Homily 689 – Pentecost
Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church, Ames, Iowa
May 31, 2026
Epistle:  (3) Acts 2:1-11
Gospel:  (27) John 7:37-52; 8:12

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God.

We should speak about the Holy Spirit.  We know that the Spirit was given to the Apostles on Pentecost.  And that giving, that proceeding, of the Spirit continues to us even today and throughout eternity.

There are many different observable results of this procession, this giving.  Most obvious is the elimination of the language barriers that were instituted after the Tower of Babel.  Tounges of fire appear, as we see in the icon of the Pentecost.

Preaching ensues – and by that, it is the message that Jesus Christ is Messiah.  No theological discourses, just the thought that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Those things we know and can see in the account that Acts gives us.  One thing that may not be explicit, and is perhaps the most important, is what we need to focus on today.  I alluded to it last week, and the text itself alludes to it today.

Becoming One.  The reversal of Babel – where we were separated into many.  We are in the Holy Spirit again made One.  The answer to Christ’s prayer – that we may be One as He and the Father are One.  One in essence and undivided.

What does this even mean?

Maybe the place to start is that we don’t, as a rule, experience oneness in this way.  Our ego, that part of us that drives and protects us, and keeps us separated from everyone else.

Perhaps it is helpful to try to describe what this oneness is.  To say “connected to each other” would be a vast understatement.  Marriage, as we understand it, is the absolute beginning of oneness.  For many of us, it is the epitome of oneness, and yet in Christ, it is the absolute beginning.

The most intimate relationship that most of us ever consider is only the beginning point.  The oneness we contemplate is the oneness that Christ shares with the Father and the Spirit.  So again, what does that mean for us?

There are all kinds of imagery, none of which are adequate for describing this.  When an individual experiences something, we all experience it.  When someone experiences pain, we – I – experience pain.  When someone experiences joy, I experience joy.

The experience of others becomes our experience – our shared experience.  That is what we have access to in the Holy Spirit.  Words become unnecessary, language becomes superfluous.  It is such an intimacy in the Spirit that we experience each others thoughts.

For those of you who are introverts, like me, this may scare us to death.  Extraverts may see this with giddy anticipation!  We need not be afraid, though.  This world is preparing us – moving us – toward this unity in the Spirit.  The more we obtain and allow the Spirit to dwell in us and have unfettered access to everything about us, the more we will experience this unity.

Some saints, it is reported, can tell you what you are concerned about, what your confession is, even before you speak.  That is the manifestation of this Oneness in Christ, in and through the Holy Spirit.  This is why there is no marriage in heaven – our experiences of one another will be much more intimate than that of the two becoming one.

It may sound scary.  That’s OK – that is your ego, mentioned a bit earlier, trying to – quote – “protect you”.  That is what allows you to put up a persona, something that is what you want to share, which isn’t the real you.  That part that we don’t even share with the ones we love and trust most – our spouses, our parents.

That part of us, in the Spirit, is laid bare – and that is certainly scary to us here and now.  But it won’t be.  It will be joyful.  To no longer keep a façade, to no longer have to hide.  The relief of being who you are, and not having to hide behind anything any longer.

There is a wall, though.  Christ tells us how to scale that wall – actually not scale it, but destroy it.  The wall is our ego.  Through our ascetical disciplines we can learn to tear down the wall that separates us – from God, and from each other.  We tear down that wall brick by brick by brick.

This process happens over time – perhaps the remainder of our lives.  The more we crucify and destroy our own ego, by deferring over and over and over every moment of every day to God’s will for us, we increase our ability to become one with others.

And to do so without fear.  Because as the wall is destroyed, we find that we are no longer afraid of what others think about us, or about the way we live, or the priorities we value.

This is repentance.  This is focusing and refocusing our attention on being Christ-like.  It is becoming clay – not struggling, but allowing God, through the circumstances of our life, to form us as He chooses.  Accepting that everything that happens moment to moment is in fact God’s will for us.  Recognizing that we can follow what we desire – as long as we are shaping our desire to please God, and to serve others.

Anything less is unacceptable.  Anything less defeats the purpose of being a follower of Christ.  Anything less will, dare I say, make our transition to the Kingdom of Heaven significantly more difficult for us.

If we allow God to shape us, to form us, and we get our ego – our pride, as the Fathers call it – out of the way, then we will unlock the everlasting joy and wonder of being united to Christ.  And united to one another.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Glory to Jesus Christ!