A few years ago, the great jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was performing at a jazz club in New York City. He was playing a solo of Victor Young’s romantic ballad, “I don’t stand a Ghost of a Chance with you.” The audience was mesmerized as Marsalis captured the sadness and melancholy of the piece. But the silence was suddenly shattered when, at the most dramatic point in Marsalis’ performance, someone’s cell phone went off, blaring a sing-song melody of electronic bleeps. Some people sighed, a few giggled, the audience returned to their drinks. The magic of this extraordinary moment was gone.
Or so it seemed. The cell phone offender beat a hasty exit out of the room; the chatter within the audience grew louder. Alone at the microphone, Marsalis paused for a moment, motionless, his eyebrows arched, his trumpet in his hand. Marsalis then began to play the silly cell-phone melody note for note. He repeated the four notes and began improvising variations on the tune. The audience quieted down, sensing that something wonderful was happening. They slowly came back. In a few minutes, Marsalis resolved the improvisation through a couple of key changes and settled to a tempo ballad, ending with the final notes of “I Don’t Stand a ghost of Chance With You.” Needless to say, the ovation was tremendous. Wynton Marsalis had recaptured the magic.
All great musicians like Wynton Marsalis are uniquely tuned into music as a continuum, hearing melody where the rest of us hear noise, imagining connections between every tune and air to the great symphony of all music. From the first Pentecost to our own today, the Holy Spirit “plays” in every expression of compassion and act of justice, enabling us to add our own instruments to humanity’s communion song with God, the world, and with one another.
As a feast, Pentecost is not easy to celebrate visually. In advent, we see a wreath decked with four candles. At Christmas, we have the crib and a tree. In Lent, we focus on the cross and a barren sanctuary. At Easter we light a splendid paschal candle and deck the sanctuary with lilies. But, except for the banners and vestment, which symbolize the tongues of fire at the first Pentecost, there isn’t much to see on Pentecost Sunday.
Because Luke spoke of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism as a dove, that image is an ancient part of our tradition. But like a canary escaping from its cage, that seems to put the Holy Spirit out of bounds, inaccessible to ordinary people like you and me or so we think.
The Spirit is present in our midst, not just in this church but wherever the baptized are present. The more you think about it, Pentecost is not so much a feast to see but a feast to feel. We are always breathing but we give little thought to that essential activity until for whatever reason we have to gasp for air. Likewise, the Spirit can be felt as God’s breath to continually grace you with gifts to fully live.
In the Hebrew testament, the words for wind, breath and spirit are often used interchangeably. In the story of the first Pentecost, a noise like a strong driving wind filled the room where the apostles were gathered. We are told, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”
They were changed by that encounter. They were gifted in ways they had never imagined. I suppose many folks ever since wished they could have been there to have the same experience to enliven their faith. The Spirit has come to us, perhaps not through a mighty wind or the breath of the risen Lord or as tongues of fire, but through the waters of baptism and the oils of anointing. As Paul points out, the Spirit has gifted all of us. What might those gifts be?
Wisdomis the gift of knowing the right choices to make to live a holy life and to avoid the things that could lead us away from God.
Understandingis the gift of comprehension or the ability to grasp the meaning of the teachings of the Church. This gift helps us to be tolerant and to sense when someone is hurting or in need of compassion.
Right judgmentis the gift of prudence, which helps us make choices to live as a faithful follower of Jesus.
Courageor fortitude is the gift to help us stand up for our faith in Christ and to overcome any obstacles that keep us from practicing our faith.
Knowledgeis the gift of knowing and enlightenment, which enables us to choose the right path that leads us to God.
Reverence is the gift of confidence in God; this gift inspires us to joyfully want to serve God and others.
Wonder and awe, or fear of the Lord is the gift that encourages us to be in awe of God. This gift moves us to so love God that we do not want to offend the Lord by our words and actions.
When we make use of these gifts, we grow as followers of Jesus. We see the effect of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives in the qualities and attitudes we develop as we grow in faith. The devil doesn’t “stand a ghost of a chance with you” when you make use of the many gifts the Spirit gives you.