Pentecost

On the day of Pentecost, back about 30 AD, dramatic events grabbed the attention of people in Jerusalem. A bunch of men and women in a house, probably near the temple, suddenly heard a sound like a 'mighty windstorm' and saw what looked like fire sprouting out of each others' heads. They were 'filled with the Holy Spirit' and started speaking in foreign languages. All three of those signs -- the wind, the fire and the languages -- were outward signs of what was happening inwardly: they were being filled with the Spirit of God.

The outward sign of speaking in foreign tongues was repeated at least twice more in the book of Acts, although the wind and fire were not recorded again. What's it all mean? Peter, the most outspoken of the apostles, interprets it for us: "What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel", referring to Joel chapter 2. Peter continues telling people that Jesus, whom many had heard about the last few weeks in Jerusalem, was the Messiah, and that they need to repent and be baptized in Jesus' name (Acts 2:14-40).

Some teach that we need to experience this moment ourselves, to make sure we really have God's grace and power. But the major point that day was that God had brought his message of salvation into the world, and that this message was in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. The dramatic signs of the Spirit's entrance were to create attention for God's new offer in Jesus Christ, not to create a new avenue of relating to God. Jesus himself was that new avenue.

On the other hand, let's not mistake this: the Holy Spirit is important! His job, as Jesus himself said (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:5-15) is to bring glory to Jesus, teach what he hears from God, convict people of sin (first of all, of not believing in Jesus) and teach about righteousness and judgment. The Spirit brings us into fellowship with Jesus and the Father (2 Cor. 13:14), helps us to focus our thoughts on godly things (Romans 8:5-6), pray (Romans 8:26) and be reassured that we belong to God (Romans 8:16). Without the Spirit, we would have none of these.

So as we celebrate Pentecost, we can be grateful that God himself has adopted us as his children (Eph. 1:4-5) and now lives in us (John 14:15-23). The fact that we care about that, and want to know God more and more, is evidence that the Holy Spirit lives in us. The fruits of the Spirit in our renewed lives, and the gifts he gives for the work of the church, are also ample evidence that he is busy among us. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts!