We celebrate today the gifting of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples and the birth of the church at Pentecost. Pentecost began as a Jewish festival of harvest and accountability to God, but the Christian community came to understand it in a new and deeper way. 

The Gospel reading from John gives us John’s version of Christian Pentecost. On the evening of the resurrection, the risen Lord Jesus came and stood among the disciples who were gathered behind locked doors. He showed them his wounds, offered them peace, and breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

In Acts, the Spirit comes in a spectacular and unmistakable way—a “pyrogenetic display,” with tongues of fire resting on each of them. They begin to speak in many languages, and the gathered crowd hears them proclaiming “God’s deeds of power” in their languages. 

When some people mocked as being drunk, Peter boldly addresses the crowd. He interprets the day’s dramatic event as the fulfilment of God’s promise through prophet Joel: that God would pour out God’s Spirit on all people. 

Yet the spectacular often overshadows the deeper truth: the same Spirit given to the disciples is given to every follower of Jesus Christ. The gift of the Spirit is given to everyone who is a follower of Lord Jesus Christ. That includes you and me. 

Paul reminds the Corinthians that even the simplest confession “Jesus is Lord” is itself a work of the Spirit. None of us comes to faith by our own insight or spiritual superiority. We submit to the lordship of Christ through the Spirit’s gracious work alone. 

Paul then describes the many ways the Spirit works within the church, always emphasising unity. The gifts of the Spirit are “given for the common good.” They are not meant to be stored away, nor used to make us feel proud or spiritually accomplished. They are given so that we may build one another up. 

St Paul further describes many ways of working of the Spirit in the followers of Jesus stressing the unity of the Spirit. We are humbled and grateful when we remember that the Spirit has made a home within each member of this diverse yet united community of God’s people. 

The Holy Spirit fills the church, orienting us toward Jesus and toward the world God loves. The Spirit enables us to interpret the Scriptures through the lens of Jesus’ ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Spirit empowers us to witness to God’s love and mercy, not only by pointing to Jesus but by loving one another in his name. 

Paul’s words to the Corinthians remain a powerful witness to the Holy Spirit’s work in the church from that first Pentecost until today. The repetition throughout this passage is different and same. Different gifts, but the same Spirit; different services, but the same Lord; different activities, but the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 

Though we are created and gifted differently, it is the same Spirit who works in all who belong to the body of Christ. When our gifts are offered under Christ’s lordship, they serve the common good. 

So what do we do with the Spirit we have received?  Many of us are not conscious of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us. Let this Pentecost be a time to discern the presence—to reflect on how we might use the gifts God has placed within us, and to affirm that the Spirit is at work in us for God’s purposes. 

We are called to rekindle the Spirit of God within us. As Paul reminded Timothy: “Rekindle the gift of God that is within you… for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” [2Timothy 1:5-7] 

To rekindle the gift of God is to be actively involved in the body of Christ—to build one another up in faith, and to be a loving community of hope, especially for those beyond these walls. As we rekindle the Spirit’s power within us, may we work for the good of all.