Celebrating Pentecost
“When the day of Pentecost came…” (Acts 2:1)
Pentecost was a holiday before Acts 2. Otherwise known as the Festival of Weeks, local and Diaspora Jews gather to celebrate the wheat harvest. As Passover remembers the exodus and freedom from oppression, the Festival of Weeks remembers the giving of the Torah and becoming a covenant people.
But in Acts 2 God did what He seems to delight in doing. He fulfilled that Festival of Weeks in ways that align with what was understood, and simultaneously managed to surprise and upend all that was known. The Holy Spirit was given. A New Covenant people were born.
These are profound realities worth celebrating, and yet the realities of our world often leave us feeling less than festive.
A favorite liturgy of mine is “The Liturgy for Feasting with Friends,” from the book Every Moment Holy. It begins, “To gather joyfully is indeed a serious affair, for feasting and all enjoyments gratefully taken are, at their hearts, acts of war.” Rather than a blind eye to the deep pain and brokenness in and around us, our feasting defiantly “declare(s) that evil and death, suffering and loss, sorrow and tears, will not have the final word.”
I want to offer 3 ways we may defiantly celebrate Pentecost this Sunday:
Wear red. In this way we remind ourselves and one another of the “tongues of fire” at Pentecost. No one will pinch you if you don’t (this isn’t St. Patrick’s Day ;), but if you are able it helps us remain present to the mysterious and powerful reality that is the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.
Pray for those who will be baptized. This Sunday, Svea Nelson, Morgan Nelson, Elliott Wheeler, Anson Kovaric, Aiden Kovaric, and Andrew Kovaric will be baptized! Join us in praying for God’s Spirit to meet them powerfully in the sacrament of baptism. Let us celebrate that together with the newly baptized we are a New Covenant people. May we loudly affirm and support their allegiance to Jesus, who has the final word.
Feast with us. Following the service, we will celebrate with a Pentecost Potluck. COTC has long held this feast, inviting each of you to bring dishes that in some way represent your family’s heritage as a potent, physical reminder of God’s “pour[ing] out [His] Spirit on all people”. Bring a dish, pull up a chair, and eat well.
May God’s Spirit move in and among us in ways that align with what we know, and simultaneously up-end and surprise us. Come, Holy Spirit!
Sarah+
P.S If you'd like to read a more extensive update on the border trip that happened last week, you can read Jonathan Kindberg's update here.
P.P.S. Don't forget that if you will be gone for an extended period this summer, we would love to be praying for you. You can send Kimberly an email, letting her know how we can be praying.