On an October weekend forty high schoolers from across the state arrived at St. John’s Episcopal Church for Happening #2. These teens didn’t know each other, they didn’t know the teens who were leading the weekend, they didn’t even know what they would be doing for the next three days. All they knew is that they were in a small city far from home for a retreat where they would be spending the next 48 hours sleeping on church floors and getting to know complete strangers in a Christian environment. Needless to say, the anxiety level was high and more than a couple of teens seriously regretted letting their parents, priests, or friends talk them into going to Happening. The idea of strangers coming together in Christ to share, pray, and support each other simply wasn’t at the top of their list of things to do on the weekend. Nonetheless, reluctant teens entered the church, began to let down their guard and began to know each other.

Today is the day of Pentecost, the day when the Body of Christ—the Church—celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. On this day the Church was filled with power, united by the Holy Spirit, and given vision to take part in Jesus’ command that we carry on his life of reconciliation, and of love. Today is the birthday of the Church, the day where we celebrate the fact that somehow, through the power of the Holy Spirit, complete strangers who couldn’t even speak the same language were united, brought together for a common goal: the goal of following Christ. Somehow, the brokenness and separation of the world, the sin that keeps humanity apart, could not and would not overcome the power of God which calls all people together. On that day of Pentecost, those who had mocked others learned to listen, those who were previously defined by ethnicity and country became one—they were united—as followers of Jesus.

Human history is full of fear of others, it is full of separation. Fearful separation not only fills our history but it fills our readings today. In Acts the separation of humanity shows up through the diversity of languages and the mocking statements that God’s actions, displayed in the disciples, are due to too much wine rather than the Spirit of God. In Corinthians this separation, this dis-unity, is made plain in the fact that Paul is writing to a divided church about the necessity of unity. Finally, in John, the separation of humanity is apparent through the fact that the disciples are gathered behind locked doors because of fear of others. Our readings today are no strangers to humanity’s fear of the other and our proclivity to try to separate ourselves from the world.

Needless to say, it takes little work for us to think of modern examples of locking our doors out of fear, modern examples of separation. This same fear and brokenness continues to mar the face of the earth each and every day. This fear, this separation is made apparent through the response of the generals in Myanmar who refuse to permit nearly any foreign personnel to enter Burma even as more than 30,000 are dead, 40,000 are missing, and well over 1.5 million people have been made homeless by the cyclone. This separation from others stands behind the fact that the US is demanding quick action in response to the rise in gasoline prices while ignoring mass starvation in counties like Haiti where food prices have more than doubled. This separation, this brokenness in humanity, is made visible to us in everyday life when we put on a happy face and pretend life is perfect for fear of being rejected or judged instead of engaging with fellow Christians and finding in our sharing and vulnerability a strength and healing that can transform the sadness and emptiness that so many feel inside. The separation, the fear of the world, continues on, as real today as it was when St. Peter preached to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem that first day of Pentecost.

And yet, even with all these signs of division and fear around and within us, the Church celebrates another reality today: unity made possible by the Spirit of God. In this Spirit the Church welcomes strangers into her midst. In this Spirit, the Church speaks out, even to those who mock us, telling the Good News of God in Christ. In this Spirit all are welcomed since all are given gifts by God, gifts that strengthen us, refresh us, and help us grow into the image of Christ. In this Spirit we are given the strength and courage to share our fears and struggles with each other, to unite in small groups and ministries and thus to find ourselves made one with fellow Christians. Today we celebrate that life in the Spirit of God which calls us into communion with one another.

Even as sin and death swirl throughout our state, our nation and our world, we stand in this place and declare that the power of God is stronger, more mighty, than all that might divide or frighten us. Today we stand at the waters of Baptism and foolishly proclaim the fact that through water the power of the Holy Spirit descends on us like a rush of living flame. We stand here at the waters of Baptism and claim that somehow infants are given new life, human beings are made new, children who cannot talk are equipped to teach us the ways of God. Somehow we stand at this place and declare that God welcomes us, not because of what we have done, not because of what we know, not because of our lineage or history, but simply because God so loved the world. God welcomes us, as God welcomes Jayden and Taryn (tair-in) to be part of the family of God, to be part of the Body of Christ, to be part of a community which at its best is a place of joy, sharing, growth and support. On this day the Church acknowledges that we are called to be part of God’s answer to fear, separation, and death.

On this magnificent feast day of the Pentecost we celebrate and rejoice in the fact that God has called us into relationship with Godself through baptism. We celebrate the fact that through the Holy Spirit’s presence within us God directs us to ways of living and ministering that welcome all people, that recognize that we need each other, that acknowledge that we all have gifts and abilities which are given to us so that we might share them, so that we might be good stewards of them. We are called to use all that we have, our physical, emotional, financial, and technical skills, to serve others and to glorify God. On this Pentecost we rejoice in the hope that we are not alone but instead are joined together by water, the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the living Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

On that cool October weekend, as 40 teenagers were welcomed by a team of teens the Holy Spirit was present making strangers brothers and sisters in Christ. Those teens were welcomed into an environment where their fears, pains, skills, and gifts didn’t need to be hidden. They were invited to be themselves and to experience the profound fact that in Christ all are loved and accepted. On that weekend I discovered in a profound and life changing way that I was loved by God, not for what I had done or not done, not for what I knew or didn’t know. I was loved simply because Christ loved me from before time and forever. For the first time in years I was comfortable in my own skin, I was able to let my gifts shine, I was able to talk about my fears, my sadness and my joys without shame, I was able to pray and be prayed for. I was able to be transformed by the living and loving presence of the Holy Spirit of God which broke down the barriers that divided me from others, which made me afraid to be myself, which told me time and again that I was unlovable, that I was unacceptable, that I had to be someone other than who I was to be loved. On that weekend I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit making me one with others, with myself, and with God.  On that weekend I was transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My sisters and brothers, as God’s beloved people, gifted and blessed with the Holy Spirit, gifted and blessed with a variety of skills, riches, and talents, we are called to be a people who seek unity. We are called to be a people who reach out to all, who welcome the stranger, who welcome our neighbor, who welcome our enemies simply because Christ has so welcomed us. In welcoming others we find that we are transformed and made whole. In welcoming and sharing with others we are made one just as the Father and Christ are one. In welcoming others we find God healing our wounds, transforming our lives and giving us joy and hope. On this day of Pentecost, as we remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, may we live in each others midst, may we share each others joys, and sorrows, may we walk together hand in hand journeying ever forward in faith as the Spirit guides us and fills us.