Skip to main content

Happy Birthday to the Church: A Pentecost Reflection

Anytime I am asked what my favorite kind of cake is, I don't even have to think because there is only one answer... birthday cake. Not just any kind of birthday cake, but cake that is topped with as much buttercream icing as humanly possible! The cake is of course a delicious, occasional treat, but it is also a fun way to acknowledge the celebration that is taking place, another year of life! Another year of experiences, relationships, and growing. Thankfully, the Church is not absent of such a celebration. 
This Sunday marks the Church's celebration of Pentecost. Pentecost is a celebration that is always 50 days after Easter, and it marks the end of the Easter season. It commemorates the events recorded in Acts 2 where God sent the Holy Spirit to fill the disciples of Jesus. This is important because it marks the “birth” of the Church and how people from all over the world began to be invited into the family of God. Typically, the day is highlighted by wearing red, images of fire/wind/spirit, and of course celebration.

Every year when I read this story I am reminded of the two most significant components of this story. First, it marks the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the third element of the Trinity. Though the term "Trinity" is never used in scripture itself, the three actors of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit present themselves to humanity at different points across scripture, and Pentecost is the Spirit's coming out party! 

The second significant component of Pentecost for me is how it makes a shift in expanding the parameters of who can be included in the family of God. Up to this point in scripture, God's people have been excluded to one people group, the Israelites. But as the events unfold across Acts 2, and the crowds gathered there began to speak and hear one another in their own respective languages, languages that otherwise these "other" groups could not and should not be able to understand, we see the metaphorical extension, or rather the removal of the barriers which determine "who is in." 

Language has the wonderful capability to be a strong connecting point for an individual to their respective community. It serves as a representation of their culture, history, and family. Yet, at the same time, language can also be a great barrier for our greater social community. For humanity the ignorance of and challenge of learning a new language, or the outright resistance to accept or acknowledge the diversity of learning another language, can separate people. Establishing barriers of our own making. 

In the events of Acts 2 though, language, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, appears to acknowledge the diversity of the people groups gathered while simultaneously breaking down the barrier that might otherwise separate them.Through the bonds forged by the Spirit, those gathered were able to celebrate what makes them who they are culturally/ethnically, while also acknowledging the same in their neighbor, and they did so without having to sacrifice who they are. 

The same can still happen for us today. The arrival of the Spirit in Acts 2 was just a display of what the Spirit's presence can do in our lives. However, the challenge for us all today is that we have to be the ones who now display that power in our living. We too can recognize the unique ways God has created each of us, the wonderful diversity of God's children, and we can make the choice to actively work to break the barriers that otherwise might separate us. Doing this kind of work would lend itself to something truly worth celebrating, because it would allow us to further see the fullness of God's kingdom. I know we can make that kind of world a reality, and it is our God given mandate. I can't wait to see that day, and maybe, just maybe, there will be some cake there too!   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just Because We Can Doesn't Mean We Should

Over the last ten weeks the sanctuary at First Baptist Monroe has sat dormant. Though we haven't been worshiping in that space, worship has continued via a more intimate setting in our church's choir room beamed up into airwaves for people to participate in on all manner of personal devices. I have missed being able to gather with our folks there, and when I walk through it now, something is definitely missing. It is a vast understatement to say the COVID-19 pandemic has overturned our very way of life. Restrictions on work, retail, recreational, and social activities have hit us all hard. Like a two year old toddler, the first instance or two of being told "no" might slip right by us, but after repeated denials, that opposition often grows into anger-filled defiance before generating fits of rage-fueled outbursts. It happens. Churches are no stranger to this as the recent push to allow congregants to gather in NC has made its way through the court system. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reconstructing Our Own "Cathedral of Innovation"

The other day I came across a fascinating article about a recent facility acquisition made by Audible, Inc., the Amazon subsidiary that provides audiobooks and other storytelling services on its well-designed app (of which I happen to be a frequent user). The company had purchased an old rundown building just down the street from its headquarters in Newark, NJ, believing it could be a center of innovation and development not only for the company’s products but also for their community. Your first thought is likely that what they purchased was a warehouse, a former storefront, or possibly an abandoned apartment building. What would you say if I told you what they purchased was a church? Yes, Audible, Inc. purchased what was formerly Newark’s Second Presbyterian Church. Having been constructed in 1933, the church at one time had as many as 10,000 members at its height in the middle of the 20th century. The church closed in 1995 due to declining membership and the space was used as a sc...
Post a Comment
Read more

FBC Monroe Students Head North, eh! (Day 1)

Today our team of 8 high school students and 3 adult chaperones from First Baptist, Monroe departed for a week of serving alongside residents of Chateauguay, Quebec Canada. We have been looking forward to this experience for quite awhile. For all of the students, it is their first experience with an international missonal encounter, heck for three quarters of our team, it was their first time flying.             Our trip began with multiple headaches at the Charlotte airport, as there was difficulty with obtaining boarding passes through the airline, and misdirection from security about which “check-in” line we were authorized to enter. Then when we got to Philadelphia for our connecting flight, it ended up being delayed by 2.5 hours. All of the irritations aside, it provided time for our team to gel in light of the unique experiences, and give us a good “first day’ story.          ...
3 comments
Read more