In describing the events of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke stresses community, togetherness and fellowship. On the day of Pentecost, he tells us, the disciples were “altogether in one place,” and they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Whatever happened in that Upper Room, happened to a group, a community, and not a collection of isolated individuals.

One of the first things to happen was the gift of tongues. That attracted others, and before long thousands of people had gathered together. Peter then told them what had happened and urged them to repent and be baptized. About three thousand people accepted Peter’s invitation and “were added that day.”

Luke then goes on to describe how these early Christians lived. “They devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and the life of the community, to the breaking of bread and prayers. . . . All who believed were together and held all things in common. . . . and everyday they devoted themselves to meeting together in the Temple area and the breaking of bread in their homes.”

In today’s second reading from I Corinthians, Paul says essentially the same thing: “It was in one Spirit that all of us, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, were baptized into one Body. All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit.”

Do we twenty-first century Christians of the western world misunderstand just what the first work of the Spirit is? For us, who live in a culture which prizes freedom and personal autonomy, it’s all too easy to see the first work of the Spirit as initiating, sustaining and renewing God’s presence in the lives of individuals. The message of Pentecost, however, is that the Spirit initiates, sustains and renews the shared life of the community, a.k.a. the church.

The grace of Pentecost drives us closer and closer together, and forms us into a church. It’s also a call to love and pray together, to dialogue and assess, and assess constantly, what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and why we’re doing it. At times it also requires compromise, forgiveness, the sharing of burdens and perhaps even a little confrontation.

The early church had more than its share of growth pains, and so have all Christians of all ages. The Spirit gives life. The Spirit forms community. What else would we expect?

Peace,

Father Steve