“With…Rather than From”

June 8, 2025

Acts 2:1–4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

John 14:15–16

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ***

Seven years ago this week I had the first scans of my body and brain after eleven weeks of treatment for the stage 4 cancer which had been diagnosed in March 2018. The cancer had spread from a lung to several other organs and the brain.

Entering the hospital for those June scans was an anxious moment. When it was time to review the scans with the oncologist, we both were surprised that there were no signs of any tumors. The oncologist exclaimed, “This gives me chills.” It appeared to be a miracle of pharmacological dimensions.

The Day of Pentecost must have been marked by surprise and chills, too. Today, the Christian church around world celebrates Pentecost. The word “Pentecost” originates from the Greek word “pentekoste,” meaning “fiftieth” referring the 50th day after Easter when the Spirit was sent to people following Jesus’ ascension.

As I thought about the Spirit back seven years ago, I realized it was about so much more than a miracle in life. As you read the biblical account, the Spirit does not remove challenges and hardships, but rather equips them to persevere, even flourish, amid them.

In the Gospel of John, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples were hiding in a room out of fear that those who crucified Jesus might come after them. Miraculously, Jesus appears and despite their fears, breathes on them the Holy Spirit. He does not take them away from danger or fortify the room in which they were hiding. Instead, he sends them out into the dangerous world (Jn 20:21), and then He gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit to create in them the courage they would need to follow Jesus’ command. A miracle of faith!

Later, the Spirit is given to enable people to look beyond their individual needs, hopes, or fears and equip them with distinct gifts, all in order to work together for the “common good.” “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (I Corinthians 12:7).

I do not believe the Spirit is a superhero sent to rescue us. The tumors that had been eliminated in 2018 did come back. But I now know clearly that the Spirit equips, encourages, and stays with us, and in doing so, for the sake of the common good, compels us to rise to meet the needs of others with equal measures of tenacity, competence, and courage.

I know people who hope that the Spirit will plain save them, or at least to take them away from whatever challenges seem to threaten to overwhelm in the moment. But the operation of the Spirit is to be “with” rather than “from” — as in being “with us” during challenges rather than “taking those challenges away from us.”

So, what does the Spirit do and how do miracles go beyond surprising us and granting us the impossible or improbable? That is the real question, isn’t it?

I recognize that while we may often hope that God will remove us from challenging or demanding situations, God instead comes along side us in the presence of the Holy Spirit in order to strengthen and equip us to endure, and even to flourish, amid challenges and difficulties. Why? Perhaps because God may be working miracles through us for the common good to care for the needs of our neighbors, community, and world.

We have a purpose no matter what challenges exist in our lives:

• to care for those around us as God cares for us;

• to make wherever we find ourselves a better place;

• to share God’s love in word and deed that all people may know they are not alone and are indeed loved.

We are here, which is a miracle, and that is, not simply for ourselves.

The Promise of God’s Spirit is not that we will suffer no more difficulty or hardships, nor that God will remove us from challenges. Rather it is that in the Holy Spirit, God comes to be with us, and be for us, and to use all that we have and are for the sake of those around us.

It is an incredible promise when you think of it, and it is a miracle of the highest which deserves to be shared over and over again.

Prayer (From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann, for Pentecost)

So blow this day, wind, blow here and there, power, blow even us, force, Rush us beyond ourselves, Rush us beyond our hopes, Rush us beyond our fears, until we enact your newness in the world. Come holy Spirit, come. Amen