By: Troy Jacobson (Kairos TEC)
Executive Team Member & Wisconsin State Representative
"There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound." (1 Kings 19:11-12)
What happens next?
Pentecost has always been a challenge for me. When reading the Bible, I see Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, but the result feels ambiguous at best. There is nothing tangible to hold on to. At Christmas, I can relate to holding the baby Jesus as I held my own son. We can touch a cross during Lent. But Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as a wind that “blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” (John 3:8) Even when the Spirit is envisioned as a dove, it resists being held onto, wanting instead to escape from our grasp so it can spread its wings and fly.
But what makes Pentecost the most challenging for me is the shift in focus that happens between Acts 1 and 2. From the beginning of Mark through the Ascension, the story has been about Jesus. Every event, every action, every word fit perfectly into a grand script of the life of Christ. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit, it suddenly becomes our story.
Now it is no longer the time to reflect on His-story (Jesus’s story), nor are we to be stuck in our own history (events that have happened in the past). The Spirit places us squarely in the present. Asking what happens next is the wrong question. Instead, we should be asking, “What is happening right now?” How are we giving praise to God right now? How are we serving God right now? How are we loving our neighbors right now?
Prayer provides guidance for those questions. Through prayer, we encounter and respond to the Holy Spirit in the moment. Sacred silence diminishes the distractions in our minds. Prayers of petition and intercession bring awareness of the needs around us. Gratitude reveals gifts we have to share to meet those needs.
As a Church community, the Holy Spirit sustains us in unique ways through the sacraments so that we can experience those graces with each other and for each other. Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick fulfill our timely needs for nourishment and healing. The other four sacraments give graces to sustain a lifetime of service. The day of a baptism or marriage is filled with fanfare and celebration, but the grace bestowed on that day may not be fully realized until the Spirit is a companion in a moment of suffering or loss.
The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives is a mystery that keeps revealing more about God and how we are to live in response to His call. I can’t say with certainty where God is leading me, or where God is leading you. What I do know is that when I am receptive to the Spirit in my personal and communal prayer life, I am better equipped to respond to God’s will one day at a time.
We often gravitate toward the dramatic manifestations of the Spirit—the fire, the gifts. But we encounter the Holy Spirit most frequently in the ordinary events of life. Are we listening? Like Elijah, the Holy Spirit for us isn’t always in the fire or earthquake, but in the “light silent sound.” (1 Kings 19:12)
