Acts 2:1-21
Today is Pentecost, one of the great holy days in the church calendar.
My sermon for Pentecost is really just a one word sermon. Ebullient. Pentecost is all about ebullience.
I’m reminded of someone years ago at my first parish who commented that to follow an Episcopal sermon you didn’t need a Bible, you needed a dictionary. But ebullient is one of the words that sounds like what it means. It means overflowing with energy and joy. Boiling over.
We just heard the Pentecost story in the reading from Acts. The disciples were huddled together after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. They were lacking in almost everything, it seems. Lacking direction. Lacking courage. Lacking a future. Frightened, unsure of themselves or what to do next.
And then the Holy Spirit came. There was a rushing of a great wind—inside. Tongues, as a fire rested upon each of the disciples.
The Holy Spirit does ebullient.
And the disciples were transformed from people who were lacking to people who were overflowing. They became ebullient, overflowing with joy, boiling over with the energy of the Spirit.
The disciples became apostles, inspired to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ to the people of all nations.
On Pentecost, the Light of Christ is ebullient. After today the Paschal candle will no longer stand in that one spot there near the altar. Its light will split, bubble over into millions upon millions of tongues, as of fire, lighting on us all, inspiring us with energy and joy to carry out our mission in the world.We are doing three baptisms today. What could be more ebullient? And I pray that Oliver, Owen, and Teddy’s new lives in Christ will always be ebullient.
Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit is irrepressible, uncontainable, unquenchable, bubbling over.
And celebrating Pentecost ebulliently reminds us of the unquenchable, irrepressible, limitless power of God, through the Spirit, to enliven and inspire our lives with joy.
