“Living Into Pentecost”
Preached Sunday, May 19, 2024
Today is a big deal! Today is Pentecost, a major celebration in the church year! And yet, we don’t always know that much about this day as it is only 1 day, one Sunday of the year, and it isn’t a Hallmark holiday. There are not any Pentecost sales, greeting cards, or made-for-TV Pentecost movies.
And yet, Pentecost is a very important day for Christians. Pentecost is more than the one day of the Christian year that we wear red and bring out the red vestments. Pentecost is often described as the Birthday of Church - as it was the start of the church, of something new. For this reason we often do confirmations, baptisms, and the acceptance of new members in the church on Pentecost - to celebrate that the Spirit is still moving in and around us and calling new disciples to Christ.
And, Pentecost, really, is the culmination of Easter. It brings us from marveling at the miraculous power of the empty tomb to being launched out into the world to be and do church and to live out the Easter message - as we live into Pentecost.
Theologian and pastor Dannielle Shroyer says this about this day, “Without Pentecost, we’d just be people who tell Jesus’ story. With Pentecost, we’re people who live into Jesus’ story.”
This day, this major holiday and celebration in the church, this day is what makes us BE disciples of Christ, BE the church - living it out in ALL that we say and do, in who we are. This is the day that marks our empowerment to live out the Christian life. As I said, today is a big deal.
So let’s just take a brief moment to understand better some of the background and context for this holiday. Our celebration of Pentecost is rooted in the Jewish celebration of Shavuot. It is one of the three major festivals in Judaism and is celebrated 50 days or 7 weeks after Passover. And so Pentecost is 50 days or 7 weeks after Easter for Christians. Look to the root of the word to help remember that “Pente” means 50.
The celebration of Shavuot is two-fold: first, a celebration of the harvest where Jews were instructed to bring their wheat offering before God AND a celebration of receiving the gift of the Torah. It was also a holiday where ALL members of the household and of the community were to celebrate, no one was left out. So here we see some amazing connections with our celebration of Pentecost. At Pentecost, we celebrate receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Both the Torah and the Spirit, respectively, are gifts given to ALL, the whole community, no one excluded, to give us what we need to daily live out our faiths. Both holidays, Shavuot and Pentecost are inclusive celebrations of blessings, gifts, from God - given not just to those in the past but to us here today.
And so, it was Shavuot that the disciples were gathered together to celebrate. The Scripture says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
On that day of Pentecost, that first Pentecost as we think about it as Christians, the disciples were given an amazing gift: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised to send us the Spirit and on the day of Pentecost, made good on his actions.
The Holy Spirit, however, is the most enigmatic person of the Trinity - the hardest of us to understand and to wrap our heads around. So let’s briefly fly through just some of what our Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit.
In John 14 - Jesus promises that God the Father will send us another Advocate once Jesus is no longer with us on this Earth. That Advocate will abide with us and in us and will be with us always - never abandoning or orphaning us. That passage continues to say that the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us about Jesus and his words.
John 15 and 16 continue in this similar vein - Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will testify on Jesus’s behalf. That through the Spirit - we will hear and know Jesus. That the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will guide us all.
Our passage from Romans 8 today told us that through the Spirit God hears our prayers and even that which we can’t put into words. That the Spirit knows us intimately and deeply, helps us in our weakness, and intercedes for us.
The Holy Spirit is also widely referred to as a sanctifying force in our lives. Matthew 13, 1 Peter 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 8 & 15, and so many other places in Scripture talk about being refined or sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What we mean by sanctifying force is that through which we are made more Holy, that through which we are made more like Jesus, that through which we come to better love God and better love neighbor as self.
Galatians 5 says that when the Holy Spirit abides in us and us in the Spirit, it will be obvious as we will bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And there is so much more about the Holy Spirit… There is how the Hebrew word ruach used in the creation narrative is that Spirit that hovers over the waters of creation. How that same ruach, is the very breath that God breathed into us in the creation of humanity. There is how the Greek word sophia meaning Wisdom is often thought to be the personification of the Spirit. There is how the Spirit is always on the move and hard to pin down and so we use metaphors like wind, breath, and fire…
But I did say we’d just talk about the Holy Spirit briefly so I’ll end there. We could do a whole sermon series on aspects of the Holy Spirit. Today, however, I wanted to highlight some of the primary work of the Holy Spirit to emphasize what an amazing gift the giving of the Holy Spirit to us was.
Our Pastor Bible study that meets on Wednesdays has been focusing for the last 6 weeks on Simon Peter and the culmination of our study which will be next week focuses on the story of Pentecost and the post-Pentecost Peter. The stories we have of the disciple Peter, especially during Jesus’s ministry, are just so…human. Peter is a mix of courage and cowardliness, faithfulness and failures. He thinks before he speaks but his heart is in the right place.
But after Pentecost, Peter truly becomes the rock on which Jesus builds his Church. Cowardly, failing, bumbling along Peter…changes. Because he received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit gives Peter exactly what the Holy Spirit gives us:
Courage and strength in weakness.
Guidance.
Words of truth - words of testimony - words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wisdom and breath and life…
Through the Spirit, Peter becomes the Rock, the foundation upon which Christ would build his Church.
As Christians, every year on this important day of Pentecost, we recount Peter’s testimony. We remember the three thousand some people who said yes to the Good News of Jesus Christ on that day, we remember how the Holy Spirit was poured out on Peter and the disciples gathered there.
So here’s my question - do we truly believe that that same Spirit that was given as a gift to Peter and the disciples on Pentecost, do we truly believe that same Spirit has been poured out, given as a gift to us? Do you truly believe that YOU have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit? And have you truly opened yourself up to receiving that gift?
There are some Christian traditions that place a large emphasis on receiving the Holy Spirit. Some talk about being slain in the Spirit, about speaking in tongues, about being moved to dance and to sing… And well, I think that makes a lot of us very uncomfortable. We’re Methodists! We sit and stand when told to and don’t mess around with that other stuff… But just because we don’t highlight the Holy Spirit in that way, doesn’t mean we too haven’t received this amazing and great gift.
Reflecting on the change we see in Peter but not always in ourselves, when we consider receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton wrote this, “This is how I think many of us live the Christian life. We fail to invite the Holy Spirit to empower us. We don’t pursue the spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship, Scripture reading, silence, and others that open us to the Spirit’s power. We are living Spirit-anemic Christian lives…Without the Spirit's work, we lead powerless, impotent, and sometimes even cowardly Christian lives. But with the Spirit we have power, beyond anything we could imagine, to spread the gospel, help make new disciples, and transform the world for Christ.”
That phrase “Spirit-anemic Christian lives” has been tugging at me ever since I read it. Because I sometimes think that we don’t really believe that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is OUR Advocate. That the Holy Spirit is OUR guide. That the Holy Spirit strengthens US. That the Holy Spirit is with you and me and all of us always and forever and will never abandon us and is giving us the potential for amazing things in the Kingdom of God.
Friends, on this day of Pentecost, I want to emphasize that you all have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So open yourself up to all that gift brings. Dream dreams of the future - of God’s Kingdom - of building up the Church. Testify to the amazing things that God is doing in your life, in the Church, and the world. Do not be afraid for the Spirit will help you in your weakness and guide you and comfort you and be with you always.
What would you be like as a person, what would our church be like, what would our world be like… if we all truly lived into Pentecost? If we all truly lived into the gift of the Spirit that was given to us? If we all truly let the Spirit fill our hearts and lead us into the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost, today, and every day - may it be so. Amen.
And yet, Pentecost is a very important day for Christians. Pentecost is more than the one day of the Christian year that we wear red and bring out the red vestments. Pentecost is often described as the Birthday of Church - as it was the start of the church, of something new. For this reason we often do confirmations, baptisms, and the acceptance of new members in the church on Pentecost - to celebrate that the Spirit is still moving in and around us and calling new disciples to Christ.
And, Pentecost, really, is the culmination of Easter. It brings us from marveling at the miraculous power of the empty tomb to being launched out into the world to be and do church and to live out the Easter message - as we live into Pentecost.
Theologian and pastor Dannielle Shroyer says this about this day, “Without Pentecost, we’d just be people who tell Jesus’ story. With Pentecost, we’re people who live into Jesus’ story.”
This day, this major holiday and celebration in the church, this day is what makes us BE disciples of Christ, BE the church - living it out in ALL that we say and do, in who we are. This is the day that marks our empowerment to live out the Christian life. As I said, today is a big deal.
So let’s just take a brief moment to understand better some of the background and context for this holiday. Our celebration of Pentecost is rooted in the Jewish celebration of Shavuot. It is one of the three major festivals in Judaism and is celebrated 50 days or 7 weeks after Passover. And so Pentecost is 50 days or 7 weeks after Easter for Christians. Look to the root of the word to help remember that “Pente” means 50.
The celebration of Shavuot is two-fold: first, a celebration of the harvest where Jews were instructed to bring their wheat offering before God AND a celebration of receiving the gift of the Torah. It was also a holiday where ALL members of the household and of the community were to celebrate, no one was left out. So here we see some amazing connections with our celebration of Pentecost. At Pentecost, we celebrate receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Both the Torah and the Spirit, respectively, are gifts given to ALL, the whole community, no one excluded, to give us what we need to daily live out our faiths. Both holidays, Shavuot and Pentecost are inclusive celebrations of blessings, gifts, from God - given not just to those in the past but to us here today.
And so, it was Shavuot that the disciples were gathered together to celebrate. The Scripture says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
On that day of Pentecost, that first Pentecost as we think about it as Christians, the disciples were given an amazing gift: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised to send us the Spirit and on the day of Pentecost, made good on his actions.
The Holy Spirit, however, is the most enigmatic person of the Trinity - the hardest of us to understand and to wrap our heads around. So let’s briefly fly through just some of what our Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit.
In John 14 - Jesus promises that God the Father will send us another Advocate once Jesus is no longer with us on this Earth. That Advocate will abide with us and in us and will be with us always - never abandoning or orphaning us. That passage continues to say that the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us about Jesus and his words.
John 15 and 16 continue in this similar vein - Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will testify on Jesus’s behalf. That through the Spirit - we will hear and know Jesus. That the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will guide us all.
Our passage from Romans 8 today told us that through the Spirit God hears our prayers and even that which we can’t put into words. That the Spirit knows us intimately and deeply, helps us in our weakness, and intercedes for us.
The Holy Spirit is also widely referred to as a sanctifying force in our lives. Matthew 13, 1 Peter 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 8 & 15, and so many other places in Scripture talk about being refined or sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What we mean by sanctifying force is that through which we are made more Holy, that through which we are made more like Jesus, that through which we come to better love God and better love neighbor as self.
Galatians 5 says that when the Holy Spirit abides in us and us in the Spirit, it will be obvious as we will bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And there is so much more about the Holy Spirit… There is how the Hebrew word ruach used in the creation narrative is that Spirit that hovers over the waters of creation. How that same ruach, is the very breath that God breathed into us in the creation of humanity. There is how the Greek word sophia meaning Wisdom is often thought to be the personification of the Spirit. There is how the Spirit is always on the move and hard to pin down and so we use metaphors like wind, breath, and fire…
But I did say we’d just talk about the Holy Spirit briefly so I’ll end there. We could do a whole sermon series on aspects of the Holy Spirit. Today, however, I wanted to highlight some of the primary work of the Holy Spirit to emphasize what an amazing gift the giving of the Holy Spirit to us was.
Our Pastor Bible study that meets on Wednesdays has been focusing for the last 6 weeks on Simon Peter and the culmination of our study which will be next week focuses on the story of Pentecost and the post-Pentecost Peter. The stories we have of the disciple Peter, especially during Jesus’s ministry, are just so…human. Peter is a mix of courage and cowardliness, faithfulness and failures. He thinks before he speaks but his heart is in the right place.
But after Pentecost, Peter truly becomes the rock on which Jesus builds his Church. Cowardly, failing, bumbling along Peter…changes. Because he received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit gives Peter exactly what the Holy Spirit gives us:
Courage and strength in weakness.
Guidance.
Words of truth - words of testimony - words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wisdom and breath and life…
Through the Spirit, Peter becomes the Rock, the foundation upon which Christ would build his Church.
As Christians, every year on this important day of Pentecost, we recount Peter’s testimony. We remember the three thousand some people who said yes to the Good News of Jesus Christ on that day, we remember how the Holy Spirit was poured out on Peter and the disciples gathered there.
So here’s my question - do we truly believe that that same Spirit that was given as a gift to Peter and the disciples on Pentecost, do we truly believe that same Spirit has been poured out, given as a gift to us? Do you truly believe that YOU have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit? And have you truly opened yourself up to receiving that gift?
There are some Christian traditions that place a large emphasis on receiving the Holy Spirit. Some talk about being slain in the Spirit, about speaking in tongues, about being moved to dance and to sing… And well, I think that makes a lot of us very uncomfortable. We’re Methodists! We sit and stand when told to and don’t mess around with that other stuff… But just because we don’t highlight the Holy Spirit in that way, doesn’t mean we too haven’t received this amazing and great gift.
Reflecting on the change we see in Peter but not always in ourselves, when we consider receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton wrote this, “This is how I think many of us live the Christian life. We fail to invite the Holy Spirit to empower us. We don’t pursue the spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship, Scripture reading, silence, and others that open us to the Spirit’s power. We are living Spirit-anemic Christian lives…Without the Spirit's work, we lead powerless, impotent, and sometimes even cowardly Christian lives. But with the Spirit we have power, beyond anything we could imagine, to spread the gospel, help make new disciples, and transform the world for Christ.”
That phrase “Spirit-anemic Christian lives” has been tugging at me ever since I read it. Because I sometimes think that we don’t really believe that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is OUR Advocate. That the Holy Spirit is OUR guide. That the Holy Spirit strengthens US. That the Holy Spirit is with you and me and all of us always and forever and will never abandon us and is giving us the potential for amazing things in the Kingdom of God.
Friends, on this day of Pentecost, I want to emphasize that you all have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So open yourself up to all that gift brings. Dream dreams of the future - of God’s Kingdom - of building up the Church. Testify to the amazing things that God is doing in your life, in the Church, and the world. Do not be afraid for the Spirit will help you in your weakness and guide you and comfort you and be with you always.
What would you be like as a person, what would our church be like, what would our world be like… if we all truly lived into Pentecost? If we all truly lived into the gift of the Spirit that was given to us? If we all truly let the Spirit fill our hearts and lead us into the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost, today, and every day - may it be so. Amen.
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