When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
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“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
Thus the evangelist Luke declares the birth date of our church. So that there is no misunderstanding let us spell it out plainly. What is declared on the day of Pentecost is the birth of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – and the only true successor of that declaration is the Eastern Orthodox Church. Some almost 2000 years ago when all were gathered in one place and of one accord the Holy Spirit came and appeared as divided tongues of fire that rested upon each person present. Notice that they are all united together in the same place just as all true Christians are united as one in the ark of the church. Just as then and now, all are in effect part of the one body that has one accord and carries out the will of the one that calls us to take up our cross and follow him.
The day of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament comes fifty days after Passover and is a celebration and offering of the firstfruits of the harvest. Later it took on additional meanings but let us stay for the moment with the idea of it being the firstfruits of the harvest. Now, through Christ, the firstfruits of the harvest of the Holy Spirit is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Christ, through the Spirit, gave to us the one church and we should all strive to be one and reject all those other pseudo-churches that have sprung up over the years, especially over the last century, all of which declare that they are the one true Church – meaning all the rest, including the Orthodox Church which was given by Christ directly, is wrong.
Why is modern man so keen to embrace the so-called new age churches? Has not Christ told us: “take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying “I am the Christ” and will deceive many… If anyone says to you look here is the Christ or there do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, look he is in the desert do not go out or look he is in the inner rooms do not believe it.” We are on notice as to false Christs yet we ignore these dire warnings from Christ himself and many, many follow modern churches that offer easy and cheap Christianity and in doing is so, turn the faith suitable to their own ends and in the process make it a parody and laughingstock for the rest of the secular world.
The image of fire is such a powerful image. It is fire that purifies the heart and enlivens zeal within. One only has to remember the gospel of Luke when Christ talks to his disciples after his Resurrection, who declare to one another: “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the Scriptures to us.” Within the heart of each and every one of us there are weeds and brambles which leave our heart unproductive and unresponsive to the transformative nature of Christianity. Fire burns and consumes these weeds and brambles and our hearts become receptive and open for the cultivation of good works.
But I think the greatest miracle at Pentecost and the one that demonstrates the true power of the Holy Spirit is that there was a vast variety of people from all over the established world meeting in that one place. Each person essentially spoke their own native language with the Lingua Franca being Koine Greek. In other words, although a person from Pontus or Asia could not understand someone from Egypt, and a Greek could not understand an Arab, to name just a few of the native languages spoken then, they conversed in the common language of all – namely Koine, or, common Greek. But here, each one speaks his own language and each person understands the multitude of languages being spoken by each and every one as if they were fluent in that language. So although there was a multitude of languages being spoken, it made no difference as everybody understood each and every language being spoken by the others. Does that not demonstrate the might of the Spirit?
We refer to the Spirit coexisting in the Godhead with the Father and the Son, with the Spirit proceeding from the Father – but for all that, the Spirit is no less God. The Spirit is the most elusive hypostasis of the Godhead. It is consubstantial, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son and is in the fullest sense God no less than the Father or the Son.
The Gospels variously present Jesus as empowered by the Spirit that appears at his baptism. He is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and he performed exorcisms by the Spirit. The Spirit was present at creation and throughout the history of creation. We, the members of the one holy Catholic and apostolic church, receive the Spirit through baptism and chrismation. Indeed, during the Divine Liturgy we call upon the Holy Spirit to change the gifts presented from bread and wine to body and blood. Each and every time we do this we are in effect participating in a small Pentecost through the uncreated Grace of God.
Although generally forgotten, the third person of the holy Trinity becomes the active force in the continuous act of redemption of us human beings. We believe at the Divine Liturgy that we are not simply remembering but re-living the Eucharistic experience. So it is each and every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy that we call upon the Holy Spirit, who comes to our aid. This counsellor, who teaches us all things and, brings to remembrance all things that have been said to us by Christ. It is this Counsellor which descends and changes us. It is the Spirit that encourages us to understand that we need to become a new creation and that we need the grace of the Holy Spirit, to help us in this struggle, in which grace is given freely to all. Make no mistake, as St Simeon the New Theologian said: we would be deceiving ourselves if we believed that we could become temples of the Holy Spirit without the necessary virtues. We have a job and that job is to cultivate ourselves if we wish the Holy Spirit to partake and assist us in becoming Christ-like. It is the Spirit that leads us to all truth – namely Christ.
