For the 7 weeks since Resurrection Sunday, we have been aligning ourselves with the Spirit Empowered Stream of Christian Tradition, seeking the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. We cling to the message Jesus gave to his disciples as he predicted his ascension back to the right Hand of His Father in Heaven. Jesus said in John 14,

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth…You know him because he abides with you and he will be with you…[and] the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

This is the hope the disciples were clinging to and it is the source of the hope that we have, too. Because if Jesus was serious when he said we would do greater things than he did and if he was serious about building His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven, then we have got to believe that the power to accomplish any of this comes from the Holy Spirit.

How do we know when we are experiencing the power that comes from the Holy Spirit? Though the Spirit’s work may be unpredictable and surprising (but the best kind of surprising), the fruit of the Spirit always include peace. When we’re seeking to join Jesus in his work, the invitation of Holy Spirit doesn’t feel forced. It’s not a guilt trip. It isn’t rushed. Now, that’s not to say when the winds of the Spirit picks up that a process may move quickly. Sometimes things click together very quickly in a way only the Spirit could arrange. But there’s no anxiety involved, there’s no “shoulds” involved. The work of the Spirit bring an overwhelming sense of the “light and easy” work Jesus describes in Matthew 11. The work of the Spirit brings unity between God’s people. (When a whole bunch of us with a whole bunch of different opinions and priorities can come together and say with assurance, “yes! THIS is the next right thing God has for us!” THAT is the work of the Holy Spirit.)

We can’t force the Holy Spirit to come but we do what Jesus’ disciples did in the days leading up to Pentecost. They kept meeting together, praying together, breaking bread together, helping each other to believe that those years of working alongside their friend, Jesus, wasn’t just for nothing. They were doing life together, loving and enjoying one another, and all the while reminding each other of what Jesus had taught them. A Christian community helps each other cling to the hope of the promised Holy Spirit, especially when that hope starts to dwindle with each day that passed after Jesus’ ascension.

And, then, during one morning gathering of the hundred-and-twenty-or-so (Acts 1:15) men and women who comprised the Christian community in Jerusalem, the Wind picked up. As their hair began to blow, the wind quickly became something not to be ignored. The gusts pressed hard and took their breath away, shaking the house, rattling the doors, disrupting their insides. The sudden storm caused such a commotion a crowd began to form in the streets outside. Much to the surprise of the assembled Christians and the growing gathering of Jewish foreigners, the Wind brought with it the gift of tongues. What in the?! Here were hundreds of people living under Roman rule, being forced to speek Greek, and suddenly they were hearing the message of Jesus proclaimed in the language their mothers had taught them. What a surprise! What a delight. In a way most unexpected, the Promised Holy Spirit had come.

This week I read 8 different commentaries on the story of the Tower of Babel and the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost. I was surprised (and maybe even a little frustrated) to discover how diverse each perspective was. I went into my study time hoping to uncover the true meaning of these two stories, believing there was an undeniable lesson linking the two together. What I found instead were 8 completely opposing teachings.

“What!? What am I supposed to do with this?” I thought.

Here’s the one thing I know to be true, true about all of Scripture, about Babel and about Pentecost: God desires to be with us.

All the way back to the Beginning, the Spirit of God who had been hovering over a void expanse, says along with the Father and the Son, “Let us make humankind.” And so the Spirit breathes life into lungs, imprints this first man and first woman with the image of God, walks with them in the Garden, delights in their delight of all of creation. God’s desire from the beginning is an invitation to with-ness. God with us.

Just a few chapters later in Genesis we read the story centered around this epic tower of Babel, the Lord comes down to be with the people. This story could be understood as punishment, but given the fullness of languages at Pentecost, I have a mind to believe our God delights in diversity. Because in the moment of Pentecost, the fire and tongues didn’t bring the people to one cohesive language again, returning to the pre-Babel days. No, the Spirit empowered each one to speak a different language so that all who listened could hear the love of God proclaimed in the language of their birth. So Babel marks spreading of God’s people across God’s creation, another invitation from God to share God’s love and God’s endless hospitality with all peoples everywhere. God with us.

In the Incarnation the Angel of the Lord told Mary the Holy Spirit would be with her and conceive in her a son, and this baby would be called Emmanuel which means “God with us.” And so this infant Emmanuel had taken on flesh and lived life with us, showing us the welcome of God for those whom “society” – the powerful, the majority, the rich – easily ignore. Jesus spent time with children. Jesus ate dinner with corrupt politicians. Jesus touched those whom society has cast out. He blessed those who cursed him. He appeared first to women and empowered them as the first apostles. Jesus embodied God’s desire to be with us.

But then, it seemed, God left us. The Christ whom they hoped would be their literal king was put to death on a cross. Even after their relief at his resurrection, their confusion and grief lingered after that rollercoaster weekend. And before too long, Jesus he was telling his friends a permanent goodbye.

They had hoped God would be with them. They desperately hoped Jesus was to be trusted when he promised the Holy Spirit would come. They hoped God would still be with them.

And then Pentecost. God with us. The Promised Holy Spirit took the form of rushing wings and fire and every foreigner’s language. The Spirit of God granted understanding and guided hundreds to know the truth of the Gospel, the Truth that sets us free, the Truth of God’s love and desire to be with us. The Spirit of God is our constant source of peace, and the Spirit of God also disrupts us when we become too comfortable with the way things are in order to do the Kingdom-building work of befriending the weird and the creepy people, of connecting with your actual neighbors and praying for them, of giving your undivided attention to your children’s stories, of turning over the reigns of power to the unlikely person. The Spirit of God blew in unexpected ways that first Pentecost. The Spirit brought with it a surprising unity among God’s people and empowered all of them to preach the good news and to show love to foreigners, and the Spirit of God sent them out to build God’s Kingdom in every city, every neighborhood, among the rich if they were willing to give up everything to follow Jesus, and among the poor who know true love when they see it.

This is the story of Pentecost. God with us.