May 28, 2023 — Pentecost Sunday; Acts 2:1-17, 21

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 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, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”  But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Pentecost – literally translated as “50^th Day”. It is an ancient harvest festival call “Shavvot” or “The Feast of Weeks”. It was a one day festival celebrated by the Jews as appointed by G-d in Leviticus 23 – celebrated 50 days after the Passover. Israelites from all over would travel to Jerusalem to praise G-d for the bounty and grace they had received from G-d. In the miracle of the harvest, they would have seen the hand of G-d blessing them – and as such they felt the need to thank G-d. For you and me, the day of Pentecost comes on the 50^th day after the Resurrection of Jesus. On the 40^th day Jesus ascended into heaven – promising his disciples that he would return to them one day – but also promising them that they would receive the gift of the spirit. Ten days later, as they were gathering for this harvest festival, the Holy Spirit did come – in a rush – in a dramatic fashion – promising to continue to blow open the doors if not blow down the doors of their faith. What they would do with the power of the Holy Spirit is recounted in the rest of the book of Acts.

What are we going to do? What can we do empowered by the Holy Spirit? That is our question to ponder this day. About 120 disciples gathered during the festival and they were playing a big game of “The Waiting Game”. Why do I say that? I say that because it appears that the disciples were participating in the waiting game Jesus placed them in – even though it was a festival day. After all, Jesus had told them: “…while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…”

So they were waiting for something to happen – they weren’t sure what – but they were waiting. What are you waiting for? We all are waiting for something: a package to arrive, a phone call, a check in the mail, a visitor, a vacation, a birth, a death. So, what are we waiting for? Are you waiting for that big ball of light to come from Heaven telling you to get off the couch and do something? Or are you waiting for a big miracle to convince you that G-d loves, G-d cares, and G-d knows you exist?

There is no time to wait……there are plenty of signs around us — we need to allow others to witness how the power of the Holy Spirit is leading us – through our words and our actions of love, mercy and Grace.

Pastor Dave

May 27, 2023 – Psalm 42

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon —from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? ”My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42 

“Does it seem to you that there are a whole lot more bad days than good days? When nothing seems to be going right, who do we blame? You’ve heard the questions before. If there is a God, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people? Is that what the Psalmist did here in the 42nd Psalm? We see no blame expressed in this Psalm; instead, the Psalmist yearns for God. Even when his enemies taunt him by asking, “Where is Your God?” the Psalmist still does not complain against God. We see him remembering the days that he went with the multitude to the house of God in joy and praise. Then, he responds by saying, Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . . Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” (devotional-reflections-from-the-bible.com; Psalm 42)

We all know that there are some mornings where we seem to come alive as soon as our feet hit the floor — we hit the day saying “Good morning, G-d.” And then, there are those other mornings, those days where we can hardly drag our bodies out of bed — where we can only manage to pry open our eyelids, sit dejectedly on the side of the bed and say, “Good G-d, it’s morning.” 

It is the later of my examples that are in view here — those mornings of dejection and self-pity. The Psalmist comes to us with an answer for each blue mood, each bad day, each time we want to give up: “Hope in G-d;” in other words, wait for G-d. G-d is in control — even when everything around us seems to be telling us different. G-d is working out G-d’s purposes — we just need to hang in and hang on — and to continue to praise G-d for all G-d has blessed us with. 

Prayer: Lord God, never-failing fountain of life, through the saving waters of baptism you called us from the depth of sin to the depths of mercy. Do not forget the trials of our exile, but from the wellspring of the Word satisfy our thirst for you, so that we may come rejoicing to your holy mountain, where you live and reign now and forever. 

Amen.