Pentecost… Plus One

MON., MAY 24, 1999, 1:07 PM
FARM, DECK

Yes, o son, you did miss having that Teaching that We promised each other – after the morning worship service, celebrating Pentecost. Like most spiritual happenings there are several ways to perceive Pentecost. In a time frame it is a remembrance of My coming to Peter and the other disciples, as Holy Spirit, after My crucifixion, as Jesus. With My help they were proclaiming, in the Spirit, that Jesus was truly Lord… and My death was certainly a Both/And. I died… and I was soon back again, in My Body, nail holes and all.

There was a reason to celebrate My life and to mystically declare that this Church that was soon to begin forming was, ultimately, My Body on earth that would remain. So the Sunday of Pentecost can be called The Birthday of the Church. Much has happened with that Body over these years, but this was, symbolically, its Beginning.

I, of course, like the perception that I, Holy Spirit, was now free to become an equal “part” of the Trinity. This Lord which those disciples were remembering and honoring was now God, Christ, and Holy Spirit… or Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Among Christians who are not comfortably charismatic or “spirit-filled,” like many of your Presbyterian brethren, I am conceded to be in the Triune God, but there is an uneasiness about trying to describe Me.

As I have told you before, I am described as a dove and as wind and fire. This is Triune in itself, but certainly a weird trio, in the rational sense. The prophets and the Old Testament story presented a picture of Me, as God, as both knowable and majestically unknowable. I did relate directly with several of these servants, verbally and through acts. The Garden story has Me walking as a friend with Adam, but, finally, not as “influential” as Eve was. (Or was this just the way I wanted it to turn out?!)

Then I came as Jesus, a Jewish baby Who grew into a Jewish man, sharing many insights on life, speaking as a human. Yet also able to perform “miracles”… water into wine… enough lunch for 5,000 hungry folk, raising Lazarus from the dead… My Body died on the cross… but then… I was back, in the same body.

But as Holy Spirit… I am not described as human, but many do experience Me as human-like, as you do. Wind and fire don’t talk. Doves just coo. I am real, in some human-like ways. I have a sense of fun and humor. I am beyond all of your technological means of communicating, with no limits as to how many (of you), how long, in what language. (You hear Me in “your English,” but I certainly am not limited to this.

Yesterday I observed an interesting juxtaposition of events as part of the Pentecost celebration. There were junior high kids joining the Church, on profession of faith, symbolizing the continuation of this Body, not limited to old servants such as yourself. Then there was the recognition and honoring of teachers in the Church School (including you as an Adult Forum leader), symbolizing the commitment to reteach and relearn the Christian story. Holy Communion followed, with red as the predominant color. This, of course, is the symbol of My resurrection from the dead, as Jesus. It is the collective remembrance and celebration of the many acts of God, in any of My Forms.

The Scripture passage told of the disciples speaking in the tongues of many (if not all) of those who listened. But there was no actual speaking in tongues in your service. Why not learn the phrases you murmur as you pass the elements – the Body of Christ, broken for you”… the Bread of Life… the blood of Christ, shed for you… – in some other languages, so when you do this again… (and you will) you will be recreating the “Pentecost spirit”? Be aware, of course, that some of the Presbys present will consider it odd.