Pentecost Sunday (Whitsunday)--May 19, 2013
Fr. Todd Bragg
St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church, Indianapolis, IN
Readings:  Acts 2 and St. John 14

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues."

As we gather today to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, or as is known in the Anglican Tradition, Whitsunday, we have to remind ourselves that we are not the first ones to celebrate Pentecost.

In today’s Epistle reading coming from Acts, St. Luke reminds us that “Devout men were gathered in Jerusalem . . . “  We have to keep in mind that devout Jews were instructed that they were to make pilgrimage three times per year.  We are reminded in Exodus:  “Three times a year shalt thou keep a feast unto Me in a year . . .  And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of they labors, which thou hast sown in the field.” (Exodus 23:14).  In other words, this feast was also known as Pentecost.  Elsewhere we read in Leviticus:  “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath . .. shall ye number 50 days and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.”  (Leviticus 23:15).  Please note that we also mark our Christian Feast of Pentecost fifty days after Easter. 

If you were paying attention to the reading coming to us from Acts, you will make note that it seems to revolve around the speaking and understanding  . . . remember, I stated both speaking AND understanding . . .  other languages.  Keep in mind, devout Jews were gathered there from all different regions, different countries, different lands, and as a result, these different men were able to understand what the Apostles were speaking, despite the fact that these devout men from other regions did not speak the same language as the Apostles:  “Are these men not Galileans???”

If we look back to the Old Testament, we will find a very familiar story which we might have read ourselves or even heard about in Sunday School.  It is the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).  If you look at this story, it boils down to this:  the people were so impressed with themselves that they decided to build a tower that would reach to the heavens.  But when God saw what they were doing, he scattered these people to all different regions and they spoke with different languages and division was created.  In other words,  these people were so proud of themselves and so proud of what they could do, that they wanted to build this tower as a testament to THEIR achievement and left God completely out of the mix. 

We are always to remember that everything we do,  everything we have, all the skills and powers and knowledge that we have comes directly from God.  It is God Who has bestowed upon us everything that we have.  Of course, it is up to us to use the skills that the Almighty has bestowed on us but we are always called to acknowledge the source of our skills. 

In St John’s Gospel, we hear the following:  “If ye love Me, keep My commandments, and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever . . . . but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (St. John 14:15-17). 

The Apostles and the Blessed Mother kept Our Lord’s commandments and they followed His instructions.  They might not always have done so perfectly or understood perfectly, but they did what they could and followed Our Lord as well as possible.  We are called to do the same thing:  Follow Our Lord’s commandments and follow His example.  Being human, we will now always do everything perfectly, but that being said, keep our focus on God first and foremost and let things follow from there.

As St. Peter reminds us:  “Once you were no people, now you are God’s people.”  (I St. Peter 2:10)  As God’s people, we are to remember exactly who we are and what we are.  We are Christians.  We bear the name of Christian and belong to God.  As Christians, we acknowledge where our abilities come from and to Whom our heart belongs;  to Our Heavenly Father.

 “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world . . . wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:3-7)

Let us acknowledge that God is Our Heavenly Father.  Let us acknowledge Our Blessed Lord to be Our Saviour.  Let us ask, on this feast of Pentecost, for the Holy Ghost to fill our hearts, to fill the hearts of every Christian throughout the world so that we can acknowledge Our Heavenly Father and to follow His commandments.

Please visit the St. Margaret Parish website:
http://indyanglican.blogspot.com/