The Feast of Pentecost

 Year A

About Our Worship      

Today is the feast of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. It is the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the gathered Christian community in Jerusalem and is the culmination of the Easter Season. It is considered the day on which the church began, the day on which the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The color of the day is red, the color of the Holy Spirit. This day is also known as Whitsunday in the English church, because it was a day when many people were baptized in their white baptismal gowns and is a day especially appropriate for baptism.

 The Lessons 

First Lesson: Acts 2:1-21 

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” 

The disciples and many other Jews from various countries are in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, honored by Jews as the anniversary of the day on which Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus’ followers. The experience is described as a rushing wind or as tongues of fire sitting on each follower. Such a powerful experience is hard to capture with the limitations of mere words. Those filled with the Holy Spirit are suddenly able to speak in the language of all who can hear, people from every nation. Both hearers and speakers are amazed and bewildered and cannot explain what is happening. Those who speak in tongues tell of God’s power and mighty deeds, especially the deeds they themselves have experienced in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Skeptics are sure that the crowd is full of drunks. Peter proclaims in a speech that this is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel, who saw such an event as a portent of the end of the world. Only those who believe will be saved. 

Consider: What would make you brave enough to speak to a stranger about your faith?

Second Lesson: First Corinthians 12:3b-13 

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”. 

Paul is writing to the church at Corinth about the various ways the Holy Spirit (God’s continuing presence) empowers people. The church in Corinth has evidently been arguing about which gift of the Holy Spirit is most important. Speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit’s gift on the day of Pentecost, is only one of the gifts. Others include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, etc. All come from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit decides in ways beyond human understanding how the gifts are to be allotted. Each is to be honored, and all are to be used to build up the body of Christ, which is the church, with a vision of unity. Most important to remember is that Jesus Christ as Lord is to be served with whatever gift each has been given. 

Consider: How do you use your own special gifts and talents to bring unity to the world? 

Gospel Lesson – John 20:19-23 

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

This is part of the account of Jesus’ appearance to his disciples on the evening of the first Easter. In this account Jesus immediately gives the Holy Spirit, God’s presence and strength, to the disciples. In this setting Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will empower them to forgive sins, a prerogative reserved to God alone. On other occasions Jesus has described the Holy Spirit as an Advocate or as the Comforter. In these roles the Spirit gives the disciples the words they need to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and the strength and confidence to continue Jesus’ ministry, even in the face of great adversity. In this context it is clear that the peace which Jesus bestows upon his followers is something other than quiet passivity. It is a calm that comes with knowing that they are doing the right thing, that they will not be abandoned by God in suffering the earthly consequences of their actions, and that they will ultimately be welcomed by Christ into the kingdom of God. We, too, are offered this same peace, which can reassure us in those times when we face the many difficulties of life that test our faith.  

Consider: What strength do you seek when you are forced to rely upon yourself in a new situation?