Reverend Ref +

PENTECOST A

Today is the Feast of Pentecost, and is the second greatest festival in the Church (Easter being the first); although you wouldn't know it by the attendance. This is the only major Christian feast day that hasn't been taken over by Madison Avenue and Hallmark. Just try to find a Happy Pentecost card. For those of you who don't know about this day, or need a refresher, let me give you some background material.

"Pentecost" is Greek for 50th Day; "Pente" for 50, and "cost" for . . . day. Okay, I'm kidding about about "cost." But it does mean 50th day, so-called because this ancient Jewish festival fell on the 50th day after Passover. The first-fruits of the corn harvest were presented to God as an offering. The Church recognizes this day as the 50th day after Easter when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, as we heard in the lesson from Acts.

For those who have been in the Church for a long time, you may recall that this day is also referred to as Whitsunday. Now, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is a modified version of White Sunday; but have you ever wondered why it was called Whitsunday when the color of the day is red? It's because this day became the second date, after Easter, on which a person could be baptized. Ancient tradition was to clothe the newly baptized in white robes symbolizing their new life in Christ and being washed clean. That is why I asked Tori and Dena to wear white when they were baptized during the Bishop's visitation. If you have a bunch of people being baptized and wearing white, it stands to reason that the name of the day would become Whitsunday.

Okay, enough of the history lesson. Last week, remember, Jesus ordered the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. Today is the day when that promise was fulfilled. The Spirit came down from Heaven like the rush of a wind and appeared as tongues of fire resting on each of the disciples, after which they began to preach in such a way that people from many different countries could understand them in their own native language.

Where else do we get this same kind of dynamic -- where everybody understands everybody else? Back in Genesis 11, after the flood. After the flood, Noah and his family were (supposedly) the only people left alive on earth. God told them to go out and do what humans do best, and pretty soon we had a civilization that had one language. It wasn't too long afterwards that the people came to the plain of Shinar. While there, they decided to make a name for themselves by building a great city and a tower that would reach to heaven. God saw this, confused their language, and the tower of Babel was left unfinished.

The similarity between Acts and Genesis is obvious: many people, one language or voice. But that's where the similarity ends. It's the difference that is important.

In Genesis, it was the idea of the people to make a tower that reached to the heavens and to make a name for themselves. It was the people who had ideas of grandeur. It was the people who wanted to put their name above all names, including God.

In Acts, however, it's all God's idea. Even though there are many different countries and languages represented, it is God who causes the people to understand what is being said. The Holy Spirit descends on the disciples enabling them to preach the story of God's deeds of power. The Holy Spirit is the mediator through which everyone understands this story.

It was by the hand of God that the people were dispersed because they wanted to make a name for themselves; and it is by the hand of God that the people are brought together to hear the story of the One whose name is above all names.

Which brings me to today. We need to be watchful and wary of people, especially Christians, who claim to do great things on their own. People who talk about how many people they have brought to the Lord; clergy who talk about how they have built up the church or increased attendance; people who stress that their denomination is the one, true expression of faith; if you hear this, you might want to think about running away. This is the same sort of thing, the same effort to make a name for themselves, that got the descendents of Noah into trouble when they started building that tower.

On the other hand, we need to pay attention to Acts. The Apostles did nothing that day but pray and preach the story of God's deeds of power. They didn't bring people into the church. They didn't convert people to Christianity. What they did do was to allow the Holy Spirit to work through them. It was the Holy Spirit who caused the people to hear, and it was the Holy Spirit that caused the Church to be built up.

On this day of Pentecost, remember that it is your job to live out your faith honestly and tell the story truthfully. The hearing of that story, the conversion of people to Christianity, the building up of the Church -- all of that -- is the work of the Holy Spirit. Live your faith and tell your story; but live it with sincerity and tell it with the intensity and boldness of fire. Remember back to Easter: "Be not afraid."

If we do that, then God will cause people to hear you and God will build up the Church; and it will be a better thing than we could ever build by ourselves.