05/27/2026
Becoming a Church - Pentecost Sermon 2026
I can’t see what our Zoom folks are wearing, but gauging by the number of red shirts, dresses, and sweaters worn by folks in the pews today, I hardly need to tell you that today is the Feast of Pentecost. Some people choose to wear red to symbolize the red tongues of fire that appear over the apostles’ heads on the first Pentecost. Red just seems like a very festive color, especially on a Sunday morning. Red makes us stand out from the crowd, unlike when we can blend in with our navy blues and tans.
Instead of our regular church clothes, many of us choose to wear red to celebrate this joyous feast. And what a joyous feast it is! Today is celebrated as the birthday of the church, so happy birthday church! Ann-Marie made me promise that I would not sing “Happy Birthday,” and I plan to keep that promise, even though I think singing could be fun. I will refrain from singing at you, really.
Today is a great day for singing and celebrating—it is the church’s birthday, after all. Christians observe Pentecost as the birthday of the church because we remember the arrival of the Holy Spirit fifty days after Easter. Now, it’s not as if the apostles and the larger group of disciples aren’t doing anything since the resurrection of Jesus. They continue doing the good work Jesus starts during his earthly ministry. Remember that Jesus commissions his followers to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise people from the dead, and to perform any number of acts of power in his name. And so they do, but they are not yet a church.
We often hear about the apostles hiding after Jesus’ resurrection, but I have to imagine that they are also out in the community, continuing the works of Jesus. As busy as Jesus’ followers may be, and they must be busy, since there are many, many people in need in Jerusalem. But they are not yet a church.
They are a group of nice people doing nice things for other people. They are even modeling their lives after the pattern and life of Christ. But they are not yet a church. It is not until those fifty days pass since Christ’s resurrection and they gather again in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Shavu’ot.
The Jewish festival of Shavu’ot celebrates the giving of the law to Moses by God, but the early followers of Jesus receive a different gift that day. According to Acts, “all of them (are) filled with the Holy Spirit and (begin) to speak in other languages, as the Spirit (gives) them ability.” Although they are first mistaken for drunken fools, the apostles are actually in the process of becoming a church.
There are some people who say that we aren’t really Christians until we speak in tongues, but I don’t think that is the point of the story. This story is not about excluding people but rather about including them. Those first-generation followers of Jesus become a church by speaking the truth of God’s love to all who will listen. And more than just speaking about the love of God, the disciples are also speaking in different languages so that as many people who need to hear of God’s love can hear and understand it. That is how the original followers of Jesus become a church – being empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church does good acts and proclaims good news in any way in which people can hear it.
I believe that it is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that we become church. Without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we are just a group of nice people who do nice things for other people. With the Spirit of God in us, there may be varieties of the gifts “but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” Without the Holy Spirit, what is there to differentiate us from the Elks or the Masons?
No; we are more than a service organization. We are a church. We are more than nice people. We are followers of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit. It can be tempting to keep ourselves busy doing all the good that we can. Let us always remember though that we are a church. Let us know, and trust, and believe that we have been chosen by God, called by Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray: God of power and might. On this birthday of the church, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We praise you and we bless you. May we always remember that we are a church—empowered and emboldened by your Holy Spirit. Call us anew and renew in our hearts our love of you. For it is in the power of the Holy Spirit that we pray. Amen.
