Holy Spirit : Tweetables for the season of Pentecost
We continue with thoughts on Pentecost. To access the previous note, click here.
ONE
It was the moment the disciples were eagerly waiting. The Gospel according to Luke ends by describing the moments before Jesus ascension into heaven, where he promises to send them what the Father had promised. In addition, he asks them to stay in the city until they were clothed with power from on high. You can tweet:
“The Holy Spirit is power from on high.”
The beginning of Acts recalls the last days of Jesus before his ascension. What the Father promised, as mentioned in Luke 24, is referred to as a gift from the Father. Tweet that too :
“The Holy Spirit is a divine gift.”
They were to patiently wait in Jerusalem till they received this gift and their reception would be described in Jesus’ words as “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
That is why during the baptism, the sacrament of anointing takes place. The child is anointed (or smeared) with a Mooron, holy oil. A concocted oil of various spices and scents, which is blessed by the Church and passed on to the parishes - this Mooron is applied as a symbol of the child receiving the Holy Spirit. The act of smearing this oil by the celebrant (priest) on the forehead, chest, hands and feet of the infant, symbolises that the child is sealed by the holy seal of God. It is, then, a permanent marker of God’s intimacy with the child - in and on the body of the child. One might recall one among the three blessings in the last part of the Holy Qurbana service - “You both near and far, who are saved by the victorious cross of our Lord and sealed by the seal of holy baptism, this holy trinity will forgive your sins and comfort your souls.”
Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Well, if you’re in the Syrian church tradition, you know for sure, that your baptism included the reception of the Holy Spirit in faith. Of course, just as with everything with the Holy spirit, you cannot invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit by your own will. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit," says John’s Gospel (3:8). The Lord granted the Holy Spirit out of His grace, even when you were powerless to make a decision. It symbolises the initiative of God, the first mover, rather than an intellectual acceptance, which comes much later.
TWO
Coming back to the disciples in Jerusalem, we see Jesus explaining what would happen when one receives the Holy Spirit:. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) Affirming the power factor again, Jesus shares another outcome of receiving this divine gift:
“The Holy Spirit makes one a witness of Jesus Christ”
- of everything he did, said and told. Another tweetable for the day of Pentecost!
This is testimony to the dynamism of the Spirit of God. It animates one’s life. The receiver becomes a witness where she is at present (“Jerusalem”), continues to witness in the nearby areas, perhaps familiar, yet slightly away from one’s present comfort zone (“in all Judea”), and beyond your comfort zone (“Samaria” - Jews hated Samaritans and vice versa) and then into the world of the unknown - the world of possibility, chaos, danger and reward, all at the same time (“and to the ends of the earth”). So one could tweet : “The Holy Spirit challenges us to witness Christ beyond our comfort zone, towards the realm of the unknown.”
This dynamic personality characteristic of God, embedded in the holy trinity calls us into a life of excitement and, naturally, some anxiety. Yet, as they say, “ A ship is safe in the harbour. But that’s not what ships are built for.” The once apparently simpleton disciples went on to transform the world. And we could say a big thank you to God who led St. Thomas to India by the power of this Holy Spirit, which he received in Jerusalem. It led him to witness here in India and two thousand years later, we are simply unable to gauge the impact of that one man who came all the way empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness Christ. Let me share another tweetable:
“The Holy Spirit empowers you to impact.”
Going by the Apostle of India, that is some impact! Yet note that the witness begins at Jerusalem, the very place where the disciples were. Witness begins where I am situated, in the here and now.
THREE
The day of Pentecost was a traditional Jewish festival that celebrated the Spring Harvest. It was one of the three agricultural festivals on the Jewish calendar and also required every Jewish male to present themselves before the Lord at the Jerusalem temple. This explains the presence of Jews from various nations, ethnicities and linguistic backgrounds being present in Jerusalem at that time when the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. Talk about timing! Yet it wasn’t just happenstance - Jesus had foretold this. It was the appointed time, decided by God.
Lo and behold! As the disciples sat in the room, accompanied by other women disciples including the mother and brothers of Jesus, they heard what sounded like a loud wind and saw tongues of fire appearing on their heads. They received the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues - other languages - such that the people who gathered in Jerusalem from various nations could understand what they were saying. Note that what they said was comprehended by those who came there as they heard their words in their own native tongue declaring the wonders of God (Acts 2:11). Surely, the next tweetable would be:
“The Holy Spirit enables us to communicate beyond the limitation of words and language”.
The Spirit of God is a communicating Spirit. It’s so good at communicating that even our groanings are comprehended by God because the Holy Spirit conveys them in words that cannot be expressed, as Paul testifies in Romans 8:26-27:
”We do not know what we ought to pray for but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Then, that means “The Holy Spirit is the intimate connection between human and the divine,” all the more because he operates at a heart-level. That’s as intimate as we can be.
In a time of verbal diarrhea via media and the requirement of it in daily lives, the Holy Spirit teaches us that communication between God and us, and also amongst ourselves and one another, can do with fewer words and more Holy Spirit. You have already received that gift. All you need to do is activate, mindfully, prayerfully. And then, watch the difference in your life.
We as the church are inspired by the Holy Spirit to communicate God’s love through this pandemic going beyond our words, and reaching out beyond our comfort zones. Pentecost in this pandemic will then make christianity all the more relevant.
I wish you a blessed season of Pentecost.
Access the presentation to this text here : https://spark.adobe.com/page/oZ1a96XMOsKXj/
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(This note was prepared for Pentecost Sunday, May 2020)
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