This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday! We look forward to celebrating God’s gift of the Holy Spirit and the Birthday of the Church. Red is the liturgical color for Pentecost because it reminds us that the Spirit came with a loud rushing wind and tongues of fire, enabling Jesus’ disciples and followers to speak in many languages and understand each other at same time. I hope you will wear red to church on Sunday to celebrate Pentecost! We will also be waving some red streamers during the opening hymn as we remember God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Feast of Pentecost was first an important celebration for the Jewish people. Each year, faithful Jews traveled to the Temple at Pentecost to celebrate the early wheat harvest that took place 50 days after Passover. Jews from all over traveled to the Temple to offer the most-choice wheat from the early harvest as a "thank offering" to God. In the Jewish tradition, Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, was also a time to remember that God had given the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
But the Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 was the most unusual Pentecost ever. Hearing and understanding so many different languages, the bewildered crowd wondered, “What does this mean?” All these years later, that’s a good question for us, too, as we prepare to celebrate Pentecost once again. What does it mean to be the Church empowered and bound together by the gift of the Spirit? Here are a few reflections:
Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit continually sustains us, guides us, and equips us for our shared ministry.
Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit empowers our ministry individually and collectively as the Church.
Pentecost reminds us that we, as the People of God, can find unity even in our diversity.
Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit is powerful! May we continue listen for the Spirit’s powerful leadership in our lives, not only at Pentecost but in every season.
If you have young children or grandchildren at home, author Traci Smith offers some creative ways to celebrate Pentecost with little ones. See her ideas below.
