St. Mary's Episcopal Church

The Reverend Beth Fain
June 4, 2006
The Feast of Pentecost, 2006: The time is now (Acts 2. 1—11)

It was not the first time that the Holy Spirit had ever shown up.

But it may have been the first time that everyone paid attention.
When the 120 disciples gathered together somewhere in Jerusalem woke up that Pentecost morning, do you think that they had any idea what kind of day they were about to have?
I doubt it.
They had been gathered together for ten days praying.
Do you think that all of them had been praying every minute of those ten days? I doubt it.
Just like us—some were distracted.
Some were tending to children.
Some were out shopping for food and cooking.
Some were chitchatting instead of praying.
But what I do think happened was that as a community, there was not one moment when there wasn’t at least one disciple praying.
That meant that all of them were covered by the constancy of the community at prayer.
A ten day prayer vigil.
Do you think that they were ready for what the Holy Spirit was going to dole out that Pentecost day?
For those of you who waited to be ready to have children—were you ever really ready to take on the responsibility of being a parent?
The 120 were as ready as they’d ever be—and the Holy Spirit knew that they were ready enough.
Two or three hours after they’d awakened, after they’d done those morning starting the day kind of things, at about nine o’clock in the morning—all heaven broke loose.
Something like fire shone over their heads.
And if seeing wasn’t enough, something like the sound of a tornado filled their ears.
If hearing wasn’t enough, the 120 found themselves in the midst of all sorts and conditions of people, and found that they were able, they had the gift, of speaking to whomever God put in their path—people from today’s Turkey and Egypt and the Mediterranean islands and Israel and Iran and Iraq and Italy and Saudi Arabia—and the persons to whom they spoke understanding perfectly.
What did they speak about?
We don’t know word for word.
But it had to be something about the love and power and forgiveness of God in their lives—and spoken with such sincerity and truth, that 3000 of those people from today’s Turkey and Egypt and Mediterranean islands and Israel and Iran and Iraq and Italy and Saudi Arabia—3000 of them opened their eyes and their ears and their hearts and received the gift of Jesus’ love and forgiveness and power.
Were the 120 ready when they got up that morning for how God was going to answer their 10 days of prayer?
I’d say so. They were as ready as they’d ever be.
Since January 1, every day, if not every hour, someone at St. Mary’s has been praying this prayer:
Our God, the time is now and we are here.
We know that you have always called people to do special tasks [like the 120 that Pentecost in Jerusalem] when the time was ready and the need was great.
What would you have us do now?
How can we serve you best by using the gifts and talents you have given us?
Show us how you want us to serve the people of God who cry for peace and justice, who lack life’s necessities.
Please help us know what you are calling us to do here and now.
We are listening, God.
AMEN

By my math, we’ve been praying this prayer for 151 days.
As a community we’ve been covered in prayer.
Do you believe that God has an answer, or even answers, to this prayer?
Do you believe that when God answers this prayer, that you’ll have whatever it takes to do the answer to this prayer?
Are you ready for God to answer that prayer for you?
When the 120 disciples got up that Pentecost morning, do you think that they had any idea about what God had in store for them that day?
I doubt it.
When the 120 disciples got up that Pentecost morning, do you think that they were ready for what God had in store for them that day?
A few might have been. Most probably weren’t.
On that day of Pentecost, it wasn’t the first time that the Holy Spirit had shown up, but it was the first time that people really, really paid attention. Today is another Day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit has been showing up in our lives every single day since our baptism.
But today are you ready to really, really pay attention?
When you woke up this morning, did you think that today would be any different than any other day?
Are you ready for what the Holy Spirit has in store for you today?
Are you ready for God to answer that prayer of discernment for you?
And when I say you, I’m not saying a singular you—I’m saying a plural you.
I’m saying us.
Because the Holy Spirit comes into our lives as individuals, at our baptism.
But the Holy Spirit lives in our lives as a community.
Like the 120 in Jerusalem.
Like the 12 apostles who walked about with Jesus.
Like the two or three gathered in Jesus’ name that Jesus talked about.
The Holy Spirit thrives in a community of believers.
As your priest, I am telling all of us that today is different from any other day.
As your priest, I am telling us that we are as ready as we’ll ever be for what the Holy Spirit has in store for us.
When the 120 disciples woke up that Pentecost morning they had absolutely no idea how God would answer their 10 days worth of prayer.
I doubt that anyone thought that the answer would be to go out on the streets of Jerusalem and to talk in a foreign language about Jesus to 3000 or so foreign strangers.
We are awake this Pentecost.
God is ready to answer our 151 days of prayer.
150 or so of us are gathered together in this room.
The time is now and we are here.
We’d love to have fire and wind.
But God has a new surprise just for us.
We are listening, God.
We are looking, God.
We are as ready as we’ll ever be, God.
AMEN