Of all the persons of the Trinity, I suppose the Holy Spirit is the hardest to define. Most of us can at least begin to describe the other two: God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, who makes the sun shine and the rain fall. God the Son, who was human like us: our savior, teacher, helper, and friend.
Did you know the word “conspire” means to breathe together? Take a breath. Now blow it out again. There! You have just launched a conspiracy. You can hear the word “spirit” in there too—to conspire—to be filled with the same spirit, to be enlivened by the same wind.
To understand Luke’s Pentecost it is necessary to understand that the gospel doesn’t just go to the ends of the earth; the ends of the earth are present from the very first day. There is no secondhand, third-hand or fourth-hand faith.
The book of 1549 was a tremendous achievement and has earned for Thomas Cranmer, who as far aw know produced it almost single-handed, a place in the first rank of the liturgists of Christendom. In view of its excellence, it is astonishing that it was used in English churches for only three years.
Pentecost is a noun. It is a good noun, strong and clear, confident of its identity, able to stand up in any room and say what it is. That’s what nouns are; that’s what nouns do. If you want definitions, nouns can give you definitions.
Christ has gathered the church in unity through the Spirit. With sure hope, let us pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.
Recognize to whom you owe the fact that you exist, that you breathe, that you understand, that you are wise, and, above all, that you know God and hope for the kingdom of heaven and the vision of glory. . . . Is it not God who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous above all other creatures and for the sake of all other creatures?
From the time that it was shown, I desired frequently to know what our Lord’s meaning was. And fifteen years after (and more) I was answered in spiritual understanding, saying thus:
“Wouldst thou know thy Lord’s meaning in this thing?
For the sake of love let us all pray together with God’s working—thanking, trusting,rejoicing,for thus would our good Lord be prayed to (as is the understanding that I received in all His own meaning, and in the sweet words where He says most merrily, “I am the basis of thy praying”).
When I was just out of college, I was going through a particularly rough time. I was alone in a new town, far away from home and family and friends, and trying to figure out a new job, cope with an eccentric boss, and learn a new way of life. It was a rough transition. I was starting over from scratch, building a new life. It was hard and lonely work.