Pentecost 2007

I feel sorry for the Day of Pentecost.  Pentecost is like the red-headed step child of the Church year.  Nobody really knows much about the day of Pentecost.  We had dinner with some friends in Augusta the other night and as the husband and I were talking about work and the weather and all that stuff, he asked me if we were going to have a big celebration at church this weekend.Well I became excited.  This guy is not even Episcopalian, yet he knows the Church year.  He knows today is Pentecost.  I said YES, we’re going to have a great celebration.  We’re going to have a picnic after church and we even have these large inflatable games that the kids and even the adults can play on.  It’s going to be great!

“Well, that’s just wonderful,” he said.  “I’m glad churches are celebrating Memorial Day!”

Don’t you feel bad for Pentecost?  It’s not like Christmas.  Everybody knows and loves Christmas.  Even non-Christians love Christmas.  Even non Church goers will darken the door of church on Christmas.  But we don’t give out presents at Pentecost.  We don’t have visits from St Nicholas or decorate our homes with trees and wreaths and such.

It’s not like Valentine’s Day.  We don’t send each other “Happy Pentecost” cards or shower those we love with Pentecost candies.

It’s not like Easter, either.  We don’t go and buy new dresses and suits for Pentecost.  The Pentecost bunny does not visit our home and leave us chocolate doves and eggs.  Although I think it would make more sense to give eggs at Pentecost than Easter, don’t you think?  Doves lay eggs, but bunny rabbits don’t.

No, Pentecost is a day on the church calendar.  It doesn’t even get its own season.  We have Christmas season, we have Easter season, but we only have what’s called the season after Pentecost.

I was picking with Nancy Minyard about missing our celebration today.  I always like to give Nancy a hard time.  “Well, I’m sorry I’m going to miss your Pentecostal service,” she said. “No, Nancy, we aren’t Pentecostal, we’re Episcopalian.  Keep your hands and feet inside the pews at all times, thank you very much!”

And it’s a shame that Pentecost has been demoted over the years to a second class day.  Because it really is not.  There are 7 principal feasts in the church calendar.  Pentecost is one of them.  There are 4 days in which the sacrament of baptism is especially appropriate, Pentecost is one of them.  In fact, another name older Episcopalians may remember for today is Whitsunday, which is a corruption of “White Sunday”.  Because today is a great day for baptism, those who were to be baptized would wear white baptismal gowns, hence the name White Sunday.

Back in the Old Testament, Pentecost was an agricultural festival.  50 days after the feast of the Passover, the Jews would celebrate the harvest of wheat.  That celebration was known as the feast of weeks, or Pentecost.

And because our celebration of Easter corresponds with the Jewish Passover, 50 days after Easter, we celebrate the day of Pentecost.

But today we are not celebrating the wheat harvest.  We are not having a picnic and playing games because we have received the first-fruits of our labor in the fields.  Don’t get me wrong, we are always thankful for our farmers and for the harvest every year, but that’s not what today is about.  It hasn’t been about that for 2000 years.

Today we celebrate a gift.

There is a great commercial on tv of a mother trying to communicate with her daughter about the amount of text messages the little girl sending with her cell phone.  Now first of all, I don’t know what a little girl needs with a cell phone, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.  But when the mother starts talking to the girl, it is obvious they are speaking different languages.  The mother is speaking English, but the girl is speaking in electronic shorthand.

It’s not only a great commercial for cell phones but it highlights the reality that we live in a world where different languages are spoken all around us.  But it’s not just English and Spanish or French or Chinese, different languages are spoken in our homes.  Husbands and wives speak different languages.  Parents and children speak different languages.  Friends speak different languages.

A judge was interviewing a woman regarding her pending divorce, and asked, "What are the grounds for your divorce?"

She replied, "About four acres and a nice little home in the middle of the property with a stream running by."

"No," he said, "I mean what is the foundation of this case?"

"It is made of concrete, brick and mortar," she responded.

"I mean," he continued, "What are your relations like?"

"I have an aunt and uncle living here in town, and so do my husband's parents."

He said, "Do you have a real grudge?"

"No," she replied, "We have a two-car carport and have never really needed one."

"Please," he tried again, "Is there any infidelity in your marriage?"

"Yes, both my son and daughter have stereo sets. We don't necessarily like the music, but the answer to your questions is yes."

"Ma'am, does your husband ever beat you up?"

"Yes," she responded, "about twice a week he gets up earlier than I do."

Finally, in frustration, the judge asked, "Lady, why do you want a divorce?"

"Oh, I don't want a divorce," she replied. "I've never wanted a divorce. My husband does. He said he can't communicate with me."

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a universal translator?  I’ve seen such things in science fiction movies where space travelers are able to understand what the dozens and dozens are different species of aliens are saying because they have a device that understands everything and can communicate with everyone.

Well, the Holy Spirit has been called many things. He’s been called the Great Comforter, Breath of God, the Advocate, and many others, but I think today we can call the Holy Spirit the Great Communicator.

When Jesus told his disciples he was going to be with the Father, they were devastated.  For two years they had listened and watch Jesus explain who God is and what God wants them to do.  Jesus was able to communicate the mysteries of the Father like nothing the world had ever seen before.

Jesus told them about life, he told them about eternal life, he told them about relationships and love.  He told them about ethics and how to live with other people.  They had planned to sit at his feet for years and learn and grow.  But after two short years, he was leaving them.

But they had so much more to learn!  They had so much more to do!  But Jesus promised them they would not be alone.  He promised the Holy Spirit.

And 50 days after the feast of the Passover, the day of Pentecost, Jesus kept his promise.  As the disciples were gathered together, a violent rush of wind came down upon them and something like tongues of fire rested on the disciples.

And like something out of a science fiction movie, the disciples were given universal translators, able to tell the Good News of God to all sorts of people, from every tribe, tongue, and land.  St Luke lists 16 different nationalities that were able to understand what the disciples were saying.  It made sense to them!  They could hear!  They could understand!  And it wasn’t because the disciples were great preachers or were all that smart, but rather it was the Holy Spirit.  It was the Great Communicator.

But the story doesn’t end there.  The day of Pentecost isn’t just about the birth of the church, where the apostles were able to go out and spread the Good News of Christ.  All that is true, but the Great Communicator, the Holy Spirit, also helps us understand God.

Ever had an “aha” moment in church?  Where something just all of a sudden made sense?  Ever been pulled to do something in the name of God?  I don’t necessarily mean big things, but little things, like going to church, or talking to a certain person, or volunteering for something the church is doing.

Have you ever felt a pull or a nudge or something you can’t explain deep in your belly?  Maybe that’s the Great Communicator, the Holy Spirit, moving within us to tell us who we are and what we are called to do.  In fact, I think it is.

We as human beings are incredibly smart creations.  In fact most of the time we are the smartest things on the planet.  But by ourselves we cannot comprehend the first thing about God.

St Paul wrote that when we want to pray to God, when we want to communicate with God, but we don’t know how, we don’t know the words, the Holy Spirit is there, translating all the things that are in our hearts, in our souls, to the Father.  Even when we don’t know how to speak, the Holy Spirit is communicating to us and for us.

In fact, by ourselves we really can’t comprehend each other.

We need someone to explain things to us.  We need someone to explain why we are here and to walk with us pointing out which path to take and what to say and when to say.  We need someone holding our hand and whispering in our ear.

We need love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, generosity, patience, faithfulness, and self-control.  The world needs love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, generosity, patience, faithfulness, and self-control!  And that is just what the Holy Spirit provides.  In fact, St Paul called these the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit moves within us and between us, those are the seeds that start to bloom.

And it is a shame that the day of Pentecost has become the red-headed step child of church days.  Because for us overlook the gift of the Holy Spirit is overlook a major part of our salvation.

Fred Craddock, whom I’ve said before I think is the greatest preacher in our lifetime, once said that the climax of the church year is not Easter but Pentecost.  Pentecost is when the Spirit comes and dwells with us.  Pentecost is the gift of God’s constant presence.  And, Craddock said, if we have a great big Easter but a sorry Pentecost then we have an abortion.  Because we’ve ended before the climax.

I know it may be hard to communicate the Day of Pentecost.  It may be hard to tell people about God and the Church.  It may be hard to invite people to the Episcopal Church.  It may be hard to pray.  Love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control may be elusive, downright non-existent to us.  And it would be impossible, they would be elusive, if we had to do it alone.  But we are not alone.  There is a communicator who walks with us.  A great communicator.

There is a prayer that the choir, LEMs, acolytes and I say every morning before we begin worship.  It’s an old prayer called the Veni Creator Spiritus.  I’ve given you a copy.  Let us end with this prayer.  And let us make this our prayer every day.

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,

and lighten with celestial fire.

Thou the anointing Spirit art,

who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Thy blessed unction from above

is comfort, life, and fire of love.

Enable with perpetual light

the dullness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face

with the abundance of thy grace.

Keep far from foes, give peace at home:

where thou art guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,

and thee, of both, to be but One,

that through the ages all along,

this may be our endless song:

Praise to thy eternal merit,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.