Does Pentecost 2013 matter?

What difference does it make today that the first Christians were baptized by the Holy Spirit with tongues  of fire, 2000 years ago, on the Jewish festival of Pentecost? Should we spend a Sunday celebrating the outpouring of the Spirit on the Church on 19 May 2013?

Pentecost matters, because a complete ministry of the Church was guaranteed by the indwelling Spirit, on Pentecost.

On that Jewish festival of Pentecost, 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit empowered the first disciples and formed them into the Church of Christ, and God’s Church is still central to God’s work in the world. They proclaimed God’s Good News in many languages on Pentecost day to demonstrate that there would be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the Church, which is an instrument in God’s hand, in its purest form is culturally inclusive. The Church includes people from every language and people.  

Pentecost guarantees a complete ministry by all God’s children – by men and women alike.

On Pentecost Peter preached a sermon to also help the people understand that the Holy Spirit was given to all who turned from their sin and turned to God through Jesus (Acts 2:38). The “text” of his sermon was Joel 2: 28 – 29: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream  dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants –men and women alike– and they will prophesy.”

The first Christian Pentecost Sunday was a turning point in God’s work on earth. God began to do what he had promised through many centuries and generations, that all God’s children will be equally involved in his complete, comprehensive ministry in this world.

I am therefore challenged with the question whether I am exercising the gifts of the Spirit in my life. Do I serve God wholeheartedly according to his purpose for my life and according to the gifts the Lord gave me through his Spirit? Is this Pentecost Sunday celebrations perhaps the time to renew my commitment to fulfilling my unique role in the ministry of God’s people in the world?