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Thoughts for Pentecost: the significance of the Holy Spirit today

Lynne Baab • Tuesday May 17 2016

Thoughts for Pentecost: the significance of the Holy Spirit today

I was so angry. And it was such an odd thing to get angry about.

The setting was the Friday after Pentecost about a dozen years ago. The church staff was debriefing about the various events that had occurred as a part of our Pentecost celebration. The senior minister asked us for feedback about every aspect of the day, and I told him how upset I was that he had chosen to continue his sermon series in one of the Gospels rather than preach about the Holy Spirit.

Here’s my memory of what I said: “Pentecost is a really important day because the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity most necessary for Christians to understand in these postmodern times. I can’t believe you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to talk about the Holy Spirit! Back in the sixties and seventies, it was really important for Christians to focus on Jesus and his character because Jesus had been neglected for so long, but for our times, the Holy Spirit is central. So we’ve got to take every opportunity to help people understand who the Holy Spirit is and why the Holy Spirit matters!”

As I look back on that day when I spoke with way too much energy, I can see that it was not appropriate to criticize this very competent senior minister for the topic he chose to preach on. Quite apart from that aspect my response, I’ve been pondering if I still believe that the Holy Spirit is the most important person of the Trinity to focus on in our time.

I wrote last year for Pentecost that I have observed that people tend to view the Holy Spirit through the lens of their perception of Jesus. I argued that our view of Jesus – wise guide, lover, healer, one who convicts of sin, or sender into mission – influences our view of the Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus is all these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, but I have observed that each of us tends to focus on one aspect more than others.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ presence with us (John 14:15-19), so it makes total sense that we would perceive the Holy Spirit as very closely related to Jesus. Why then did I feel so strongly a dozen years ago that the Holy Spirit needs to be emphasized in our time? Here’s what I think about that question today:

1. We need to let people inside and outside the church see the authenticity of our faith. We need to live and talk as if God’s presence in our lives matters. And the Holy Spirit is God’s presence with us.

2. We need wisdom and guidance for ministry and mission. In the face of an increasingly secular culture and enormous social and political problems, we need to serve and love and minister in focused and effective ways. Only God, through the Holy Spirit, can guide us into the best ways to do that.

3. We need power. Problems are so complex and multifaceted, and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. We need power from beyond ourselves to address challenges, and that power comes to us through the Holy Spirit.

4. We need love. With people so polarized, with an influx of people from all around the world and with racial tensions escalating, love is more necessary than ever. Jesus’ love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is essential.

The list could go on. I wonder what you would add to it. A dozen years ago, I was thinking mostly about authenticity and power. I see the world now as even more complex than it was then, with even greater needs. Therefore, God’s empowering presence, made possible by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit, is more necessary than ever.

(This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and next week I’ll write about my love for the Trinity. After that, I’m going to start a series on worshipping God as Creator. If you’d like to receive an email when I post on this blog, sign up under “subscribe” in the right hand column.)



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