The Feast of Pentecost

Acts, 2:1-11
1 Corinthians, 12:4-13
John, 20: 19-23

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

One of the best parish publications that regularly crosses my desk is a newsletter from S. Stephen's Parish in Providence, Rhode Island. I like it especially because the parish priest, Fr John Alexander, who preached here last year for All Souls, usually has a book review. He recently summarized and recommended Christianity on Trial, which responds to the increasing animosity the Church faces in our society. A lot of shallow and false impressions about the Church have rather set her on her heals, and I think the authors may have a point when they argue that our society's "harsh judgments [against Christianity] have become so commonplace and are asserted so aggressively that they threaten to distort Christians' own view of themselves and their past." ⁽¹⁾

Since God wants us to be faithful and ardent supporters of him and of his mission in the world, we should beware that we don't make the same inaccurate assumptions about the Church as the world does. The Church has acted shamefully in the past, and she will in the future, but most of the virtues of Western civilization are due to Christianity. Unfortunately, that is not what the world thinks. So let's knock down six popular misconceptions, the first half of which I've pulled from Fr Alexander's review of Christianity on Trial.

1. As I grew up, I had several teachers who taught quite explicitly that the Middle Ages were the nadir in the story of human existence because during that period the Church was too influential and too barbaric a force in Western culture. I was taught that the Church held back freedom -- all forms of it: political, economic, intellectual, artistic. Christianity on Trial argues that the Church's emphasis on the equal and infinite value of every human being to God, of God's love for every person regardless of social rank, radically changed society. The authors write, "the Middle Ages were the incubator for representative and constitutional government, based upon the principle that power must have clearly defined limits." ⁽²⁾

2. Christianity does not endorse human bondage. Through the ages, many have found justification of the institution of slavery in scripture, especially in the letters of S. Paul, and have misappropriated these scriptural verses to prop up slavery. Again, the Christian belief that every human being is of equal and infinite value to God undermines slavery. Christianity undermined the ancient world's acceptance of it. Those societies that became Christian gradually liberated themselves from slavery. When Europe's overseas colonies re-instituted slavery, the Church in the Old World was in the vanguard to eradicate it. The most vehement opponents of slavery were usually motivated by their Christian faith. Fr Alexander summarizes, "Were it not for the influence of Christianity, slavery would be much more widespread today than it actually is."

3. Christianity has promoted scientific inquiry. Christianity gave birth to modern science and technology. Since we believe that God created a good world, since we can find evidence of God in the world, we need to embrace and to study the world. The authors ask, "if Christianity is so irredeemably hostile to intellectual inquiry, how is it that modern science sprung from the one civilization on earth grounded in the Christian worldview and habits of mind?" ⁽³⁾ The Church is not perfect. The Church did not handle Galileo and Darwin well, but in the big picture those are aberrations. Indeed, both Galileo and Darwin profited from scientific work accomplished under Church patronage. The West is scientifically and technologically advanced because of our Christian heritage.

4. Closely related to #3, Christianity fosters creativity and intellectual activity. The Church created universities and spurred academic inquiry. The Church inspired and patronized much of the West's great art. Again in the big picture, book burnings and censorship and iconoclasm are aberrations in her history. Christianity teaches that God gave us minds, that they are good, that we should use them in freedom. Most of Christianity is not fundamentalist, not hostile to non-Christian scholarship, not afraid of learning and physical beauty.

5. In the big picture, Christianity has not systematically sought to oppress women. The Church's record has blights - significant blights, but what other major religion so esteems a woman? Other religions, polytheistic religions, have female deities, but S. Mary was a human being, and we hold her as the most important fully human person to have ever existed. Let's apply the question we asked about scientific inquiry to this issue, namely: If Christianity is so irredeemably hostile to women's equality, how is it that the idea of women's equality sprung from the one civilization on earth grounded in the Christian worldview and habits of mind? I'm not arguing that we've arrived on this issue, but I'd like to know what non-Christian culture treats women better?

6. Although there are deviants, Christianity does not encourage fanaticism and sectarianism. We have no religious secrets, and we do not shut our doors to anyone. Jesus calls us to embrace the world and to care for all of its people, regardless of their religion, regardless even of their behavior. Jesus calls us to settle our differences in love, not in violence. Christian martyrs do not seek death. Christian martyrs are not suicides. Christian martyrs do not murder and maim other people. Christian martyrs are attacked, not attackers. Jesus Christ gave his life to every human being out of love for us, not out of anger or hatred.

On another day we can extend the list. For now, we can agree with the authors of Christianity on Trial when they conclude that without the influence of Christianity for the last two thousand years the world "quite probably would have been crueler, poorer and more provincial, as well as less democratic, creative, and informed - in a word, less civilized." ⁽⁴⁾ Our society, however, seems increasingly less willing and able to arrive at that conclusion. It generally sees Christianity as insignificant, or indifferent, or even as a hostile force to civilization.

Fr Alexander notices the irony that "the critics judge Christianity according to standards and values that they have unwittingly inherited from Christian teaching in the first place." ⁽⁵⁾ That irony - that most of the arguments that opponents of Christianity use to criticize the Church are based upon Christian values - that irony should not discourage us. That irony is a great hope for our world. It should encourage us. Christian values appeal to what is best in human beings, the highest, most noble values, and we should be grateful that the world holds us to these because it reveals the world's belief in them and because it makes Christians accountable to them.

Since much of the world implicitly holds many Christian values, there should be a lot more Christians. That's our mission. Everyone needs to be part of the Church, part of a family of Christians. That's why God has given us the Holy Spirit. God gave the Holy Spirit to Mary so that she could bring Jesus into the world. (Lk 1) God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit so that he could begin his ministry. (Lk 3:21-23 & 4:18-19) God gave the disciples the Holy Spirit so that they could continue that ministry and take the gospel to all of the world and be a powerful witness of God's love.

The feast of Pentecost reminds us that God has given every one of us his Holy Spirit to witness to his love and to share his gospel. He does not want us to keep the faith to ourselves or try to protect it, but to give it away. For this purpose, the Holy Spirit has empowered this parish in tremendous ways: in our worship, in our diversity, in our history, in our sacrifice, in our care for one another.

One of the primary works of the Holy Spirit is to unite God's followers. We pray for it every time we conclude morning and evening prayer: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore." It's the conclusion of S. Paul's second letter to the cantankerous Christians at Corinth. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is unity of Christ's followers. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost empowered the disciples to speak in many languages so that they could convey to gospel to all people and so that they could be united to other people because language facilitates communication, and communication facilitates communion. 'Communication' and 'communion' are similar words. That's not a coincidence.

Unity is essential for the mission of the Church, and everyone of us has a God-given responsibility to work for unity - not uniformity, but unity. The Holy Spirit empowers us to focus on our commonalities, not our differences. A church filled with the Holy Spirit draws together a diverse group of people and focuses on our common purpose, on our common hope, on our common life. It focuses on Jesus Christ. When the focus turns to personalities and preferences and tastes, there's trouble. Unity suffers. We're not keeping God and his mission first. The Holy Spirit keeps us focused on his mission, not on human agendas.

In the lesson from Acts we hear not only about the unifying work of the Holy Spirit in giving the disciples incredible language abilities, but also that the Holy Spirit inspired the disciples to talk about the mighty and wonderful works of God, the good things that God has done for us. Besides unity, the other mark of the Holy Spirit we should remember is that he speaks words of encouragement, reminding us of all we have for which to be grateful. The disciples don't bring good news by complaining or by criticizing, but by talking of God's marvelous acts, his goodness and love to them. Paul told the Romans, "We pursue what makes for peace and for the building up of one another." (Rm 14:19) Paul pleads that Christians don't pass judgment on one another, that they don't offend one another. (Rm 14:13) The Holy Spirit helps us to encourage one another, not to discourage; to lift up one another, not to bring us down.

A lot of people don't understand Christianity, and it's our responsibility to help them to appreciate it. That's the mission of the Church, and it's the mission of this parish. That's possible when we allow the Holy Spirit to come and work in us. We see the work of the Holy Spirit when we - the members of the Church - emphasize our commonalities and when we encourage one another and when we remain focused on Jesus Christ. We all need more of that in our lives. It makes us saner, more content, more godly, and it makes everyone much receptive to the gospel.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Quoted by Fr John Alexander, The S. Stephen, May/June 2004: book review of Vincent Carroll and David Shiftlett, Christianity on Trial: Arguments against Anti-Religious Bigotry, Encounter Books (San Francisco, 2002), p. vii.

2. Quoted by Alexander from Carroll and Shiflett, page 20.

3. Quoted by Alexander from Carroll and Shiflett, p. 57.

4. Quoted by Alexander from Carroll and Shiflett, p. x.

5. Alexander.