RON'S REFLECTIONS!
"Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us."  Thomas Browne
 
"Life is a foreign language; Everyone mispronounces it"  Christopher Morley
 
For weeks, if you have been in church, you have heard me talk about May 19th being the Day of Pentecost, the day we wear red as the spirit, in the form of fire and tongues, fell on the disciples and the church was born. We find that story in the book of Acts 2:1-21. What was that spirit? What made the disciples burn with passion and power to communicate the Gospel message? Can we ourselves have that flame of fire that was at Pentecost?

First of all, I don't think we will ever exhaust the definitions and the full meaning of the spirit. Jesus said in that famous encounter with Nicodemus in John's Gospel, Chapter 3 that the "Spirit is like the wind.  It blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." This chapter in John also has one of the most famous and known scriptures in the Bible, John 3:16, which Martin Luther, the famous Protestant reformer, said it is the "Little bible within the Bible," that "For God so loved the world that God gave God's only Son, so everyone who believes in God may not perish but may have eternal life." I always think it is unfortunate that we don't as well know the 17th verse, "Indeed God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." And the hope is that love prevails in all of our religious spiritual beliefs, actions and practices, that nothing is more important and paramount than love.  And if the spirit works within us, whether it accompanies miraculous and profound experiences or not, love is the real indication of God's spirit. And too much of our faith can be condemning and not redemptive.

 Therefore, when it comes to that fire, flame and dynamic flow of the spirit on that first day of Pentecost, what made it so powerful for those early disciples was their love for all kinds of people from all over the world;  and their ability and gift to communicate the good news of the faith. It was not just speaking in tongues where they were not understood, but where they were understood. However, I do love this Christopher Morley quote, "Life is a foreign language and everyone mispronounces it." How true that can be.  But the miraculous thing about Pentecost, people not only spoke with clarity and understanding, but they heard in different dialects, and some say even languages, the word that changed their lives. So part of the answer to what the spirit was, is that the spirit brought unity, peace, courage, communication, determination and above all, love. Yes, we want to be burning with FIRE, but let’s pray the FIRE sparks within us a love for people as well as a love for truth!

May we celebrate on May 19th and may the Spirit blow, fall and compel us to be the powerful witnesses of old that will create a community of faith where we are, that people might be enthused, energized and inspired to speak and hear truth, and where love is lived and practiced!
 
Blessings, Ron