External and Internal Signs of the Descent of the Holy Spirit
Pentecost Sunday
Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52; 8,12
On the Nativity of Christ, we celebrate the coming of the Son of God to earth. On the day of Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, and at the same time, the consecration of the Church of Christ for the salvation of all people.
Jesus Christ, before His Ascension, instructed His disciples, the apostles, to go to Jerusalem and wait in prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit. In The Gospel of Luke, we read:
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)
In the Acts of the Holy Apostles, before His Ascension, Christ gave the following instruction to His closest disciples:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1,8)
Every day the apostles were in prayer, days passed by, and on the 10th day, Sunday, a sudden, violent storm, wind shook everything to its foundations, tongues of fire appeared over each of the apostles, and they were filled with new, unprecedented power -- the grace of God, fearlessness, and wisdom in preaching the teaching of Christ. (Acts 2:1-4)
We should remember: The Holy Spirit came when they were gathered together as a church, when they were in prayer and expecting the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Wind and fire are outward symbols, signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The wind is strong, but invisible... He is strong, powerful, but invisible. The Holy Spirit can raise a person from the heaviest, lowest spiritual fall to the height of renewal and sanctification in God.
Fire is one of the symbols:
а) Fire melts all metals, with the help of fire, purifies ore, metals, and they become usable, suitable for making an infinite number of different things.
The Holy Spirit cleanses us from sin, purifies our souls, and makes them fit to do good.
b)Fire gives light, which illuminates our way and makes everything in the darkness visible.
The Holy Spirit illuminates the way to Christ, who is the “Light of the world” (John 8:12), the “road” we are to follow toward salvation.
c) Fire provides warmth....
The Holy Spirit warms our hearts with love for God and for our neighbour, giving a sense of inner warmth from that love for God and neighbour.
Consequences of the coming of the Holy Spirit: A sudden spiritual rebirth of Christ's disciples—they became courageous and fearless. In the same way, all languages were sanctified, for the apostles began to speak in different tongues. They had been hiding behind closed doors, and now they came out fearless, preaching and reproaching the Jewish leaders and Pharisees.
Christ, while on earth, created the Church from His followers, but it did not yet have life in itself. When the Lord sent the Holy Spirit from the Father, it was sanctified, became alive and unconquerable, and became the Body of Christ. Therefore, the coming of the Holy Spirit is the spiritual birth of the Church of Christ.
But Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit, is not only a past event, but also a present one, for the Holy Spirit descends even now. He is among us. He gives life to the Church. He renews us, through Him all the Sacraments are performed, He directs the Church in the Councils, and He provides guidance for the life of the Church.
Sometimes children ask their mother:
“Mom, where is God?”
Where is our God? – We pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven…”, meaning the Heavenly Father is in Heaven; Jesus Christ – “ascended and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19)
And where is the Holy Spirit? He is everywhere, He “fills all things and fills everything”...
The Apostle Paul tells us:
“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
When performing the Sacrament of Chrismation, the priest says:
“The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
That being so, each of us has the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us to some extent. And at the beginning (or before the beginning) of the Divine Service, the priest, reading a prayer to the Holy Spirit, asks:
“Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from every impurity”.
Thus, the grace of the Holy Spirit is constantly in us and among us, so we always feel not only human strength, but also the power and grace of God. Therefore, we should always feel this power of God, be filled with courage in proclaiming and defending the truth of God, as the holy apostles, disciples of Christ, felt it.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
