"Are you Pentecostal?"

A few years ago, a Protestant minister and professor was on the West Coast to speak at a seminary. Just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up in front of everyone and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal." The room went silent. The speaker looked around for the Dean of the Seminary, but he was nowhere to be found. The minister, a bit off-balance, said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" "No,” he said. “I mean are you Pentecostal?" The professor asked, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" The student replied, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal." Still confused, the professor asked, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, "I want to know if you are Pentecostal." Giving up, the professor said, "I don't know what your question is." The student replied, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." And he walked out.

Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the culmination of our Easter season – and, with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the birth of Christ’s Church on earth. But as we come together this morning, that student’s question is one we need to look at, too. Are we Pentecostal? And what does it even mean to be Pentecostal?

If you look up Pentecost or Pentecostal, it’s all about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. But our Gospel tells us it’s more than that. Not only did Jesus baptize the apostles with the Holy Spirit, he sent them forthto change the world – “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In a commentary on today’s readings, Pope Francis had this to say: “The Church of the Pentecost is a Church that won’t submit to being powerless, too ‘distilled.’ …She is a Church that doesn’t hesitate to go out, meet the people, proclaim the message that’s been entrusted to her, even if that message disturbs or unsettles the conscience, even if that message perhaps brings problems and sometimes leads to martyrdom.” To be Pentecostal, the Church must be truly alive in the world. And the Church is alive only if we’re in one accord, if we’re sharing our blessings with those less fortunate, if we’re joined together in prayer, and if we’re truly a repenting people seeking forgiveness from God and others every day.

So // ARE we a Pentecostal Church? Is the Holy Spirit truly alive in us? In our first reading we find the apostles gathered together – probably trying to figure out what to do next – when a mighty wind from heaven fills the room and tongues of fire come to rest on each of them. That same divine wind that blew over the waters of the young earth in Genesis blows again over the Apostles at Pentecost. And these ordinary men were TRANSFORMED by the Holy Spirit into a New Creation, a new genesis of a truly Pentecostal Church, bringing God’s saving word to all the earth.

But what about us? In modern society, most people view religion and faith as a private, personal thing. We like our religion “in a box” – something we access on our own terms. But we’ve been called to something more. The Pentecost gift of the Spirit, and the sending forth, weren’t just a miracle that happened two thousand years ago. It continues in us today. Just like the apostles in Jerusalem, we have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit — first at our Baptism, and then strengthened by our Confirmation and the Sacraments. But as Paul reminds us in our second reading, NOBODY RIDES FOR FREE. “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord.” And here’s the clincher: ”To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”…”For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”

That’s the point of our readings today, and of Pentecost itself. The gift of the Holy Spirit isn’t a private thing. It’s something to be shared. It needs to flow THROUGH you, not TO you. A private faith, a life of spirituality alone, aren’t enough. We’ve been called to action, to share our gifts – whatever they may be – with the world. We’re called to be a Pentecostal Church, Pentecostal people.

But maybe that sounds way too hard, maybe even impossible. We don’t recognizeour gifts. We doubt our abilities. The mere thought of being a public witness for Christ takes us WAY outside our comfort zone. But you know – the disciples locked in the upper room undoubtedly felt that same fear. Let me offer two thoughts from Anglican theologian N.T. Wright: “First, God moves mysteriously among his people, dealing with each individual in a different way. And second, what the Spirit will do when he comes is anybody’s guess.... But we should not doubt that God will give his Spirit to all who seek him.”

That’s the beauty of Pentecost, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Even if we don’t see them, each of us are blessed with gifts of the Spirit. And // we’re never alone. Just as Jesus came to the disciples through the locked doors of the upper room, and broke through their doors of fear, the Holy Spirit comes through our locked doors as well. Weakness in faith or hope, lack of courage – none of that can keep Him out, if we open our hearts to let Him in.

So back to the original question – ARE you Pentecostal? We are all called to be a Pentecostal people. We’re all blessed with the gifts of the Spirit, all in different measure — some great and some small. We need to be open to our individual gifts and use them to bring the world to New Life in Christ. Because when we embrace the divine gift of Pentecost, when we let the Spirit come forth from us — when we become truly Pentecostal people — who knows what God can do through us?