Date: June 2nd & 5th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Romans 8:14-17
Psalmody: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Gospel: John 14:8-17
Today in the church year we recognize the holiday of Pentecost. Although I did not grow up in a congregation that celebrated the different events of the liturgical year, as I learned more and more about the church calendar, I came to find that Pentecost is my favorite. I am not sure if this is because of my love of language or because of how the Holy Spirit is present in today's story or perhaps it is a combination of these two things and more. Not only did learning about the seasons of the church year allow me to learn about Pentecost, but it also allowed me to learn about the colors we associate with the different church days. For example, the season of Easter has been gold or white, as are many holy days throughout the church year, but today for Pentecost we have changed to red.
As Lutherans we recognize red as the color of the Holy Spirit and use it not only on Pentecost but on the day of Reformation and at ordination services. There is a stereotype that Lutherans often shy away from talking about the Holy Spirit and the power that we receive from our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it's because I did not grow up in a traditional Lutheran congregation but I have always found this to be untrue of myself.
The main reading today that we will focus on is the reading from Acts which is the story of the Pentecost. Although our passage from the gospel of John also acknowledges the Holy Spirit as the spirit of Truth, it is in the reading from Acts that we fully experience the work of the Spirit. I mentioned in a sermon just a few weeks ago about how the Spirit often is symbolized through a dove or fire, and this passage is one of the places where this is true. The Spirit is described as tongues of fire that rest over each person present in Jerusalem during the story. These people who are gathered came from so many different cultures and places and that fact should not be lost on us in today's world. We may be used to people from many different backgrounds being able to gather in one place but in the time of the disciples this was not as easily accomplished. Transportation was much more difficult and harder to come by as well as more dangerous than what we are accustomed to today. And still these people were gathered together on the day of the Pentecost.
The wonder of the story is not only found in the fact that people from so many different places had gathered together but also with the reality that they were speaking their own language and still they were understood by those who spoke of variety of different languages. One of the reasons I personally love learning new languages is because I think there is an element of sacredness and being able to communicate with someone in their mother tongue. In this event of Pentecost these people were able to do so without any extra thought. The spirit came to rest upon each of them and took away the barrier that would have separated them normally. We too as Christians are called to find these barriers around us today and to work through them with the Spirit’s guidance in much the same way that the Spirit led those who were present that day in Jerusalem.
Although the Spirit may not show up in the same way in our lives as tongues of fire, we are still called into moments that break-down the things that get in the way of communicating with those who are different than ourselves. These differences can come in many forms like age, class, race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, language, immigration status, or ethnicity. Though any of these things might get in the way of our relationship with those different than ourselves, we have the Holy Spirit, who was described just two weeks ago as our Advocate, to be in the midst of these conversations and interactions so that we might better experience the reign of Christ on earth.
This does not mean that there will not be people like the bystanders of the Pentecost who ridiculed and mocked the events in front of them. They made fun and suggested that what they were experiencing was not real and that they were merely drunk, unable to truly process what was happening around them. In the same way there will be those that try to say that measures to break down the barriers between different peoples are not worth it and make no differences. But in our Bible passage the scripture does not end with these heckling bystanders. As a response, Peter, the rock of the church, disciple of Christ, stands up and says “no these people are not drunk, this is merely an act of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon us as we were promised.”
There are prophecies that say the Holy Spirit will cause people to dream dreams, see visions, and prophesy. Peter's words are meant to say that among them in that moment there was a clear indication that the Holy Spirit was present and active. Although we do not have many opportunities in the modern world to say we saw the Holy Spirit resting over the heads of other disciples like tongues of fire, that does not mean that the Spirit is not present in many moments. The promises that Peter speaks are ones we can still believe today, so long as we are able to recognize and acknowledge when the Spirit is working and speaking among us.
I have decided that one simple way I live more into the events of the Pentecost here at Trinity is to adopt some liturgical wording that I learned from worship services at my seminary. When it was time for us to share communion together and say the Lord's Prayer, our seminary services would introduce it like this: "Remembering these promises, we now pray together as Jesus taught us in the many languages and translations by which we have been blessed."
I have always loved this introduction to praying the Lord’s Prayer, and so I will be adopting that into our own worship. Though this simple change in wording does not make a great stride when it comes to breaking down the barriers that can exist in the church and in the world, it takes a moment to acknowledge that we come from different traditions, and we know different versions of the Lord's Prayer. There will always be a version printed in the bulletin which changes depending on whether it is a contemporary worship or a traditional style worship, but this invitation gives the opportunity for someone to pray the Lord's Prayer that is known to them, committed to heart, rather than having to use their mind to pray it as someone else does.
There are many ways in our world today where we are called to heed the Holy Spirit and dismantle barriers between peoples and so this is one small acknowledgment of this call that we have been given. May we find ourselves in the opportunity to communicate across barriers that divide us, just as the people did the day of Pentecost. And may we listen to those around us like Peter who proclaim the moments that the Holy Spirit is among us and active. Thanks be to God.