Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Whiteboard: Pentecost

This coming Sunday is Pentecost! Come join us as we celebrate the promised gift of the Holy Spirit! 
This Sunday's sermon will build on two scripture readings that are often pitted at odds against each on Pentecost Sunday. 

The first is the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1-9. It details the ways in which God mixed up the languages of the world when people decided to build a tower ostensibly to storm the gates of heaven. The typical lesson from this text is that diversity is bad and God muddled up the languages of the world to punish us...but I'm not so certain that it best take on the subject. Particularly because of...

...the Pentecost Story that we find in Acts 2:1-21! Here we find the Disciples of Jesus gathered in one place when the Holy Spirit comes to them in a rush of wind and through tongues of flame. Quite an appeareance! Yet that isn't the most amazing part of the scriptural account. No, the most amazing part is that when the Disciples speak people from all over the world hear them as if their were speaking their own native language. Suddenly the Holy Spirit has brought the blessing of understanding and the gift of diversity and difference is formally and fully made known!

Come join us this Sunday (and don't forget to wear something red!) as we celebrate the Blessing of Understanding, the Gift of Diversity, and the Power of the Holy Spirit. See you there!

peace,
Rev. Brian

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