Pentecost, 2021 - The Empowering Presence of the Indwelling Spirit

 In today’s social media, individuals often share video clips with the admonition, “Wait for it!” They are telling us something unexpected will happen. We will see it if we don’t get impatient and move on. Just wait for it because ...

 As Jesus prepared to ascend back to the Father, he told his disciples: “wait for it!” “Wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4).

 For the disciples, Jesus’s ascension (Acts 1:9) would have felt like losing him all over again. They believed they had lost him when they saw him die on the cross. But then came Easter Sunday! He was raised from the dead. They never dreamed they would see him again, but there he was, with them, very much alive. Once again, they enjoyed the gift of his presence on those special occasions when he appeared to them. But his ascension back to the Father brought those appearances to an end.

 Telling them to wait, Jesus was telling the disciples his ascension was not the end of the story. There was more to come. God was still at work. And what God was going to do next would be just as unexpected as the resurrection. Through what God was going to do next, he would continue to be with them … and not just on special occasions. 

Pentecost—the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2)—was the unexpected thing for which the disciples were told to wait. Pentecost—the outpouring of the Spirit—was the continuation of the ministry of Jesus and the next stage in God’s eternal redemptive purpose.

 The outpouring of the Spirit was experienced as “the rush of a violent wind” and “as fire” (Acts 2:2—3). In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), the presence of God was always associated with a storm and/or with fire (e.g., the LORD spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, Job 38:1; God appeared to the people of Israel as a storm on Mt. Sinai, Exodus 19:16; the LORD spoke to Moses out of a burning bush, Exodus 3:2). In describing the wind and fire, the biblical writer was referring to the presence of God. Just as the presence of God filled the Tabernacle once it was completed (Exodus 40:34—38), now the presence of God filled them. Just as Jesus was God-in-the-flesh (John 1:14), now the Spirit of God filled each of the disciples and was in their midst. They were the continuing experience of God-in-the-flesh … as are we! They were (and we are!) the “dwelling place for God” (Ephesians 2:22), a holy temple replacing the physical temple in Jerusalem (Ephesians 2:21). Through the empowering presence of the indwelling Spirit, God now dwells on earth in the lives of the followers of Jesus (us!). (See John 14:17, 23 where Jesus taught the disciples this truth.)

 For the Hebrew people, the festival of Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They viewed the law as God’s supreme gift, telling them how to live. But, as Paul says, the law could not give them the power to do what was commanded (Romans 8:3). The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost became, alongside the gift of Jesus, God’s supreme gift (Galatians 4:4—7). The Spirit took the place of the law. The Spirit teaches us the ways of God that Jesus taught (John 14:25—26). The Spirit teaches us the heart of God (1 Corinthians 1:12—13) so that we have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:16). In addition, the Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God (Romans 8:2—4; Galatians 5:16—18, 22—25).

 Through the empowering presence of the indwelling Spirit, the disciples continued and extended the ministry of Jesus, proclaiming and establishing the kingdom. They did what Jesus did (John 14:12). They were God’s partners in the kingdom … as are we today! The next stage of God’s external redemptive purpose was (is) the ministry of the Spirit indwelling and empowering God’s people to bring the kingdom to completion “on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

 Jesus instructed his disciples to wait. Wait for it! But with the outpouring of the Spirit, the time of waiting ended. The time for doing began … doing the work of God, continuing and expanding the ministry of Jesus, bringing the kingdom into reality … through the empowering presence of the indwelling Spirit.

 The Easter season leads us to and culminates in Pentecost. Pentecost—the outpouring of the Spirit—empowers us with the power that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19—20) so that we can live as God’s partners, doing the kingdom work that Jesus did.

 May we experience this reality in our lives today! May it be the reality in your life!