Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s lessons and the collect of the day foreshadow the themes of Pentecost, which feast day falls on this coming Sunday.

Today’s Epistle lesson, St Paul reminded the Ephesian church that by “speaking the truth in love” and by “growing up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” we become the mystical body of Christ through the work and gifting of the Spirit, with all the complexity and telos such an image entails.

This beautiful picture of the Church is not simply one of uniformity, of an unthinking repetition of features, but of the natural diversity of many people forming the various parts of Christ’s body. However, this diversity of parts is given force, it speaks the truth in love, and does so by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

This message speaks effectively to a variety of church contexts. If a local church highlights theological Truth, the reality of Pentecost reminds us of the “personalism,” if you will, of the Church. We are members of a Person, who has himself become a human, and who has created a beautiful diorama of personality, made in the image of Christ. If another church emphasizes the diversity of humanity, the Spirit reminds us that wholeness is found in the unity of one Christ, a Christ that calls us to be transformed into the singular Body.

This Spirit-infused life is depicted so well in the complexity of Thomas Tallis’ Pentecost motet, Loquebantur variis linguis apostoli. That work, sung lavishly by the Westminster Cathedral Choir, illustrates the principles of Pentecostal diversity and unity in sonic form.

Yours in Christ,

—Justin