The Feast of Pentecost

            The church calendar is arranged in such a way that there are three great festivals and the seasons that surround them.  There is Christmas, around which Advent and Epiphany revolve.  There is Easter, which is introduced by Lent.  And then there is Pentecost and the “season after Pentecost,” which comprises the rest of the church year.  Christmas, of course, celebrates the birth of Jesus, while Easter remembers his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.  Pentecost remembers the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church.

            Any one of these festivals is incomplete without the others.  Yet, in North America, very few people think of Pentecost as an important holy day to observe.  There are a number of possible reasons for this, which were part of a discussion we had last year on Pentecost Sunday.

            Some suggested that since nothing is sold in the stores for Pentecost, people simply forget about it.  Others suggested that the Holy Spirit is harder for us to picture and understand than Jesus is.  Still others said that we’ve never been taught about the importance of Pentecost.  And then this year, there is yet another reason to ignore Pentecost: It falls on a holiday weekend.  However, Easter also falls on a holiday weekend (which is perhaps why less people observe Easter than Christmas).

            Pentecost, just like Easter, moves around from year to year, as it is always 50 days after Easter.  It celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, which the disciples were told to wait for after Jesus ascended into heaven.  (For the story of Pentecost, see Acts 2.)  As mentioned previously, the Holy Spirit is harder for us to picture than Jesus, but we would not have a church without it.  In fact, none of us would have faith in Jesus without the Holy Spirit at work both in us and in those who first shared the good news about Jesus with us.

          It is the Spirit who is at work in baptism, making us members of the body of Christ and inheritors of eternal life.  It is the Spirit who gives us things like faith, hope and love.  It is the Spirit who equips us for service to God and to others and who continues to teach us through the Scriptures.  It is the Spirit who continues to work through the church, which is fallible in so many ways and yet continues to serve as the body of Christ in the world.  And, whenever somebody comes to believe in Jesus, it is always through the work of the Holy Spirit.  It is never up to us to “convert” people.  It is only the Holy Spirit who changes people’s hearts.

            This year, as I mentioned, Pentecost falls on a holiday weekend – Sunday, May 20th.  However, we are still going to celebrate.  We will have some special music on May 20th, as the Falconer Brass Quintet will be playing both before and during our worship time.  They will begin playing around 10:10 am and will also play with some of our hymns that day.  While everybody has different musical tastes, brass and organ and singing are marvelous things to put together!

            I hope that as many as possible will come and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church.  We continue to need the presence and power of the Spirit as “we trust in God and are open to the Holy Spirit”.  Amen!  Come, Holy Spirit!   

            In Christ,

            Pastor Lynne Hutchison