Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
The early church naturally centered the liturgy of the year around the crucifixion and resurrection, with Easter being the first major feast of the church. After that, however, two other feasts grew quickly, but neither occurs during Holy Week. Pentecost and Epiphany joined Easter as a trinity of liturgy, which quickly marked a thematic journey from Epiphany as the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, Easter, as God’s intervention to raise Jesus from the dead, and Pentecost, as the passing of the proverbial ministry torch from Jesus to the Holy Spirit.
The images for Pentecost are often language (spoken, tongues), fire (tongues again), and doves (Spirit). It is also principal feast, making it a suitable Sunday for baptism. Son now I’m thinking of fire and water. Which I often argue go together. Both cleanse and purify. They are also dangerous and frighten. Symbolically, they both represent death and resurrection.
While the story from Acts shares the grand entrance of the Holy Spirit, it is paired with the participatory spirit of the apostles. The receive the inspiration and speak. That they are heard and understood is the miracle.
What often gets lost in our modern rendering of the event on Sunday morning is that the event enabled the understanding. The apostles didn’t have to bring it. They didn’t study on Duo Lingo. They didn’t market the church well or put a coffee bar in the fellowship hall. The Spirit inspired them and they showed up. That was their work. And it was work they all joined in together. The imagery and theology are invaluable parts of our faith, but the most important part of Pentecost was simple: they all listened and showed up.
With love,
Drew+
