Brief synopsis of the readings: As happens from time to time we have choices of readings for Pentecost. I’ve chosen, for no particular reason, the Mass during the Day. Last week we read about the choice of Mathias to replace Judas. Here the Holy Spirit descends in a strong driving wind, appearing as tongues of fire over the disciples. “[T]hey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues.” There was a large and diverse crowd of devout Jews who spoke different languages but they all heard the disciples in their own language. John’s Gospel recounts how Jesus appeared to the disciples shortly after his Resurrection. He greeted the disciples and breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Last week I spoke about how the earliest disciples thought Jesus’ return was soon and there wasn’t much point in making long range plans; I also spoke about how we can look at how the early church was being built by their actions. Today we celebrate the last Sunday of Easter and it’s a big cause for celebration.

You see, Pentecost is really a sort of graduation. The students are becoming the teachers. Not just the original 12 Apostles but everyone gathered. And importantly, these new teachers are not left to their own devices and that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. I’ve spoken before about the transformation of Jesus’ closest disciples who abandoned him at the cross but came into the own in the Acts of the Apostles. But even with that the idea of watching Jesus ascend into Heaven without knowing what was next would have frighted them. But Jesus didn’t say: “I’m out of here and you’re on your own. Good luck.”

And right away they see fire over their heads find they are able to understand and speak numerous languages. This is as strong an indication as I’ve seen that this new movement will go beyond their little community. The audience were all Jews but they were Jews from different places.

Even more than speaking other languages they are then told they have the ability to grant or withhold forgiveness of sins. They must have been struck by this awesome power. Jesus often went astray of the Pharisees because they believed only God could forgive sins, but here that power is granted to everyone. Catholics of previous generations were sometimes told that the power to forgive sins was reserved to the priest and this was the origin of the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) but that’s clearly not true. Taking nothing away from the sacrament of reconciliation it’s not the only way sins are forgiven. And as I’ve said before, we need the power to forgive because otherwise we can’t heal from the ordinary and extraordinary wounds we cause to ourselves and each other. No community in the long run can survive without it.

And while we’re on the subject of “long run” it’s worth speaking about how long the church will go on. The earliest Christians felt Jesus’ return was soon and to be frank that feeling that we’re in the “end days” has never completely left us. There is reason to believe that even Paul held this as we can see in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 where he states that he will still be alive on Jesus’ return.

Many who lived in Europe in the late 900s believed that the world would end in the year 1000. In modern times that has only increased. In the 1840s a minister named William Miller became obsessed with the idea of Christ’s Second Coming; after years of study he predicted the end of the world wold happen between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When his followers saw they were still there on March 22, 1844 they called it the “Great Disappointment.” I lived in Memphis in 1994 and applied for a driver’s license that would expire in the year 2000. The DMV employee told me not to worry about renewing the license as “that’s when Jesus is coming back.”

Even today large number of Christians believe that we are in the “end times.” Their misreading of apocalyptic books like Daniel and Revelation has led to a cottage industry in books, movies and tourists draws. Bumper stickers proclaim “At the Rapture This Car Will Be Unoccupied.” But how much of this is a human construct? How much of this comes from the belief that at some point God will “rapture” all the good people into Heaven while all the rest are subject to suffering? How much of this is based on a wish to not have to suffer death?

I suggest a great deal of it is. We believe that God is eternal and if we love his world as much as he does perhaps we are meant to go on forever. We believe that Jesus’ Resurrection makes possible our own and we believe we will live forever, so why can’t the world? This morning I had a conversation with a woman who was holding her 2 month old baby and we were marveling at the miracle of new life. Does the reality of new children coming into our world need to stop if they no longer have a world to come into?

I don’t think so. God made it pretty clear in Genesis that all that he creates is good. OK, maybe this world will end and God will continue to create new life in Heaven, but that just seem right. The time between our birth and our death affords us the ability to learn how to love, how to seek justice, how to find beauty in seemingly difficult places. To be Christian requires us to see creation as good, even if it continually needs healing and redemption.

As many of you know my father in law died last week at the tender age of 105. I treasure my time with him for many reasons but among them I found him to be someone who could do just that. Sixteen months before his death he broke his hip and spent that time bedbound, needing help with nearly everything. He often wondered why he was still here but he not only found joy in his situation, he was able to spread that joy to all those who cared for him. The day he died I found myself consoling many of the people who cared for him. I’m grateful for the eternal life he now enjoys but I’m also grateful for the lessons he learned and taught during this life.

With a nod to Star Wars, the Holy Spirit was strong with this one.