What Was the Point of Pentecost?
Today is Pentecost Sunday--not that you'd know it in a church of Christ. I don't know about the mainline or liberal congregations, but the conservative non-institutional branch of the COC emphatically does not observe the church calendar in any fashion. A Sunday is a Sunday is a Sunday, all the same, forever and ever, world without end, amen.
Thus, it's always fun for me to observe the changes that occur at my new congregation as the liturgical year progresses. In honor of Pentecost, the decorations, candles, and vestments are red, symbolizing the tongues of fire that hovered over the disciples on the very first Pentecost. The readings, songs, and sermon are all about the Spirit and how it inspires us to love our fellow humans and gives us power to do good in the world.
Such talk of the Spirit would be shockingly out of place in the COC where I grew up. I remember that sermons on the Holy Spirit were few and far between, and they tended to be more about what the Spirit does NOT do today, such as impart gifts of healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues, since the COC teaches that the age of miracles ended when the last of the Apostles died. More than teaching about the Spirit, the sermons were a reaction against the Pentecostal churches and their "emotionalism" and "disorderly" worship services, where people got up and clapped and were "slain in the Spirit." (Funny thing, though--I don't think any of those preachers ever actually went to a Pentecostal church. It was all rumor and hearsay. For all I know, such church services are quiet and sedate.)
Also, the preachers and elders got really nervous if someone brought up the subject of "indwelling of the Spirit" and would quickly squash any talk of feeling "directed by the Spirit" or "moved by the Spirit" as false teaching. No one ever went so far as to say that the Spirit is no longer active today, but they would say that it is active indirectly, through the Bible, that the Spirit doesn't deal with us directly and that all revelation by the Spirit ended with the Apostles. In essence, the Spirit is the "silent partner" of the Trinity (or Godhead, as the COC prefers to say)--it's there but doesn't do much of anything.
But if you read the Bible, that's not what Jesus promised his disciples when he spoke of sending the Advocate. In John 14:15-17 Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." Right there, Jesus says that (a) the Spirit will be with us forever, not just until the end of the Apostolic age, and (b) he will abide with you and be "in you", which to me means that this will be a direct relationship, not an indirect one filtered through writings or a book. I'm not claiming to understand exactly what Jesus meant by the Spirit being "in us", but the COC has a hard time explaining it away, which I think is why they try to avoid the subject of the Holy Spirit at all costs.
I've brought this up before, but I really think the COC avoids talking about the Spirit because it collectively fears the Spirit. The Spirit is mysterious and unseen and doesn't seem to have clearly defined "duties" in the Godhead, as the Father and Son do. It can't be put it into a neatly labeled little box. So they don't want to know or think about it because...I don't know...it might cause them to question their church traditions and doctrines, or open their minds to new ideas, or open their hearts to someone who doesn't fit their narrow idea of what a Christian can or should be. And all of this is incredibly sad, because by cutting themselves off from the Spirit, they become a church without spirit, just going through the motions without any joy or love in what they do.
So, to get back to the title of this post: what was the point of Pentecost? In the COC, there really isn't one. It was just one of many miracles designed to bring believers to the faith, nothing special or interesting beyond that. But I disagree. This wasn't just a display of power. The Spirit revealed itself in spectacular fashion, breathing life into the nascent church, and inspiring the disciples to preach the word in spite of persecution and engage in incredibly generous acts of charity. And far from being the "silent partner" the COC envisions, the Spirit is the guiding force in the church today, teaching us compassion and love and opening our eyes to injustices around us. Again, I don't claim to be a theologian or understand how this all works, but I know it does, which is perhaps a little bit of the Spirit dwelling in me.
Thus, it's always fun for me to observe the changes that occur at my new congregation as the liturgical year progresses. In honor of Pentecost, the decorations, candles, and vestments are red, symbolizing the tongues of fire that hovered over the disciples on the very first Pentecost. The readings, songs, and sermon are all about the Spirit and how it inspires us to love our fellow humans and gives us power to do good in the world.
Such talk of the Spirit would be shockingly out of place in the COC where I grew up. I remember that sermons on the Holy Spirit were few and far between, and they tended to be more about what the Spirit does NOT do today, such as impart gifts of healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues, since the COC teaches that the age of miracles ended when the last of the Apostles died. More than teaching about the Spirit, the sermons were a reaction against the Pentecostal churches and their "emotionalism" and "disorderly" worship services, where people got up and clapped and were "slain in the Spirit." (Funny thing, though--I don't think any of those preachers ever actually went to a Pentecostal church. It was all rumor and hearsay. For all I know, such church services are quiet and sedate.)
Also, the preachers and elders got really nervous if someone brought up the subject of "indwelling of the Spirit" and would quickly squash any talk of feeling "directed by the Spirit" or "moved by the Spirit" as false teaching. No one ever went so far as to say that the Spirit is no longer active today, but they would say that it is active indirectly, through the Bible, that the Spirit doesn't deal with us directly and that all revelation by the Spirit ended with the Apostles. In essence, the Spirit is the "silent partner" of the Trinity (or Godhead, as the COC prefers to say)--it's there but doesn't do much of anything.
But if you read the Bible, that's not what Jesus promised his disciples when he spoke of sending the Advocate. In John 14:15-17 Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." Right there, Jesus says that (a) the Spirit will be with us forever, not just until the end of the Apostolic age, and (b) he will abide with you and be "in you", which to me means that this will be a direct relationship, not an indirect one filtered through writings or a book. I'm not claiming to understand exactly what Jesus meant by the Spirit being "in us", but the COC has a hard time explaining it away, which I think is why they try to avoid the subject of the Holy Spirit at all costs.
I've brought this up before, but I really think the COC avoids talking about the Spirit because it collectively fears the Spirit. The Spirit is mysterious and unseen and doesn't seem to have clearly defined "duties" in the Godhead, as the Father and Son do. It can't be put it into a neatly labeled little box. So they don't want to know or think about it because...I don't know...it might cause them to question their church traditions and doctrines, or open their minds to new ideas, or open their hearts to someone who doesn't fit their narrow idea of what a Christian can or should be. And all of this is incredibly sad, because by cutting themselves off from the Spirit, they become a church without spirit, just going through the motions without any joy or love in what they do.
So, to get back to the title of this post: what was the point of Pentecost? In the COC, there really isn't one. It was just one of many miracles designed to bring believers to the faith, nothing special or interesting beyond that. But I disagree. This wasn't just a display of power. The Spirit revealed itself in spectacular fashion, breathing life into the nascent church, and inspiring the disciples to preach the word in spite of persecution and engage in incredibly generous acts of charity. And far from being the "silent partner" the COC envisions, the Spirit is the guiding force in the church today, teaching us compassion and love and opening our eyes to injustices around us. Again, I don't claim to be a theologian or understand how this all works, but I know it does, which is perhaps a little bit of the Spirit dwelling in me.
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