In today’s Gospel reading we see Jesus checking his disciples out, to make sure that they understand what is to happen to him and what this will mean in the future. It has to be said that this is proving to be a bit of a struggle!

In the verses just before our reading Jesus had been talking about going away to prepare a place for his disciples but they are not to worry because they know the way there. ‘But,’ said Thomas, ‘we don’t know the way because we don’t know where you are going!’  Jesus then told them all

This then is the background to today’s Gospel reading. Philip’s response to, if you really knew me, you would know my Father, rather alarmingly, is, ‘Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’  Jesus responds patiently, but one feels, is just a little irritated, and possibly even worried. If I had been him, I would have had serious doubts about leaving the spreading of the Gospel to these men.

You have heard before that Jesus was asked what his Plan B was and he said there was none. This Plan had to work, the miracle had to come about. So Jesus gives it another try, explaining that he will be leaving them soon to go to his Father when the world will no longer see him but they, as the privileged few, will see him. Our reading misses out some verses which help to show that the disciples are beginning to take Christ’s words on board: then Judas, not Iscariot, as John is keen to point out, asks what seems to be a very reasonable question:

Difficult stuff this and perhaps Jesus realises that he shouldn’t push his luck on this one! So he adds, (is it for his, or the disciples’, reassurance?!)

So we learn that there is a bit more to this plan, that maybe God’s Plan is workable after all! And so the scene is set for the reading from Acts.

Christians have rather hijacked the festival of Pentecost because of what happened two thousand years ago. But Pentecost was and is an important Jewish Festival. The disciples were all gathered together with Jews from around the Middle East to celebrate this Festival which is also known as the ‘Festival of First Fruits’ or ‘Weeks’. It falls 50 days after the Passover, which commemorates the time when the Israelites left Egypt. Pentecost honours the day that Moses was given the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments.

The Feast reminds Jews that God is to be given the first of everything that they have and this was originally symbolised by a sheaf of barley to be replaced later by 2 leavened loaves made from the new wheat. One loaf was given to the High Priest and the other shared amongst the other priests. Animals were also sacrificed as an atonement for sin and a peace offering.

More recently each man brought the first fruits of his crop, and his wife baked special cakes with the new flour. As ever the Jews include special food in their celebrations: there are dishes made with milk and honey, to symbolise the richness of the Torah, the Jewish Bible, which obviously includes the Ten Commandments, for body and soul. A reminder that these were given to Moses as God’s people travelled from Egypt to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

The feast is an occasion for social and joyful gatherings and we may infer from the New Testament reading that it was, like the Passover, attended at Jerusalem as a great homecoming of the Jews from all parts of the world.  So it was that the apostles and ‘Jews from every nation under heaven’ were gathered together under one roof.

This Pentecost however proved to be somewhat different from previous celebrations: first came the mighty wind, followed by the flames of fire and then the Holy Spirit, appeared. At variance with the time when God appeared to Elijah, in the still small voice. This time no one could ignore God’s actions enabling Peter and the other disciples to speak in language that all could understand.

The Christian Pentecost was 50 days after Jesus had ‘passed over’ from death to life and instead of the Ten Commandments which were written on stone, we see God engraving His commandments on the heart of every Christian with the Holy Spirit, helping us to love God with all our heart and soul, and loving one another as ourselves. It was the fulfilment of John the Baptist’s prophecy that, although he was baptising with water, Jesus would baptise with fire and the Holy Spirit, the seal on our earthly baptism.

Having remarked on how unpromising Jesus’ talk with his disciples in John 14 was, one cannot fail to be impressed by how much the Apostles seem to have learnt in seven short weeks: on Good Friday they were wretched, devastated, terrified, puzzled and despondent. Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus and then here he was at Pentecost explaining to everybody what was happening, and how it was foretold, not only by Jesus, but also by Joel which is quoted in the reading from Acts. I believe that Pentecost was an important endorsement of Peter’s growth in knowledge that didn’t come to fruition until the Holy Spirit actually filled him: although the disciples were changed considerably by the Resurrection.  Even at the Ascension they seemed uncertain about what would happen next. They were told to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit but I suspect they didn’t really understand what that meant either

Then here we have Peter, an uneducated fisherman, quoting scripture, and speaking in a language that all present understood, explaining what it all meant. The Joel reading follows a story of how Israel was devastated by locusts and famine and saved by the Spirit of Jahweh, showing that God was coming back to His people. The quote was used to signify that Pentecost was a cosmic sign of the ‘Day of the Lord’ and the arrival of that Day resulting in salvation for those who call upon the Lord. The significance of this being quoted would not have been wasted on the educated Jews who were assembled. So yet again we see that miracles do happen when God is at work! Jesus’ faith in his disciples was not misplaced – you and I are here because of them and how they responded to the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost.  Unpromising material we too may seem to be but with God all things are possible.

And what does Pentecost mean to us today?

For some of us our conversion was a dramatic event, a point at which we could say that our priorities changed. At our conversion the Spirit comes to dwell within us. He becomes our interpreter in the same way as he enlightened the disciples. But then we, like the disciples, need to move on. The Spirit indwells us so that we can learn from God: teaching us to hear that still, small voice, being careful not to speak over it, and dumb it out, but to be guided by Him.

That learning to listen is key – not to pray at God, sending a shopping lists of ‘wants’ and ‘don’t wants’ but a two-way conversation, or better still, one where we listen to God. That is often not something which comes naturally but which we have to work at. In the same way as when we meet new people and we have to take time to learn about them, we have to spend time with God so He can teach us His ways. Learning to distinguish between what we want and what God desires, and ultimately so that becomes what we want too. Because we know that is the best possible outcome.

‘Believing six impossible things before breakfast’, in the words of the White Queen from ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’, is NOT what faith is about. God expects us to bring our intellect and reason as we seek to walk in His light. He knows us intimately and if we are open to Him, He can teach us more than we can imagine. He can help us to DO six, or more, impossible things before breakfast and throughout the day. But He may not actually want us to DO anything. He may just want us to sit in His presence quietly and learn more about Him, and deepen our relationship with Him. Sometimes that may seem very slow or even static but we can be sure that God knows the bigger picture and we have to trust Him.

We need to be very careful that we do not try to make him in our image, try and cut Him down to size so that He becomes more manageable! All we have to do is believe and trust in him and LISTEN!  That ‘all’ is just as immense as it sounds but also as important. That is why we need to devote time and energy to it.

The Bible is full of examples of what people can achieve when they listen to God and do what He suggests. The celebration of Pentecost is an annual reminder of how we can enable the Holy Spirit to use us. Monica Furlong summarises it succinctly as follows: