Pentecost: Power for Witnessing

by Greg Trainor, HSMA Exec. Director

In every place where the Bible records the "great commissioning," Jesus speaks of the power and authority that we are given to fulfill this call (Cf. Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:8). It's reassuring to know that we have not only received the call to spread the Gospel, we also receive (in Baptism) the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us in this great work. Our effectiveness in proclaiming the Gospel will be determined by the extent to which we can surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit.

God never intended for us to preach the Gospel in our own power. This is most clearly seen in the Gospel of Luke. The risen Jesus instructs his disciples, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:46-48). The next verse is very revealing. Jesus promised to send "the promise of my Father" (v.49a): the Holy Spirit. Notice his instruction: "...but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (v.49b).

Keep in mind that Jesus is speaking with his disciples, the ones that he taught over the previous three years. Included in this group were the eleven remaining apostles. These people had undergone the finest formation and instruction that the world has ever known. Their teacher was Jesus of Nazareth, the Alpha and the Omega, the Messiah. And yet, after this time of intensified teaching and ministry, Jesus chose not to send them forth until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. He knew how weak and ineffective they would be working in the power of their flesh.

A Sickle or a Combine?

When you decide to apply yourself to the work of the Kingdom of God, you are faced with a very basic decision. Are you going to do God's work the power of his Spirit or in your own power? Take some good advice from me. I've tried both ways; working in the power of the Holy Spirit is much better.

Jesus likened the work of the Gospel to working in a harvest. Preaching the Gospel in my own power would be like working in a harvest field with only my hands and a sickle. What comes to my mind is the corn harvest that I have seen several times while driving through the Midwest in the fall. I could pull the car over and work for a day using only my hands and a sickle. I could chop down the corn stalks and then remove each ear of corn by hand. After removing the husks by hand, I would twist the ear of corn in my hands to remove the kernels of feed corn. By the end of the day, I would only have a garbage can full of feed corn. I would be exhausted!

This is precisely what it is like to work in the Kingdom of God in my own strength. I quickly become very tired. I cry out to the Lord: "Why am I working so hard and so little is being accomplished? I'm worn out, Lord. Help!" When I find myself feeling like this, it's my cue that I have been working in my own power and not in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Working in the harvest in the power of the Holy Spirit is like the farmer using a combine. His day's work would be measured in railroad cars rather than garbage cans. I have found a much greater productivity in doing the work of the Kingdom when I allow the power of the Holy Spirit to work through me. I have seen more than 1,000 people in one gathering come forward to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior for the first time in their lives when I preached the Gospel. I have seen the power of the Holy Spirit open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and cause the crippled to rise and walk. The results of preaching the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit are so much greater that I would never choose to do God's work in my own power again. God has given us powerful tools to do the work of the Gospel: the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are our "power tools" for building the Kingdom of God. These are the "charisms" that the Holy Spirit brought to the Church on the day of Pentecost.

Peter: Transformed by Pentecost

Consider the disciples: there wasn't much that was exceptional about them in human terms. Even after their encounter with the risen Jesus, Jesus chose not to send them forth until they received the Holy Spirit. They obediently waited for the promise of the Father, gathered in constant prayer while hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Then they heard a noise like a strong and driving wind. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). They rushed into the streets and began "speaking about God's deeds of power" (v. 11). The crowd in the streets wondered why they were so filled with joy. One man suggested, "They are filled with new wine" (Acts 2:13).

The streets of Jerusalem were now packed with people for the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times just more than six weeks before, was now made bold by the Holy Spirit:

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:14-18)

What Joel had prophesied had been fulfilled. No longer would the Holy Spirit only come upon a select few as in the Old Testament. Now every Christian can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Even the common and lowly people can receive the Holy Spirit and prophesy or receive inspired dreams and visions.

Now empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter's preaching was characterized by a new boldness and deeper knowl edge of the scriptures. As a result of Peter's anointed preaching, more than 3,000 people accepted the Gospel and were baptized that day. A short time later, Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate of the temple in Je sus' name. Peter proclaimed Jesus as Messiah and another 2,000 were added to the Church. The power of the Holy Spirit moved so strongly through Peter that it is recorded:

Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Pe ter's shadow might fall on some of them as hecame by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. (Acts 5:14-16)

The transformation of Peter is obvious. The one who was always filled with the right intentions but frequently saying and doing the wrong thing was now transformed into a mighty preacher of the Gospel. For Peter and the other disciples, the Kingdom of God had truly proven to be "not a matter of talk, but of power" (1 Corinthians 4:20 ).

Perhaps you have sensed God's call to evangelize but you feel inadequate for the task. If this is how you feel, you are actually in a very good position. To be an effective witness, you must rely on God's power to work through you. The person who is confident and relies upon their own learning and abilities will be much less effective than the person who relies upon God's grace and power.

I remember the first time that I was to lead the parish prayer meeting. I was at church in the afternoon. I be came worried and began to pour out my heart to the Lord: "Lord, what am I doing? You know that I can't do this!" I heard God's answer clearly: "I know you can't, Greg. But I can. So long as you remember that and rely on me for help, everything will be just fine."

The empowerment of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to proclaim the Gospel. It is comforting to know that we can rely on the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work that God gives us to do. My confidence to answer God's call lies not in my own ability but in God's promise that the Holy Spirit will empower me in his work. I can say like St. Paul: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). It is this underlying trust in the power of the Holy Spirit that should inspire zeal and courage in answering the Lord's call: "...we Christians are called to an apostolic courage based upon trust in the Spirit. He is the principal agent of mission!" (Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Mission of the Redeemer, 30).

A Personal Pentecost

Pray to personally experience the power of Pentecost in your life as St. Peter did in his life. The fullness of God's power resides within you in the person of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to flow forth from within you like a fountain of life-giving water. Ask the Holy Spirit to manifest the gifts of Pentecost in your life (tongues, inter pretation of tongues, healing, miracles, prophecy, faith, wisdom, knowledge, and discernment of spirits) so that you can be a more effective witness to the Gospel. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Also in this issue of the newsletter:

In His Word: The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament (topical Bible study)

from the Bookshelf (upbuilding quotes from books)