In our gospel reading for Pentecost Sunday, Philip asks Jesus for something supernatural - a revealing of God the Father that is obvious to his physical senses. But instead of granting this request, Jesus promises to the disciples that the Father will send the Holy Spirit, to be present with them forever, and to satisfy their longing for the confirmation of their faith. And in our first reading today, we hear about how Jesus' promise was kept - the dramatic story of Pentecost, where the apostles receive the Holy Spirit in the form of supernatural wind and fire, and are given a very useful supernatural gift for that time and place - the ability to speak to the thousands of foreign tourists surrounding them. What supernatural things can WE expect to see, to confirm OUR faith?....
All through scripture, there are times and places where God has revealed himself. The bush that wondrously never stopped burning for Moses. The voice that repeatedly woke up young Samuel. The cloud that surrounded the transfigured Jesus on the mountain. The sudden blindness for Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. How could someone go through an experience like that, and still doubt God's presence? In fact, what an incredible blessing it would be for God the Father to show himself to us right here this morning in church - think of how confident we would be in our faith after such an event!
Philip was thinking the same thing in our gospel reading for today - IF only God the Father would show himself to me, THEN my doubts would be completely removed. And Philip does receive the next best thing in the Pentecost experience: the dramatic entry of the Holy Spirit, followed by the dramatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. It must be hard to stay skeptical of God, when this strange tongue of fire rests above your head, and in an instant, you can perfectly speak and understand Phrygian and Pamphylian.
We wish we could expect these kinds of supernatural gifts! The ability to speak in a completely foreign language…the ability to heal people...the ability to raise people from the dead. If we had these gifts, there would no longer be even the shadow of a doubt that we are God's people, and that God has called us to be a part of his mission. Evangelizing would be a piece of cake. We would be constantly making disciples everywhere we went. For us, the Christian life would be very satisfying. And it wouldn't hurt that we would be able to amaze other people with the mighty things God is doing through us.
And besides, Jesus seems to egg us on towards the dramatic gifts in our gospel reading today. He says, "If in my name you ask me for ANYTHING, I will do it." Why wouldn't we ask for a really dramatic supernatural gift, like raising a loved one from the dead, and then at the end, say aloud, "in the name of Jesus"? Well, the Greek phrase translated "in my name" means much more than just "by saying my name." It means following his commission - being under his authority - acting according to his will. If we ask for something in Jesus' name, it means we are asking for something because Jesus wants us to. Sometimes, a dramatic, supernatural gift is exactly what the kingdom of God needs at the time, and it is what the Holy Spirit is drawing us towards. But most of the time, when we ask for something dramatic and supernatural in Jesus' name, we ask it to satisfy ourselves in some way - to bolster a faith WE have neglected or let the world steal from us, to heal a relative WE can't let go of, to impress other Christians with the work Christ is doing through US. Most of the time when we ask for something supernatural in Jesus' name, we have only our small, personal picture in mind, and not the BIG picture of the purposes of God's kingdom throughout the world and throughout all time. We MAY be given supernatural gifts and revelations if it suits God for the purposes of the kingdom, but we should not EXPECT them or worse yet, QUESTION our Christianity if we don't have them.