In the Chaos

Pentecost simply means fifty days after Easter. The story in Acts about the coming of the Holy Spirit was set in the context of a harvest festival, Shavuot, a time of gratitude and thanksgiving. At that time, the poor were also encouraged to collect the remains of the harvest for themselves. We need to hold the origins of our Christian feast in mind as they were formative for the early church and this story.

A way to hear this story is to think about the followers who would gather to talk about Jesus, the impact he had on their lives, and when he would cause something new to occur. If this were a modern animation we would see light bulbs for ideas over their heads and a big amplifier in the room. As it is, we hear about fire and wind. If this sounds somewhat scary and chaotic, it should. These are the signs of upheaval and change. They are also the settings for the immanent presence of the Holy One. Chaos is the origin of new creation. Father Bede Griffiths said,

“The confusions of life are integral to the understanding, for God is not simply in the intelligible world, but God is in the chaos, God is in the darkness, God is in the Mother, God is the chaos.”

For some period of time, followers of Jesus had been waiting, feeling formless, uprooted, without purpose. Suddenly, as they were together, they realized that the presence of the Christ was with them, in them, stirring them from despondency to energetic action. They came to understand that Jesus had not abandoned them but had prepared them to speak the words of justice, of healing, of peace. They were to walk like the poor amongst other poor, gathering the remains of the harvest and putting it to use to feed others, to cry for justice, to rejoice and build anew.

At the crucifixion, they had thought all was lost. At the resurrection, they thought perhaps that Jesus would come and lead them. Now though, after a time of doubt and uncertainty, another dramatic experience had fallen upon them as Christ was realized amongst them. Father Griffiths also said, “ You must go through the sense of darkness, the total emptiness…. You have to be ready to die to let go. Jesus had to go through the darkness, feel forsaken, lose his God. “ (Parabola, vol.44, #1) I am certain that the writer of Acts has a passage from 1 Kings in mind as he wrote this tribute to the renewed commitment of the disciples. “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Similarly, the disciples move from uncertainty about their own roles, to some kind of upheaval, and finally to peace. And the silence following this revelation, must have been thunderous. And then they had to get to work with the mission of Jesus, which was not to build a church, but to create structures to train for justice, to promote acceptance amongst all people, to heal, to foster relationships, to work on Eden.

Just as God spoke to Elijah, and the disciples experienced the Holy Spirit, today we are being asked, “What are you doing here?”