May 31, 2017

On the Church calendar, there are seven Principle Feasts: Easter Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints' Day, Christmas Day, and The Epiphany. This coming Sunday is Pentecost. It's a Greek word that means “fiftieth day,” and occurs fifty days after Easter Day.

The Feast of Pentecost, however, was not a Christian invention. It originated in the Jewish religion as the Festival of Weeks in which seven sabbaths were counted off from the Passover and an offering of new grain was made. There is a tradition that the Book of Ruth is read at this time, since that story revolves around the grain harvest. Eventually this festival/celebration came to commemorate the time when the Law was given at Mt. Sinai, forty-nine days after the Exodus. And another Jewish tradition says that King David was born and died on this significant day.

For Christians, Pentecost commemorates the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the twelve apostles (Matthias having been chosen earlier to replace Judas) in the form of fire:

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages . . .

Acts 2:3-4a

I meet with a small clergy group most Thursdays at Rooster Moon Cafe. Our discussions cover a range of topics, but we are mainly focused on the Lectionary for the Sunday next (the assumption being that our sermons for the coming Sunday are already finished and we need to get a jump on the following Sunday). Last Thursday our focus was on the Pentecost reading from Acts.

“What does it mean,” someone asked, “that the fire of the Holy Spirit was described as a tongue? Especially in light of the fact that the apostles began speaking in a tongue not their own?”

This got us talking about how we as the Church talk with people both inside and outside our walls. Every group has its own language and jargon, and the Church is no different. We have naves and narthexes, transepts and sacristies, corporals and ciboriums, credence tables, pyxes, and palls. Sometimes we toss these names around like everybody knows, or should know, what they are. Sometimes we nod our heads and pretend we know what they are because, as Episcopalians, we should know what they are. Sometimes we explain what they are. But it seems to me that we almost always use them expecting people to learn what they are by osmosis. Expecting people to know and speak church language and jargon when they first come into the church is almost like expecting people to know and speak English when they first come into the United States.

This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost. It's the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit alighting upon the apostles with tongues of fire enabling outsiders to understand what was being said by insiders.

Ascension reminded us that we are called to be witnesses for Christ. Pentecost reminds us that we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so.

As both Christians and Episcopalians, we have a lot of good things to say. The question is, Are we speaking in ways that allow us to be heard?