Pentecost-al

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104 1 Corinthians 12:3-13; JOhn 20:19-23

This past Sunday we wrapped up the Easter Season with the celebration of Pentecost. God sends His Spirit to animate the human heart and thus empower and inspire the Apostles to spread the message of Christ who was dead but now is risen.


Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. It is also the birth of our mission on earth.

When you look at the readings there is one thing that jumped out to me. One line from the Psalm was striking.

We usually do not pay much attention to the psalm but they are worth our attention.

In Psalm 104, the ancient writers begs that "be pleasing to Him be my theme."

HE begs the Lord that his theme be pleasing to Him. This is a strange sentence.

Think about what a theme is for a moment. A theme is the main idea or that message which dominates a story. It is that which leaves a lasting impression.

Themes are every where in our society. Every birthday party has a theme of some sort. My little nephew often has Spiderman theme party where the cake, the presents, the balloons are all Spiderman related.

I have presided at many weddings where they all have different themes. Some of them are western themes where all wear cowboy boots and hats.

Thematic parties and celebrations had a little flavor to our life.
So here is the big question. What is the theme of our life?

What dominates our life? What is the lasting impression people get from the way we live our life?

If you are not sure then answer these two questions: What do you celebrate and what do you talk about most often.

These two questions will reveal your theme. Is this pleasing to the Lord.

What do you celebrate in life? What do yo talk about?

When is the last time you celebrated what God has done in your life? When have you celebrated what God has empowered you to do in and with your life?

What do yo talk about? When is the last time your shared what God has done in your life? When is the last time you gossiped about God or Christ or the Spirit animating your life?
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Pentecost was a Jewish feast. It was a feast of thanksgiving. The JEws would pull an all nighter to give thanks to GOd for the good harvest, for his revelation, and for the Mosaic covenant.

THis is what the celebrated. This is what they talked about.

They celebrated the fact that God has made himself known. God keeps silence no longer but has chosen to speak to them through the patriarchs and the prophets. They also would celebrate the mosaic covenant where God said, "Ill will be your God and you will be my people."

In the covenant God gives the people a home, a place to belong and the commandments were an opportunity to turn guidelines into lifelines.

THis was the celebration of Pentecost, 50 days after the passover.

In the midst of this celebration the SPirit is sent to empower the Apostles to stand before 5000 and proclaim the "mighty acts of God."

The Spirit gave the apostles the gift of gab to talk about christ, who is the mighty act of God, and to celebrate that with their life. This defined them.

THis is how we live in the Spirit. We have all been given drink of the same Spirit.

Why do we not celebrate the mighty Acts of God in our life? Why do we not talk about Christ in our life. We belong to the biggest pentecostal church, the pentecostal church and yet we remain silent and celebrate not.

We must pray each day that God renews us with his SPirit so that we may recognize his workings in our life so we can share and celebrate and keep the message alive.