Some people say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.

Happy Birthday, Church!

I like that.

It is when we remember how the beloved community began to ask and answer the question,
“what now?” Now that Jesus is not here in the same way he was before, ‘what now?’
What does it mean, what does it look like to be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus in this
world? What does it mean to be the Body of Christ here on earth?
That is a big, sometimes scary question. But we do not need to be afraid in our wrestling with
this it, because we are not alone.


On the Church’s first birthday, we received a wonderful gift. The Holy Spirit.
If we, the Church, are the Body of Christ, then the Holy Spirit is the breath that gives us life,
sustaining, energizing, inspiring, and comforting. The Holy Spirit is the power and love of God of
which we have access, of which we can be a conduit.


This Pentecost, we remember, we celebrate, we receive once again this royal gift, and we
continue to courageously answer that question with all the love we can muster, ‘what now,’ in
the name of Christ and for the blessing of the world.


Thanks be to God!


CG+