The Day of Pentecost/Year B/May 19, 2024
Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
(Today’s service included the baptism of 2 year old twins)
Opening Prayer:
Creator of speech and silence, Holy Spirit of water, fire, and wind, we give you thanks for all the languages of the earth; fill our souls and the Church with your holy flame and bless our tongues to tell the world of the love that unites us all. Amen. (Common Prayer for Children and Families, Jennifer Gambler & Timothy J,S. Seamans)
Today we celebrate the Day of Pentecost…marking the end of the 50 day season of Easter….and marking the day we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to his disciples (and us) concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit…the Advocate, the Spirit of truth that would be sent to us after Jesus ascended to heaven, to guide us, lead us, comfort us, encourage us, inspire us, equip us, fill us, strengthen us, transform us, and move us to tell the world of the love that unites us all…move us to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ (Jesus)…
You might recognize those words as one of the baptismal promises we make at the time of our own baptisms or spoken on behalf of the young children who are being presented for baptism…
It is one of several promises that the parents, godparents, and all of us gathered together as a community of faith make on behalf of the children who rely on us, the adults, to teach them the good news about God’s love for the whole world and all its people and all of creation, to teach them about who Jesus is, and how his life, death, and resurrection has changed and transformed your life and the way you strive to love one another as Jesus has so loved you, and to teach them about how the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, was sent to us, to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts and minds to see the signs and reminders of God’s love, Jesus’ love and presence in the world, everywhere we turn…. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, that enables us to do that…
I’d like to share this story with you this morning…that I think gives us a good starting point to imagine and wonder aloud together, about some of the ways the Holy Spirit, the Advocate can help us get to know what God and Jesus’ love is like… and to help us see reminders of their presence in the world around us…everywhere we are…
***Read the Book: What is God like? By Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner, illustrated by Ying Hui Tan.
May we never tire of calling upon the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to help us tell the world of the love that unites us to one another ….Let us never tire of being an advocate of God’s love in the world around us…so that the children of all ages among us will keep seeking, searching, wondering and learning about God’s love for them and for the whole world…so that they too can go out and tell the world of the love that unites us all…and be moved to proclaim by word and example the Good News of Christ (Jesus)..in all times, and in all places, to the end of the ages…
Closing Prayer/Hymn: Jesus loves me…(VF) 163
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska