Now What?: A Sermon for the Day of Pentecost

 “Now what?” I think this is an appropriate question for us to ask today.

After all, we have quite a bit going on as we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, the sacrament of baptism, the return of the 8:00am service, and our first Sunday Adult Formation class in over a year.

When we wake up tomorrow morning after a long day of celebrating so many milestones, we might find ourselves wondering, “Now what?”

For Gus, Jody, David, and Sidney - the parents of the children we are about to baptize  - the questions become, “Now we have taken the initial step of having our child baptized, how do we continue this process of responding to the grace that she has received? What does “life after baptism” look like for her and for us? What, if anything has really changed?” Confirmation won’t be for perhaps another 12-13 years. So now what? 

Thankfully, our Holy Scriptures are filled with “now what” moments for us to ponder. In my opinion, the ultimate “now what” moment comes on the day that we now call Holy Saturday - the day after Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. All of the disciples and loyal followers of Jesus were surely wondering what to do now that Jesus, who they believed was the messiah, was now dead and buried in a tomb.

Well God’s answer to the Holy Saturday “now what” was a resounding “Here’s what!” when he resurrected Jesus from the dead.

Ten days ago we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension, where the resurrected Jesus is swept up into heaven and the disciples are left standing alone and once again once again asking, you guessed it – “now what?” And just as Easter is God’s answer to the awkward “in-between” space of Holy Saturday, I think Pentecost is God's answer to the awkward “in between” space of Ascensiontide. 

God’s answer to the disciples who felt alone and aimless after Jesus permanently took his seat at the right hand of his Father in heaven was to breathe his Holy Spirit upon them like tongues of fire. On the Day of Pentecost, God sent the disciples a resounding, “Here’s what!” to their gloomy “now what” refrain. But the “here’s what” answer that God gave to the disciples wasn’t just the “in-the-moment” experience of roaring wind and tongues of fire. It was the forever promise that the Holy Spirit would be their Advocate and their Holy Comforter until the end of the ages. To me, that is the true miracle of Pentecost – the promise from God that we will never be alone - the promise that God the Father and God the Son, through the Holy Spirit, is always with us.

When I baptize Margo and Mary Louisa in a few moments, I will place the sign of the cross on their foreheads with holy oil, and I will say that they are “sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  This is an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Margo and Mary Louisa will never be alone; they will always be claimed by God.

But as we celebrate the grafting of these children into the Body of Christ and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost, we find ourselves in the midst of transition. More and more these days, many of us have found ourselves asking “now what” quite a bit. Now that I am fully vaccinated, how will I re-integrate into the activities and communities that are so important to me? What if I am not yet ready for full integration back into public worship, formation, and fellowship? What if I have gotten out of the habit of coming to church in person, and still prefer participating from home? Will I ever return? Over the past 14 months or so, we have been living in that awkward in-between space like the days between the Ascension and Pentecost. Our lives have been inundated with difficult decisions, and we will still have important decisions to make for the well-being of ourselves and our community. 

I believe that the ultimate “here’s what” answer to the endless questions, anxieties, and problems that life can give is actually “Here’s Whom!” And that “whom” is God’s Holy Spirit - the Advocate, the Holy Comforter, who accompanies us wherever we go and whatever awkward in-between space we find ourselves in.

On this magnificent day – this day where we celebrate God’s sending of the Holy Spirit to accompany God’s people until the end of the ages; this day where we welcome the newest members of our church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism; let us remember God’s remarkable answer to the refrain of “now what’s” that he constantly hears. Let us remember that though Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, we are not left alone to fend for ourselves.  God’s Holy Spirit - the Advocate, the Holy Comforter – is ever present and here to celebrate with us when we are joyful, hold us when we are grieving, to guide us when we are waking, and to guard us when we are sleeping. And if you ask me, that is the best answer we could ever receive.