Year C
 Genesis 11:1-9
 Psalm 104:25-35, 37
 Acts 2:1-21
 John 14:8-17

May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth…

The Book of Acts…  written by Luke…  was written about twenty years before John’s Gospel…  and it tells the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit…  the Advocate…  the Paraclete…  the one promised in today’s reading from John’s Gospel…  and today’s reading from Acts begins by letting us know…  that when the day of Pentecost had come…  the disciples were already together in one place… had already gathered…  ?and why were they together…  because they were celebrating the Festival of Pentecost…  which is just another name for the Shavuot…  a major Jewish festival which is held fifty days after the second day of Passover…  now Shavuot began as a harvest festival…  but it came to commemorate the giving of the Law…  the Torah… 

The Prophet Jeremiah said that God would write God’s Law on our hearts…  that God’s teaching would be woven into the fabric of our being…  that there wouldn’t be any need for teachers and students…  that we’d all just know…  intuitively…  at a deep level…  how to align our will with God’s will…  and because our actions would be in accordance with this Law…  God would say…  I remember your sins no more…  and forgive your iniquities…

In the story we just heard from Genesis…  we’re told that the whole earth shared one language and the same words…  and as this people migrated westward…  they wanted to build a city for themselves…  with a tower…  its top in the heavens…  and they wanted to make a name for themselves…  and God said that if they did this…  there’d be no stopping them… ] so the story goes…  God came down to confuse their language…  and scatter them…  to effectively stop them in their tracks…  and our reading from Acts is often said to be the undoing of this linguistic confusion…  and the reversal of this scattering…  since devout Jews from about fifteen different nations were now living in Jerusalem…  and because of the coming of the Holy Spirit…  speakers and listeners were able to understand each other…  and understanding God’s deeds of power is huge… 

This story about the Tower of Babel…  and God saying…  now nothing that they propose to do will be impossible…  reminds me about another story in Genesis about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil…  it’s the story of the first Adam…  the first earth creature…  living in an idyllic garden…  where everything’s provided for him…  companion animals…  livestock animals…  and a helpmate…  what might pass as clothing…  and then as youngsters do…  they got rambunctious…  they disobeyed their parent…  disregarded boundaries…  ate ice cream for breakfast…  read books about Good and Evil before they’re mature enough…  experienced enough…  to understand and integrate it all…  they played hide and seek while a seemingly myopic God looks high and low for them…  and said…  Where were you…  I was worried sick…  please don’t hide from me again…  I won’t ever hide from you…  but not too much later on God says…  the time is coming…  when you’re going to have to grow up and leave the comforts of home…  and head out into the world…  and learn new things…  and consider the values I’ve passed on to you…  and fend for yourselves…  take care of each other…  make moral decisions…  ]  I’ll always be with you…  I’ll let you be adults…  I won’t interfere with what you decide to do…  but I won’t always be able to protect you from the consequences of your actions…  but the most precious gift I give you…  is free will… because with it you’ll be able to learn from what you’ve done both individually and collectively…  so you can make better decisions…  but you can always call home for advice… 

And that advice comes from the Holy Spirit…  in v. 26 Jesus says…  the Advocate…  the Holy Spirit…  whom the Father will send in my name…  will teach you everything…  and remind you of all that I have said to you…  in fact…  in v. 12…  Jesus says…  Truth…  I’m telling you…  those who trust in me will do not only the works I do…  but in fact will do greater works…  because they will be connected to the outpouring of love which God has…  not just for me or you…  but for the whole world…

New Testament professor Greg Carey agrees that American Protestants often interpret Jesus’ words in v. 16-17…  where Jesus says that he’ll ask the Father to send them another Advocate…  Jesus being the first one…  who will be with them forever…  he says…  You know him…  because he abides with you…  and he will be in you…  many of us think these words are addressed to us as individuals…  but that is a mistake…  because much of the language in this part of John’s Gospel is addressed in the second person plural…  you…  is y’all…  when Jesus tells the disciples they will know the Spirit because the Spirit abides with them and lives in them…  he is speaking to them collectively…  when Jesus says… I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it…  but he’s not talking about making wishes on a magic lamp…  he’s talking about the common good…  so thoughts and prayers must be followed by actions which are designed to effect the changes God wants for us…  and it’s in our power to make changes for good…

So maybe Pentecost isn’t only a looking back…  but a recurring event that we’re invited to live into…  something that’s set in motion instead of being completed…   and how do we move away from thinking that the Spirit is our own private possession…  how can we be advocates for each other…  to the community which works and speaks through the church and which advocates for Jesus…  and how can we hear the Spirit speak through others…  with the ears of our hearts…

If we’re all part of the Body of Christ…  there aren’t parts that are better than others…  just parts that are different…  and which all have unique gifts of the Spirit…  so I wonder…  is it all about making a name for ourselves…  or is all about emptying ourselves so we can provide for the common good and take care of our neighbors…  if we’re life-supporting people in the many ways that that can find expression…  like having access to clean drinking water…  to healthcare and education…  to the right to vote…  to being safe in our grocery stores and schools…  if we support life…  then how can we not undo the many ways it is diminished…  and do the questions 1 Corinthians 11 asks…  have any relevance for us when it comes to our common life…  do we speak like children…  think like children…  reason like children…  and how far out of the garden have we come as the Body of Christ…   how much have we grown up…  or do we just want to keep living in our parent’s basement…