Call to Worship for Pentecost Sunday
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit,
All: The wind of God, the breath of Life.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit,
All: Our Advocate and our Counselor.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit,
All: Teacher of Wisdom and Hope.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit,
All: Granter of forgiveness & giver of peace.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit.
All: May we receive the Holy Spirit in this place.
Pastor: The Spirit is here among us within us, around us, between us. The Spirit is here to strengthen us with courage, and instilling compassion. The Spirit is here to move us, making us sing and praise. The Spirit is here.
All: Come, Holy Spirit! Come, as we gather.
May we be showered by the strength of the Spirit and emboldened by the powerful breath of truth and hope. Come, Holy Spirit, Come. Amen.
” Visions, Dreams and Prophecies.”
It is Pentecost Sunday. A Sunday filled with spirited readings about the breath of beginnings and the wind of wonders.
A Sunday will with stories about Visions, Dreams and Prophesies. Stories that might even take our breath away as we are asking just like the disciples: “What is going on here ‘how can this be, this is unbelievable.
Pentecost Sunday begins and ends with a strong wind and a deep breath.
2 When the Feast of Pentecost came, the disciples were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building.
Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
When they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were blown away. They could not for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans?” How come we are hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
Their heads were spinning; they could not make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?” Some even joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”
Pentecost Sunday is indeed a spirited Sunday and stories but not about being drunk on cheap wine and babbling along, but about being high on spirit and being open to the magical transformative power of God’s Spirit among us.
Fostering understanding. Conversations. Joy. Fellowship and faith.
Spirited days that were prophesied about with poetic words by Joel:
“In the Last Days I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they’ll prophesy.
These wonderful stories about Pentecost, of moving winds and transformative breaths, of mystical presence and even more magical understanding – they invite us to ponder today: how is the spirit moving among us and within us and with us? We might not be speaking in tongues, extatically falling to the ground as I once witness in a rural Pentecostal church in Tennessee – where is was our son who like the displaces were asking what is going on, what is happening, why are talking like that and do we need to help then up from the floor ?
We are not Pentecostal in that way, but still Pentecostal in our Lutheran way. So please ponder this morning in a quit Lutheran Pentecostal fashion about how the Spirit, it moving you and when you feel the Spriit coming over you?
Is it when we sing your absolute favorite hymn and you sing as loud as you can?
Is it when you feel the power of forgiveness at the altar and the calming presence of Gods’ embrace?
Is it when a word, a sentence, a line from a hymn, a reading or a sermon enlightens you, stays with you, and stirs you up?
Is it when you truly feel the sense of community and fellowship in the pews, at the altar, at lunch or in heartfelt conversation?
Is it when you know no words are needed, just presence? Is it when you are moved?
A long long time ago
I can still remember how.
that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they be happy for a while….
Do you remember the wonderful song and anthem by the American singer and songwriter Don McClean called “American Pie”? It was such a great hit when the 8.5-minute-long folk-rock song hit the world in 1971. It is an iconic song and cultural touchstone with deep lyrics and a rocking melody.
I still remember how that music used to make me smile…. The first time I listened to the song, when I was up late one Saturday night, and my parents were having a really good, spirited party with their friends.
The music was loud. The spirits too. And they were dancing. On the old Reel Tape Recorder, the lyrics loudly traveled from the living room up to my bedroom where my sister and I tried to sleep:
My mom and dad and their friends happy for a while, dancing with their restless feet and singing their voices hoarse:
Bye bye miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry and them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this will be the day that I die….
When I was a little girl listening to the song on repeat at nightly parties, I never really understood the lyrics or the words, as I was 6-7 years old. But I understood how the music, the rhythm and the foreign words made people sing, feel, and dance.
Later, the meaning of the words unfolded. Now, I could sing along and understand the words, and it only made the song better and stronger.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I had heard the music years before
But the man there said.
the music could not play.
And in the streets, the children screamed,
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken.
The church bells all were broken.
And the 3 men I admire most.
The Father, Son and The Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast.
The day the music died.
The music has not died, thank God as we all are still moved by the beautiful Pentecost here in church, the beautiful piano skills of Rush, the vibrato of Christine’s powerful voice, the sense of community and fellowship when we sing together. The music most certainly has not died here in church as it is one of the main pillars of our worship. Music lifts the spirit, soothes the soul and inspires us.
I can hardly imagine a day without music.
I listen to music when I drive, I often sing aloud all alone in the car, when one of my favorite songs is playing, and try to remember not to when others are with me.
I listen to music when I bake and cook. And I most certainly could not imagine our worship without music.
The lyrics of Don McClean’s iconic song American Pie has been widely debated and interpreted. The lyrics are filled with historical cultural references and musical idols. So, the wonderful phrase:
Don McClean has left the song and interpretations open for us. Only he said in an interview some years ago when asked what the meaning of the song was, and he replied “…. It means I do not have to go to work anymore….”
But as for the final verse lyric referring to The Father, Son and Holy Ghost… McLean could be referencing to the holy Trinity, to the church and the fundamental confession of Christianity, but it could also be the political figures John F. Kennedy Rober F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. who were all assassinated or the 3 iconic singer from the chorus: The day the music died. The airplane crash carrying Buddy Holly, JP Richardson and Ritchie Valens ending a music era.
The Father, Son and The Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast.
The Trinity that we confess in our creeds. The concept of a God of creation, incarnation and spirit. The concept of God as the beginning, the savior and the moving spirit.
Maybe they did catch the last train for the coast, and then we should be able to find them here in California…. But I would claim that the holy trinity is still moving around us, within us and between us. That is what Pentecost is all about. The holy trinity did not just leave on the train for the coast, they are still travelling, moving and rolling.
Pentecost is the third of the 3 important Christian Celebrations: Christmas Easter and Pentecost. In many ways Pentecost is the forgotten celebration – or more precisely the most spirited, metaphysical and invisible of them all.
It is easier for us to understand the image of Father and Son… but the Holy Ghost, an invisible spirit?
But the Spirit is in so many ways and forms the glue that binds our image and concept of God together.
Because God is one but reveals Himself in three ways: like the Father, the creator, the beginning, the power, the source; like the Son, the savior, the teacher, the compassionate carpenter, the son. Like the Spirit, the spirit over the waters of the beginning and the waters; the spirit breathing life into the nostrils of man; the spirit anointing, guiding, strengthening the prophets; the spirit over Elizabeth and Mary; the spirit coming down like a dove when Jesus was baptized, the spirit settling like fire on the disciples – with courage, compassion, commitment.
The Spirit moving in us, around us, within us, and between us when we worship and congregate, baptize, pray and sing. Spirit moving, settling and pushing us to believe, to dare, to commit, to dream, to have visions and to prophesy.
We are not only functions, but we are also spiritual beings. We are spiritual beings of body, soul and spirit. We can think, we can reflect, we can wonder and ponder.
Spiritually it is part of our being. We might think about these grand intense moments where we were lifted and moved in a deeper sense. Or when we cannot explain why we are so moved by a certain song, a certain touch or a certain place. Moments of unexpected kindness. Moments of magnificent views. Moments of something that reaches outside us.
We are not just functions or consumers. We are spiritual beings who are connected with God’s own being through the spirit that speaks to us, sings in us, sustains us, strengthens us, challenges us, comforts us.
“What is going on…” the disciples asked when the Spirit landed on them with fire, language, understanding, passion and hope.
Out of that unbelievable moment the church grew – and here we are today. And we still hope and pray that we will have visions, dream dreams and prophesy…. And have hope. And let the spirit surprise us, shock us, instill in us, push us and challenge us to be open to where the spirit might move us.
A long long time ago
I can still remember how
that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they be happy for a while….
Even if the Day of Pentecost is a long long time ago, we live in Pentecostal times, and the spirit blows stronger than ever. We need Pentecost to move us. To reject the concept of as usual. To revitalize, reform, renew and rethink how we are church 2000 years after the Holy Spirit settled on the disciples. We pray the the spirit will still fill us with visions, make plans, dream big dreams and have high hopes about tomorrow.
We pray: Let all of us be filled with the Holy Spirit to embrace this life, daring dream, visionary visions and profound prophesy of hope.
Listen and feel it: the answers are blowing in the wind.
Amen.