First Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Our first reading is the story of the Spirit’s manifestation
on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost was a
major Jewish festival which occurred 50 days after Passover. It is also known as the Feast of Weeks or
Shavuot. The Holy Spirit’s falling on everyone is a different phenomenon than
the Spirit’s falling on individuals in the Hebrew Scriptures (and usually for a
set period of time). Peter’s speech includes an extended quote from the prophet
Joel (2:28-32).
1 When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place. 2 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. 3
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue
rested on each of them. 4 All of
them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as
the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now
there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was
bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of
each. 7Amazed and astonished, they
asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in
our own native language? 9 Parthians,
Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both
Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and
Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to
one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But
others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14 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. 15
Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine
o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this
is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘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. 18 Even
upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy. 19 And I
will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and
fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun
shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the
Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
Or this
First Reading: Numbers 11:24-30
Wandering in the wilderness after the escape from Egypt, the
people begin to complain. They are given the gift of manna, but it is not
enough. They want meat, and Moses complains to God about the burden of
leadership, which he alone bears. God’s answer is to create a larger circle of responsibility,
seventy elders who are given a share of the spirit that rests on Moses. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s Spirit is
given only to certain people and for certain tasks. The prophesying by the two
in the camp is troubling to Moses’ aides, but he is simply relieved to have
help and utters the desire that all God’s people shared this spirit.
11:24 Moses went out and told the
people the words of the Lord; and
he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. 25 Then the Lord
came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was
on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them,
they prophesied. But they did not do so again. 26
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named
Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but
they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad
and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And
Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My
lord Moses, stop them!” 29 But
Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that
the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
30 And Moses and the elders of
Israel returned to the camp.
Psalm 104:25-35, 37b
Psalm 104 as a whole is a hymn to God as creator and
sustainer of all life. Our portion today concludes the psalm with a reference to
God’s taming of the sea (seen by ancient peoples as the source of chaos
represented here by the sea monster “Leviathan,” which is God’s plaything). It
also includes a reference to the Spirit of God.
“Breath” in verse 30 and “Spirit” in verse 31 are the same Hebrew word ruaḥ.
25 O
Lord, how manifold are your works!
*
in
wisdom you have made them all;
the
earth is full of your creatures.
26 Yonder
is the great and wide sea
with
its living things too many to number, *
creatures
both small and great.
27 There
move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, *
which
you have made for the sport of it.
28 All
of them look to you *
to
give them their food in due season.
29 You
give it to them; they gather it; *
you
open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
30 You
hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you
take away their breath,
and
they die and return to their dust.
31 You
send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
and
so you renew the face of the earth.
32 May
the glory of the Lord endure for
ever; *
may
the Lord rejoice in all his works.
33 He
looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he
touches the mountains and they smoke.
34 I
will sing to the Lord as long as I
live; *
I
will praise my God while I have my being.
35 May
these words of mine please him; *
Second Reading: 1
Corinthians 12:3b-13
Paul has begun chapter 12 introducing
some teaching about “spiritual gifts.” There clearly was a problem with the
Corinthian community about the nature of these gifts, and whether or not there
was a hierarchy of gifts (and, therefore, of the people who had them). Paul is
adamant that all are given gifts by the same Spirit and for the purpose of
building up the church, which is one body. He recalls their baptisms, which
erased the distinctions between them.
12:3b No one can say “Jesus is Lord”
except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now
there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but
it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 \ To each is given the manifestation of
the Spirit for the common good. 8 To
one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the
utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to
another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the
discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11 All
these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one
individually just as the Spirit chooses. 12 For
just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or
Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21 (see above)
Gospel Reading: John
7:37-39
Jesus is in Jerusalem
with his disciples for the autumn Feast of Booths (Sukkot),
commemorating the wandering in the wilderness. Part of this week-long festival
was the carrying of water from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple, a remembrance
of the water that flowed from the rock (Numbers 20:2-13). Jesus uses that image
to proclaim himself as that very water, living and giving life. The quote in
verse 38 has an unknown origin (there is a general sense of it in Isaiah 44:3,
58:11, and Proverbs 18:4).
7:37 On the last day of the
festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let
anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and
let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the
believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which
believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus
was not yet glorified.
Or this
Gospel Reading: John
20:19-23
John’s version of the
gift of the Holy Spirit is very different from Luke’s in the Acts of the
Apostles. It happens on Easter evening, in the context of Jesus’ first
appearance to his disciples. He comes in peace to those who had abandoned him,
and gives them a gift in a way that is supposed to remind us of Genesis 1:1-2
when God’s breath first calls the creation into being (remembering that
“breath,” “wind,” and “spirit” are the same word in Hebrew). He also leaves
them with the power of forgiveness. The power to “retain” may not be so much a
power as a warning. Withholding forgiveness is a serious matter given the
imperative of the Gospel to forgive.
20:19 When it was evening on that
day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples
had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After
he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus
said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send
you.” 22 When he had said this, he
breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The Scripture quotations (except for
the psalm) are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are
used by permission. All rights
reserved. The Collect of the Day and the
Psalm translation are from The Book of
Common Prayer. Commentaries are copyright
© 2017 Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843. www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights
reserved. Permission is given to copy for congregational use with this
attribution.
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