Day of Pentecost
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
Introduction to the day
On
Pentecost, we celebrate that we have been given an Advocate to accompany us.
Poured out in wind and fire, water, wine, and bread, the Holy Spirit abides in
and among us. We give thanks that God speaks to each of us, no matter our
origins, language, or life path. Filled with the Spirit of truth, we go out
from worship to proclaim the saving power of Christ’s love and the freedom of
God’s grace with all the world.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed
be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who
forgives all our sin,
whose
mercy endures forever.
Amen.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Gracious God,
have
mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into
the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your compassion
forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have
failed to do. Turn us again to you, and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we
may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and
Lord.
Amen.
God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.
Amen.
Gathering Song – Spirit of Gentleness (ELW #396)
Greeting
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And
also with you.
Canticle Of Praise
Prayer of the Day
Let
us pray.
God
our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of
earth. By your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our
lives for service and our tongues for praise, through Jesus Christ, our Savior
and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever.
Amen.
Readings
A
reading from the Book of Genesis. (11:1-9)
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And
as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar
and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and
burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top
in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals
had built. And the Lord said,
“Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only
the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be
impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so
that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there
over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore
it was called Babel, because there the Lord
confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face
of all the earth.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Psalm 104:25-35
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, with its swarms too many to number,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you made for the sport of it.
All of them look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it to them; they gather it;
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, | they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;
and so you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the Lord
endure forever;
O Lord, rejoice in all your
works.
You look at the earth and it trembles;
you touch the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as
long as I live;
I will praise my God while I have my being.
May these words of mine please God.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Hallelujah!
When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all
together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the
rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each
of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard
them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they
asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we
hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and
residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear
them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed,
saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said,
“They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men
of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to
what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine
o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
The Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
The
holy gospel according to John. (14:8-17, 25-27)
Glory
to you, O Lord.
Philip said to [Jesus,] “Lord, show us the Father, and we
will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time,
Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen God. How can
you say, ‘Show us God’? Do you not believe that I am in God and that God is in
me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but God who dwells in
me does God’s works. Believe me that I am in God and God is in me; but if you
do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell
you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
will do greater works than these, because I am going to God. I will do whatever
you ask in my name, so that God may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you
ask me for anything, I will do it.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask God, and God
will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with
you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not
let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.
According
to Christian tradition, the Day of Pentecost commemorates the day when the Holy
Spirit was poured out on the disciples in Jerusalem after the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many Christians mark this date as the beginning
of the Christian Church as we know it.
Ministers
in church often wear robes with red in the design as a symbol of the flames in
which the Holy Spirit came to earth.
Pentecost
comes from a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot.
The
apostles were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them.
It
sounded like a very strong wind, and it looked like tongues of fire.
The
apostles then found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the
Holy Spirit.
People
passing by at first thought that they must be drunk, but the apostle Peter told
the crowd that the apostles were full of the Holy Spirit.
A
lot of sermons will be preached on the "reversal of Babel", or the
reunification of God's people under one language.
(Do
you remember the story about Babel? God punished humans for not doing God's
biding of populating the world by giving each other different languages so that
they couldn't understand each other and then sent them out into the world in
isolation from each other.)
However,
interpreters have moved away from the traditional views of sin and punishment
and have begun to examine the story’s theme of cultural and linguistic origins.
A new emphasis is being placed on the diversification of humanity after the
flood.
It
states quite clearly within the passage that the people are building the tower
and city in order to stay in one place and to avoid being scattered around the
earth. The story then becomes less about pride and more about the desire to
preserve the cultural homogeneity of the human race.
God’s
response to humanity’s actions is to create the world’s cultures by introducing
new languages and dispersing the people around the earth.
God
created us all differently, wanted us to experience life on earth differently
from one another, and wants us to embrace our uniqueness.
This
year, Pride Sunday in Winnipeg, MB falls on the liturgical Day of Pentecost. It
is interesting to think of these two events happening in concurrence.
Celebrating
Pride Sunday, Pride Week, and/or Pride Month is all about celebrating
diversity. It is a month where the queer community gets to celebrate who we
are, how we live, how we raise our families, and on and on.
It's
more than just the parties and parades. It's about celebrating that we are
still here even though the world doesn't seem to want us around.
As
a priest (who happens to be transgender) celebrating the Day of Pentecost on
Pride Sunday, I want to reinforce the idea that the Holy Spirit was sent to us
by God as a call to action.
The
word Jesus uses in John’s Gospel for Holy Spirit is Paraclete, a Greek word
that means “to come alongside another”.
The
word is often translated as “comforter” but looking at the Pentecost texts, the
Holy Spirit isn’t comforting anyone or anything. Instead, the Holy Spirit is
shaking things up.
This
is most pronounced in Acts. There’s nothing particularly comforting about the
rush of a “violent wind,” let alone descending tongues of flame.
And
once the disciples take their new multi-lingual ability into the streets of
Jerusalem, pretty much everyone who witnesses their activity is described as
“bewildered,” “amazed”, and “astonished.”
Again,
the Spirit didn’t comfort anyone but instead prompted the disciples to make a
very public scene with the troubling good news that the person the crowds had
put to death was alive through the power of God.
The
Holy Spirit is as much agitator as advocate, as much provocateur as comforter.
Paraclete
as the
one who comes along side of us to encourage and equip us for the task of
ministry is such a perfect name for the Holy Spirit.
If
we heed the word and work of the coming-along-side Holy Spirit, we will
inevitably be pushed beyond what we imagine and end up stirring things up.
We
tend to think of the Holy Spirit as the answer to a problem, but what if the
Spirit’s work is to create for us a new problem: that we have a story to tell,
mercy to share, love to spread, and we just can’t rest until we’ve done so!
God
sends the Paraclete, the one who comes along side us, to encourage,
equip, strengthen, provoke and, at times, to comfort us so that we can get out
there and do it all again.
I’d
even suggest that our job is to “come along side” other people to encourage and
equip them as well.
That
is part of what we are doing today. We have baptized this young man into God’s family
and by affirming him, along with these other teens, we are calling these
young people into action. We as a congregation need to encourage, equip,
strengthen, and provoke them into carrying on the greatest story ever told.
We
have all been joined by our Baptism into communities of faith that look for –
and expect! – the Holy Spirit to come along side us and shake things up,
preparing and equipping each and all of us to share the disruptive, surprising,
and life-giving word of grace of the God who will not rest until all people
enjoy abundant life.
So
on this Day of Pentecost, I encourage everyone to embrace the fiery winds of
the Holy Spirit and allow her to push you in directions you may not want to go,
to places you may not be comfortable being, but to places where you are needed.
And
on this Pride Sunday, God is calling you into action as a defender of God's
creation that is full of diversity.
God
the Holy Spirit,
You
are the restless breath of love that sweeps through the world.
You
move where you will, breaking down barriers,
Stirring
hearts to change, making all things possible.
Inspire
each one of us to hunger and thirst for justice!
Amen.
Hymn
of the Day
– Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading (ELW #401)
Creed
Let us proclaim the faith of our baptism as we say together the Apostles’
Creed.
I believe in God, the Father
almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Set free from captivity to sin and
death, we pray to the God of resurrection for the church, people in need, and
all of creation.
Silence
Holy Living One, Holy Moving One, burst open our locked
doors, and by your Spirit drive us out into the world proclaiming your mighty
deeds. Direct our words and actions, trusting the Advocate abiding in and among
us.
God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Feed
and care for creatures that remain hidden to us yet contribute to the vibrancy
of your creation. Train us to interact with creation from a place of wonder,
awe, and reverence.
God,
in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Send
your Spirit to places where language is a barrier to justice and mercy for
those who seek it. Bless the work of translators, interpreters, and teachers.
Promote understanding for the sake of those longing for true freedom and peace.
God,
in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Comfort
all who live in constant fear and any who are suffering. Remind them that your
Spirit has made them your children and that they are never far from your glory.
God,
in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Guide
all bishops, pastors, missionaries, and other ministers of the gospel. Foster
our relationships with partner synods and local ministry partners, that our
visions and actions are Spirit-led.
God,
in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Gather
your people across regions, nations, and lands. Root our common life in the
life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and by your Spirit bind us together
with all the saints who have gone before us.
God,
in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
In
your mercy, O God, respond to these prayers, and renew us by your life-giving
Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Peace
The
peace of Christ be with you always.
And
also with you.
Offering
Hymn – O
Holy Spirit, Root of Life (ELW #399)
Offering
Prayer
Let
us pray.
God
of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever. You
bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine. Nourish us with these
gifts, that we might be for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus
Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Dialogue
The
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift
up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let
us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Preface
It
is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that
we should at all times and in all places
give
thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God,
through
our Savior Jesus Christ.
Fulfilling
the promise of the resurrection,
you
pour out the fire of your Spirit,
uniting
in one body people of every nation and tongue.
And
so, with Mary Magdalene and Peter and all the witnesses of the resurrection,
with
earth and sea and all their creatures,
and
with angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy
Thanksgiving at
the Table
Blessed
are you, O God of the universe.
Your
mercy is everlasting
and
your faithfulness endures from age to age.
Praise
to you for creating the heavens and the earth.
Praise
to you for saving the earth from the waters of the flood.
Praise
to you for bringing the Israelites safely through the sea.
Praise
to you for leading your people through the wilderness to the land of milk and
honey.
Praise
to you for the words and deeds of Jesus, your anointed one.
Praise
to you for the death and resurrection of Christ.
Praise
to you for your Spirit poured out on all nations.
In
the night in which he was betrayed,
our
Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke
it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take
and eat; this is my body, given for you.
Do
this for the remembrance of me.
Again,
after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and
gave it for all to drink, saying:
This
cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed
for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do
this for the remembrance of me.
With
this bread and cup
we
remember our Lord’s passover from death to life
as
we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ
has died.
Christ
is risen.
Christ
will come again.
O
God of resurrection and new life:
Pour
out your Holy Spirit on us
and
on these gifts of bread and wine.
Bless
this feast.
Grace
our table with your presence.
Come,
Holy Spirit.
Reveal
yourself to us in the breaking of the bread.
Raise
us up as the body of Christ for the world.
Breathe
new life into us.
Send
us forth,
burning
with justice, peace, and love.
Come,
Holy Spirit.
With
your holy ones of all times and places,
with
the earth and all its creatures,
with
sun and moon and stars,
we
praise you, O God,
blessed
and holy Trinity,
now
and forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father
in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us
today our daily bread.
Forgive us
our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from
the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the
kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Invitation to Communion
This
is the table of Christ. It is made ready for those who love him, and for those
who want to love him more. Come, whether you have much faith or little, have
tried to follow, or are afraid that you have failed. Come. Because it is
Christ's will that those who want to meet him, might meet him here. These are
the gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Sharing of the Eucharist
Prayer
After Communion
As
we have feasted around the table, let us pray.
God
of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us
with Christ, making us one with all your people. Now send us forth in the power
of your Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and
continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Blessing
The
Lord bless you and keep you.
The
Lord’s face shine on you with grace and mercy.
The
Lord look upon you with favor and ☩ give you peace.
Amen.
Sending
Song – God
of Tempest, God of Whirlwind (ELW #400)
Dismissal
Go
in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
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