RUTTER: The Wind and the Whisper

We attend the games where the cheering and clapping rise to fever pitches.

The noise levels are deafening but instead of feeling daunted, we are on our feet with excitement, rooting all the louder for our teams.

Football, baseball or soccer, whatever the sport, we pack the stadiums in hopes of a win.

Win or lose, our adrenaline lasts for a time then recedes until the next game.

I think of the crowd gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost with no real clue about what they were going to experience.

As they did annually, they came in remembrance of Moses receiving the 10 commandments on Mount Sanai.

“Pentecost commemorates ... the covenant of Moses, and as this festival coincided with a time of the wheat harvest, the pageantry of this festival incorporated thanksgiving to God for the fruits of the harvest.” (5-18-18, Father Steve Grunow, May 18, 2018, www.wordonfire.org)

Jews from every nation, travelers from Rome, converts, Cretans and Arabs — all came yearly to celebrate. They spoke their own languages and surely had their own customs yet were united in purpose.

Unlike the crowds at our sports events, they were all on the same team.

We know the disciples were also there. Jesus had filled them with the Holy Spirt and told them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt 28:19)

They were there to share his message of love and salvation to all who would listen and receive his gifts.

Little did the crowd know it would reap the gift of the Holy Spirit, the everlasting fruit of the harvest.

As they were gathered, all of a sudden “... there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were” (Acts 2:3).

While they had no warning and little time to react, they must have felt afraid, alarmed by the noise.

Immediately, there followed this awesome sight that must have left them mute: “... tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 4).

If that were not enough to get their attention, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:3-4).

Where the crowd had come to celebrate an event long since passed, they were now initiated into the fullness of its meaning.

And so, they became co-heirs, disciples filled with the Holy Spirit and sent home to spread God’s message of love to their own.

“The noise was unbelievable, like nothing I’ve ever heard. And then there were these tongues that looked like they were filled with fire dropping down and one landed on me. All of a sudden, I started talking in languages I don’t know and I understood every word I was saying. It was happening to all of us. I will never be the same. None of us will ever be the same.”

I wonder what our families and friends would say if we came home from a trip and shared this experience with them.

Would they laugh at us and say we had too much to drink, feel our foreheads for a temperature or take us seriously?

Would they believe and ask how to receive the Holy Spirit for themselves?

Regardless, our work, our mission continues. Filled with the Holy Spirit, we enthusiastically invite others to share in the love, joy and peace that He offers to all we meet.

Sometimes, we convey our faith through our smiles, by opening a door, listening or meeting a need — sharing whatever gift God has graced us with.

And so I pray: Dear Lord, you may not come to us like the noise of wind or in tongues of fire, but in the quiet whispers that touch our souls. Help us accept your invitation to join the winning team in the only game that matters. Coach us on this path to holiness. Amen!