In recent years I have been fascinated by the imagery of the tongues of fire that come to rest on the Apostles in the Upper Room on Pentecost. Most artistic depictions show little teardrops of fire hovering some inches over the Apostles’ heads, like the image above, but what grabs my attention is that is not how the Scripture depicts it. “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 2:3). The fire does not appear above them or near them, but on them, yet they were not burned.
I am reminded of a gripping keynote given by Dr. John Bergsma some years ago entitled, The Fire of Holiness: God’s Burning Presence in Salvation History. The main thrust of the talk was that the most popular image of God’s presence and/or holiness in the Bible is fire—”For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29)—but there was a problem. The Lord wanted to dwell with us, even in us, but the presence of sin made that fire uninhabitable. Take, for instance, the tragedy of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (cf. Leviticus 10:1-3). Consumed not by holiness but by pride, they went to offer an unauthorized sacrifice on the altar of the Lord. In doing so, “fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died…”
The fire of God’s holiness cannot endure sinfulness. This is what made the mystery of the burning bush in Exodus 3 so bizarre. The fire of God consumed the bush but it was not overcome by it—indicative of what God desires to do with our souls. Similar episodes tell the same story, such as Daniel and his friends unscathed from the fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Daniel 3).
This week, on the celebration of Pentecost, we see the plans of God come to fulfillment as the fire of his presence comes to rest not by or near, but on the Church gathered in the Upper Room. Like the burning bush of old, the Church is now the mediator of God’s burning presence to the world, not burned in anger, but consumed and transformed by the indwelling of her God and Head.
Lastly, it would be foolish to settle for thinking that Pentecost is the time of year where we simply recall what happened long ago. No, it is the ongoing activity of the Church being reborn in that Divine Furnace with each new generation of baptized Christians. Each of us is called to be his or her own burning bush, set ablaze and transformed by the presence of God in our souls. Consider how St. John of the Cross describes this process:
“Fire, when applied to wood, first dehumidifies it, dispelling all moisture and making it give off any water it contains. Then it gradually turns the wood black, makes it dark and ugly, and even causes it to emit a bad odor. By drying out the wood, the fire brings to light and expels all those ugly and dark accidents that are contrary to fire. Finally, by heating and enkindling it from without, the fire transforms the wood into itself and makes it as beautiful as it is itself” (St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night 2.10.1).
This is the purpose of Pentecost, to allow the Holy Spirit to come alive in our hearts, to burn away and what is not of him, and to make perfect the things that bear the fruits of faith, hope, and charity. This Pentecost, let us beg the Holy Spirit to consume us with his burning presence—not to be burned in judgment, but to be refined and purified in body, mind, and spirit, so to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus (cf. Rom 8:29).
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