Pentecost Sunday: The Experience of the Spirit

The Bible tells the story of God’s redemptive work in history through the chosen people of Israel. And among the chosen people there were…chosen people. These chosen people (mostly men) were chosen by God for exceptional work through exceptional experiences with the Spirit of God. The Patriarchs and Prophets: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. Then God did a new thing and chose a Jewish girl named Miriam (Mary) to bring salvation into the world. For six months we’ve told the story of this salvation with Advent, Epiphany Lent, Easter, and Ascension. Today we arrive at Pentecost and the present moment of the salvation story. With Pentecost we discover that the chosen people is the human race and the holy land is the whole earth. We also discover that the experience of the Spirit that was once reserved for a chosen few, is now available to everyone!