A Weekly Pentecost

Sunday in church was of course Pentecost, the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church. There was a baptism of an infant on Sunday as well. My first thought was how crazy the service would be since we also had Holy Communion. But as I sat in the pew worshiping, all kinds of things happened.

Not necessarily in order, the ones I know about were:

Baptism: Great-grandpa had a bottle with water he brought back from the River Jordan that the family wanted to use. No problem. Even better- the pastor had great-grandpa come up and pour it into the baptismal. Wow!

Sermon: Great quote! I don't know where she found it, but the pastor quoted a line:

You realize you've caught up to what you've been chasing.

That's what happens when we stop long enough in our quest to realize that the Spirit may be at work. As I sat there I pondered the idea that we may get so caught up in getting to a destination that we may move right by it without seeing it. Or it may creep up on us from the other direction when we were looking away. That's what the Spirit can do- make us aware by being like a breath of wind getting our attention.

Sermon, again: Balloons as us. She used balloons with the children to show what air can do- and when let go- the power behind it. The balloon can float when given a push and filled with air- breath- Spirit. Otherwise it is flat and dull. It's the air...

Sermon: Air, the rush of wind, can be amazing. But it came home to me as the pastor started to blow up a balloon- allowing air to rush in- right next to her lapel mike. The sound of the rushing air- wind- Spirit coming over the speakers was exhilarating.

The Whole Time: Noise and activity. Not just the rush of air but people, children. Yes, noise and activity- just like on the first Pentecost. Not the reserved, hush and be quiet of your average Sunday worship. Noise. People. Children. There was life in that sanctuary. I felt the shiver of the Spirit's presence as we sang and prayed even when things never got quiet. I knew the power of the Spirit was there when the pastor said our traditional Moravian words of charge at the end of the Baptism:

Now, live.
Yet, not you alone but Christ live in you
And the life which you now live
live by faith in the Son of God
who loved you
and gave himself for you.

And that continued from one end of the service to the other as we shared the bread and cup of Holy Communion.

I don't know about anyone else for sure, but I doubt I was the only one.

Yes, as I sat in the pew worshiped on Sunday, all kinds of things happened.

I think we call those things the coming of the Holy Spirit.