Wear RED this Sunday to Celebrate Pentecost!
Pentecost is a strange church holiday. Christmas we get. The baby Jesus, born in a manger, visited by shepherds and wise guys. Easter we get. The crucified Jesus raised from the dead.
But Pentecost… a little strange. Acts 2 tells the story. The Jesus-Followers were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem (maybe the same upper room in which the twelve ate Passover with the Lord?). They knew that Jesus was alive; he had appeared to many of them over the 50 days since his death. A few of them had been present when he ascended back into Heaven from the Mt. of Olives. So, they were no longer a people in mourning. But they were still a bit confused.
“Now what?” That must have been on a lot of lips that day. Jesus told them to go into the world and make disciples… but not yet!!! First, he said, go wait in Jerusalem. Didn’t make much sense. Should they go? Should they wait? How can you reach the world if you don’t take that first step out the door?
But they had the good sense to obey Jesus. And as they prayed and waited, suddenly the Holy Spirit of Jesus appeared. Like tongues of flame dancing around on their heads! Why? Maybe because Jesus wanted to convince them that the Spirit was real; that they weren’t imagining things. Weren’t making it up. That the Spirit third person of the Trinity was as real as the flesh-and-bones Son of God.
Anyhow, the Holy Spirit filled every person there. People who spoke foreign languages heard the gospel proclaimed miraculously in their own tongue. Thousands came to Christ. And the Church was off and running… all because they stopped, first.
This coming Pentecost Sunday we will stop. And wait. And ask the Holy Spirit to visit us in a powerful way, too. And we will ask a special favor of the Spirit:… that he pour out extra blessing upon our graduates as they prepare to take the world by storm. We cannot make that journey in our own strength. Apart from him, we can do nothing. But if you are willing to wait until the Lord fills you and frees you, watch out! As my dad says, it will be “Katy bar the door!”
Come Sunday, get a fresh anointing of the spirit… and don’t forget to wear RED!
Pastor Mark