This is a very special weekend, one that many have been looking forward to for quite some time. It’s graduation weekend for the Mitchell High School Seniors. Our seniors have been dreaming of and planning for this weekend for months…maybe even years, because the big event of this weekend, graduation, is seen as a stepping out of what has been and stepping into something new. So, yes, this weekend is a big deal!!
Graduations are an important moment in life. Sometimes they help the participant recognize that something new is about to begin…or at the very least graduation events give the message that something is changing. This is why we see Eighth Grade Graduations, Kindergarten Graduations, Preschool Graduations. And sometimes the graduations that we experience don’t involve a cap and a gown…but they are still significant moments where those involved recognize that something is changing and that a new beginning is happening.
Such as, this weekend is the recognition of another graduation of sorts, that really isn’t recognized as a graduation, but I believe it is. You see, this is Pentecost Sunday. Yes, Pentecost Sunday is seen, in a sense, as the birthday of the church. It is the moment that Jesus told the disciples to wait for in Jerusalem. (Acts 1:4) Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and empowered them and changed the direction of their ministry…forever!
You see, up to this point, the disciples were the students of Rabbi Jesus. But once the Advocate, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit was given to them at Pentecost, they became more than just students. As Acts 1:8 says, they became “witnesses.” Matthew 28:18-20 tells us they also became baptizers, disciple makers, and teachers. All of this is a part of the new beginning, the new role that the disciples have as Jesus’ representatives in the world.
Pentecost was and is a powerful day to celebrate because it truly became the graduation day for the disciples. Through their Pentecost experience, they knew things were different…things were changing and moving in a new direction. You see, graduations often have a way of pushing a student out of what is known and comfortable into something that is new and, in many ways, unfamiliar, such as college, or graduate school, or even full-time employment. Pentecost, all those years ago, empowered the disciples to stop laying low in Jerusalem, and instead it pushed them out into the community, and ultimately, the world, to be Jesus’ witnesses of God’s Good News.
So, on this graduation weekend, it is fitting that we also celebrate Pentecost. And maybe we need to take a moment to consider where and how the Holy Spirit, which is still active and present in our world, is impacting each of our lives. How might the Holy Spirit be seeking to press us into a moment of change and maybe even new direction, all for the sake of God’s Kingdom becoming more real here on earth.
It’s true, Pentecost usually doesn’t involve a cap and gown. However, Pentecost does involve tongues of fire resting upon all those who were gathered with the disciples. That fire or presence of the Holy Spirit pushed the disciples and believers out of that room and into the community, living out the message and the love of Jesus to all who would listen.
It is my hope that Pentecost Sunday can be a Graduation Sunday for our church and for all in the Christian Faith. May we all experience the movement of God in our midst…and especially within us. And may God’s Holy Spirit move us out of what is comfortable into the unknown of living out the message and power of Jesus.
Pastor Keith