The Promise of Pentecost

Today is the day in which we celebrate the pouring out of the Spirit upon the first disciples of Jesus and how from that  day the church 

began to reach out around the world, how they went from being timid and afraid in their testimony to Christ to being bold and 

courageous in their witness; how they went from being inward looking to being outward looking, from seeking to save themselves

 to being ones who had a passion for showing others where healing is to be found.

Something strange happened on the day of Pentecost -- as the Spirit overcame the confusion that has been upon the face of the earth since 

the days when the Tower of Babel was destroyed, and made it possible for the disciples to communicate with every person - regardless of 

differences of race, national origin, or language.

Something strange and profound happened on the day of Pentecost – almost 2000 years ago, and that something profound is still occurring  

as the Spirit continues to be poured out upon those who believe in and follow Christ - bringing order out of chaos, understanding out of 

confusion, unity out of diversity.

You know, there has long been a tension in the church between celebrating the gifts of God and the individuals with those gifts -- a tension 

between recognizing those people who serve in particular ways  and the God who makes it possible for them to serve in the first place.

In the middle ages when the great cathedrals were built the architects were never named. The great stained glass windows 

and works of art within them are unsigned; the wonderful craftsmanship - unidentified.  And there is a reason for that. 

 It is not that the origin of such work was lost in the annals of time.  It was because it was all done for the glory of God; 

it was all made possible by the Holy Spirit.

Yet even in those times it was recognized that God's gifts, the gifts poured out by the Holy Spirit in different quantities upon different people, 

took on flesh through the obedience and faithful service of individuals - - and that is good and important to highlight the fact that this is so.

That is why Paul wrote what he wrote in Corinthians:

To remind the church in that place that everyone who follows Christ isGifted—gifted by God, gifted in different ways and to 

different degrees, but that each gift and each person is important -- none more or none less

            than another: that those who preach are not greater than those who listen

           and that those who gather to eat are no greater than those who wait on tables.

Each one of us if we are being obedient to the call of God in our lives is used of God - some more particularly within the environs of this 

parish that we share-- and some more particularly outside spreading the good news to those who need it in the world.

The good news is in the fact that God has given us a diversity of gifts and that these are in use here in our midst and beyond this church -

in the world to which we are sent as apostles of Christ. It is in the fact of the Spirit;  it is in the fact that God has poured himself out upon 

us; and in the fact that for those of faith God is at hand—God is here in us and around us.  And Good Shepherd church is particularly blessed!

We do have old men who dream dreams and young men who see visions.

We have sons and daughters who are moved by the Spirit to build up the body by sharing their faith, their hope, their worship of God.

We have those with gifts of administration of preaching and of teaching of music and of prayer.

We have those with gifts of service and help—and those with the gifts of listening and of counsel.

We have too those who have what Paul calls the gift of faith—and those with what I call the gift of presence and of encouragement—

those who offer unceasing prayer for their bothers and sisters in Christ.

In all that we celebrate today the hand of God is evident and that hand calls us to rejoice and take heart.  

We earnestly pray that we leave no gift, no person out, because we know that God has not left us so 

incomplete, that God treasures and gifts each person here.

The good news is that we are equipped by the Spirit—we are equipped to do what the Spirit calls the church to do, which is to 

witness to the love and purpose of God as revealed through Christ Jesus our Lord and the Law and the Prophets.

But if Pentecost is to be more than red balloons and recalling the coming of the Holy Spirit and rejoicing over the courage and 

empowerment of the disciples to tell the world about Jesus and his mighty works, then it must be more than a remembrance—

it must be something alive, it must indeed be a mighty RUARK—that powerful wind that sweeps through Good Shepherd Church

 and literally lifts us from our pews and propels into action.  

We are reminded today in the reading from Corinthians that all of us, as believers, have been gifted by the Spirit in one dimension 

or another—and we are all aware that many of those gifts are being offered to the glory of God here in this place.  But we are also

 reminded this morning that we are all members of the body—one in which the many parts are interrelated to form the whole—and

 that unity flounders when all the parts aren’t working in harmony toward the same end.

When does a gift become a gift?  It becomes a gift when it is freely and lovingly given. All of those gifts of which Paul spoke need 

to come off the shelf, need to be unwrapped, need to used for the glory of the one who gave them to you in the first place.  We

 need desperately the gifts of teaching for our Sunday School, the gifts of hospitality for special events, coffee hour, and meeting 

the special needs of many of our parishioners.  We need the gifts of caring and compassion to visit those who are unable to be here

 on a regular basis.  We need those with the gifts of leadership and understanding to enliven and regenerate our ministry to our young

 people.  We need those who have been given the abilities to administer to volunteer for our vestry and for service on our commissions.

In short, we need the flames of the Holy Spirit to lick at our heels, to give us a few spiritual hot-foots.  Without them, the promise 

and fire of Pentecost will turn into a bleak and cold tomorrow, and the light of Christ we ignited in such great hope 50 days ago 

on Easter Eve, be extinguished and plunge us into darkness. We call upon the Holy Spirit to rekindle that fire and restore its glow

as a beacon to the world. 

Perhaps because I have named needs according to the experience and history we have here at Good Shepherd, and you are new to 

our midst—or because you have served in a different way the will of God . . . then hear now our prayer and our sincerest desire 

for you and for us is that you may know your value as part of the whole picture that God is seeking to put together here --

 for God's Spirit is upon each one here today to will and accomplish his good purposes - within this body of his Church, 

 and through us as that one body – in the world beyond.

Come Holy Spirit, enliven us, enlighten us, lead us, and set our hearts on fire for the Gospel and for the one in whom we find life

 everlasting.  Amen