The fifty days of Easter do not end with a whimper. Easter does not appear to go out quietly, according to the description in Acts. Easter comes to its fulfillment with “noise like a strong driving wind.” The noise fills the whole house where the disciples are gathered. The sound causes others to gather to find out what is going on. It was a gathering from every nation. The diversity of those gathered seems to correspond to the uniqueness of the noise itself. On Pentecost the Spirit comes as God dwelling within the human heart. The noise of God’s breath as it were fills each disciple as it fills each of us. And something changes. The noise of the wind becomes our speech. Now our speech is such that we can speak and be understood in every human tongue, because we speak in the Spirit.
Pentecost is the feast of God dwelling within us. His spirit fills our very minds, hearts and bodies. Today’s noise is meant to wake us up to what is within, to the power of human language. Today we go from noise, even noisy words, to speech and word that pass on wisdom, offer comfort, speak of hope, proclaim faith and above all words that find their fulfillment in communicating love. It is love that is the heart beat of Jesus’ words; it is love that caused creation and it is love dwelling in us and around us that sustains the world and transforms it until it all is a place where God is dwelling in his Spirit.
Yes, the Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world, all that it is within it!