Ø Happy Birthday – Today marks the birthday of the Christian Church. This implies that there is only one Church all of us Episcopalian, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal, any of the various sects within Jesus’ Church are in reality only expressions of the oneness of Christianity.
Ø All that’s required of us to be Christian is baptism coupled with a belief in the risen Christ.
Ø 50 day’s ago on Easter Sunday we received the risen Ones’ gift of the Holy Spirit. Traditionally baptisms are held on Easter, baptism after all is when the Spirit of Jesus comes to us. Baptizm gives each of us the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Ø Today, Pentecost Sunday, the Law of the Jews is replaced by the gift of the Spirit. It is the basis of the life in a new community. We are told that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ø Pentecost is a proclamation of the birth of the new order, a community based on love rather than fear.
Ø Many of us are going on vacation this summer. Vacations are often thought of a time of recreation. Recreation is a contraction of re creation as such it carries the idea that we will change as a result. Remember the summer after high school graduation when we went on a glorious vacation to celebrate the beginning of adult life. How naïve we were.
Ø How many of you remember the late 1960’s and the song the Age of Aquarius? The Age of Aquarius was supposed to be the dawning of a new creation! Unfortunately, the new age rather than being utopian as the song promised was an age of continued war, mass murder and hatred of those who are different than us.
Ø As individuals and as a church it is time to give up the old wishful thinking and rethink the possible. Turn ourselves away from hatred and distrust and toward Jesus who gave his life to save us.
Ø Every year at Pentecost the Church marks the beginning of a new age and reminds us that the way of Christ is inclusive. It doesn’t promise a magical new world without hatred rather it tells us how to live with love.
Ø The English term “good news” which is translated from Greek word kerygma is used in association with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Kerygma is more correctly used to express the message of Jesus’ whole ministry. The meaning of the crucifixion is central to the concept of Kerygma.
Ø Peter tells us in Acts that by virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God as messianic head of the new Israel
Ø Paul tells us that the only way we can say “Jesus is Lord” is as a gift of the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that each of us has gifts of the Holy Spirit but these gifts are manifested in different was in each of us. As Christians we are all baptized into one body whether we are Episcopalian or any other sect; and we all nourished by one Spirit.
Ø God loves us and we must find a way to love one another. Pentecost is the time to begin to rethink our world and hope to make a difference. Great movements often start with one person’s activity. Remember Rosa Parks who’s simple action of refusing to move to the back of the bus ignited the road to real integration. We as individuals and as a small church can make a difference if we rethink the possible.
Ø Let us each in our own way give thanks for the birth of our Church as the body of Christ on Earth.
Ø Amen.
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