Acts
2:1
With all
the hub-bub and holiday bling associated with Christmas and Easter, it’s easy
for other church festivals to get left behind.
Think about it: between Christmas and Easter we have Epiphany, Ash
Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday… none of these have really worked
their way into our culture’s consciousness the way Christmas and Easter
have. Then there’s this “second round”
of festivals between Easter and Christmas, festivals that focus on the life of
the Church: Pentecost, Holy Trinity, Holy Cross, Reformation, All Saints and
Christ the King. If you talk to someone
who doesn’t attend church regularly (or attends a non-denominational or
non-liturgical congregation), chances are they’ve never even heard of these
seemingly second fiddle celebrations. And
yet, each one tells a significant story in the unfolding drama of the Church
year calendar.
Perhaps
these important days are so overlooked because their stories are so difficult
to tell. Everyone can understand
Christmas, right? A baby is born. That’s not hard to figure out. So what if he happens to be Son of God and
born of a virgin, destined to die for the sins of all humanity, rise from the
dead, and ascend to heaven to rule the universe? We don’t have to worry about all that as long
as we keep him in the manger. Easter isn’t
too bad either, but too many people focus more on rabbits and candy than the
actual meaning of an empty tomb and Risen Savior.
But what
about Pentecost? What do we say to the
world when we tell the story of Pentecost?
Who can blame people for shaking their heads at what sounds like a tale
of an invisible tornado and people catching fire? Which of us has ever been in a crowd of
thousands where everyone starts speaking and communicating in other
languages? What do we say about a day in
history when the main event was something supernatural?
The
coming of God’s Spirit upon God’s people, Pentecost was the opening of a door,
the meeting and melding of minds and hearts, the spontaneously combustible
constituting convention of the holy catholic Church. Every bit as much a work of God as the
birthday of Jesus and the rolling of the stone, Pentecost was the moment it all
led up to, the day it all came together.
What we do on Sunday mornings or whenever we come together as
Christians, what stirs in our hearts when we pray, and what guides us in faith
each and every day… these are all results of what happened so gloriously and
unexpectedly on Pentecost. In fact, our
whole life in Christ is a continuous unfolding of Pentecost and a continual
outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We see
it and celebrate it in ways that may seem tame at first glance. The gifts of the holy Spirit are, for the
most part, unspectacular. So are
fireworks, before you light them.
Several places in scripture, we are given example lists of these
gifts. “There are,” St. Paul tells us, “varieties
of gifts, but the same Spirit…to one is given through the Spirit the utterance
of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge through the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one
Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the
discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues…” (1
Corinthians 12). Elsewhere, he says “we
have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy in
proportion to faith; ministry in ministering; the teacher in teaching; the
exhorter in exhortation; the giver in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the
compassionate in cheerfulness” (Romans 12: 6-8). These gifts can look like everyday talents,
but what the Spirit does is fit them together so that we all become part of
something so much bigger than ourselves, we are set aflame and, as Jesus put
it, “our lights shine before others” (Matthew 5:16).
Pentecost
is what lights our lights. Dreaming
dreams and seeing visions, being enthusiastic architects of a better world is now
the business of every Christian. These
different gifts work in different ways, but always for the purpose of bringing
God’s healing and love into more of the world.
We learn from Pentecost that ministry about working together. We are all connected, all part of the body of
Christ. We all need each other to
function at our best. In the church, we
strive to give everyone a part, not just so we share the load but also to find
a place for each particular gift. We
enrich our congregation and build community by helping more people get involved
in fellowship, worship, and service. That could mean thinking outside the box when
it comes to the ministries we do. Even
if we’re covering all the bases, if there are new people who want to be in on
the game, maybe it’s time to change the game and add more bases. No matter what, we try to do each ministry
with a “servant’s heart,” sensitive that we are part of a larger team working for
the good of the whole.
As usual
this Pentecost, we celebrated our confirmation ministry at Atonement. The four young people in confirmation each
shared a presentation using the gifts God gave them to tell the story of their
faith. Joshua Diemer presented a
powerpoint he called “The Church as a Team.”
He showed that the different roles and tasks in our congregation are
similar to roles you’d find on a sports team, with a leader (pastor), coach
(God), ball carriers (volunteers), medics (helping ministries), and even
announcers (powerpoint makers), and fans (everyone who goes out and spreads the
Word). Nicholas Trejo spoke about ways
the Church has changed and adapted over time, taking new shapes and forms and
using new technologies. He pointed out
that having a Bible app is a revolutionary new thing, but so was the Gutenberg
Bible and being able to read Scripture in your own language. Z’Leah Liburd sang a moving song that
included the words “I give myself away
(so You can use me).” Accompanying the
song was a slide show of pictures that depicted her volunteer work in the
church, and other achievements she has made despite being visually impaired. Alex Rivera-Matos, the one being confirmed
that day, talked about the way his faith shapes and influences his own personal
life. He shared ways that music, prayer,
and sports shape his own priorities and relationships, and helps him feel
closer to God.
How
wonderful to see young people living out their faith with enthusiasm and
creativity. Clearly, they get it! Several people stopped me on the way out of
church that morning, telling me how impressed they were with these young
people, and how clear it was that God’s Spirit was at work in, on, and through
each of them. One person told me, “These
kids have a lot to teach our whole congregation.” Let’s learn a lesson from them, and stay
fired up for God this summer!
Pastor Scott
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