Year A

John 20:19-23

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

All Together With God’s Power

Some of you will remember the song ‘All Together Now”? Sung by the Beatles and released as a single in 1972.  Paul McCartney described the song as a children’s sing-along with the title phrase inspired by the music hall tradition of asking the audience to join in. He also described a dual-meaning in the song where “we are all together now.” The followers of Jesus are all together now physically in one place, as they wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They’re united with a feeling of anticipation as they wait for a promised gift. You may remember that last week we heard the risen Christ tell his followers to remain in Jerusalem until he sends the Holy Spirit upon them. This Holy Spirit will enable them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Having promised this, he then ascended into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God the Father. This promise was spoken during the forty days that the risen Lord was with the disciples after his resurrection. Today, we hear in the Acts reading, the Lord keeps his promise. It is the day of Pentecost, that is, the day of the Jewish festival celebrating the wheat harvest, which falls fifty days after Passover and, on the Christian calendar, 50 days after Easter. It was a time for giving thanks to God for the bountiful harvest, much like we do at Thanksgiving. The disciples have been waiting ten days worshiping and praying for the fulfillment of Christ’s promised Spirit.   

They are all gathered together and suddenly “there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and tongues of fire rested on each of their heads”. And they began to speak in the various languages that were current throughout the Mediterranean world, telling about the mighty acts God brought about in the life of Israel and in the life of Jesus Christ. As a result, devout Jews from all over the area who had come to Jerusalem for the festival, hear the disciples speaking to them in their own languages, and about three thousand believed the gospel of Jesus Christ and were baptized that day.

The new converts then devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. The doors opened on Pentecost to the work they needed to do for Jesus and the church was born. I love the celebration of Pentecost. Not only because I get to wear this beautiful stole my mother bought me in Jerusalem many years ago when she traveled to the Holy Land, but because it celebrates the empowering presence of God with us and in us. The advocate, sent to strengthen and help us in this life journey.

The great late preacher and theologian Charles Spurgeon once said, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.” The Church is fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Today, we celebrate the power that launched a movement that would conquer the gates of hell, restore the way to God, and deliver men and women from the bondage of sin and death. The Holy Spirit that is at work in our hearts and lives is more powerful than anything we can imagine. We are fueled by the power of the Spirit to carry on the work of Jesus.

The work the risen Christ in the upper room on the first day of the week gave us as our charge. He said to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit is Christ’s presence among us and the very breath of God given to us so we can make a difference. We become those witnesses, acting in the power of the Spirit, not only by what we say, but also by what we do every day in our homes, at school, at work and at church. We, like the disciples are not meant to stay in that locked upper room celebrating our newfound joy and peace in the resurrected Jesus. As Jesus himself had entered the disciples locked room with a word of peace, so he also commissioned them with the same message.

Jesus sets us free and sends us out in joy with the many varieties of gifts given by the Holy Spirit for all who confess him as Lord. The earliest Christian confession is “Jesus is Lord”, and to confess it is evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. Paul makes it clear in his first letter to the Corinthians that no one can make such a profession of faith in the absence of the Holy Spirit. If you confess “Jesus is Lord” the Holy Spirit dwells in you and therefore, you receive spiritual gifts and these gifts have a definite purpose: to build up the entire community. They are meant to unite us all together as the community of faith and they are intended to be shared and enjoyed for God’s purposes.

The life of the Spirit is rooted in the servant life of Christ intended to be used in service and love for God and for neighbor. Paul is pointing us to the grand scheme of what God is doing in the world. We have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to spread the love of Christ, in the end that all things will be caught up in the glory of God our Creator. This vision inspired by the Spirit, inspires us to sing with Paul: “From God and through God and to God are all things. To God be glory forever.” To have the gift of the Spirit is to experience God’s power and presence in the world. The shame of it is that we all too often fail to realize what power is at our disposal.

It’s easy for us to forget what our God has done for us. Our gospel reminds us that on that Easter evening, the disciples were hiding out of fear. They did not know what to do next when “Jesus came and stood among them.” That is how we get it all together. When we realize that Jesus stands among us and is our Lord, we are graced with the power and the gift of the Spirit. In his presence, we receive that gift which is power to change and transform our lives and the lives of others. We become agents that can bring to a hurting world forgiveness and hope.

Just take a moment right now and visualize our Lord standing here and breathing on us the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit fill us with your power and love. Can’t you just feel the fire of the Spirit filling you? May we always live in the power of God’s Spirit who brings us all together as Christians and empowers us for the journey and work ahead. May this Feast of Pentecost be a time of renewal for each one of us “For we are all made to drink of one Spirit.”