Pride for Pentecost

Today is the Feast of Pentecost, the celebration of the receipt and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the “first fruits” [Romans 8:23] of salvation.

We wait, as in all of life, with hope in our hearts, for the fulfillment of love [Romans 8:25].

In churches we wear red to symbolize the fire of the Holy Spirit, but also its power. We read the story from Acts 2:1-11 about the first Pentecost, we try to recreate it with singing and by reading in different languages. We focus on the “amazed and perplexed” [Acts 2:12] part of the story.

But, do we follow the signs all around us? Do we know when the Holy Spirit is with us?

We get carried away by the part about the wind and the fire; those are Old Testament cues for the presence of God’s Spirit. Let’s look at the story again.

“They were all together in one place,” in a house, it says, and they were sitting. They made a lot of noise, babble we might say, talking each in their own way, rather like an airport departure lounge, eh?

They were filled with the Holy Spirit, all of them, each according to their own ability, experiencing God’s deeds of power, rather like a wedding dinner, eh?

Or a parish supper? Or an LGBTQ+ community center potluck? A Pride festival?

The crowd was perplexed, some of them sneered.

Maybe like a Pride festival? In fact, if you want to experience pretty much the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a crowd of loving people gathered together in one place each experiencing God’s love according to their own ability, expressing their love aloud each talking in their own way … go to any Pride festival.

There you will see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit, the Advocate [John 16:7], to dwell among those who believe in the promise of the power of God’s love, to empower those who live fully into their own created being, to uplift those who walk in love.

There you will see and hear the whole creation “groaning in labor pains” [Romans 8:22] in anticipation of salvation, which is the fulfillment of God’s love.

God’s Spirit resting in the hearts of those who love will indeed receive the “Spirit of truth …” and be guided into all truth [John 16:13], which is that glory is love and love is glory.

Amen.  

The Day Of Pentecost: Whitsunday 2024 Year B RCL (Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15)

©The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.