PICKED UP AND CARRIED BY “SOMEONE”
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (or Romans 8:8-17);
John 20:19-23 (or John 14:15-16, 23b-26)
In a major football game, a player’s performance exceeded the expectations of his mates and coach. In the last five minutes of the game, with the score against his team, he scored two goals! He ran faster and dribbled better than he had ever done. In the locker room, his coach said: “I didn’t know you had it in you.” He replied: “I didn’t either! I was picked up and carried by something outside myself.”
Pentecost is when the apostles “were picked up and carried by someone outside themselves”! The Holy Spirit empowered and transformed them!
The Spirit filled them with enthusiasm (‘en-theos’ which means ‘God within’). Armed with the power of this ‘God within’, they moved out of the Upper Room to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection. Recall Peter’s speech: “This man… you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up.”
The Spirit gave them the gifts they needed to proclaim the Good News: belief in the truth; the courage to proclaim it; the willingness/ ability to reach out to people of other languages and persuasions.
The Spirit formed them into one community. The verses after today’s first reading: “All who believed were together and had all things in common.” This in a group which was jostling for position and power!
The same Spirit empowers and transforms us.
The Spirit empowers us to proclaim that God is our Father, and therefore beyond the tangible differences of region, language, culture, and social status, we are one family.
The Spirit gives us the gifts and resources we need (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). We need to believe and understand that the Spirit works differently in different people… and give space for that to happen; we ought to use our gifts to build up the church.
The Spirit forms us into one family.
Will I let the Spirit pick me up and carry me… to go beyond my natural strengths and abilities?
What are the gifts that the Spirit gives me, and how will I use it to proclaim Jesus and to build up his kingdom on earth?
No comments:
Post a Comment