pentecost year C

Acts 2: 1-21 NRSV text
Genesis 11: 1-9 NRSV text
Psalm 104: 24-35 NRSV text
Romans 8: 14-17 NRSV text
John 14: 8-17 NRSV text

Pentecost – the Spirit, the ongoing presence of Christ, Sinai, the reversal of Babel, the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise, adoption as children of God, the renewal of creation, the birth of the Church, the power of God for mission … the texts today are full of vital themes which span some of the great moments of the biblical story of salvation. Something incredibly important is happening – something which is, in a sense, the culmination of all that God has been doing until now. It’s made possible by Jesus – specifically, by his death and resurrection. It’s the dawn of a new day for all of creation – a re-creation. It’s the beginning of the End (and “End” here must be understood in terms of telos – the appointed goal of God’s purposes for all of reality).

Jesus and the Spirit in John’s gospel
John’s portrayal of the relationship between Jesus and the Spirit is more distinctive than first appears. We’re used to the Synoptic account of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan: he is baptised, the heavens open and the Spirit descends.

What is interesting is that John does not record the story of Jesus’ baptism (cf 1: 29-34). He does this because he doesn’t want Jesus’ first appearance in the gospel to be in the river, being baptised by John. Rather, he has Jesus walking by the Jordan (on John’s patch) and has John immediately point to Jesus and say, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. This is John’s role as a messenger: he is to point to Jesus. John is careful to distance Jesus from the Baptist in order to emphasise the fact that Jesus is far more important than John. John has authority – but it is the authority of a witness to Jesus, rather than a player on the stage.

And so Jesus’ baptism itself is recorded obliquely. John announces Jesus as the Lamb of God, and then responds to an apparent question from his listeners: “How do you know this?” His answer is that he baptised Jesus – but note that he nowhere says so explicitly! He doesn’t say, “The other day, I was baptising here, and this bloke pitched up. When I baptised him, I saw the Spirit descending on him”. That is what we are meant to understand, of course, but John carefully reduces the active role of the Baptist until he is only a voice that testifies – a messenger. John showcases the message by reducing the presence of the messenger and distancing him from Jesus. John literally only “points and tells”.

But note his message: it is about Jesus and the Spirit! The Spirit “descends and remains upon him”. He is “the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. He is “The Son of God”. What is the role of the Spirit in John’s gospel? In the Synoptic Gospels, the Spirit is the means by which Jesus is empowered for his mission. It is the source of his authority. This has led James Dunn, for example, to build his Christology on Jesus as Son of God because he is supremely possessed by the Spirit. In other words, on this argument, Jesus is made Son (in some sense) by the Spirit. John reverses the emphasis: Jesus has the Spirit because he is the Son of God. The Spirit does not confer authority on Jesus, but is his possession by virtue of Jesus’ own authority as the Son of God – the Word made flesh.

This may sound a subtle point, but it’s important. What John wants to affirm about Jesus is that Jesus is nothing less than the presence of God on earth. That presence is hidden – necessarily because Jesus is not nakedly the pre-existent Divine Word, but the Word made flesh. In other words, our first encounter with the God who is among us in Jesus is with a man. Yet the miracle of grace is that we begin to see and understand the Truth that is not immediately visible to the naked eye: Jesus is the incarnate presence of God. This is what John means when he goes on about Jesus’ “glory”. The Sign miracles point towards these truths: Jesus is one with the Father.

The presence of the Spirit, therefore, is the guarantee of the unity between Jesus and the Father. If the Spirit is the presence of God, then the fact that the Spirit descends and remains upon Jesus means that Jesus is far more than a prophet, or any other human being whom the Spirit has anointed. The Spirit is a sign, saying “God’s here, folks! This is God!”

The Spirit – the ongoing presence of Christ (John 14: 8-27)
It is when we understand John’s passionate insistence that Jesus is the actual presence of God among us, loving us, and saving us in grace, that today’s passage makes sense as a whole. Jesus is united with God; his mission is to unite creation with God, and the community of disciples – those already united to God through him – are to continue his mission.

Have in mind John’s “divine geography”. There is heaven (“above”), which is the dwelling place of the Father and the place of Jesus’ origin. There is the earth (“below”). The geographical distance is a symbol of the rupture that needs closing. Jesus (as he repeatedly states in John’s gospel) is “from above” but has “descended”. The gap is being closed – by God. The traffic is from heaven down to earth, rather than the other way around. That’s important, as I’ve said repeatedly before: John’s gospel is about the Word creating the world, and the missionary journey of the Word into the world in order to save it – and “it” means creation (the kosmos) rather than just the human beings in it. Remember that the geographical symbolic gap between heaven and earth is resolved for John twice: the first time in the Incarnation, and ultimately in heaven coming down to earth, with God pitching tent among us and “being our God” (Revelation 21: 2-3). For all John’s heavenly emphasis, it is a this-world salvation that he has firmly in mind. Heaven is the location of Jesus’ origin – and the wellspring of the saving initiative by God. The destination is earth.

How does this relate to the Spirit? The point is that, because of Jesus, the world is never again going to be a place of God’s absence. There is a process of God’s “tabernacling” (to use John’s phrase in Revelation 21) that began with Jesus and will ultimately come about when the Kingdom is a reality on earth. In the meantime, God will be present through the believing community via the Spirit. The Spirit is God’s enduring, saving presence with them – just as Jesus had been!

That is why Jesus tells his disciples that he will not leave them orphaned, but send them “another Advocate” (the Spirit). This whole passage (and not just verses 15ff) refer to the worries of the disciples: they have been connected to God through Jesus, and Jesus is now saying that he is going away. It’s not a happy prospect! Jesus has told them time and time again that they are his, and belong, like he does, to the Father. It’s been relatively easy to understand that as a reality while Jesus has been there with them. They have felt “connected” to God, even though they haven’t seen God. Now they are expected to hang on to that unseen reality without Jesus to mediate it – and things feel decidedly shaky! Jesus’ promise is that the Spirit will be with them, and that they will experience God with them in much the same way as they have through him.

The Church – the ongoing presence of Christ in the world
That experience of God’s presence isn’t only an internal feeling. It issues in concrete acts. Just as Jesus demonstrates his unity with the Father through the doing of God’s will, so the disciples will do the same. The result is twofold: firstly, doing the Father’s is to experience concretely union with God and with Christ. Jesus talks in terms of himself and God “making their home with them” (v23). That’s a very powerful image of indwelling and constant presence. It speaks, too, of the deepest sense of belonging.

Secondly, the doing of the Father’s will is a constant witness and testimony to God. Jesus tells Philip that, even if it’s difficult to believe that Jesus is one with the Father, it is far less complicated and unambiguous to “believe because of the works themselves” (v11).

John doesn’t draw any distinction between Jesus’ mission on behalf of the Father and Jesus’ presence. God’s presence is saving, because God is a saving God! Jesus’ presence is saving, because he is present as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God’s “glory” is that God loves the world and is saving the world, and the “signs” – the miracles and actions of Jesus in John’s gospel – are the concrete saving acts of this God. And here, on the night before he dies, Jesus hands on that mantle to the disciples and promises them the Holy Spirit.

The coming of the Spirit (Acts 2: 1-21)
Luke’s story of Pentecost is laden with theological symbol. The most obvious point is that this is the fulfilment of John the Baptist’s proclamation: “The one who comes after me will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!” (Luke 1: 16b). Yet here is Luke’s characteristic emphasis on grace: in the preaching of the Baptist, the promise of the Spirit was a threat. “Fire” referred to the “unquenchable fire” of judgment in which the chaff would be burned. The Spirit was indeed God’s presence – but John expected God to be present in Jesus in wrath and judgement.

Here, in Acts 2, the Spirit comes in the form of fire. There is wind (a sign of the Spirit) and fire – but this fire rests on their heads. It doesn’t burn, or hurt, or destroy. Its purpose is different. The disciples become apostles – fired with courage and enthusiasm. It occasions the first sermon from Peter – the proclamation of God’s salvation in Jesus.

Secondly, we are to understand the coming of the Spirit as a fulfilment of all that God has done in the history of Israel. Peter tells his listeners that this is a fulfilment of the prophet Joel; that they are in the “last days”. Although the images of judgment are there – blood, fire and smoky mist; the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood – these are signs not to condemn, but to encourage people to call on the name of the Lord. And the promise is that all who do so will be saved (v21).

This is, significantly, a proclamation to “all Israel”. Representatives of all of Israel were gathered in Jerusalem for the feast, from all corners of the globe. And each hears themselves addressed by God directly, in their own language.

The only comparable time that “all Israel” was gathered to hear the proclamation of God in this way was at Sinai, when the Hebrew slaves became Israel, the People of Yahweh. There is a legend that when the Law was given at Sinai, a flame came down from heaven and divided into 70, one for each nation of the world. Only Israel, according to legend, promised to keep God’s Law.

Here Luke, via Peter’s sermon, cuts across any sense of self-satisfaction on the part of Israel. They are supposed to be God’s people, and yet they have crucified God’s Messiah, Jesus. The reception and fate of Jesus at the hands of the Jews becomes the touchstone of Law-keeping – of covenant fidelity – and Israel has failed miserably. Yet God has not abandoned Israel, nor has God responded in anger and condemnation. Instead, God has raised Jesus from the dead and “made him both Lord and Christ” … in order to save all Israel.

Thirdly, we cannot miss the reference to the Babel story (Genesis 11: 1-9) which Luke invokes. This is the reversal of Babel. In the Genesis story, God confuses the languages in order to split the human race and prevent their hubris from running totally amok. The human race is divided by language.

Here, at Pentecost, that is reversed, in that everyone hears the apostles in their native languages. Present at Pentecost, therefore, is the theme which Luke will develop: the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter, who preaches to “all Israel”, will soon have to understand that God’s purposes and view are far less parochial than Peter expects. This is not just for the salvation of Israel, but for the whole world! It is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham that, through him and his offspring (Israel), all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Instead of the eschatological pilgrimage of the Gentiles to Jerusalem (the Old Testament picture of universal salvation), God is a missionary God, and the message of salvation will spread out from Jerusalem “to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth”.

Salvation for the whole of creation (Romans 8: 14-17)
Not only is God’s salvation in Jesus for the whole human race, it is also for the whole of creation. This is Paul’s theme in today’s passage from Romans 8, and importantly, he links this to the Spirit.

Paul is in conversation with the creation story and the story of the Fall in Genesis 1-3. The Spirit is present in creation, brooding over the waters or primordial chaos and bringing order and life. It is the Spirit that is breathed into the clay human figure to bring Adam to life. Part of what it means for human beings to be in the image of God is to have the Life of God in them. Sin, however, ruptures the order and goodness of creation. In the story of the Fall, part of the curse is that human beings are estranged from the natural order: from animals (through the curse of the serpent) and from nature itself (seen in the curse to bring food from the ground “by the sweat of the brow”). Sin brings death. It doesn’t only affect the relationship between human beings and between human beings and God, but affects the whole of creation. There is no death before the Fall. The original creation is portrayed as herbivorous. The food chain – killing of one animal by another – comes about in the story as a result of sin.

Here in Romans 8, Paul meditates upon this story. Sin is seen in disobedience; the presence of the Spirit in Christian believers brings about obedience. To be “led by the Spirit of God” is to be obedient as a child is obedient to its parent; thus “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (v14).

One role of the Spirit is to make us children of God by adoption. We receive the same Spirit as Jesus did; like Jesus, we cry, “Abba! Father!” (v15). The Spirit relates us both to God and to Jesus; we, like him, become heirs to the Kingdom (v17)

Paul goes on beyond the Lectionary reading immediately to link this with the restoration of the whole of creation. Just as human disobedience brought cosmic disorder, so human salvation will bring about the restoration of that first cosmic order (vv 19-24). Paul sees creation as being enslaved to disorder and death, “groaning” as a slave in chains awaiting redemption. That redemption is imminent for Paul because of the presence of the Spirit, who is the “first fruits” of the New Creation.

What Paul reminds us here is that human beings are indissolubly linked to the planet and the non-human creation – and that God’s salvation embraces all of creation. When a member of the Bush administration says, “We don’t need to worry about global warming because the Second Coming will happen soon”, he demonstrates a deadly failure to understand what God is doing in Jesus Christ! God is not simply interested in human beings, but in all creation. Salvation is not about rescuing us from the world but about rescuing the whole of creation from its slavery to disorder, decay and death.

“Walking by the Spirit” in Pauline terms is not about ecstatic experiences (although it certainly included those for him): it is about being obedient to God’s will and purposes. It is about living faithfully by the prayer Jesus taught: praying for the Kingdom and doing the Kingdom – God’s will on earth. The Spirit is the bringer of resurrection and new creation. If we are the community of the Spirit – the Pentecost community – we will allow the Spirit to do her work of transforming us in our relationships not only to God and to one another, but to the whole of creation. We can’t believe in Jesus, preach resurrection, claim to be filled with the Spirit and trash the planet. That is a contradiction in terms.

Amen.

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