Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 27th May 2007 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Ezekiel 37:1-6 and Acts 2:1-13.


To-day is Pentecost. “Pente” means 50. So to-day is 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. According to most of the Church traditions, Pentecost marks the birth of the Early Christian Church. This is what we read from the New Testament this morning.

The birth of the Christian Church was linked to the Advent of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ farewell discourse with his disciples as recorded in Jn 13:36-16:33, Jesus had promised after his departure, the Holy Spirit will come to dwell among those who believe in him. This promise was repeated five times in 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7 and 16:12. This promise of the Holy Spirit must be very important. That is the only reason why it was repeated five times. When Jesus left his disciples physically, he expected them to carry on with his work. But knowing that they were ordinary people, his disciples would not have the courage nor the power to do great things. So they needed the Holy Spirit to guide them and give them strength. When we look at all the five promises of the Holy Spirit, we can easily discover that the Holy Spirit does two things: it revealed the truth about God (this is what the first, third and fifth promises says) and it was the helper or counselor to the disciples (the second, third and fourth promises). Therefore, with the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church should act as the extension of Jesus Christ, his life and his work.

Traditional theologies tell us that God the Father existed in the Old Testament; God the Son in the New Testament and God the Holy Spirit in the Church. Not quite like that. First, as the Prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18) pointed out, before the world was created, Jesus Christ as the Logos already existed. He was with God. He was the same as God… (vss 1 and 18).

The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God also existed in the very beginning. Genesis 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate… the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

Throughout history, the Spirit of God was conceived as the mode of God’s activities.

One of my most favourite hymns is by Thomas Tallis written in 1567. The first stanza or verse reads,

“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.”

God’s Spirit is always present and at work, although it may be difficult to detect. As a matter of fact, the word “Spirit” in Greek is “pneuna” which literally means “wind”. The wind blows wherever it likes. Human beings have no control of it whatsoever.

In the Bible, we often read about the Spirit of God worked through selected individuals or groups of individuals. The Spirit of God took control of Gideon and he was able to lead his people to defeat the Midianites (Judges 6:34). The Spirit of God descended upon Saul (I Sam 11:6) and David (I Sam 16:13) so that they became Kings of the Israelites. The prophets as God’s servants were filled with God’s spirit (Is 42:2). The Spirit of God was with the prophets whenever they uttered oracles. For example this was what Micah said,

“But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.” (3:8)

Likewise with the Incarnate God in the person of Jesus Christ. When Jesus had finished the preparation in the wilderness, he returned to Galilee to start his ministry. The power of the Holy Spirit was with him (Lk 4:14). Indeed according to Luke, when Jesus began his ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth, he declared,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.” (4:18-19, quoting Is 61:1-2).

The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God symbolizes the power which is beyond human capabilities. It is also a life-giving force. This is what we read from the Old Testament this morning.

“The people were like dry bones.
There was no real life.
But when the Spirit of God
Breathed into them, they became alive.”

Perhaps this is a vital difference between existence and living. We all exist in this world. But only when we are connected with God, having God’s spirit, do we really live!

The Early Christian Church was started by Jesus’ disciples and their followers. We recall when Jesus was arrested, all his disciples left him and ran away (Mk 14:50). All four Gospels gave the same account that even Peter, Jesus’ closest disciple, was so fearful of what could happen to him that he denied three times he had anything to do with his teacher after Jesus was arrested (Mk 14:66-72// Mt 26:69-75// Lk 22:56-62// Jn 18:15-18; 25-27). Indeed all Jesus’ disciples were afraid when they saw of what happened to Jesus. They became totally withdrawn and hid themselves when Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Supreme Council) and then the Roman Court of Pilate. It was terrifying experience for them.

But these same people changed radically when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They dared to gather in Jerusalem. In front of the gathering, “Peter stood up with other eleven disciples and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd…” (Acts 2:14). Jesus’ disciples had been transformed by the Holy Spirit. They became courageous and full of power to witness to the resurrected Christ.

Indeed, Jesus’ disciples no longer were fearful of possible persecution and the safety and security of their own life. Consequently, James, the brother of John was put to death by the sword of King Herod (Acts 12:1). Stephen was stoned to death because of his preaching (Acts 7). In fact the Acts of the Apostles recorded the courageous acts of Jesus’ disciples, especially Peter (Acts 2-12) as well as apostle Paul (Acts 13-28). Their brave witnesses to and preaching about Jesus Christ and especially Paul’s missionary journeys were incredible. Some of them were considered as humanly impossible acts. Later it was to be understood that these were not merely human acts. It was the Holy Spirit who worked through Peter, James, Stephen, Paul and so on. The Acts of the Apostles were indeed the acts of the Holy Spirit.

Let us go back to the New Testament lesson for this morning. When the day of Pentecost came, people from all over the countries gathered together and they spoke with their own languages. But amazingly they understood each other. It was the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enabled people to be able to communicate with each other. This is why the Church, a gathering of Christians, is called the fellowship or the communion of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not only call us together, it enables us to overcome any cultural or psychological blocks and be able to communicate with each other.

Do we feel sometimes though we are together in worshipping or in fellowship; in a family gathering or a gathering of friends and colleagues, yet we are disconnected. We are not able to talk and share with one another? Do we sometimes feel that we are confused or even have a sense of getting lost? Can it be because the Holy Spirit is not in or life. We wish to take full charge of our life and sometimes the life of others, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to be in charge.

The Holy Spirit will always guide and direct us so that the old will dreams and the young see visions (Acts 2:19, quoting Joel 2:28).

If we read further in Acts 3, a continuing recording of the day of Pentecost, Peter was able to cure the sick. It would be interested to note that earlier on as recorded in Mark 9, Peter was not able to do so. With the presence and help of the Holy Spirit, everything becomes possible.

The Holy Spirit gives us the power to act and to communicate with each other in love. The Holy Spirit is never vague as many Christians suggest. It is concrete and very real for those who believe and ask for it.

I wish to share with you a story about the golden box.

“The story goes like this. Some time ago a mother punished her five year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put on the mantelpiece.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her mother the next morning and then said, “this is for you, Mommy.”
The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner.
“Don’t you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package?”
The girl had tears in her eyes and said, “Oh, Mommy, it’s not empty: I blew kisses into it until it was full.”
The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her arms around her little girl, and she begged for forgiveness for her thoughtless anger.
An accident took the life of the child only a short time later, and it was told that the mother kept that golden box by her bed for all the years of her life.
Whenever she was discouraged or faced difficult problems she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and GOD. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.”

Likewise with the Holy Spirit. Superficially, it is difficult for us to grasp or comprehend the Holy Spirit. However, when we dare to ask, it will be present and fill our hearts and minds.

Oftentimes, we ask and expect God grant us tangible things, good health, a more secure job, a more comfortable home, and so on. But as Jesus said, the best gift God can give us is the Holy Spirit (Lk 11:13).

One of the simplest prayers of the Ancient Church was: “Come, Holy Spirit, descend upon us”. This should be our daily prayer as well as the weekly prayer of this Church.

Traditionally, the Christian year is divided into two halves. The Pentecost marks the beginning of the second half year which is generally labelled as the Year of the Church. In the first half, the Year of the Lord, the Church celebrates and commemorates the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beginning from to-day, the Church starts to work, to reduplicate the work of Christ in this world.

Finally, you notice that the liturgical colour for Pentecost is Red. Red represents the fire which symbolizes the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3). It also symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who tried to witness to God’s Love and Justice on this planet earth. Witness in Greek is marturia. Marturia and Martyrs share the same root. It was with their life that our fore-parents of faith witness to Christ who died and resurrected for us. Guided by the Holy Spirit, may be live by the examples of our ancestors of faith.