SHOW ME!

A Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock

[Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27]

Pentecost.  The “Fiftieth Day” after Jesus’ resurrection.  The occasion when God sent the gift of the Holy Spirit abroad to all who would take it to heart, to all who continue to yearn for more life than they themselves can provide.  The “Birthday of the Church”.  Christ’s Body in the world, for the sake of the world.  “Whitsunday”, the British label for all the white baptismal gowns that appear on this day when the Church traditionally offers the Sacrament of Baptism.  A time when the uniform of the day may be expressed in the wearing of red and in carrying red balloons and streamers as outward signs that our hearts are gratefully receptive to the gift of new life.

There’s a lot going on today!  All of it is important; but perhaps in all these festival expressions and words, we miss something more basic and more personal about this Pentecost day’s significance.

The particular (one might even say, peculiar) events of that first Pentecost Day are described in the lesson from St. Luke’s Acts of the Apostles:  Luke conveys how, after Jesus’ Ascension and return to the Father, the followers of Jesus had been instructed to stay in Jerusalem, keep the prayers in the Temple, and to wait patiently for what God would do next.  At the same time, Jews from all over the Hebrew diaspora gathered in Jerusalem for what they knew as “Pentecost”.  In the Hebrew tradition, the “Fiftieth Day” (which is the meaning of the word “Pentecost) celebrated the giving of the Mosaic Law to the people of the Covenant.  The “Fiftieth Day” also marked the ingathering of the first harvest of wheat, with what is known as the offering of the “First Fruits” to God.  All of which is to say that there was a tidal wave of expectant people who had shown up in Jerusalem because of their awareness of God.  And in that awareness, something surprising happened that changed everything.

Again, St. Luke describes what happened.  That diverse collection of God-fearing people suddenly found themselves gifted with the same Spirit God revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  They experienced a sense of unity that transcended language and history; a unity that brought them into relationship with God and with one another: a relationship that Jesus embodied; a unity that is now given to all whose hearts are open to such an abundant offering of Communion.

In describing his perception of what happened on the Day of Pentecost, a Lutheran colleague of mine succinctly offered this description: The Day of Pentecost was the occasion when “the Incarnation went global”.  What I think he meant was the same animating Spirit of God that we saw in Jesus – that same transforming Spirit -- is now given to us; and we are to receive this gift with “an awareness of all God’s mercies”, sharing the gift “not only with our lips but in our lives”.1

The great fourth century theologian, St. Augustine, described the Holy Spirit as “the love the Father shares with the Son and the Son with the Father.”  Not merely a feeling, The Holy Spirit of God is rather a personal experience of “Emmanuel: God with us” – God with us all.

Again, people who choose to follow Jesus are empowered by the Spirit to do what Jesus did.  These people (presumably folks like us) are the incarnate representatives of Christ to the world.  To risk a crude oversimplification, the Easter reality of Christ Jesus, crucified, died, and risen, is (through the Spirit) now “franchised” among us; and with that Good New we are literally and figuratively to serve the world in Jesus’ Name.  Much more than a feeling, Pentecost is about action, the inspired action of God in and through us.

This, of course, is a very big deal, one you and I keep learning about as Spiritual trainees: as student-teachers, as franchisees who are called to live into the partnering promises of our Baptisms.  As I said, this is a big day, a big and important celebration, but having said all this, in what ways does this Pentecost make a difference in our lives?  In taking this question on, I want to move beyond all the descriptions and trappings of Pentecost and learn from the unobtrusive example of Philip –our Philip – as he appears in the opening line of today’s Pentecost gospel.

Good old Philip.  He is so very much us that I have to trust that those who originally chose our patron saint recognized Philip as a faithful expression of and model for our life with Jesus.  I say this because Philip followed Jesus with innocent sincerity.  His discipleship was unpretentiously honest – honest enough to ask the questions the other disciples (including us) are afraid to ask for fear of looking dumb.  More tellingly, Philip is not a member of Jesus’ inner circle of Peter, James, and John.  In John’s gospel, he is always named as the “fifth” disciple in the listing of the Twelve.  His position in the disciples’ batting order usually comes after Simon Peter’s brother, Andrew.  And in this it strikes me that anyone with a modicum of baseball knowledge knows that it takes a most reliable player to bat after the “Clean-up” hitter.  Which is to say that you don’t walk Andrew to face Philip!  As members of a church named for Philip and his example, we should always keep that in mind.

It is in this context that I look to Philip’s place in this day’s gospel as one way of appreciating the meaning and importance of Pentecost.  And that meaning comes by way of one of Philip’s unpretentious questions which he poses to Jesus.

Earlier in the keystone fourteenth chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus is seen preparing his students for his departure by telling them that he goes to prepare a place for them … in his “Father’s house”, a house where there is room for everyone.  Jesus says, “…I’m on my way to get your room ready.  I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live.”  And here is the point of the illustration.  When Jesus concludes his “comfortable words”, he says, “And you already know the road I’m taking.”2

Enter Philip in one of his rare cameo appearances.  “Master, we have no idea where you’re going.  How do you expect us to know the way?”3  And with Jesus’ response that he is “the way, the truth, and the life”, Philip (I think innocently enough) stumbles on the vocational issue for all of Jesus’ followers, when he says plaintively: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.”4

“Show us the Father…”  In my mind that is the point of the Pentecost reality and experience.  With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to “show the Father” – show us God and the God-life -- to all we meet.  That’s what this day of the Spirit is about.  It is not about feelings (although feeling “joy” over this day is quite appropriate, given that joy stems from gratitude).  But beyond our emotional response to the gift of the Holy Spirit, what is required is our action – action that shows us and action that shows the world “the Father”.

This is the poignant meaning that resounds in our Eucharistic Prayer D (our festival Communion Prayer we have used throughout this Eastertide season).  The prayer says: “And, that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for him who died and rose for us, he sent the Holy Spirit, his own first gift for those who believe, to complete his work in the world, and to bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.5

As such, here's the immediate and challenging question for us now.  How does all this work for us on 128 Main Street in Easthampton, Massachusetts?  How do we people, gathering in the mold of Philip, represent God’s Christ with the life-giving power of the Spirit?  In light of Pentecost’s reality, what is the function of this church we call “St. Philip’s”?  “Show us the “Father”.  That’s our job!  That’s our joy.

“Show us the “Father”? is what Philip says.  He says this not only in recognition of his own need constantly to see “Emmanuel: God with us”; but he also says this on behalf of all who hunger and yearn to see and to have the incarnate life of Jesus.  “Show us the “Father”: This is the world’s implicit and agonized cry for the life only God can give.  How do we “show” the world the life of the Spirit, the life of unbreakable love and Communion?

“Show us the Father…”.  It is a request each of us needs to know about.  It is a request often wordlessly made by a world that is colored by swirling violence and the instability of relationships that are anchored in nothing more than greed and power.  “Show us the Father…”.

Pentecost.  It is both our personal prayer and our job description as members of Christ’s Body, the Church.    Amen.

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1.  Book of Common Prayer. “The General Thanksgiving”, p. 101

2.  John 14:4. -- The Message

3.  John 14:5. -- The Message

4.  John 14:8. – NRSV

5.  Book Common Prayer. Eucharistic Prayer D: p. 374