Pentecost Sunday! What else would you come to expect from God who so loved the world?

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:16-17 (NLT)

One of the harder words to tell anybody is goodbye but telling someone you love goodbye can be gut-wrenching.  You say the words and you feel the emotions and grief deep down, even if the goodbye will be short-lived. I still feel the emotions of that morning in January 1983 when we said our goodbyes to family and friends at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, walking down the breezeway knowing it would be almost five years before we would see everyone again. We had done our best to get ready for this day but when the moment came, all the preparation seemed to disappear and the tears came.

I could tell my aging parents that we would come back but I knew the separation would hurt. We would write regularly and keep them informed. We would pray for them daily. We would even send pictures of where we would be living. It wouldn’t be the same as being physically present but it would provide encouragement and comfort until we returned.

Jesus knew his departure was coming soon so he started preparing his followers for his goodbye. The Gospel of John records various exchanges between Jesus and his disciples about his role, their role, and the life ahead. Confusion, fear, doubt, and uncertainty marked the tone of his disciples. How could Jesus leave them? What will happen to them? Jesus gave them a promise that they wouldn’t be left behind.

Similar to a mother who reassures her little boy that she will come back for him, Jesus reassures His followers. “No, I will not abandon you as orphans.”  In all their confusion, knowing Jesus wouldn’t leave them made all the difference. Yes, the little boy left in the nursery doesn’t know when his mother will come back but even amid his tears, he believes she will come back for him.

How great the words must have been to the disciples when Jesus said, “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.” –John 14:25-27 (The Message)

The days have passed quickly for the disciples since they watched Jesus’ death on the cross and then experienced the life-changing event of His resurrection. Lots of things have happened during these days since Jesus’ resurrection. Now the day came when they would hear Jesus tell them goodbye.

Over the years we have witnessed a lot of goodbyes at the airport – watched lots of airplanes taxi out to the runway for departure, stood at the window watching until the plane is no longer in sight. The disciples heard Jesus as he departed, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”—Acts 1:8a They had no clue as to what all this meant yet. What kind of power? They would be witnesses at home and to the ends of the earth. Sounds incredible!

Yesterday marked Pentecost Sunday commemorating and celebrating the promise Jesus gave to his disciples and us.  It was a day that empowered a ragtag bunch of men and women to become the church that would change the world.

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” –Acts 2:1-4,12

Pentecost Sunday reminds us that God is true to His Word. The day reminds us that nothing escapes His attention. At the end of their Pentecost Sunday, this little band of disciples who had been afraid of their shadows just a few days before now spoke with boldness and power.

The account in Acts 2 gives a list of the nations and peoples who experienced Pentecost firsthand. On that day they came to hear the Gospel in their heart language and 3,000 or so persons were added as followers of Jesus.  This first encounter birthed the unstoppable movement of God that is moving towards the day when Revelation 7:9 is fulfilled. “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.”

Pentecost Sunday! What else would you come to expect from God who so loved the world?

God is great!