The Fire is Burning and the Wind is Blowing: Pentecost - A Season of Passage

Today, we celebrate Pentecost—a day of fire, wind, and transformation. Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover, the holy day that celebrates the Israelites' liberation from Egypt. Fifty days later, they arrived at Mount Sinai and received the law through Moses from God.   But today, God shows up in a different way. For us, Pentecost’s celebration is also Confirmation Sunday, when our young people boldly proclaim, “This faith is mine.” And we also recognize graduations, the crossing into adolescence, adulthood, decision-making, and mission.  And while I am not preaching about this today, retirement is another transition which brings monumental changes.

“Pentecost is the moment when the living God takes up residence, not in a temple of stone, but in his people.”[1] Says NT Wright.

And as Lutheran Pastor Joy J. Moore reminds us, Pentecost is not about spectacle…. It’s about God speaking through human voices to human hearts. And that’s exactly what God is doing here, right now.[2]

So what does Pentecost mean when we are 12, 21, 80? Let’s walk through three key points about Pentecost today.

1. The Holy Spirit shows up in our world to us, - yes, you and me.

2. The Holy Spirit speaks to us and sends us to speak to others.

3. Jakson, Jordan, Sarah, and Red Church, you and all of us, are being sent.

Acts 2 begins, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” And what were they doing? Waiting. Waiting for what Jesus said would come but hadn’t yet appeared. Have you ever been there?   Well, I have.  I think Jakson and Jordan have been waiting to sleep in on Sunday mornings.

• These boys have spent weeks and months, actually years in study—exploring Scripture, wrestling with questions, and learning the church traditions.   What’s been the most challenging? Developing their own voice of faith and using that voice to speak before our congregation.  Last month, they even preached the gospel.    AMEN?

• Sarah has worked hard, but as the moment of graduation approached closer and closer, I’m pretty sure, the pressure grew.  Yes? Now what? It’s a doorway , between who she has been and who she’s becoming. And, although she has a plan, she is still looking at uncharted territory.

• And we at Red church are wrestling with today’s world, saying with the Spirit “I’m not mired in the past, I’m alive.”

We are all growing up, and growing up is hard to do.  Yes?  Do we ever stop? It’s a journey with what seems like a never-arriving destination. Luke exclaims,“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues…” (Acts 2:4)

More than the fire and the wind, what’s the real miracle at Pentecost? People hearing God’s message in their own language.  God’s message doesn’t come in just one voice—it comes in every voice.[3] The reverse of what happened at Babbel N.T. Wright reminds us.

That means:

• To you Jordan and Jakson wondering if your faith is good enough—the Spirit says: “I speak your language. I meet you in your voice.”

• To Sarah who may not have it all figured out—the Spirit says: “I know your fears, your hopes—and I send you anyway.”

When the crowd saw and heard the Spirit moving through the disciples, they asked, “What does this mean?”  We ask the same.

• What does it mean when our confirmands dare to say, “Jesus is my Lord”?

• What does it mean when our graduate chooses to carry her faith into decisions about graduate school and work?

It means Pentecost is still happening.

It means you might be rejected, made fun of, like the disciples.

It means the Holy Spirit is not ancient history, but the breath of the present.

It means the church is still being born, one life at a time.

Our churches today cannot expect people to come and learn our language. We are called to speak theirs.  N. T. Wright says Pentecost was not a private prayer experience. The wind didn’t blow through the room and leave them there. The tongues of fire didn’t stay so they could admire them in a mirror. It sent them.

We at Red Church are God’s people, called to be a traveling portable Temple, carrying God’s presence out into the world. The Holy Spirit is here to help everyday people speak Jesus’ gospel.  That’s what makes Confirmation, the affirmation of baptism, so sacred. Today, we are hearing, “This isn’t just my parents’ faith. This isn’t just my pastor’s belief. This is mine.”

Graduation from college, also is public sending. Sarah, you are not being sent into a world that will welcome you easily. The world today is filled with division, misinformation, injustice, and fear.  What can help you face this? The Holy Spirit.  And what can make you strong? Not just the degrees. But the presence of the living God who gives you the power to face your struggles. To move beyond them.

Joy Moore reminds us: “We are not called to build towers to heaven. We are called to bear witness right where we are.”

So, Jakson and Jordan: You have studied. You have prayed. You have asked hard questions. Now the Spirit says: “Go. Speak. Live.” You are not alone.

Sarah: You are crossing a threshold. The Spirit of truth and power is with you. You do not go into the world empty-handed—you go filled with fire.

The same Spirit of God that was with Moses and the disciples, is present here with us today. Open up to it!   Love God and Jesus Christ passionately! Welcome others extravagantly!   Come Holy Spirit and Fire Us Up!

Thanks be to God. Amen.