PRAY: When you were confirmed this (or a similar) prayer was said over you. As an affirmation of your baptismal relationship with God, this is a prayer that can be said many times in a person’s life. Pray this for yourself (and your loved ones) this week:
Stir up in name the gift of your Holy Spirit:the spirit of wisdom and understanding,the spirit of counsel and might,the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord,the spirit of joy in your presence,both now and forever.Amen.
(Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Affirmation of Baptism)
PONDER:
Recall a time you felt worried or alone, but had a sense God was still with you. What gave you this assurance? How do you think the Holy Spirit was at work in this experience?
How do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your life?
In what ways have you been a witness for Jesus Christ?
If you were going to tell someone the good news about Jesus Christ, what would you say?
Who does the Holy Spirit work through? Who, in your life, has shared the good news about Jesus Christ with you?
DO: Remember your baptism and confirmation as experiences of the Holy Spirit. Dig up any old photographs, certificates, or other mementos. Talk to friends or family members who remember the event. Remember also meaningful baptism and confirmation experiences of
others close to you. Share your memories with them as you are able.
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The Church gets its power and witness not from human initiative, but from God. After Jesus was raised from the dead, it was not on account of his followers that the early church was formed – after all, they were afraid, confused, and ran away (see Luke 24). Instead, all the New Testament writers agree that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the early church is formed and through which the same scared and confused apostles are empowered and emboldened to proclaim the Gospel. Today, the Church is still not about what we or anyone else can do to be successful. Instead, we are empowered and emboldened by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel for our day. The ELCA epitomizes this with the motto, “God’s work, Our hands.”
Pentecost
The word “Pentecost” literally means “fifty.” Occurring fifty days after Passover, this was a Jewish festival that celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses and marked an annual renewal of God’s covenant with the chosen people (Exodus 19-23). As the culture changed from a primarily agricultural one, this festival emerged out of an earlier Jewish festival called the Feast of Weeks, occurring at this same time, that celebrated the grain harvest (Deuteronomy 16:9-16). Faithful Jews from around the known world would come to Jerusalem for this celebration, thus accounting for the many languages mentioned in Acts.
What significance (if any) could be drawn from the Jewish & Christian celebrations of this day?
In what ways do we confess God to be present (made manifest) in our world?
The Holy Spirit
It is impossible to accurately describe an encounter with the Holy Spirit. It’s like trying to describe faith or love. Different New Testament writers portray the coming of the Holy Spirit differently (see John 20:22); however, for all it is a powerful and ineffable experience.
The Holy Spirit is often associated with breath/wind and fire. (See Exodus 3:2, 14:20, 24; 19:16-25; Leviticus 6:13; 1 Kings 19:11-12; Psalm 104:1, 3-4; 105:37, 39). God is manifested in fire to Moses on Mount Sinai, the pillar of fire in the wilderness, and in theophanies experienced by Elijah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and in the book of Revelation. God is manifested in a cloud speaking to Jesus at his baptism and resting over the temple in Jerusalem. However, the manifestations of God – God’s works of power – by themselves do not inspire belief (see Acts 2:12-13; Luke 24:4, 37). It’s always possible to explain away God’s actions, or even ascribe them to demons or false gods instead. This is where the Church comes in, and why we need, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to witness (see Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:14ff).
How do we (ourselves, our culture, our world) try to explain away God?
How does God come to and act for us anyway?
What can we say – what Scriptures can we use – to interpret the acts of God in our lives/world?
The Holy Church
Jesus and his disciples were Jews – and a particular sect of Jews at that, from a particular time and place. The people gathered together on Pentecost were also Jews, but from other sects and other nations. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel is thus expanded to include a diversity of people. Set at the opening of Acts, this story marks the beginning of the truly universal nature of the Church (Galatians 3:28). Connections can even be drawn between the lists of nations in Acts 2:9-11 and Genesis 10:1-32, representing the symbolic reversal of the Tower of Babel. However, this doesn’t happen all at once. The early church grew into its identity (see conflicts between Peter and Paul), and we are still growing into our identity as the one holy catholic (“universal”) church.
What does it mean to “reverse” the Tower of Babel?
What does it mean to confess belief in one holy catholic and apostolic church?
On what is this one church founded? What’s the point? (See Acts 2:11)
How are we and can we, as a church, grow into this identity? Where is God in that?
How does Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:14-36) differ from most sermons we hear today? How is it similar? What can we learn from Peter about how and what to witness?
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