When John tells us in John 7 that "as yet there was no Spirit," what does he mean? It turns out that what Jesus is talking about is a particular "way of being," a particular way of being "personal," both for us and for God! Like no other Principle Feast of the Church, Pentecost highlights the connection between the finite and the Infinite, a potential that is a promise of the Resurrected Christ. Without this promised gift congregations are simply "empty shells" and the promise of a new community woven together from the nations is simply a pipe dream. And do we need this promised "new humanity" in our world? That is the definition of a rhetorical question!
