If you were to go and ask an artist about a great work- how they came about their creation- often we are looking for how they got that idea. We want to know what helped them to form their vision to create such a work- and sometimes, such a masterpiece. Or even for a musician- what has given them that idea for that piece of music, or the way they played it. Maybe an engineer and the building that they’ve created. What was their secret?
Perhaps, in their response, they would say that they “felt inspired.”
We use the word “inspire” all the time, but do we really think about the root of what it means to be inspired? We have several different definitions of what it could mean, but perhaps this, above all else, should matter: to be motivated. To be filled with fire. To be lead onwards. Whatever author, musician, designer, or even engineer is filled with inspiration- they are given something that is priceless and beyond value- they have been given the ability to continue to move and to be challenged to go forwards!
Today is the celebration of Pentecost- the day, fifty days after Easter, where the disciples are all filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a moment that is a great occasion to them, but what does it really mean? Why is this moment so important to us in our celebration today? What happens for us?
Last weekend, we celebrated the transferred Ascension of the Lord. Jesus, after having died upon the Cross, and rising again, has come to the time where it is now appropriate for Him to join His heavenly Father in His Kingdom. He ascends from sight and goes up to sit at the right hand of God. As that happens, as I mentioned last week, we can only imagine how much the disciples were disappointed, and how they began to feel weak, because the Lord has left their midst. They know that Jesus’s enemies are still out there. They know that they have a tremendous amount of work left to do. However, we know that they become beset by weakness very quickly!
For the readings, it makes the most sense to begin with the Gospel, because it gives us that first-hand account of what occurred that day. We are introduced to the cohort of disciples, who have, by all appearances, lost their stamina, and lost their fire, because Jesus is no longer with them. They are upset, and in a locked room, cowering in fear. Behold- a moment where everything changes. Jesus fulfills his promise to them in reminding them that He would come and send the Advocate- but notice what He does at the very beginning of this encounter. He tells them “Peace be with you.” Jesus sees the pain that the disciples are going through right at that moment- and He wants to speak into their reality! He doesn’t criticize them for weakness, and He doesn’t chastise them. He simply says “Peace be with you.” This is a very deliberate move on Jesus’s part, because it shows that He is about to do something remarkable to make that peace more permanent!
Further, Jesus shows them His hands and His side- to remind them that He is indeed present. We know that the disciples rejoice when they see these proofs- they are ecstatic to see the Lord in their midst! Jesus continues that same work, though, and reminds them that “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then comes a powerful moment: Jesus breathes on the disciples and says these powerful words: Receive the Holy Spirit. Notice a very interesting use of the word choice here: Jesus breathed on them. He didn’t just sit somewhere else, and send the Spirit as some sort of lightning bold. He didn’t sort of fill them silently. He breathes on them. He INSPIRES them. Jesus wants them to be truly filled. Notice a connection as well- that “breath” that Jesus uses- it may sound familiar, because we have heard about this same breath in the account of creation- when God breathes life into Adam.
If we move back to the first reading, continuing one more Sunday from the Acts of the Apostles, we are given a slightly varied point of view on the moment Pentecost happened. When Jesus sends the Spirit, it makes a sound of rushing wind- like breath. Further, it manifests itself in being tongues of fire that are sitting on top of each of the heads of the disciples. Yet, that isn’t necessarily what the Acts of the Apostles is focused on. Rather, what Luke seems to be getting after here is the effect that the Spirit has on each of the disciples. They are indeed motivated, and they go out and speak to those they find. It isn’t enough to say just that, though, because there is more to the story. They are able to speak in tongues that they could not before. It isn’t just a gift of courage to go and preach the Gospel- but they are able to do it in new ways. The Spirit begins to inspire them to take the word of God to every land and place- and equips them to do so!
The final reading we have for this Sunday is from Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Paul here is speaking about the Holy Spirit in a very focused way, but it isn’t just a generic treatise on the holy Spirit- but is rather telling of the effects. We are told that there are “varieties of gifts but the same Spirit.” There are “varieties of services, but the same Lord.” “There are varieties of activities, but the same God who activates them in everyone.” What does all of this go to show? The Spirit, as much as it influences change, and may manifest itself in so many different ways in each of the members of the Church, it is still the same God. This does show us, however, how important and vital that the Spirit is! There is a tremendous wealth of talent given to God’s Church, but it is all the Spirit who actualizes and makes all of these tremendous things happen!
As we celebrate this moment, and the conclusion of the Easter Season, though, I want to ask one question: are you INSPIRED?
Are you motivated? Do you feel the Spirit present in your life? Do we have that same motivation that the disciples had on that first day- and that birth day of the Church? When the Spirit came to them, all of a sudden their lives were changed! Notice- they had all sorts of teaching, all sorts of facts about their faith, perhaps a great deal of theology, but something was missing- the divine spark of the Holy Spirit! The fact is that we are all able to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit, but we are not necessarily going to be forced to utilize it!
Often times in our day and age, brothers and sisters, it is so easy to lose the spark of faith. To lose that fire that makes faith so easy to live out. All sorts of things happen in our lives. Disappointments. Failures. Suffering. Moments where we see injustice play out, and it makes our hearts heavy, and we can even be filled with fear. Yet, Jesus wants to be there in the midst of all of this. In moments of fear. In moments of anxiety. In moments where we suffer and struggle- Jesus wants us to have the audacity to call upon His Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes to us to remind us of where we are to go- it wants to fill us with that sacred fire of faith- especially in the moments where we feel burnt out or tired!
Further, the Holy Spirit continues to be in our midst today- as much as it has ever been in our midst before. It continues to flow through each of us as members- and fills us with the gifts that we need to live out our individual vocations well. It wants to give us divine help to succeed in this life- so as to eternally succeed in the kingdom of Heaven. It wants to remove fear and give us courage. Yet, it also wants to send us out on mission- because we know so many people- each and every one of us- who need that healing touch of God and need the fire of faith within!
That is the challenge for this Pentecost brothers and sisters. We need to receive the Holy Spirit now and every day. We need that presence of Jesus that fills us with courage, with fortitude and Spiritual gifts. We need that Spirit now and every day that motivates us to mission- and gives us the ability to minister to one another!
Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth!
May we truly receive the Holy Spirit, and may the Spirit come to each of us in a new and powerful way and fill us with the inspiration to be courageous disciples.
