For 50 days after Easter we revel in paschal joy; we experience time as feast. We have come to the last and great day of Pentecost!

We have journeyed together from “ashes to fire,” from the day we marked on our bodies the sign of the cross in ashes (reminding us of our mortality against the backdrop of the cross) all the way to the rushing wind and fire of today!

Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believers in Jerusalem. It is a day of awesome power and divine promise and intimacy.

“And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim...but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and in amazement.” Acts 2

The staggering power of the breath of God that “created all that is, seen and unseen” is again poured into the hearts and minds of the gathered believers this time to form a community, the church, to be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus, the risen and ascended Christ for the sake of the world.

This scene of the gift of the Spirit is the opposite to the Tower of Babel story in Genesis. There God determined to confuse the speech of the people and disrupt their foolish project. But in this post ascension scene from Acts, God breathes into the people, Jew and Gentile alike, the divine gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, the fear of the Lord and joy in God’s presence.

The breath of God breaks asunder the barriers of language, of tribe and nation, of race and clan, in order to create a community of people from all the earth, whose foundation is the reconciling love of God manifest in Jesus of Nazareth, crucified, risen and ascended!

They were astounded, amazed and out of breath from the suddenness of this happening.

How out of breath we do become from the sheer speed of life. Often we lose our energy, our way, get discouraged, hunker down and circle in on ourselves.

But that is precisely the gift and work of the Holy Spirit to animate with breath, torch with fire the encrusted barriers, and bring forth a new community. A motley crew of folk like you and me who are “called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified” or empowered to be the church of Christ.

What is also amazing about this day and the gifts and promises given is that it is not just for one day 2000 years ago but for all time! No short-term fix, like a young athlete on steroids or a hiatus from the federal gas tax during summer, but for the long-term indeed, as our Lord promised, until the end of time!

This gift of the Spirit unlocks our fears, releases us from that which binds us, gives peace and strength to live and love, forgive and heal, embrace and welcome, build one another up not tear each other down.

The gift of the Spirit is literally the oxygen we breath in to keep the light of Christ, implanted within us through baptism, burning brightly and illuminating our pathways.

This year’s journey from ashes to fire is complete. On Ash Wednesday, February 6, we heard these words, Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Today, on Pentecost, we complete that phrase with the words of Easter’s promise, and from the dust you will rise again!

Come to the feast at the table of the Lord to taste and see the goodness of God’s life renewing Spirit for you!