Lectionary readings for Pentecost
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people; and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Reading. Ezekiel 37:1-14 Ezekiel prophesied in Jerusalem as the nation of Judah was being threatened by the Babylonians. By now the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom had been dispersed and taken into captivity. This kingdom was now gone forever as a discreet nation: Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and for them the threat if invasion was ever present. In such a dire political situation it is probable that a popular conversational topic in Israel was, we are now isolated and our hope has gone. “Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely”. Ezekiel 37:11. In that hopeless situation Ezekiel is given a vision of a area of land scattered about with dry bones. Nebuchadnezzar had waged a dreadful war against the Northern Kingdom and so dead bodies would not have been unusual. In his vision Ezekiel sees the dried bones as a reminder of the coming fate of Israel. The scene then changes and as the wind blows over the bones they gather together and take on flesh and live. What had been dried up and dead is now a standing army. Then God poses the question, “Can what is dead live again?” The stirring prophecy would have brought an exciting prospect of renewed hope, a hope that springs from the knowledge that God had not forsaken his people but still had the promise of national restoration. The renewal was to be physical being fulfilled in their own land. The end result was to be renewal but at the heart of the prophetic vision was the message that the Lord God was in control of the situation. Restoration was not to be the main thing, rather it was the understanding that the Lord God was a God who acts and as such was a God to be respected and obeyed. For Ezekiel and the people of Israel it was beginning to understand that a God who acts, despite the prevailing situation, brings hope for a better future still to be revealed. From our perspective it reminds us that with God there is always hope. He has a future for his people. It is a future that is not guided by circumstances but by his plan. The end is in His keeping. It also reminds us that God deals with us as a community. Together, in Ezekiel’s vision, the nation rises up, each to their allotted tasks no doubt, but they stand together. In that message, for all of us there is hope.
Prayer. Holy Lord, you are the great Creator and through you all things have come into being. You alone are the maker and shaper of our world and so to you alone we look for guidance and grace. You are the one who can direct our path to bring the fulfilment that you have planned and purposed for all people. So today we look to you, in the midst of trouble, when the whole world is shaken by events that have disrupted lives, and we ask you to lead and guide us. Forgive us for thinking that we can plot our own course; have mercy on us and by your grace lead us to a better understanding of how much we need to place our trust in you. Trusting in your wisdom, help us to look to the future with hope, knowing that as we wait on you, our guidance and direction will come. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reading. Acts 2:1-21. Pentecost is from the Greek word ‘Pentekostos’, which means ‘fifty’. The festival of Pentecost is celebrated on the 50th day after the Sabbath of Passover week. “When the day of Pentecost had come”: Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks was a Jewish festival which commemorated the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. It also included a Day of First fruits for the wheat harvest; a celebration which signified that the whole harvest was God’s and came from God. It was a festival of celebration and anticipation of a harvest still to come. Luke as he describes the Pentecost scene, reminds us that they were all together in one place. We know that this group of Jesus followers included women and men and possibly children, for from the Gospel stories we have references of Jesus picking up a child and speaking to his disciples about the need to be a welcoming, rather than a self serving community. (Mark 9:33-37.) From Luke’s description it was the whole community which was filled with Holy Spirit. Christians often celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the church. Now it is good to have celebrations and there is little harm in children enjoying church and waving balloons. However Luke’s description of Pentecost demands that we say much more. Birthdays simply remind us that we are getting older! The birth of the church was not Pentecost but occurred after the resurrection of Jesus, spelt out in John 21:19ff Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
John is describing this as the birth of the church; founded on the apostles with Jesus as the head. Here the disciples are given authority to begin the ministry of the church. However Luke has described how Jesus commanded them to wait until the Spirit had come upon them before they began to proclaim the Kingdom of God. What Luke is describing is the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise that the church would receive power to be witnesses to all that his ministry had accomplished. Pentecost then is the empowering of the church, readying it to proclaim the Good News to a waiting world.
Prayer. Almighty God, the giver of every good gift, we thank you that your Holy Spirit filled the gathered disciples of Jesus with courage and power, enabling them to speak out and tell of the wonderful works of God. We thank you for the witness of your church down through the ages, lifting high the Name that is above every name. Now in our time and situation may we also be filled with your holy power that we too may speak of your mighty works. Bless your church at work across the world: of many nations and of many languages. Together may we be bold to celebrate again the promise of the Holy Spirit, bringing life and light to every part. Forgive us for our many failures, our failure to see you at work, and our failure to trust in you alone. Grant us pardon and renew our resolve to honour and use the gifts that your Spirit has given to the church. This we ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak only what he hears. John 16:13
Collect. Father of all light, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. Let your Spirit come upon us in power, that, afire with your love, we may in all things proclaim the lordship of Christ, to the honour and praise of your great and glorious name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Risen Christ, you send the Spirit of God and bring us to freedom; may we be brought to all truth, and in truth find the joy of your presence with us now and for ever. Amen.
A Pentecost Prayer.
We thank you Holy Spirit of God, for life transformed and made new; for old thoughts giving way to new dreams; for old ways giving place to the new life in Christ; and for old sins being removed and a new creation emerging. Holy Spirit, ever remaking your people, come and claim us again for your self, that sealed with your sign we may know that we belong to Christ now and for ever. Amen. (Source known)
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