Empowered

“And they were filled with the Holy Spirit”

Prayer Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the

promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching

of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who

lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Scripture When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And

suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the

entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a

tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak

in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this

sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the

native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are

speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and

Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors

from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear

them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one

another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and

all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are

not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was

spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and

your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those

days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the

heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun

shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great

and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' "

Acts 2:1-21

Feast of Pentecost

This Sunday Christians will celebrate Pentecost, the historic giving of the Holy Spirit to all

believers in Jesus Christ and thus the launching of the Church’s mission to all nations.

Before it was the name of a Christian holiday, Pentecost (Hebrew Shavuot) was celebrated

annually by the Jewish people in honor of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Jews still

celebrate it today, fifty days after Passover—hence the name Pentecost (“pente” = five).

(Appropriately, Christian Pentecost occurs fifty days after Easter.) Because of the importance of

the feast, ancient Jews traveled from all over the known world to their religious capital,

Jerusalem, for the occasion, and that’s what we see in Acts 2—a multiregional, multilinguistic

gathering.

That was when it happenens: The Spirit of God comes on the scene in a torrent of power. Acts

2:2 describes his entrance as “violent” (NIV, NASB), “roaring” (NLT), “impetuous” (DBY)—“a

mighty rushing wind” (ESV), or “a mighty windstorm” (NLT). He fills the disciples, causing

them to preach in languages that are not their own. Hearing their native tongues, various people

from the crowd draw closer to the source, marveling at how these Galileans could speak so

articulately in languages beyond Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. This is only the first of the many

mighty works the Spirit-empowered apostles would accomplish on God’s behalf in the early

church age.

Reflection

1. QUOTES TO PONDER:

“Bethlehem was God with us, Calvary was God for us, and Pentecost is God in us.”

— Robert Baer

“Without Pentecost the Christ-event - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - remains

imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. The Spirit of

Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now.”

--Henri Nouwen

“Christians have no business thinking that the good life consists mainly in not doing bad

things. We have no business thinking that to do evil in this world you have to be a Bengal

tiger, when, in fact, it is enough to be a tame tabby—a nice person but not a good one. In

short, Pentecost makes it clear that nothing is so fatal to Christianity as indifference.”

--William Sloane Coffin

2. POEMS:

“Pentecostal Hour” by Mark DeBolt

No zephyr soft

but cyclone strong

bore thoughts aloft

in windy song.

No flicker mild

but flames of red

danced hot and wild

upon each head.

And so fierce was

our thundering word

in languages

of all who heard,

all knew it meant

the Spirit’s power.

This was our Pent-

ecostal hour.

“Pentecost Villanellette” by Mark DeBolt

Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came

to the disciples gathered in a room,

but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

A cyclone roared the ineffable name

as fire on each blushing brow did bloom.

Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came

to give sight to the blind and heal the lame

and raise the dead and dispel error’s gloom,

but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

The Breath of God is anything but tame.

Who dally with it dally with their doom.

Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came,

but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

These poems are published in For the Mystic Harmony: Collected Poems 1997–2011 by Mark

DeBolt.. DeBolt’s two poems above emphasize the wildness of the Spirit that manifested at the

church’s first Pentecost—the enormous sound and sweep of his arrival. Three thousand-plus

people, Luke tells us, came under his influence that day! He came not as a soft little breeze or

puff of air, but as a cyclone; not as a quaint little flickering glow, but as a full-out blaze, more

like a bonfire than a burning candlewick. The disciples’ words were “fierce” and “thundering” in

equal measure, expositing the Hebrew scriptures and proclaiming Jesus to be the risen, reigning

Christ. It’s purposefully ironic how the topic of these two poems—the unrestricted Spirit—is at

odds with their restrictive forms, but the juxtaposition of form and content works so well.

Impressively, DeBolt achieves a high level of fluidity, due in part to his use of enjambment (the

continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line or stanza).

Other poems:

“A Prayer to the Holy Spirit” by Christina Rossetti

‘”Our Mother Tongue is Love: A Sonnet for Pentecost” by Malcolm Guite

3. SONG:

“Come, Holy Ghost,” arranged and performed by Nichlas Schaal and friends: The ninth-

century Latin invocation “Veni Creator Spiritus,” attributed to Rabanus Maurus, has been

translated into English more than fifty times since the English Reformation, under such titles

as “Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire” and “Creator Spirit, by whose aid.” Originally seven

verses sung in Gregorian chant, the hymn is usually condensed to four verses in modern

hymnals and paired with one of three tunes. This super-fun arrangement by the Schaals, so full

of joy (and “la-da-da-das”!), uses a nineteenth-century translation by Edward Caswell and

tune by Louis Lambillotte. I’ve been listening to it on repeat all week as I’ve been gearing up

for Pentecost.

“Abbeville” (Come, Holy Spirit, Come) | Words by Benjamin Beddome (published

posthumously in 1818) | American folk tune from The Sacred Harp, arr. Elisha J. King (1844)

| Performed by Marsha Genensky of Anonymous 4. Anonymous 4’s a cappella version of

“Abbeville” is hauntingly beautiful, but another nice version is the Wilder Adkins–Gabrielle

Jones duet with acoustic guitar accompaniment.

“Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God” | Words by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. Performed

by Keith and Kristen Getty with Gabriel’s Oboe. ““Holy Spirit” is the final hymn Getty and

Townend wrote as part of the ‘Apostle’s Creed’ album they created in 2005. Intended to

function as a sung prayer about the Holy Spirit’s renewing power the hymn is divided into

three verses. The first expresses a prayer for inward change, asking the Holy Spirit to

transform us from the core of our being. Verse two petitions the Spirit to abide in us so we’re

able to bountifully bear His fruit, such as the kindness and gentleness described so beautifully

in Galatians 5:22-23. Closing this verse is a prayer “to show Christ in all I do.” Verse three is

a more expansive prayer for the church. Throughout the New Testament, Getty and Townsend

note, evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power in someone’s life was marked by two characteristics

— Christ is magnified, and the individual is led on a path of sacrifice. Only through

experiencing sacrifice are we unified as the body of Christ. Only through reaching the end of

ourselves can we achieve a vibrant Christian witness that everyone on the outside can see as

different.”

“Veni sanctus spiritus” Ancient Latin words. Performed by the Taizé Community in France.

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Protestant monastic order that invites people of different

Christian faiths to worship together. They are well known for their contemplative hymns in many

languages. (http://www.taize.fr/en)

“Spirit Of Heaven (Christ In Me)” | Words by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. Performed by

Stuart Townend. "Spirit of Heaven (Christ In Me)" is another song on the Holy Spirit fitting

for Pentecost.

4. ART:

Ascension and Pentecost relief panel in the Spanish monastery cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos (c1000 AD)

Salerno ivory - Pentecost - The holy spirit descending on the twelve apostles (c 1100 AD)

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Pentecost (1308-11)

Medieval manuscript, artist unknown

In the account of Pentecost in the book

of Acts, the Virgin Mary is not

mentioned, nor any women or men, save

for the eleven disciples, when the Holy

Spirit descended. Yet, beginning in the

early Middle Ages in the West,

depictions of Pentecost often depict

Mary as being not only present but at

the center of the disciples (as in

Duccio’s work above). Sometimes too

Paul is included. This suggests that the

artists understood the gifting of Holy

Spirit transcended those who were

immediately present on that first

Pentecost.

Pentecost, from the Benedictional of Archbishop Robert, New Minster, Winchester, ca. 980

Pentecost. Illumination from a German missal, c1200-1230

Pentecost from the “Black Book of Hours,” Bruges, 1460-1475

Gustave Doré (1832-1883), Descent of the Spirit, woodcut

Estella Louisa Canzion (1887-1964, British), Pentecost (1936)

Neo-Coptic Icon of the Pentecost Feast

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, “El Greco” (1541 – 1614) , Pentecost (c. 1596)

Coptic (Egyptian) painting of the Pentecost in icon style, artist unknown

Alexander Smirnov, Descent of the Holy Spirit

Michael Franke, “Pentecost,” part of his Five Glorious Mysteries—Rosary series, in

Marienpark Prayer Center , Kirchstrasse in Heede, Germany. Note the coming of eth

Spirit (center) leads to the going out of the apostle(s) (left). This is similar to what is

depicted below.

John Armstrong (1937-, British), Pentecost

Marianne Gonzales Sims, I Will Pour Out My

Spirit On All My People (2013)

Alexander Smirnov (Russian, 21st century), Descent of the Holy Spirit

Abstract Depictions of Pentecost

William Congdon (American, 1912–1998), Pentecost 2, ca. 1962 In this painting, the aggressive, untidy brushwork captures the spirit of Pentecost. Here, an explosion of fiery color upstages the disciples, who stand on either side and receive its impact.

Hyatt Moore, Pentecost In this piece by contemporary artist Moore, the coming of the Holy Spirit is suggested

by the contrasting golds and reds in the shape of a bird at flight.

Linda McCray, “Passion to Pentecost” tryptich (2008)

Lia Melia (British 21st Cent), Pentecost

In this piece the artist uses browns dark red hues, colors

suggestive of dried blood more than fire, to depict the vague

form of a bird. One is reminded of the phoenix, a legendary bird of fire that lived for a hundred years, died, and was reborn from its ashes. As the Holy

Spirit is known for bringing new life, it is an apt reference.

Liturgical Installations

St. James Cathedral, Seattle, Washington

Juanita Yoder, "Easter and Pentecost" at For Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, Potomac,

Maryland, 2001

Steve Lucke’s final project as an art teacher took three years to complete with the help of his students. The “Peace of the Holy Spirit” sculpture that he designed was displayed in St. Joseph (Davenport) Parish’s gathering space through Pentecost (2017). The sculpture reflects a challenge to students to use their hearts, hands, minds and souls to accomplish what they can and want to do, he added. Inspiration for the sculpture came from reading a story about Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who at age 2 was inflicted with radiation poisoning from the blast of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. In 1955, at age 12, she developed leukemia. While hospitalized, she began making paper cranes through her knowledge of the art of origami. According to Japanese legend, cranes were thought to live 1,000 years, and a person’s wishes would come true with the creation of 1,000 paper cranes. “Sadako wished to recover from her illness and for all people to live in peace. She died later that year despite completing over 1,000 cranes. “Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit’s decent on the apostles and the presentation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to

them. One of those fruits is peace,” Lucke said. “We felt it very fitting that our sculpture, which is sunburst from the bottom up with red, orange, yellow and white (representing tongues of fire that appeared above the disciples) be presented on this holy Sunday of Pentecost.”

Lello Scorzelli (1921-1997), Pentecost

Sadao Watanabe (Japanese, 1913–1996), Pentecost, 1975.

Pentecost Art from Asia

Since Pentecost, the Spirit has been at work in the dissemination of the good news, breathing life

into cultures all over the world and thereby building up an incredibly diverse body of Christ. The

arts are one expression of this diversity. Just as at Pentecost, when Parthians, Medes, Elamites

and others heard the Gospel message, “every man in his own tongue wherein he was born,” the

Chinese and Japanese and Indians, when the message came to them, have expressed

Christianity’s universal language, each with his own brush.1 For when the Spirit of God descends

upon any people, new forms of beauty appear, new artistic gifts are revealed, adding another

testimony to the universality of the Christian faith.

Below is a sampling of Asian art on the theme of Pentecost. Some works were made using

traditional art forms or techniques—Chinese papercutting, Japanese flower arranging (ikebana)

or stencil printing (kappazuri), Indian cloth dyeing (batik)—while other artists have chosen to

work in oils and acrylics. Some depict native people and settings—for example, Thai dancers

wrapped in sabai—while others prefer ethnic and geographic ambiguity. There’s no single style

that epitomizes the art of any country.

1 In 1975 Japanese theologian and arts advocate Masao Takenaka published the heavily illustrated book Christian

Art in Asia (1975), highlighting the robust variety being produced on the continent. Three years later the Asian

Christian Art Association was founded to encourage the exchange of ideas between Asian artists and theologians.

Their magazine, Image (not to be confused with the Seattle-based quarterly), has showcased local talents even

further. Dozens more books have been published in English on individual Asian artists, countries, and the Asian

Christian art movement in general. For the latter, see the beautifully designed The Christian Story: Five Asian

Artists Today, plus The Bible Through Asian Eyes.

Jyoti Sahi (Indian, 1944–), Pentecost, 1983. Detail of a Life of Christ mural painting made for the Holy Cross Brothers, Katpadi, Karnakata, India.

.

Undated, untitled painting by Kim Young Gil (Korean, 1940–2008).

Gako Ota (Japanese, ?–1972), Pentecost

The untitled painting (above)by Korean artist Kim Young Gil, could be interpreted as a Pentecost image, but it also references the episode in John 20:22, in which a few weeks before Pentecost Jesus breathes on the disciples, telling them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Narratively, this episode is a little confusing, because Acts suggests that the Holy Spirit didn’t come until Pentecost. Most theologians believe Jesus’s words and action in this passage to be a pledge of what he would soon be doing at Pentecost—that the Holy Spirit wasn’t actually received at this time but was only promised and symbolized. Others say that the Holy Spirit became present here in a more limited way, much as he had in the lives of earlier prophets. Gil’s painting draws on imagery from both this “pre-Pentecost” and Pentecost itself, as well as from Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of dry bones. The passages are easily conflated because their concept is the same: breath/wind/Spirit as an animating force for the church, for the new creation.

Hari Pentakosta (Indonesian), Pentecost, 1992

The shape of the Pentecostal flames echoes the shape of the hands that are raised as if in answer to a call—

appropriate for the missional thrust of Pentecost

He Qi (Chinese, 1950–), Holy Spirit Coming, 1998

Sawai Chinnawong (Thai, 1959–), Pentecost, 1997