Led by the Spirit - Children of God

Acts 16:16-34   John 17:20-26

In Miss Manner’s “Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior,” yes – that book really exists - much is made of thank-you notes, especially thank you notes for wedding presents. One of her sample letters reads as follows:

Dear Aunt Patience:

Rhino and I are thrilled with the magnificent silver sugar shaker you sent us. It adds not only beauty and dignity to our table, but amusement, too, as some of our friends who are both ignorant and daring have not waited for the berries to be served, but have shaken it over their meat. “This could only have come from your Aunt Patience,” said one, and we were proud to say that it had.

Rhino joins me in thanking you for your kindness. We look forward to having you in our new home.

Love,

Daffodil

Most of us have received gifts that we weren’t quite sure how to use. We smile politely, say, “thank you very much,” but think to ourselves, “what on earth am I supposed to do with this?” With any luck, the giver will notice a look of perplexity on our faces, and give us some clue as to the intended purpose of the item. But, just as often, we are left to figure it out for ourselves. Sometimes we get it right, sometime we don’t, and there are times that we just never find out how this beautiful but strange gift is supposed to be used.

It probably wasn’t too different for Jesus’ disciples in this morning’s first reading. We join them as they are all gathered together in one place. Why are they all together like this?  Our first thought might be, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, but then we remember that they have seen the risen Lord, and their fears have been banished.  Maybe they are waiting for Jesus to appear again in their midst?  No!  They saw Him ascend to his father just ten days earlier.  Were they preparing to preach the Gospel?  Not yet!  Their ministries have not begun. 

They are actually gathered together to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which occurs 49 days after Passover, on the fiftieth day if you include the day of Passover itself.  This is the Jewish Pentecost, which means fiftieth day.  For the Jewish people it commemorates the day on which they received the Ten Commandments, the day when God swore eternal devotion to them and they pledged everlasting loyalty to God.  This year, 2025, that special, very holy, two-day celebration was last weekend. The disciples have gathered to share this holy day,

Shavuot involves, among other things, gathering with family and friends, rejoicing in the sharing of festive meals, and decorating the home with flowers and greenery, but on the Shavuot in our reading today, things do not go as planned.  In the middle of all the celebration, 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… 

The gift of the Holy Spirit!  Jesus had promised them He would send the Advocate, the Paraclete – but the descent of the Holy Spirit, the flames of fire on their heads – these are not things they could have anticipated.  And then, they begin speaking in other languages, what we call “speaking in tongues”. Difficult to know just what they were thinking or feeling, but unsettled would probably be an understatement .

To add to their shock and confusion, they were where they could be heard by passersby. We don’t know how frantic they might have appeared, but observers seem to have thought they were intoxicated-drunk.  Peter had to shout out for all to hear, that the men were not drunk, but that prophesy was being fulfilled. To explain this, he quotes from 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.

Listening to this story, we realize that the disciples probably had no immediate understanding of what the gift they had received meant for them and their lives. They had the Holy Spirit, and now they had to listen and learn in order to know how to use this gift to do what Jesus had told them, commanded them to do.

We, too, have received the Holy Spirit, it was a gift to us at our baptism, when we were received into the household of God. There was no rush of wind or flames of fire, and yet, fire it was that became a part of our being our souls.  Paul tells us, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.”  We are adopted, and we’ve been given the sugar shaker of our faith.  Now that we have it, how are we meant to use it?  What is it for?

Quite simply, the Holy Spirit is a gift that is meant to set us ablaze with the love of God and fill us with the desire to share this fire with others.  Unlike the sugar shaker, which has a mysterious but static use, the Holy Spirit is alive, part of who we are. The good news is that it is a gift that, if we allow it, will explain itself to us.

Jesus tells us, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. What we are called to do is be open, through prayer and meditation, to the direction and guidance of the Spirit. Whatever choices we have, or plans we make, they are meant to be guided by the Spirit that dwells within us. 

Pentecost is the Church’s birthday – the day when the disciples were empowered to begin their ministries of love, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ through their known world. And here we are today, in this time and century, carrying the same birthday gift, and with the same responsibility – to spread Jesus’ love to all we meet.  Let us not, as we might with a sugar shaker, put our gift aside on a shelf somewhere within us.  Instead, let us encourage it to spring forth, and guide our lives in the way of truth and peace.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ – before You ascended into Heaven, You promised to send the Holy Spirit, to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples.  Let this same Holy Spirit within us perfect in our souls to do the work of Your grace and Your love.  We ask for Your love and mercy’s sake.  Amen