The Holy Spirit and the dove (Sermon)

Dear brothers and sisters, I congratulate you with the great Biblical feast of Pentecost, the Orthodox Day of the Holy Trinity, the event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the birth of the Holy Church of Christ!

Noah and a dove (Genesis 8:11)

As we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles let us remember that It appears not only in the form of a burning flame, but also as a gentle dove. The Holy Spirit descended upon our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of a dove during His Baptism in the river Jordan. Before that, the real dove,the bird, not the Holy Spirit, participated in the history of the world during the great flooding of the world.

It is important for us to know, that the Holy Spirit behaves with us, in like maner as the dove which was released by Noah from the Ark. As we remember from the Bible, the flood lasted a very long time and even the highest mountains were under water. Later the water stopped but the entire earthly surface was covered. In order to learn wether the flood had ended and to find dry land, Noah would release birds from the Ark. First he released a crow, then a dove.The dove would fly and return because it had no place to land. One day it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth. Later it flew and did not return. Dry land had been found and became inhabitable once again and the earth could again be seeded and bring harvest.

The Lord God, the Holy Life Giving Spirit, acts in the same way as the dove with man’s soul. It flies away and returns, the Holy Spirit comes to a person and leaves the person. It seeks for itself a place of peace and immediately finds it , if availabe. Many times daily the Holy Spirit visits a person and departs because it cannot find for Itself cleanliness and peace, on account that often the person is full of different sins like dirty waters from a flood.

In some christian souls the Holy Spirit, like the dove which found the olive branch, brings its harvest to the treasure of God’s Kingdom. This means that the person did something kind and good. This good deed, which the person did, is from the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul says that we cannot do anything good or even think anything good by ourselves, but that every good deed is created with God’s help and given as a gift form the Lord.

A person, after having prayed to God, and received help from the Holy Spirit, forgave his enemy, this became his holy sacrifice. A person was kind to the elderly, the sick, the poor, or those in need of help etc., those are also great deeds. A person whished to say filth but as they say ‘bit his tongue’, this also is a great sacrifice. A person earned a sum of money and secretely gave a tenth to a needy person — this also is a great sacrifice. All these are eternal green leaves on the small olive branch in the mouth of the Holy Spirit, in the beak of the Great Dove of the world. So if It has already flown back to remain, and found peace in man’s soul, this means that the person is already holy. Holyness is when God the Holy Spirit permanently lives in a person. Holyness is dependent on a person’s efforts to cleanse their hearts. But holyness is also a gift from God. All people are called to holyness.

Our Orthodox Church is like Noah’s Ark which he built before the flood. The Holy Fathers say «For a beleiver it is like a huge boat traveling a stormy ocean». Christ is like the ship’s captain. When the wind fills the sails the boat moves forward. Likewise the Holy Spirit helps us and our Church float towards our goal, which is our meeting Christ who is coming in His Glory! One can say that the Holy Spirit is like a diesel engine and produces ‘electrical energy’. When there is energy, then all instruments and machines work, then we have light and comfort. So, let us keep within ourselves the beneficial power of the Holy Spirit and use it only for good deeds! May the Holy Spirit help us cleanse our souls from many kinds of evil, and preserve our souls in purity and always be with us. Amen!

June 4th 2017