The editorial piece for Church of the Good Shepherd, (Ashmore Uniting), Sunday May 31.
Churches throughout the world are celebrating the festival of Pentecost, marking the day on which the Holy Spirit sparked the mission-focused church into action. The name Pentecost comes from the Greek phrase, pentekostē [hēmera], the fiftieth day. It’s seven weeks after Easter. The original context for Pentecost was the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot or the day, fifty days after the Exodus, on which God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
In the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles we read the story of men and women gathered in an upper room, praying. The account tells us that these people experienced the arrival of the Holy Spirit, hovering above them like flames. They found themselves able to speak in various languages and took off out into the crowded streets to share the good news of the crucified and risen Jesus.
Pentecost is often associated with a Pentecostal style of worship and an understanding of the gifts of the Spirit, expressed in movements like Assemblies of God, Elim, Apostolic, Church of God in Christ, Church of the Four Square Gospel, and Christian Outreach Centre. But Pentecost doesn’t belong solely to the Pentecostal churches! The Holy Spirit teaches, encourages and empowers Christians everywhere, no matter what kind of brand of Christianity.
Pentecost is sometimes associated with speaking in tongues. The King James translation of the Acts 2 tells us that the disciples of Jesus were empowered by the Spirit to speak in “divers kinds of tongues”, which in today’s language means “many kinds of languages”. As we read Acts 2 we find that the Spirit was giving these people a gift of communication with people from many cultural backgrounds, finding language that helped people connect and engage with the gospel and one another. Maybe that’s what the Spirit is giving us today as well, helping us listen, learn and respond to people, finding ways to communicate good news that make sense and lead to changed lives.