Loving God, you sent your Holy Spirit so that your power might continue to be at work in the world through your people. Renew us in your Spirit as we gather together today, and make us aware of the gifts that you have given us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

On the church calendar, today is the Day of Pentecost – the festival that marks the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples. It is an excellent day to celebrate Confirmation, which also includes lots of prayers for the Holy Spirit. However, on the North American calendar, today is Mother’s Day. One website this week was suggesting various sermon titles and sayings that would bring Pentecost and Mother’s Day together. One of the best suggestions was this: “If the Holy Spirit sets you on fire, don’t you come running to me!” Yes – God does have a sense of humour, too.

We’re going to come back to the Holy Spirit in a few minutes, but first, each of the confirmands was asked to answer the same question in preparation for today. The question is this: How is your life different because you believe in Jesus Christ? I’m going to ask them to come up one at a time and share their answers with us. As they do so, you need to know in advance that each one of these young people is both intelligent and gifted.

[The confirmands' speeches are not printed here.]

Believing in Jesus Christ does make a difference. In fact, believing in Jesus can be downright dangerous. You might get asked to do something that you have never done before. Do you think that those first disciples would have ever guessed that they would be telling others about Jesus in foreign languages? Of course they wouldn’t. They had no ability to speak in other languages or even to preach until the Holy Spirit gave it to them. And rivers of living water flowing out of their hearts? They had no idea what this would be like until they had experienced it.

When we pray for the Holy Spirit to come, we have no idea what God might do through us! This is true at our baptism. This is true at our confirmation. This is true for those who are consecrated or ordained for a particular type of ministry. When the Holy Spirit goes to work in our lives, look out! We never know ahead of time what we might end up doing.

Listen to this reflection from Annie Dillard about the power of the Holy Spirit:

Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?... On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke?... It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews (Teaching a Stone to Talk, New York: Harper & Row, 1982, p. 40).

Did you all bring your crash helmets with you this morning?

Now, this is not to say that the Holy Spirit is a scary thing. God always acts in love for the benefit of his precious creation. The Holy Spirit does not cause people to go crazy or to act without thinking. Instead, the Spirit produces things like love and joy and peace. Yet, at the same time, the Spirit is given to us for a reason: in order that God can use us to love and to bless the world.

And so I say to those who are affirming their baptism today and to all those who believe in Jesus Christ: Be aware of the gifts that God has given to you, both spiritual and otherwise. God has not given you your abilities and your resources in order for you to keep them all for yourselves. God has called you and claimed you and blessed you for a reason: in order that you might serve as the hands and feet of Jesus here in this world.

Now, is this a big job? – Of course it is! That’s why we’re not expected to do it on our own. Instead, we’re expected to do it by the power of the Holy Spirit and working together as members of the body of Christ.

God has created us and loved us and saved us and renewed us. Let us then go forth today, signal flares and crash helmets in hand, ready for our part in God’s mission to love and to bless the world. Amen.

Day of Pentecost (A)                 Acts 2:1-21
May 11, 2008                        1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church          John 7:37-39
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

© 2008 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved