Our lives, our powerful Pentecost
This Sunday is Pentecost on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. Pentecost will always have special meaning for me, in many ways. It is the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and empowered them to live in faith and strength. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a Pentecostal or Charismatic movement which seeks to relive these outward displays or gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When I was around 19, I began attending a charismatic type home fellowship. That grew into a non denominational charismatic church, and eventually I began attending an Assemblies of God church. I obtained my BA from Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God. Looking back, it wasn't the speaking in tongues and emotional outbursts that attracted me to these groups. I think it was more the freedom and the emphasis on a real spiritual life. Growing up Presbyterian, I was ready for a change that has some energy and enthusiasm. Pentecostal and Charismatic groups provided that.
The biggest reason the celebration of Pentecost means so much to me, is that 10 years ago this weekend I was chrismated into the Orthodox church. My 5 children were all baptized and chrismated also, and a few month later my wife was received into the Orthodox faith. It wasn't planned to be that way, but how ironic that a former Assemblies of God Evangelical would be received into Orthodoxy on Pentecost Sunday.
Two years ago, I celebrated Pentecost on Kodiak Island in Alaska, at the Cathedral where the relics of St. Herman of Alaska remain. I was there on a missions trip to St. Hermans seminary. I don't think I'll ever forget the 2 hour vigil for the feast, realizing I'm standing in the same place where one of the greatest missionaries ever ministered. St. Herman travelled thousands of miles with a few other young monks to bring Orthodoxy to the native Americans. Instead of siding with the Russian fur traders who brought them over and thought they would help tame the natives, Herman and his peers actually sided with the natives against the oppresion they were facing. I'm sure this act of justice and kindness spoke more to them than all the words the missionaries delivered. For this, he was exiled to an island, and to this day the heritage of Orthodox Alaska remains. His relics and the huge, weighty cross he wore hidden under his cassock were in view. It was a powerful Pentecost indeed.
Pentecost however is not just a remembrance of past history. Merton puts it this way: "Man, the microcosm, the heart of the universe, is the one who is called to bring about the fusion of the cosmic and historic process in the final invocation of God's wisdom and love. In the name of Christ and by his power, man has a work to accomplish-to offer the cosmos to the Father, by the power of the Spirit, in the glory of the Word. Our life is a powerful Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit, ever active in us, seeks to reach through our inspired hands and tongues into the very heart of the material world ."
What an awesome, powerful thought. What purpose that brings to our lives. Whether we are called to be missionaries as St. Herman, to live a life of social justice, to give, to love, to pray, or to simple obscurity, our lives can be a powerful demonstration and means of bringing life to the world.
When I was around 19, I began attending a charismatic type home fellowship. That grew into a non denominational charismatic church, and eventually I began attending an Assemblies of God church. I obtained my BA from Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God. Looking back, it wasn't the speaking in tongues and emotional outbursts that attracted me to these groups. I think it was more the freedom and the emphasis on a real spiritual life. Growing up Presbyterian, I was ready for a change that has some energy and enthusiasm. Pentecostal and Charismatic groups provided that.
The biggest reason the celebration of Pentecost means so much to me, is that 10 years ago this weekend I was chrismated into the Orthodox church. My 5 children were all baptized and chrismated also, and a few month later my wife was received into the Orthodox faith. It wasn't planned to be that way, but how ironic that a former Assemblies of God Evangelical would be received into Orthodoxy on Pentecost Sunday.
Two years ago, I celebrated Pentecost on Kodiak Island in Alaska, at the Cathedral where the relics of St. Herman of Alaska remain. I was there on a missions trip to St. Hermans seminary. I don't think I'll ever forget the 2 hour vigil for the feast, realizing I'm standing in the same place where one of the greatest missionaries ever ministered. St. Herman travelled thousands of miles with a few other young monks to bring Orthodoxy to the native Americans. Instead of siding with the Russian fur traders who brought them over and thought they would help tame the natives, Herman and his peers actually sided with the natives against the oppresion they were facing. I'm sure this act of justice and kindness spoke more to them than all the words the missionaries delivered. For this, he was exiled to an island, and to this day the heritage of Orthodox Alaska remains. His relics and the huge, weighty cross he wore hidden under his cassock were in view. It was a powerful Pentecost indeed.
Pentecost however is not just a remembrance of past history. Merton puts it this way: "Man, the microcosm, the heart of the universe, is the one who is called to bring about the fusion of the cosmic and historic process in the final invocation of God's wisdom and love. In the name of Christ and by his power, man has a work to accomplish-to offer the cosmos to the Father, by the power of the Spirit, in the glory of the Word. Our life is a powerful Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit, ever active in us, seeks to reach through our inspired hands and tongues into the very heart of the material world ."
What an awesome, powerful thought. What purpose that brings to our lives. Whether we are called to be missionaries as St. Herman, to live a life of social justice, to give, to love, to pray, or to simple obscurity, our lives can be a powerful demonstration and means of bringing life to the world.
posted by Jeff at
10:28 AM
