Acts 2:1-13 The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Par′thians and Medes and E′lamites and residents of Mesopota′mia, Judea and Cappado′cia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phryg′ia and Pamphyl′ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre′ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Pentecost is the pivotal moment in the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit descends on the Church and empowers the faithful to carry forward the mission that is the subject of the rest of the book. Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes that it is indeed upon all 120 people gathered in the upper room that the Holy Spirit fell, not just the apostles.
Was it upon the twelve that it came? Not so; but upon the hundred and twenty. For Peter would not have quoted to no purpose the testimony of the prophet, saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord God, I will pour out of My spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Joel 2: 28.) “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (2:4).
Pentecost is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that all those who believe in Him would have within them a well of living water “springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
He calls it “living” because it is always working; for the grace of the Spirit, when it has entered into the mind and has been established, springs up more than any fountain, fails not, empties not, ceases not…
Once the Spirit dwells within us, says Saint John, we have an unfailing source of divine strength to keep living as Disciples of Christ in the face of all kinds of internal and external opposition.
And we may clearly perceive what is meant, if we will consider the wisdom of Stephen, the tongue of Peter, the vehemence of Paul, how nothing bare, nothing withstood them, not the anger of multitudes, not the risings up of tyrants, not the plots of devils, not daily deaths, but as rivers borne along with a great rushing sound, so they went on their way hurrying all things with them. (St John Chrysostom, Homily LI on John (7:37,38).
The Pentecost story in Acts has been an obvious inspiration for Christian missionaries to learn the languages needed to bring the message of the Gospel to new cultures. Indeed, Orthodox missionaries on many occasions throughout Christian history helped create written languages for the cultures to whom they went. But “language” means much more than a form of speech. Two weeks ago in Ottawa, at the clergy gathering, Metropolitan Tikhon recounted an instructive story about languages from the life of Mother Gavrilia (1897-1992), who spent many years as a missionary in India.
—Once when I was there where I was, some foreign missionary came and said to me, “You may be a good woman, but you’re not a good Christian.”
—I said, “Why?”
—“Because you have been here so long and you only go about speaking English. What local languages have you learned?”
—I said to him, “I haven’t managed to learn any of the local languages, because I travel a great deal from place to place. As soon as I learn one dialect, they start speaking another. I’ve only learned ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good evening.’ Nothing else.”
—“Bah, you’re no Christian. How can you evangelize? All the Catholics and Protestants learn all the local dialects in order to . . .”
—Then I said, “Lord, give me an answer for him.” I asked it with all my heart, and then I said, “Ah. I forgot to tell you. I know five languages.”
—“Really? What are these five?”
—“The first is the smile; the second is tears. The third is to touch. The fourth is prayer, and the fifth is love. With these five languages I go all around the world.”—-Then he stopped and said, “Just a minute. Say that again so I can write it down.”
—With these five languages you can travel the whole earth, and all the world is yours. Love everyone as your own—without concern for religion or race, without concern for anything. Everywhere are people of God. You never know if the one you see today might tomorrow be a saint.
(From Mother Gavrilia, The Ascetic of Love, http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/gabriel_4.html; for a basic biography see http://orthodoxwiki.org/Gabrielia_(Papayannis).
In Communion and The Orthodox Peace Fellowship
This morning I saw an email from Jim Forest, founder of The Orthodox Peace Fellowship and editor of its quarterly journal, In Communion. He includes insightful words from the late Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh.
There is a passage in the Gospel, in which we are told, “Let your light so shine before men that seeing this light they may give glory to the Father Who is in Heaven…”. What is this light which we must reveal, unveil, let freely shine around us? It is not our own light, it is not manifesting our intelligence, our human warmth, our talents; it is becoming so filled with what is God’s, so transparent to His light, that His light may shine freely, and not be kept, as it were, in the darkness of our soul. Again, — it is the only way we can cast light, share light with others, because our talents, our intelligence, our hearts, may well be below those of others, while this light is life, this light is enlightenment, this light can help others to become new.
The Orthodox Peace Fellowship (OPF) has been active for decades but some readers may not be aware of its work. It is an international association of Orthodox Christians “seeking to bear witness to the peace of Christ by applying the principles of the Gospel to situations of division and conflict, whether in the home, the parish, the community we live, the work place, within our particular nations, and between nations. We work for the conservation of God’s creation and especially of human life. We are not a political association and support no political parties or candidates.”
OPF’s Board of Advisors includes Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, Father Anthony Coniaris, Father Thomas Hopko, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Father John Matusiak, Father George Papademetriou, Dr. Albert Raboteau, Philip Tamoush, Father Steven Tsichlis, Father Meletios Webber, Mother Raphaela Wilkinson among others.
To learn more about the work of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, to look at past issues of In Communion and to consider becoming a member see http://www.incommunion.org.