The Pentecost reading we heard first today describes something that sounds hard to believe in, It is the Holy Spirit finally arriving as Jesus said it would and what it really is, is a picture of real liberation. First it seems to bring an enormous release of energy. These disciples have been locked in a room, puzzled about what is next, maybe just a little the way we’ve been locked up for more than a year, but all of a sudden they feel a tremendous readiness to get out of there. And when they do, there are suddenly no barriers of communication between them and total strangers, they find words to say, and people can nod in understanding hearing them. And best of all, maybe, with this Holy Spirit there’s also a release of gifts, suddenly these disciples all find that they have been given by God something specific to do, each one with a strength that perhaps the others don’t have, but all acting together to bring about what God wants, instinctively drawn to the place where they can use their gifts. And this is all happening for one reason, because what God wants is this: for the Spirit to come into the world in order to change it, and to come into the church in order to make it new.
What does this all mean for us? I think all of us wonder if we could ever feel empowered by God in this way, and if God still has things like this in mind for a church that often doesn’t have seem to have much confidence in new things. Pope Francis likes to say that the secret to our future as Catholics is that we are to become a missionary church, and I think when we hear that phrase the temptation is for our shoulders to slump, because we immediately picture it meaning that we are required that we go around door to door trying to convince total strangers to come to things here in our building. And that just isn’t what we want to picture ourselves doing.
But instead of that image, which we should probably put out of our minds, what I think he is trying to convince us with the words “missionary church” is that we can be a church that is totally outward looking, a church that genuinely sees that God shows no partiality, that everyone is our business, that what happens to people who are strangers to us is our business, that everyone is equally in need of God, and in need of care and protection, and need people to pray for them and stand up for them. It’s not so much about getting people to come into our building as it is seeing the church encompassing the world outside of this building. People are hungry for the love of Christ, not to have it preached at them but to see it in real life, to see it out there bringing generosity and justice, to see Christians giving protection and help to people who are powerless no matter who they are.
God knows that making that a reality in the world is not easy for people, that most of us feel like we aren’t very qualified to be Christ’s presence, we don’t know what we could do for God that would be up to some kind of Pentecost standard. But that is why the Spirit is there to give us some power that is not ours, maybe not amazing power, maybe it’s just a little courage, courage to forget about all our imperfections for once, and to take a risk that God is still trying to give the world what it needs, and what it needs is people who let the Spirit take them over, at least when it comes to making love active in this world: doing the work of reconciling people, teaching them, seeing that they are treated decently, bringing people together.
It can take a while for us to process this idea, that the Holy Spirit can direct us towards something that has to be done. And it does take a while to realize which of these specific gifts might be ours, the one we as individuals are now meant to move on to. But what doesn’t take a while, apparently, is for God to make it happen once we are willing. That can happen anytime, even today.