PENTECOST
W hitsun, or Pentecost brings with it a lot of questions. It is the Cinderella among the church festivals. Outsiders always wonder what it is that Christians are celebrating. Easter and Christmas can be easily explained, but even those who have heard about the Holy Spirit find it difficult to explain the meaning of this festival. How can one talk about one’ s faith, how do I know if my words lead to something good or bad? How can I talk about God’ s love in public, how can someone know about a living word and not know about the two‘ split tongues’ – the one of Babylon after the Tower was built and people went their different ways, and the one at Pentecost, when God sent out simple people who had the same dialect and could speak to people of different languages from all over the world? They talked about Jesus Christ who became man for the love of mankind.
These days Whitsun has even been replaced by a Bank Holiday in Britain, but the festival really is fifty days after Easter,‘ Pentecost’ coming from the Greek word for fifty. On the fiftieth day after Easter, God went into action. The disciples had been together constantly talking about their sadness and their joy, having been promised that God would send them the Spirit of Truth, but now it happened, and they went out of their closet, full of enthusiasm talking to the public about Jesus, that people thought they were drunk, but so convincingly that 3000 listeners came forward for baptism that very day. This was the birthday of the church, and Christianity spread out over all the world until today, and even persecution and indifference can’ t stop it.
Where the Holy Spirit touches people, memories are stirred, old hymns are being remembered, old texts, people are comforted and stirred to enthusiasm, even today.
Norbert Roth, a vicar from Munich and director of an organisation called‘ Jesus Freaks’, told of his own experience that he was preaching on a Whitsunday morning to his parishioners, when suddenly the door was pushed open and a rather rough looking man entered, beer bottle in hand. This person joined in with the Offertory Hymn and watched the priest at the altar preparing for the Eucharist.“ The Eucharist at Whitsun is special, it takes the story of Jesus, his message and his love, his passion and his resurrection out of the prison of history” Norbert Roth says,“ you can talk about that and can meditate about it, but the Spirit has to come to give these memories‘ Divine Breath’, to bring Jesus alive in those taking part in the‘ take and eat’, that they can be Christians that are alive and loving, so they can all hear the message, that God has visited his people to bring Salvation to all.”
Norbert Roth continued his story of Michael, the drunkard, who answered the question put to the congregation:“ Do you believe that Jesus has risen for you and that his forgiveness makes it possible for you to have a new and eternal life, then answer with‘ yes’? – with a resounding“ Yes!” And he continued with a“ Thank you” which stirred up the whole congregation. And they shared a
StOM Page 4