In most churches, for reasons partly liturgical and partly practical, the Church calms down a bit for the summer months. Adult Forums, Sunday School, Confirmation and the like all take a hiatus, while worship guides us through our celebrations of Pentecost and Holy Trinity Sunday, entering the longest season of the church — Ordinary Time.
This week we begin that season with the celebration of Pentecost Sunday. It is this season after Pentecost, that we go forth into the world, into our everyday lives, knowing that we are the Body of Christ, and we are His living Spirit, which is at work in the world! It is a season when we remember that God is with us in the everyday, ordinary, in the natural, every bit as much as He is with us in the extraordinary. God Himself becomes “ordinary” in this time—not in that He is boring, but in that He is relevant and present in our daily lives! This summer we celebrate that Jesus goes with us on our way: to work, to the lake, to our homes – Jesus goes with us everywhere!!!
God comes down to Earth when we cannot reach up to Heaven. This is the amazing thing about our God. That God meets us where we least expect to find Him—in the small, in the quiet, in the leisurely love of life and family, God is in the quiet and the small as much as God is in the praise and celebration and remembering that is what makes this the most extraordinary season of all.
The amazing thing is that our time with God during Pentecost is not an accident. Pentecost is the extraordinary coupling of human capacity with divine power. It is God pouring God’s spirit upon us to the point were we are filled to overflowing with God’s Holy Spirit and power.
So the question is how might you and your faith community live your life and your call to mission and vision in the world during this Pentecost season? How can we be faithful witnesses to the story of Pentecost? Because faithfulness to the Pentecost story can bring about changes in your life that you will not expect and perhaps you could not accomplish any other way.
This Sunday as we hear about the Wind, the fire, and the Holy Spirit let us remember that Pentecost does not end Sunday after Church. Our Pentecost extends into the summer and into the fall so we can live out the mission that God calls us too. So I commend you to worship, to read about the many opportunities to live out your call, to follow your heart. I invite you to proclaim the name of God in word and deed throughout your life both in and out of the church and in your story of faith.
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