Discerning the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost A - Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23
The Risen One looked like a stranger, a gardener and a ghost walking on water,1 was seen in Jerusalem, Galilee and Emmaus, breathed on some disciples, told Mary not to hold onto him and told Thomas to put a finger in his wound.2
The Holy Spirit came to Jesus in the wilderness (Lk. 4:1) and again at his baptism (the dove, Mtt. 3:16, Lk.3:22, John 1:32), and sometime before he performed exorcisms (Mtt.12:22-28). It was given to the disciples as they were sent out to heal diseases and cast out demons (Mtt. 10:1, Mk. 6:7, Lk.9:1), again on Easter evening (“peace,” John 20:22) and in this Sunday’s Pentecost story (fiery tongues.)3
Like the Risen One, the Holy Spirit doesn’t always look the same, sound the same or do the same things. Sometimes we can wonder if what’s going on, in us and around us, has anything to do with it.
Maybe the best way to discern the Holy Spirit is to stay close to community.4 Be willing to share our experience and open to what we might hear in a Bible story, a friend’s story or a stranger’s. Strangers are important. A community that can include strangers is probably a good place to be when discerning the Holy Spirit.
And fiery speech is not the Holy Spirit’s only look. Other sure signs are calm, peacefulness, confidence, compassion, courage and insight. I think of J.B. Pritzker’s “State of the State” address (Feb.19, 2025), here, warning Illinoisans against authoritarianism. The 3-1/2 minute excerpt is worth hearing again.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t follow a liturgical calendar. It shows up in people and places we may not expect and in ways we may not quickly recognize. Community helps us to appreciate the Spirit’s presence. And one of the first things we learn in community is that the Holy Spirit has been around for a long time. When we can see it and feel it, and when we can’t. It’s there, and has been from the very beginning.
Peace.
Mk.6:47-51, Mtt.14:22-33, Jn.6:16-21 - Likely resurrection stories recast as miracle stories.
Paul knew about 500 other appearances.
It was other Jews who heard the spirit-filled apostles on Pentecost. (Acts 2:11) Paul’s mission to non-Jews (gentiles) had not yet begun. And if Pentecost took place two months after the Resurrection, it is not the “birthday of the church” if by that term one means a “parting of the ways” or the beginning of Christianity as distinct from Judaism. For a deep dive into the “parting of the ways” conversation, take a look at Anders Runesson’s Judaism for Gentiles: Reading Paul Beyond the Parting of the Ways Paradigm. (Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen, Germany 2022.) The book is expensive but the publisher has made it freely available on-line here. Thank you Mohr Siebeck.
Paul ingeniously understands the post-resurrection/Pentecost “body of Christ” to be a serving, healing, nourishing and empowering community. That inspired insight can save us from the disempowering “Great Man” version of Christianity. It challenges us to find our own place in the ongoing helping and saving work of the Anointed One/Messiah/Christ.