The Light of the Spirit
Fr. George Smiga
May 23-24, 2010
Acts 2:1-11
It is impossible for us to conceive of an adequate idea of God. God is so much greater than us and so different from us that we can never completely understand God. In fact we can only approach an understanding of God by using images that try to capture at least an aspect of who God is and who God is for us. This is nowhere more true than in our efforts to describe God the Holy Spirit. There are a variety of images in our tradition which point to an aspect of who the Spirit is. We see one in today’s first reading where the Spirit comes upon the disciples as tongues of fire.
What can fire tell us about the Holy Spirit? Again, there are many aspects of fire. But today I want to reflect upon the quality of fire which is light. The Spirit of God is given to each one of us to be light for others and light for the world.
An American traveler was visiting Switzerland and he spent one evening with a Swiss family in a remote mountain village. After dinner the family informed him that they were going to church for an evening prayer and invited him to go along. He did. They walked through the city to the parish church which was an old but beautiful building on a hill overlooking the town. They arrived there around twilight. As the visitor looked at the church he noticed it was without any modern amenities. It had no electricity, and therefore no lights. He began to wonder what would happen as night fell. The family with whom he had come had brought a lantern, but one lantern would certainly not be enough to light the church. But as the waited for the service to begin, the visitor looked through the window of the church. He saw lights coming from the houses and the hills all around the village, like so many fireflies at dusk. Each family coming to church was bearing a lantern. When all the families arrived at the church building, the church was filled with light. They prayed evening prayer together. By the time the prayer was over, it was completely dark. The visitor watched as the lights of each of those individual families went forth from the church, back into the town and the surrounding hillside. His experience of that evening prayer service is a wonderful image of the light of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that each one of us has been given the Spirit of God as a flame within us, a flame that gives light. But believers understand that they have to regularly come together so that that light can be brighter and clearer. This is why we gather in this church regularly to join together in worship of God. When we come here the light of our faith becomes amplified and strong. Those who come whose light is dim are encouraged by the light of others. Those who experience loss can find comfort here. Those who carry hurts can open themselves to healing. Those who struggle with sickness can regenerate hope. We come together carrying individually the light of the Spirit. But in this place our light is revitalized. We find our faith strengthened in the presence of one another because our individual lights have been made one.
But the purpose of our coming together is more than just our own strengthening and comfort. Because the mission of the church, our coming together equips us to go forth from this place renewed, bringing the light of Christ to others. We go forth bringing the light of the Spirit into our homes, into our workplaces, into our relationships. We come together to be strengthened. We disperse to bring the light of Christ to every aspect of our society. It is not by chance that today’s feast of Pentecost, which is the feast of the Holy Spirit, is also called the birthday of the church. The Spirit and the church work together to fulfill Christ’s mission and Christ’s Gospel.
We gather together as a church to renew ourselves and to strengthen our light. We go forth to bear that light to others. We gather in this place so that we might recognize the light of the Spirit within us. We disperse from this place so that the light of the Spirit can transform the world.
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