Thoughts for the Day

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

When Jesus was arrested the disciples ran away. Although Peter and another disciple eventually made it to the High Priest's courtyard, it was here that Peter was to deny knowing Jesus three times. They were broken men. They had lost their beloved leader and all their hopes were dashed. Yet six weeks later at the Jewish feast of Shavuot (''Pentecost' in Greek) all is changed. Jews celebrate this day as the giving of the Torah (the first five books in the Hebrew scriptures) to Moses at Mount Sinai, and also as the Feast of Weeks (a celebration of the wheat harvest) and all males were required to observe the festival at the Temple in Jerusalem. We can only imagine the numbers of people from around the world in the city when the Holy Spirit is received by the disciples. Pentecost brings to an end the fifty days of the Easter season during which time the disciples have waited patiently for the coming of the Holy Spirit that would give them the power to carry out God's work.

Today it's difficult to imagine how we would live without electricity in our life - how would we heat our houses or freeze our food; recharge our cars or our kindles; or discover the national or international news; or indeed communicate with one another? We could use batteries for a while, but when we were unable to recharge them our computers and phones would quickly become obsolete.

The Holy Spirit is like the "electricity" that keeps our life going. The third member of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, is the guide and counsellor that is with us always when we ask His presence in our life. Without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing, we are electrical goods that have no power supply!

Holy Spirit,
we ask Your presence in our life:
to guide us each day,
to give us wisdom,
and to counsel us in the decisions we make.
Without You we are as powerless as infants.
Guide us, lead us, and empower us.
Help us to press the restart button in our life
and move forward in faith once more.
Amen