Pentecost

Pentecost – what is it all about?

The other major Christian festivals – Christmas and Easter – centre on Jesus, so it’s easy to see what they’re about. They feature key moments of Jesus’ life and it makes sense that we would want to celebrate at those times. But Pentecost? Where does that fit?

The difficulty is that this festival is centred on the Holy Spirit. That makes it hard for us to fit it into the story. It makes it hard for us to see the relevance. It shouldn’t be hard; after all, we’re spiritual beings as well as physical ones. Maybe we try to deny our spiritual side because it’s complicated.

The gift of the Holy Spirit to all believers is surely one of the most amazing acts of divine kindness in the whole history of humanity. To me, it ranks alongside Christmas in terms of its ‘Wow!’ factor. Jesus is simply God in human form. Jesus Himself said that God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is simply God in spirit form. We could also say that God loved us so much that He gave Himself to us, to be with us forever, wherever we are.

There’s a good reason that we often count Pentecost as the birthday of the church – we can’t do anything without God’s Spirit. Without the Spirit, we are not born again. Without God’s Spirit we are not changed. In fact, without Him (He is God, so please, let’s not refer to Him as ‘It.’), we are not the

church

of

Christ

. That’s why we say the church was born on Pentecost Day, when the Holy Spirit was given.

The old name for Pentecost is ‘Whit Sunday’. It’s a corruption of the original, ‘White Sunday’. It got that name because on the Pentecost Day of the book of Acts, when the Spirit was given to the believers, thousands of people responded to the powerful presence of God by deciding to follow Jesus. They expressed that decision by getting baptised. Therefore, Pentecost has always been a popular time for baptisms to take place. Traditionally, candidates for baptism would often wear white to symbolism the cleansing of their souls… hence ‘Whit,’ or white, Sunday.

I was baptised on Pentecost Sunday 1969. I knew the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with me that day and He has stayed with me, just as Jesus promised He would. What could be better?

Pentecost should be a time to celebrate in a way that is worthy of God’s great gift.

Liz

Acts 1:8: Jesus said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.’