Acts 2:1-13, 1Corinthians 12:4-13, John 7:37-39
Today we have a “mash-up” of two important events in the spiritual life of United Methodists. The first is the celebration of Pentecost – which is considered the birthday of the Christian Church. The second is a transformative, Holy Spirit-enabled event in the life of John Wesley that happened on this day in 1738. In both cases, the Holy Spirit was at work in a very visible manner bringing to life the gifts that God had given.
The Holy Spirit came roaring into the place in Jerusalem where the apostles were praying, alighted as fire dancing on their heads and enabling them to speak intelligibly to disparate people. In the case of John Wesley, it came quietly, but John’s reaction to having his “heart strangely warmed” (as described in Heitzenrater’s book “Wesely and the People Called Methodists”) was that “…Wesley celebrated the exuberance of the moment with an immediate testimony to those present; later that night the celebration continued in Charles’s rooms with the singing of a hymn, probably ‘Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?’ Faith as trust and confidence was no longer just a propositional truth but rather an experiential reality….”
Both those first apostles and the Wesley brothers (Charles’ Holy Spirit experience was 3 days before John’s) went from an intellectual knowledge of the Holy Spirit to one that was lived. The indwelling Holy Spirit then enabled these evangelists to go forth and to spread the good news of Jesus the Christ. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost enabled the apostles to speak and be understood in a variety of languages, causing crowd reactions from “those guys are drunk” to “those guys are amazing”! For the Wesleys, the Holy Spirit enabled them to create a new model of working for the common good that ultimately became a new Christian doctrine.
Our scripture readings for today highlight the truth that the Holy Spirit’s power brings to life God’s gifts. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles. He was teaching in the temple, and the Pharisees sent the temple guards to arrest him because some in the crowd believed he was the Messiah. Jesus tells the crowd that whoever believes in him will have “rivers of living water” flow from within them – meaning the Spirit of God will flow from them into the world bringing abundant life.
The Apostle Paul in his letter to the believers in Corinth turns to informing them about how the Holy Spirit enables believers to work together for the common good. Paul teaches them that “…there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work….” He goes on to note that “…we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink….”
The reading from Acts of the Apostles is the traditional one for Pentecost. The promised Paraclete roars into town bringing to life the gift of speaking in tongues. This Holy Spirit enabled interpretation brought the good news of Jesus the Christ to people from all over the Jewish diaspora who had gathered in Jerusalem for the festival. The people who heard and understood were “amazed and perplexed” and wondered to each other “what does this mean?”. Some thought that the disciples were drunk, but Peter, speaking through the Holy Spirit, helped them all understand that what was happening had been foretold by the prophet Joel.
How are these scriptural descriptions of the actions of the Holy Spirit and the experience of the Wesley brothers helpful for our spiritual journeys? Let’s unpack the Wesleys’ experiences. John had struggled with understanding his faith or more pointedly his perceived lack of faith. He had returned from his trip to the Georgia Colony a broken and humbled man. He doubted whether he had any faith at all. Fortuitously, he connected with an English Moravian leader, Peter Bӧhler, who helped him understand that Wesley wasn’t weak in his faith, he just didn’t fully believe in the saving grace of God. Wesley lacked the assurance of faith that his sins had been forgiven and that God had set him free. John struggled for about four months with this new teaching and continued to wonder if he and Charles would ever find the assurance of faith. Charles’ Holy Spirit moment came on May 21, 1738, which happened to be the day of Pentecost. He was sick in bed and suddenly had heart palpitations and exclaimed, “I believe, I believe”! John’s experience followed three days later – also with a change of heart.
The assurance of the forgiveness of their sins through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit allowed the Wesley brothers to go on to build what became more than just a renewal movement in the Church of England. Likewise, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit enabled the first apostles of the Christ to go out and share the good news to all and to build up the body of Christ. Those first apostles, the Wesley brothers, and countless other faith-filled people across the last two millennia have followed the energy of the Holy Spirit to bring their faith to life. In so doing, they have used their God-given gifts to improve the common good in ways large and small. This begs the question…how can each of us realize the presence of Holy Spirit-enabled power which brings to life our gifts to make life better for those around us?
Howard Thurman, a great theologian of the 20th Century, offers us a possible answer to that important question. Rev. Thurman spoke about how to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life and how it enables you to bring to life what God intends. He said, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive. Whatever may be the occasion there comes a deep necessity which leads you finally into the closet with yourself. It is here that you raise the real questions about yourself. The leading one is, What is it, after all, that I amount to, ultimately? Such a question cuts through all that is superficial and trivial in life to the very nerve center of yourself. And this is a religious question because it deals with the total meaning of life at its heart…
The most crucial clue to a knowledge of [God] is to be found in the most honest and most total knowledge of the self…There are two questions that we have to ask ourselves. The first is 'Where am I going?' and the second is 'Who will go with me?' There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls…."
The history of the Christian movement is one that has always sought to answer the questions that Howard Thurman posed…“Where am I/are we going?” and “Who will go with me/us?” The Holy Spirit enables us to get in touch with the “sound of the genuine” in us and is there as a guide for us to discover what it is that makes us come alive to the needs of our neighbors. The essence of Methodism flows from this same lived experience of the Holy Spirit’s power. Richard Heitzenrater says this about Wesleyanism, “…Wesleyan theology, while rooted in Scripture, emerged from Wesley’s experience; it attempts to ‘explain life in the presence of God’. To feel the effects of God’s presence is to experience the transforming power of God in one’s life: enlightening, judging, pardoning, liberating, strengthening, empowering, re-creating, comforting, perfecting, glorifying….”
The apostles’ experience of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost after Jesus’ Ascension was a transformative lived experience. The Holy Spirit experience of the Wesley brothers during the season of Pentecost in 1738 was a transformative lived experience. Howard Thurman teaches that we must all find that “which makes us come alive and then do that” – and scripture teaches us to be engaged in those Spirit enabled activities that work for the common good. Each of us is uniquely gifted by God to work for the common good in connection with the greater body of Christ. The Holy Spirit brings those gifts to life so that we can work with God in our world. Living lives that are Holy Spirit-enabled is how we continue to live into the world as Easter people and as the people called United Methodists. People who are assured that they are loved by God and thus freed to love others in the same way. Amen!