Pentecost Sunday – central to the work of God.

We must ask what difference it makes to us today that the first Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit 2000 years ago on the Jewish festival of Shavuot (Hebrew) or Pentecost (Greek).   The impact is that all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour receive “the indwelling and power of the Spirit”.

Pentecost, celebrated on 15 May 2016, matters because it clearly shows that the Church plays a central role in God’s work in our world.

We know that the Holy Spirit was poured out on individual disciples of Jesus as they were patiently waiting upon the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to them about the coming of the Spirit. They were praying for 10 days waiting upon the Lord to fill them and share the power of the resurrected Christ with them by baptizing them with the Spirit of God.

The Pentecost day turned followers of Christ into the first congregation of the Christian Church, as they all received the power of the Holy Spirit. Along with the first disciples, they also shared in becoming a Christian community or family.

They taught about the resurrected Lord, broke bread, prayed and enjoyed such a special fellowship that many more came to join in their faith and in celebrating the resurrected Jesus. They cheerfully gave of their belongings to feed the hungry and maintain the ministry of Word and Sacrament. And “the Lord daily added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Pentecost matters, because it tells us about the birthday and role of the Church in the coming Kingdom of God.

It was no coincidence that the congregation was praying together when the Spirit was poured out. This first “grandmother church” would be the root from which the Church of our Lord would grow. Their experience on the first Pentecost teaches that the Church is central to God’s work and plan through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in the Church and all her members. Paul therefore calls the Church the Temple of God in which the Spirit dwells. (1 Cor 3.)    The truth found throughout Scriptures is that the Church in which the Spirit dwells is central to the Father’s work in the world and is central to our worship, growth and service.

Pentecost insists that we reflect on our own participation in the work, mission and life of the Church of God. We need to continuously renew our covenant with the God of grace, received at baptism and confirmed by our public confession of faith, to live as a contributing member of the body of Christ.

Pentecost calls us to build the Church of our Lord by preaching the Word, sharing in her holy sacraments and spreading the salvation, love, power and justice of Jesus Christ across the world.