| It’s hard to throw a party when one of the Elders of the Church-
an elder in every sense of that term-has just died!
But if anyone in this congregation loved a party, it was Claudia.
Many of you know that she regularly went dancing into the wee
hours of the morning well into her 80’s and probably partied
as often in her life as just about anyone else here today.
And if there’s anyone who’s caught the wind of the Holy Spirit in her sails, and the fire of the Holy Spirit in her heart, it was Claudia! So last Friday, after I received word of Claudia’s death, I had this vision of Claudia dancing through those pearly gates. And as I watched, I saw her turn her head toward me, over her shoulder. She chuckled and grinned and with a gleam in her eye, she waved merrily at me, did just a bit of a dance step, and said “Now Pastor, don’t you go and cancel that Pentecost party! You be sure to show that Confirmation Class and all those other new members a really good time!” So in the spirit of Elder Claudia Hall, it’s time for us all to wish Christ’s Church a very happy birthday! Today, on the rush of the wind of the Holy Spirit, we Christians reach the climax of our special celebration of Christ’s resurrection-this 50-day period we call Eastertide. Today, new life is breathed into the world on the wings of God’s free-blowing Spirit, and we are energized and empowered to proclaim and serve the Risen Christ! It’s Pentecost, the day God gives us the wind of the Spirit in our sails and also the fire of the Spirit in our hearts- the fire of divine presence. For on Pentecost, amidst wind and tumbling tongues of fire, the Church was born and continues regularly to be reborn. So happy birthday, dear Church! Now, on this Day of Pentecost, what all of us need to do-in the same way that Claudia did it-is to receive what God wants to give us, the gift of the Spirit floating freely on the wings of the wind, attended by tongues of energizing fire. So today’s the day for us to do what Claudia did so regularly. Today’s the day for us to catch a fresh breath of air and to get fired up all over again for running the race of life! Now a long time ago-way back before even Claudia was born- the Day of Pentecost was one of people’s favorite festivals. Today, Pentecost has gotten sort of lost in the shuffle, but we here at Rutgers are trying to change all of that. Back in the old days, people really knew how to throw a party worthy of celebrating the birthday of Christ’s Church, and we want to do the same here today. In the old days, when you entered the church on Pentecost, you found all the decorations colored a bright, vivid red, and we’ve done the same here today- the flowers, the hangings, my robe, our stoles! Does anybody know why the color of the day is red? That’s right, to symbolize the tongues of fire that the Book of Acts links with the events that took place on the very first Day of Pentecost. And in the old days when people entered their church to celebrate Pentecost, the choir and organ players and bellows operators were ready, willing, and able to produce sounds that simulated the great windrush of Pentecost spoken of in our Second Lesson. And our choir + organ player are ready to do that for us again today! [Choir and organ make 5 to 10 seconds of wind noise!] Now let’s see if we can all do it. Everybody join in! [People, choir, and organ make more wind noise!] But one of the really special things about the way Pentecost was celebrated in some churches way back when was this: holes were opened up in the ceiling of the churches, Holy Spirit holes, to point people skyward and outward to the windrush of God and to provide an access point so that symbols of the Holy Spirit could enter the main part of the church from above and descend physically upon the people- symbols of the Spirit like real live flying doves, sailing on the wind and descending downward, and like red rose petals, flickering and fluttering and coming down upon the people like tongues of fire. Well, as you can see, we have the red decorations we need, + we also have a congregation, choir, + organ ready to make wind-like noises. And as those of you who were here last year already know, we also have the Holy Spirit holes we need. You bet we do! All you visitors and new members who joined since last Pentecost, look up there! OK! Open the Holy Spirit holes!! Hey, it seems we have practically everything we need to celebrate a wonderfully old-fashioned, thousand-year-old kind of Pentecost, one that none of us will ever forget! So, come Holy Spirit! Descend upon us, and enter into us on this happy Day of Pentecost, on this happy birthday of Christ’s Church! Everybody, we’re going to sing to the Holy Spirit, and we’re going to ask the Spirit to come among us right now. We’re going to sing. And at the end of the first line, you and the choir and the organ are going to provide us with some wind-sound. We’re going to go: Ffffffffooo! Oooooo! (inhale) Whoosh! Swoosh! and all that kind of stuff. And then at the end of the second line of our song I’ll make sure that something like tongues of fire will come down from those Holy Spirit holes + then at the end of the third line I’ll make sure that something will come down from those holes that will stir your hearts and really make it seem like a birthday party in here! OK! Marshall please play through just the first line of the hymn so we can learn the melody and get ready to make our wind sounds! [Marshall plays through the first line of St. Kevin.] All right. We’re ready to sing, + remember that at the end of the first line, we’re all going to make wind sounds. Let’s go! Come, O Spirit (Tune: St. Kevin) [Marshall: begin the first line as we sing along.] 1. Come, O Spirit, with Your sound like a wind quick rushing; (wind noises) [Marshall: I’ll turn and give you the cue to begin line two] 2. Come, O Spirit, with your flame; send down tongues of fire! (rose petals) [Marshall: I’ll turn and give you the cue to begin line three] 3. Come from heav’n and stir our hearts, each disciple touching; (balloons) [Marshall: I’ll turn and give you a cue to begin line four] 4. Come, O Spirit, fill Your church; all our lives inspire! [Marshall: after the last line of St. Kevin, give us a D-pitch and launch immediately into “Happy Birthday, Dear Church.” (St. Kevin is in the key of G, and, as you know, Happy Birthday can also be played in the key of G by beginning on a pitch of D)] [Marshall: immediately after Happy Birthday launch into your introductory play-through of O Waly Waly, which is also, conveniently, in the key of G!] |
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