Pentecost is one of the major festivals of the annual church calendar, celebrated on the 50th day of Easter, 10 days after Ascension Day. The ministry of Jesus doesn’t stop at the empty tomb but continues as he ascends into heaven. From there, he pours the Holy Spirit upon the church to enable them to proclaim the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth (Acts 2:33).
This is a pivotal moment in salvation history. As we learned from the first half of Ephesians, God’s purpose was for salvation to overflow beyond the physical descendants of Abraham. His grand plan was for the Gentiles to be included into the promises of Israel. The blood of Christ breaks down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, ‘to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God.’
The giving of the Spirit at Pentecost equips the Church to carry out this global mission that begins in Jerusalem and goes out to every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. Today is a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate and marvel at God’s manifold wisdom. We are to be filled with thanksgiving and praise for the salvation that we enjoy along with our Christian brothers and sisters across the globe.
The evidence of the work of the Spirit is that we love what God loves
But Pentecost is not only about looking back – the global mission of the Spirit continues! We, as disciples of Jesus, are involved in his continuing work in the world. Here are two ways we can be Spirit-filled as we celebrate Pentecost:
1. To be Spirit-filled is to love the church. We cannot claim to love Jesus if we do not love his family (1 John 4:20). We are to care about the ongoing faith and wellbeing of our fellow Christians, both at St. Andrew’s and across the world. We are to invest in our relationships and work hard to serve one another.
2. To be Spirit-filled is to love the lost. The Spirit’s presence is marked by a zeal to see people saved from death to life as they encounter Jesus. The church walks in step with the Spirit when we have a missional heart, joining in with God’s great rescue plan.
The evidence of the work of the Spirit is that we love what God loves. We cannot do this alone. Our hearts are slow to love as the Lord loves. We need the enabling work of the Spirit. As we learn about the Spirit-filled church of Ephesians and as we celebrate Pentecost, may our hearts and lives be transformed by God, ‘so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’
