Eight years ago, I sat in a lawyer’s office signing my name to contracts that would transfer control of a business to the person across the table from me. He was 20 years younger than me and eager to put ink on the paper. Becoming President of a business was a moment he anticipated with excitement.

But, as the person retiring from that role, my inside voice was saying, “Buckle up, buttercup."  My outside voice said, “Harmon, I’ll always be a phone call away.”

On the Day of Pentecost, we celebrate a remarkable gift: The Holy Spirit comes among us to be our Advocate and Guide. 

Every Pentecost we read today’s passage from the Book of Acts. The scene described by the author sounds like something Universal Studios or Disney World might imagine. Sometimes I wonder how the people who were there that day found words to describe what they experienced. 

Without warning, they hear a sound like a hurricane or tornado…and the sound filled the entire house where they were sitting. Each of them was touched by the presence of something they described as tongues of fire. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. 

Word of this strange happening spread quickly. Foreigners living in the city of Jerusalem came to see what all the buzz was about. Many of them were from faraway places. When they encountered the disciples speaking through the Holy Spirit, each foreigner heard and understood the Holy Spirit through their own native language. 

Amazing.

The disciples are speaking in languages they do not know. The foreigners are hearing in the language of their homeland.

For those who were not followers of the Way it must have been surreal. They could not explain it. And so, they began to suggest that the disciples were inebriated.  For them, it is the only plausible explanation.

The disciples experience this moment very differently than onlookers. I wondered why.

In today’s Gospel, John describes an encounter between the disciples and the Risen Christ. Just a few days before the Ascension, Jesus comes among the disciples and says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

Jesus prepared the disciples…and us…to receive the Holy Spirit….in the passing of the Peace, in the speaking of the Word, the Spirit comes among us.   It is not something for us to capture and hold. The Spirit is part of our sending…our commissioning as individuals and as the Church. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

Today, many worship communities, including St. Christopher’s, are honoring high school graduates. These young folks are on the cusp of adulthood, looking toward college or jobs in places near and far. It’s a heady time for those moving toward new adventures. 

As I was thinking about how we will send our graduate forth, I revisited an old black and white film called The Bells of St. Mary’s. Near the end of the movie, Fr O’Malley (Bing Crosby) is giving a commencement address. He reminds the students that their families and the people of St. Mary’s have invested deeply in them. And all that they have learned is now inside them… 

In communities of faith, our youth gather knowledge, wisdom, and skills… They learn the stories of our faith. They learn to worship. They learn to love our neighbors…all of them. They learn how to be in community. When graduation day comes, they are filled with gifts received in and through worship communities throughout their lives.

But, O’Malley’s point is that these gifts are not our gifts to keep. They are our gifts to give to the community that is around us…wherever and whatever we call “home”.

We nurture young Christians in this place. The Spirit sends them forth, bearing gifts of love, peace, hope, and joy.

One of my favorite Taize songs begins with these words, Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. It means, where this is charity and love, there is God. 

I think it is what all of us experience in our worship community, the intangible quality of the Church that is so hard for people to name.  God is in this place…in us and through us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that gently forms us as we awaken to that rush of wind.

For Hannah, who graduated last week, St. Christopher’s is the soil into which her parents chose to plant her spiritual life.  Her roots are deep. She is ready for the world. This does not imply that each day will be easy. 

Jesus knew that the disciples, you and I would have experiences we aren’t prepared or able to bear alone. And, so, He sends the Spirit to be our companion and Advocate. 

When life presents you with those “Buckle up, Buttercup” moments, remember that you are rooted in the Spirit of Truth, the Love of God, and the life of Christ. And this Body of Christ is always a phone call and a prayer away.