Pentecost

by Rev. Kerry Smith

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is alive in the world in and through us, the disciples of Jesus. All week I have been singing lines from Holy Spirit songs, "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me..."  "I'm gonna move when the Spirit says move..."  "O, let the Son of God enfold you, with his Spirit and his love..."  I love the Holy Spirit!



Pentecost is when the first believers came alive in their faith, and it is the gifting of God to make us one.  The followers of Jesus were given the ability to speak the languages of all those who were assembled.  Pentecost is a reminder that God wants us to understand one another.  May we hear the Gospel in our own language, in our own images, in our own metaphors, with our own ears. 



We are Pentecost people because the Holy Spirit has been and is being poured out upon us.  May we be a Pentecost church that is constantly reaching beyond the things that divide us.  May we be a Pentecost church that is willing to take risks and engage people who may look or sound or act differently than the usual person sitting next to us in the pew.  May we be a Pentecost church that trusts in God's wild Spirit to believe that God is at work in the unfamiliar, in the chaos, outside the boundaries we impose, bringing new life and new hope to our world.  


In the Middle Ages, Holy Spirit holes were made in the ceiling and roofs of cathedrals and great churches throughout Western Europe to symbolize the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the midst of the congregation. You can still see those holes today in European churches as a reminder for us to be open to God’s Spirit. May we be open to the Holy Spirit today!