The Day of Pentecost

When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  — Genesis 1:1–2

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. — Acts 2:1–2

This Sunday is the great Day of Pentecost. On this day we celebrate, remember and are renewed in the promise of the coming of the Spirit—that day when a dozen or so first century Galileans and their compatriots experienced the outpouring of the Spirit of the Messiah and Lord they had walked with and known for three years prior. This new experience was of the same kind that they knew “in the days of his flesh“ but now were coming to know “by the Spirit”.

With that said, the Spirit that we celebrate as the Gift of Pentecost is the same Spirit that hovered over the primal waters in the beginning. This is not a new character on the scene! This Spirit is ancient, as ancient as the One we call the Ancient of Days. Creation and Redemption are one and the same act. The power by which God created “in the beginning” is the same power by which he re-creates us and the whole cosmos anew! “For it is God who said, ‘Light will shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:6)

As we come together this Sunday, I want us to remember that the beautiful gift of God’s Spirit is not to remove us from creation, but is the the way God involves us in its renewal and rebirth! Praise be to the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life! See you on Sunday!