Scripture: Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30 • Psalm 104:24-34, 35b • 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21 • John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39
This week is the church's birthday - Pentecost. We read in Acts of the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples with a sound like a violent wind, and divided flaming tongues dancing over their heads. Top that Mick Jagger! And then the most amazing thing, those rustic Galileans spoke in languages all flesh, for all time, could understand.
In her Reflection on the gospel of John's account of Jesus giving us peace through the Holy Spirit , Sister Kym Harris tells us that it is not the kind of peace that turns us off, but like electricity, it turn us on to a power enabling us to do far more than we can ever do ourselves, to live lives of abundance, free from compulsions, selfishness, and whatever holds us back from advancing God's kingdom of love. In her Exposition, she speaks of the power given to us by the Holy Spirit to deal with sin - the power to forgive, not only others, but our selves, so we can get up off the mat, renewed to serve up the Good News of Christ's love and abundance of life.
In "Things like that don't happen anymore, right?," The Rev. Marshall Jolly asks "Could a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit happen? What do you think? What would it look, sound, feel and be like?
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