Dear Friends,
This Sunday is Pentecost, which is one of my favorite days on the Church calendar. Pentecost is the day that traditionally is considered the birthday of the Church, but I love Pentecost because the story of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the followers of Jesus reminds us that our faith ties us to Christians around the world.
At Pentecost we remember that those of us who celebrate our faith on Sunday mornings in Montclair are connected spiritually to people of faith in places like Bolivia, Borneo, Belgium, Botswana and Bora Bora. Pentecost challenges us to be aware of how we are related to God’s children everywhere, to think globally and to consider how our actions and attitudes affect them, especially those who live in poverty and those who are victims of violence and neglect.
At Pentecost we also are challenged to consider how we might learn from and be blessed by our fellow children of God who live in far off places. Pentecost reminds us to seek wisdom and spiritual strength from those whose languages and cultural backgrounds are radically different from our own. Pentecost is an invitation to get out of our comfortable routines and to take a journey with keen faithful awareness across the world’s vast spiritual geography.
One way to demonstrate our connection to Christians around the world is to wear the color red on Pentecost Sunday. I understand this is a tradition in various places around the world (the one time I was overseas on Pentecost people certainly were wearing red in Church), but also, when you wear red to celebration on Sunday you will enhance our worship experience. The Celebration Committee will be decorating the sanctuary in Pentecost red, and by wearing red you will increase the impact of the committee’s creativity, which, in turn, will help tell the story of the day of the Church’s birth when the power of the Holy Spirit taught the followers of Jesus to speak in every language under the sun.
I’ll see you Sunday. I’ll be wearing a red bow tie.
Salaam, Paz, Paix, Ruh, Pace, Namaste, Mir, Shalom, Peace,
Ben