us receives different gifts. Indeed the Holy Spirit can come whenever it pleases, because it blows were it wants to blow and goes where it wants to go.
There are many spiritual gifts; Paul pointed a few of them in Corinthians. The question then arises, how do we know what our spiritual gifts are? Sometimes other people tell us we have a gift, we receive feedback that we are good teachers, or writers, or speakers. At other times, we discern what our gifts are on our own through what we choose as our vocations.
However, I think that most of us know what our gifts are from the feeling we get when we use our gifts and the sadness we feel when we ignore our gifts. I feel happiness when I write and joy when I preach. When I talk of the word of God, I get all tingly inside. However, when I was a child, I was shy and terrified of speaking in front of a group of people. To this day, I am still very shy and I prefer solitude rather than going to a party, silence to noise, nature to the big city. Somehow, I became an instructor, probably because of my desire to help people understand, and that is a gift. I still felt sadness until the day I could no longer ignore the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit lifted me up. That is why I start my sermons with the verse from Psalm 51, “Open my Lips o Lord and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” This is my prayer to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to raise me up, to let the love of Jesus show forth, to proclaim the Truth.
When Peter recited the prophecy of Joel he said, “In those days I will pour out my spirit upon ALL flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men will have visions, and your old men dream dreams.”
The gifts from the Holy Spirit are just that—gifts, and we must use our gifts for the betterment of the people. How would you feel if you give someone a gift, then he hides it in the back of his closet? How do you think God feels when he sends a spiritual gift and we ignore it?
Do not ignore your spiritual gifts, if you are not sure what your gift is then ask for help from God, ask help from your spiritual advisor, but do not ignore the fact that we have all received a gift. The gifts of God are for the people of God and if we love God, we will use his gifts.
Today, let us rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit may blow where it wants to blow, but if you use the gifts bestowed upon us by the Spirit then the Spirit will celebrate with us in Joy!
