John 15.26-27, 16:4b-15 (Feast of Pentecost)
Today in many of our Churches, we are celebrating the Festival of Pentecost and recalling the occasion when early Christians, following the forty days of experiencing the risen Christ among them again, now ten days later, experienced a new thing: the presence of God among them, not in the person of Christ, but as Spirit, moving among and around them now as rushing wind, as tongues of fire, and filling them with a sense of power and new life; and this Spirit would continue to show them -- and that also means us -- new things pertinent for the time that we live in.
Some of those early followers began to grasp and understand why Jesus had said to them that it was necessary for him to return to the Father, but that they mustn't be sad, for God would continue to be among them, albeit in new ways, giving them comfort and advocating for them, giving them insight and wisdom to live life in a Christlike way. This Spirit of Truth, which is of God, still continues to teach and instill us, his people, with the tools for living, day by day.
Can we here use this day, this festival, to be open to how and where God moves among and within our lives now? Lest we restrict our vision to only how God has moved among us in the past, Pentecost is also a yearly reminder that God can continue to appear in new, fresh and sometimes unexpected ways for each of us, but should this become your experience, don't be surprised if this Pentecost is also a time of celebration and inner joy.
Archdeacon Ken Cardwell
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